Gutsiest win of the season

[jbne222]

No Butler, No Carr, No Kriisa, and beat the Vols in Knoxville. Shoutout to Chandler and Noah for giving us great minutes. Brea was HUGE in the 2nd half answering the banked 3 with a three of his own and for drawing a foul the possession after Tennessee cut it to 3 (although he should have grabbed that rebound at the end). Amari was an absolute beast on the glass.

Little shaky at the end but unbelievable response by the fellas. Let’s get a 20 point dub on Saturday.

Side note: I think we’re 4-0 outright as underdogs this year

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

Noah is going to be a player. Just knows how to play and a good size.

 

[NociHTTP]

Noah is going to be a player. Just knows how to play and a good size.

Sweet stroke from deep, high IQ, plays defense the way it's supposed to be played.

 

[mg0721]

Agreed.

 

[crxohio]

Noah is going to be a player. Just knows how to play and a good size.

Especially when he learns to cut under and score around the rim. Love these freshman.

 

[KY Long Rifle]

I agree with the thread title.

 

[Ballin4nine]

Pope was forced to play lineups tonight that he would normally never do. Heck of a coaching job, but they desperately need to work on free throws and rebounding. Everything else looks pretty good.

 

[westerncat]

I think this might be the best defense we have played all year.

 

[UKSanders]

Sweet stroke from deep, high IQ, plays defense the way it's supposed to be played.

Maybe his best play of the night was his layup at the 7:18 mark of the 2nd half. It was right after UT hit a 3 to cut the UK lead to 6, and Noah's court awareness allowed him to chase down either a deflected or errant pass for a layup. It was huge play b/c UT was gaining a little momentum

 

[UK67KU59]

Definitely our most impressive win to date! Adversity is everywhere right now but we brought the battle tonight!

 

[the nail at the foul line]

When that happened, I was like uh oh.

 

[bbncal02]

Sk-rew that.

Gutsiest win in like 5 years

 

[WildmanWilson]

I’m seeing we dodged a bullet because Tenn shot like garbage. They absolutely killed us on the offensive glass. They had a ton of open shots but clanked them. I’m very glad we shot well and pulled out a game on the road though. There’s a gaping hole in our team though.

 

[FiveStarCat]

I’m seeing we dodged a bullet because Tenn shot like garbage. They absolutely killed us on the offensive glass. They had a ton of open shots but clanked them. I’m very glad we shot well and pulled out a game on the road though. There’s a gaping hole in our team though.

We’ve been hearing about these gaping holes all year and yet keep racking up elite, cream of the crop type wins. At some point you just have to admit we are elite. You don’t win 6 top 15 games otherwise

 

[bbncal02]

I’m seeing we dodged a bullet because Tenn shot like garbage. They absolutely killed us on the offensive glass. They had a ton of open shots but clanked them. I’m very glad we shot well and pulled out a game on the road though. There’s a gaping hole in our team though.

Tenn does not shoot well. That's not an aberration for them.

Yes, we have stuff to work on.

Enjoy the win.

 

[Skyguyb27]

It seems like Jaxson plays better at the point maybe because he gets more involved/active.

 

[FtWorthCat]

When was the last time UK beat an AP ranked top 10 team on the road, while playing without 2 starters? Ever? I've been watching for 55 years and I can't recall that happening.

 

[WildmanWilson]

We’ve been hearing about these gaping holes all year and yet keep racking up elite, cream of the crop type wins. At some point you just have to admit we are elite. You don’t win 6 top 15 games otherwise

And we have some pretty bad losses too. This team is good on offense. Pope is a good coach. We are subpar on defense and rebounding. We could go to the final four or get beat the first round. Defense must improve and we all know this.

I wish Oscar would come in and show these guys what it takes to grab a rebound and the mentality it takes.

 

[jbne222]

I’m seeing we dodged a bullet because Tenn shot like garbage. They absolutely killed us on the offensive glass. They had a ton of open shots but clanked them. I’m very glad we shot well and pulled out a game on the road though. There’s a gaping hole in our team though.

Almost like… that was the gameplan? Cmon man… enjoy this one lol.

Also disagree about the rebounding. It was bad at the end of both halves but in general thought we fought very hard on the glass, particularly without Carr

 

[Fitch44]

I think this might be the best defense we have played all year.

This! The D was connected and they fought like crazy. They closed gaps and rotated their asses off.
Loved this win!!!

 

[king of cali]

Big time win tonight. Now back it up with another great effort on Saturday.

 

[WildmanWilson]

Almost like… that was the gameplan? Cmon man… enjoy this one lol.

Also disagree about the rebounding. It was bad at the end of both halves but in general thought we fought very hard on the glass, particularly without Carr

I believe they had 18 offensive rebounds to our 8. You don’t see any issues with that? Tenn shot something like 24 more times than we did and they just missed a ton of open shots. I do love the win but we got very lucky to pull it out.

 

[Cold Stout Beer]

I’m seeing we dodged a bullet because Tenn shot like garbage. They absolutely killed us on the offensive glass. They had a ton of open shots but clanked them. I’m very glad we shot well and pulled out a game on the road though. There’s a gaping hole in our team though.

Wildman, lol.

 

[bowfreak]

Everyone always talks about how poorly we rebound and defend. If we rebound and defend like UT we would be blasting everyone we play. If we are serviceable on D and don’t get punked rebounding, we can beat anyone.

 

[rivercatinfl]

I think this might be the best defense we have played all year.

100%. Our physicality and 3 point shooting got this one in the W column!
We matched them physically and then some!
Their practicing playing tough reaped benefits!!

Go BB!!

 

[kywildcat41035]

We’ve been hearing about these gaping holes all year and yet keep racking up elite, cream of the crop type wins. At some point you just have to admit we are elite. You don’t win 6 top 15 games otherwise

Amen to that when do we start to get credit for being 6-1 against the top 15 instead of we're lucking into the wins..... If it was 1-2 wins then OK but not 6 freaking wins! In a league that has 10 ranked teams and 12 NCAA projected teams!

 

[KMKAT]

My only gripe is having to play the last 5 minutes of constant defense.
It's fixable though and we are going to continue to have sellout / t-shirt nights on the road.

 

[fisherscatfan]

Tenn does not shoot well. That's not an aberration for them.

Yes, we have stuff to work on.

Enjoy the win.

An aberration is the 45 threes they shot. I imagine they will take 1/2 that in Rupp. Hopefully we have Butler back by then. It was unreal that Barnes didn’t adjust to Williams bringing the ball up and I would think that will be prepared for that next time. Pope will have a counter I’m sure.

They sure as heck beat on Amari once across midcourt though and it didn’t get called.

And that was one of the most enjoyable wins in a long time. Much less stressful the 2nd time I watched it lol.

 

[fisherscatfan]

And we have some pretty bad losses too. This team is good on offense. Pope is a good coach. We are subpar on defense and rebounding. We could go to the final four or get beat the first round. Defense must improve and we all know this.

I wish Oscar would come in and show these guys what it takes to grab a rebound and the mentality it takes.

It appears somebody has worked with Amari. He rebounded with 2 hands very well last night.

 

[billoliver40]

Just a note on Tennessee bad shooting...coach Barnes pointed out by and large the players the Cats were allowing to shoot were not the players that are normally their best 3 point guys....so yeah, some luck, and there always is with a 3 pointer, but maybe a little bit of good strategy.

 

[indianskid7220]

I believe they had 18 offensive rebounds to our 8. You don’t see any issues with that? Tenn shot something like 24 more times than we did and they just missed a ton of open shots. I do love the win but we got very lucky to pull it out.

Don’t forget our shooting percentage to theirs. We hit our shots more often, thus far fewer chances to rebound. I’m not disagreeing that we struggle to rebound at times. But they clanked a ton of shots and had many more chances to rebound on the offensive glass.

 

[Emarc]

I’m seeing we dodged a bullet because Tenn shot like garbage. They absolutely killed us on the offensive glass. They had a ton of open shots but clanked them. I’m very glad we shot well and pulled out a game on the road though. There’s a gaping hole in our team though.

Wildman, lol.

Eyore

 

[jbne222]

I believe they had 18 offensive rebounds to our 8. You don’t see any issues with that? Tenn shot something like 24 more times than we did and they just missed a ton of open shots. I do love the win but we got very lucky to pull it out.

I agree it’s not ideal but I think 7 of those were in the last couple minutes off long rebounds when they were jacking 3s, and another 4 were in the last two minutes of the 1st half. I thought the rebounding was excellent for 90% of the game. I think when a team shoots that many threes it’s harder to defensive rebound cause it’s harder to predict where the ball is gonna end up. I think once Carr is healthy, and we get the version of Amari last night we will be serviceable.

I agree if I’m gonna nitpick I’d say defense and rebounding has been our weakness, but I actually think it’s been steadily improving the last few weeks (especially the A&M game, even the Vandy game, and last night)

 

[bbncal02]

I think this might be the best defense we have played all year.

It was. Again, UT struggles to score so we have to take that into account. But im still proud of our guys for fighting their asses off p, especially after that first half collapse.

We know we will lose games here and there. Any Kentucky fan that doesn’t realize that is delusional, especially in today’s college ball. All we ask as BBN is that you care about that jersey and play as hard as you can. No lack of effort losses (i.e. Ohio St). Don’t care who’s playing or coaching, those will always be unacceptable here.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Who predicted prior to the game that UK wound win that game on UT’s floor? I was fairly confident we would see a 3 game losing streak going into the Arky game.

 

[hotelblue]

absolutely. that was a character-building victory.

 

[pauled]

I’m seeing we dodged a bullet because Tenn shot like garbage. They absolutely killed us on the offensive glass. They had a ton of open shots but clanked them. I’m very glad we shot well and pulled out a game on the road though. There’s a gaping hole in our team though.

Tennessee hasn’t been an offensive juggernaut the whole season! Them missing shots wasn’t anything new! They hang their hats on defense and scoring off turnovers! The games I’ve watched them play this season have been low scoring games!

 

[Fox2monk]

I think this might be the best defense we have played all year.

If we get healthy and play defense like that we will do big things.

 

[ganner918]

Don’t forget our shooting percentage to theirs. We hit our shots more often, thus far fewer chances to rebound. I’m not disagreeing that we struggle to rebound at times. But they clanked a ton of shots and had many more chances to rebound on the offensive glass.

This is a great point. 18 to 8 sounds terrible. But they rebounded 38% of their misses while we rebounded 32% of ours. That isn't anywhere close to as bad.

 

[ganner918]

I’m seeing we dodged a bullet because Tenn shot like garbage. They absolutely killed us on the offensive glass. They had a ton of open shots but clanked them. I’m very glad we shot well and pulled out a game on the road though. There’s a gaping hole in our team though.

We must be the luckiest team ever to have dodged bullets and lucked into wins against Duke and Gonzaga and Florida and Louisville and Tennessee and Mississippi State and Texas A&M...