Skal Labissiere.
Let's just start with him. He deserves it. 11 points (4-10 FG) might not look great and if you only looked at the stat sheet you couldn't appreciate how he played. But given all he's been through and how he's failed to live up to (or even approach) expectations, it was a huge night for him. On this night he attacked the rim, he should have had more points but for missed dunks, and his teammates started to have more confidence in him. They actually started looking to get him the ball again.
I'm not going to say he turned a corner, but he showed everyone that he shouldn't be left for dead yet. He can still be a major impact performer. You had to be impressed with the way he went up with confidence on that long jump shot in the first half, and his defense has markedly improved to the point where he's playing with a bit of a swagger protecting the rim.
The guards played awful to start the game. They were 0-12 at one point. At the time I was torn between saying UK was fortunate to be winning by the small lead they had, and saying Arkansas was in trouble because the guards couldn't possibly duplicate that with another half that bad.
Tyler Ulis would go on to finish with 24 points and Jamal Murray finished with 19.
Kentucky dominated the paint in every respect. With a precious few exceptions they protected the basketball (only six! turnovers). And they built a lead that would last, largely by playing lock down defense and valuing the basketball on most of their possessions.
Let's just start with him. He deserves it. 11 points (4-10 FG) might not look great and if you only looked at the stat sheet you couldn't appreciate how he played. But given all he's been through and how he's failed to live up to (or even approach) expectations, it was a huge night for him. On this night he attacked the rim, he should have had more points but for missed dunks, and his teammates started to have more confidence in him. They actually started looking to get him the ball again.
I'm not going to say he turned a corner, but he showed everyone that he shouldn't be left for dead yet. He can still be a major impact performer. You had to be impressed with the way he went up with confidence on that long jump shot in the first half, and his defense has markedly improved to the point where he's playing with a bit of a swagger protecting the rim.
The guards played awful to start the game. They were 0-12 at one point. At the time I was torn between saying UK was fortunate to be winning by the small lead they had, and saying Arkansas was in trouble because the guards couldn't possibly duplicate that with another half that bad.
Tyler Ulis would go on to finish with 24 points and Jamal Murray finished with 19.
Kentucky dominated the paint in every respect. With a precious few exceptions they protected the basketball (only six! turnovers). And they built a lead that would last, largely by playing lock down defense and valuing the basketball on most of their possessions.
