Kentucky Heads to Athens to take on the Dawgs

Last year was quite a scene. A tornado rolled through the Atlanta area to post pone the Cats opening round match up against the Georgia Bulldogs…the rest was history.

The game was moved to Georgia Tech’s basketball arena, fans were restricted to attend, and the winner would be forced to play two games in one day. Kentucky entered the tournament on a roll, winning 12 of their last 16 and looking to make a mark in the SEC to make the NCAA major tournament.

The Dawgs on the other hand, had finished the regular season with a less than impressive mark 4-12 in the SEC and 17-17 overall. But somehow, in all lthe turmoil and uncertainties surrounding the teams, the Dawgs were able to knock off the Wildcats and make an improbable run through the SEC tournament to eventually win and gain the conference’s automatic bid.

“It was something I dream for,” said Zac Swansey after the game. Swansey, the freshman, had hit a 3-point shot in overtime to seal the Wildcats fate and give new life into his Georgia Bulldogs.

That, however, was last year. This new Wildcat team has been on a roll winning their first two games in the SEC, one of the wins coming against the preseason selection to win the conference, Tennessee in their own building.

With all the attention the Wildcats have received in recent weeks it comes from Jay Bilas of ESPN where he thinks the Wildcats should and could land.

“I think they are right there to be and wind up as the best team, in what I consider in SEC standards a down league.”

Dealing with the title of ‘frontrunner’ is new for the Wildcats and playing with this new title begins Saturday as the Wildcats head to Athens to take on a struggling Bulldog team that has lost their last four games.

Game begins at 12 pm EST.

Kentucky Wins in Knoxville 90-72

Meeks Shines as Cats Knock off the Vols

North Carolina, #1. Kentucky losses big. Miami Hurricanes, #20. Kentucky losses but gives hope. Louiville Cardinals, #18. Kentucky loses in the last seconds, but gives hope. Yesterday, Knoxville, Tennessee- Tennessee #24. Kentucky wins, dominantly.

In a down SEC, which no team other than Tennessee was ranked, the Wildcats had to win in Knoxville to gain RPI for selection day in March. Needing a win and wanting to make a statement, the Wildcats did in a big way by taking down the Volunteers in the Smokey Mountains 90-72.

A huge statement game and a huge statement made by junior guard Jodie Meeks. Meeks entered the game the 4th leading scorer in the nation and left Thompson-Boiling Arena a Kentucky legend by scoring 54 points in route to the victory.

“I was just going out there to win”, said Meeks.

Win he did, but also he dominated. The junior guard went 15 for 22 from the field and 10 for 15 from the three point line.

Other than the scoring, Meeks limited his turnovers; something he has struggled with all season averaging nearly 4 turnovers a game. Today though, was Jodie’s day as he only gave the ball up once, grabbed 8 rebounds and added four assists.

Kentucky’s win puts the Wildcats RPI rankings higher and more importantly, places them as a new front runner in the SEC.

Momentum must maintain however, as the Cats will now travel to Athens to take on a Georgia team which knocked Kentucky out of the SEC tournament last year. If the Wildcats are to win again, Monday the Big Blue Nation might just wake up to find their Cats in the top-25 for the first time since preseason of 2007.

Kentucky heads to Tennessee in hopes of an upset

Showdown in Knoxville-
Early in conference play, the second game in fact, Kentucky travels to Knoxville to take on a bumped and bruised Tennessee Volunteer team that have dropped out of the USA Today Top 25 for the first time all year.

Adding to the hurt ego of being dropped out of the rankings, star player and preseason ALL SEC Player of the Year, Tyler Smith is nursing a bruised knee and will be playing at less than 100%.
Tennessee has seen a lot of struggles of late dropping two of their last three games and nearly faltering to Georgia in the conference opener. The Vols trailed by more than 10 points mid way through the second half, but were able to eek out a victory 86-77.

Radio voice Bob Kessling sees a lot of turmoil in this Volunteer team.

“ The freshmen, for whatever reason, have had a hard time in buying into the defensive philosophy”, as he continued to say “Sometimes they have got into the position where they have four guys playing great defense and one freshman that is lost out there and that has hurt them in several occasions.”

With a weaker than past years Volunteer team the Kentucky Wildcats look to win in Tennessee for the first time since March 1, 2006. Since that loss, Tennessee has not lost a home SEC game since and is riding a 16 game win streak into this colossal match up.

Kentucky and Tennessee should be exciting as the match-up pairs the top two scoring offenses in the SEC. Tennessee is 6th in the nation in scoring with nearly 85 points a game, while Kentucky is 25th respectively, averaging 80 points a game.

With scoring to be at a maximum, the game will be based on limiting errors, something Kentucky knows all to well.

In the four losses Kentucky has suffered this season, the Wildcats average 21.75 turnovers per game. In order to have a chance in Knoxville, this stat must get better.

Yesterday Jodie Meeks said, “ We need to cut down turnovers in conference play if we want to do much of anything this year.”

And this year, needs to start tonight with Tennessee. A win would give the Wildcats an early edge in the wide open SEC and maybe a slot in the top-25.

Game starts at 9 pm EST.