PHOTO - Vicky Graff
The stage was set for the wrong kind of history to be made for Kentucky basketball Saturday at Rupp Arena. Auburn was trying for its first win at Rupp Arena since 1988. The Tigers also had a chance for their first season series sweep over UK ever. An Auburn win would have also given UK its first three-game losing streak at Rupp Arena ever.
That’s why Kentucky’s 82-80 win might not have been historic for the Cats in the tradition sense but it was nice to see a team that has failed to find a way to win close games finally doing so — even if there were more anxious moments than there still needed to be before Davion Mintz’s late 3-pointer helped seal the deal and avoid another collapse.
“You can’t give up 52 points in a half and expect to win a basketball game, let alone making history,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl admitted after the game. “Kentucky made shots. They shot 53 percent, they went to the foul-line 17 times in the second half and they outplayed us. As a result, they get the victory.”
After missing 22 of 33 shots the first half and score 30 points, UK hit 16 of 30 the second half — including eight of 13 3’s — and scored a season-high 52 points in a half. Pearl admitted his team’s defense was not very good.
“Too many open shots. Yes, Kentucky has shot the three ball better.When Kentucky makes 11 three’s, they’re hard to beat. I don’t think there was much that they did that surprised us. They hurt us a little bit at a high-low ball. We probably got beat a little bit at the center position,” Pearl said.
His team played “like our hair was on fire” late in the game and he says that’s how his best teams play. John Calipari has been trying to get his Cats to play that way more often and just let loose. The Cats have played at a faster tempo the last two games and got to 80 points both times, something they did just twice in the previous 17 games.
“We did some things post-wise and pick-and-roll wise that was different. And the greatest thing about this team is they respond. They listen. They are smart,” Calipari said. ‘We were able to — we’re still tweaking how we’re playing, but, we’re playing through post if we can, and now we did some things that if you try to front us, we’ll do something different.”
Nothing is more differentt, though, than making shots, especially from 3-point range. No shot was bigger than the one Mintz had. He had made a similar shot late in Tuesday’s eventual loss to Arkansas to give UK a lead it didn’t hold. He also made a late 3-pointer against Vanderbilt in Rupp Arena to secure a win.
“That’s big for us. You still remember the Vanderbilt game, we did a little hammer screen on the weak side and he knocks it down and ended the game. The one he made today, those are daggers,” Calipari said. “It takes a unique guy, and I’ll tell you why: They can’t be afraid to miss the shot. That’s the one that will make it.
“If the guy’s eyes are like this and his mouth’s moving, probably afraid he’s going to miss the shot. Now, that guy ain’t making it; oh, was it so close. Yeah, but the dude that’s not afraid to miss, I’ll deal with the miss, but I’m shooting this and this is a dagger. Proud of him.”
