The Big Blue Lowdown

Here’s some notes for Tuesday as we await the outcome of tonight’s opening round games in Dayton that will determine UK’s second round opponent in Louisville on Thursday…

• The Associated Press announced the winners of the Southeastern Conference post-season awards on Monday and Kentucky swept the top places on the list.  Anthony Davis was named the Player of the Year and the Newcomer of the Year while John Calipari was named the SEC Coach of the Year.  Michael Kidd-Gilchrist joined Davis...

Random thoughts about Kentucky’s loss to Vanderbilt on Sunday in the SEC Champinship game…

1.  While disappointed that the Cats didn’t close the deal and keep momentum going by beating Vandy, the loss isn’t the end of the world.  As we all know, the 1996 Wildcats had a very similar path in the regular season-early season loss, undefeated SEC season, and then a loss to Mississippi State in the SEC finals.  That team steamrolled to the NCAA tournament.

2.  With that said, the loss is also a...

It’s an unusual thing to go undefeated in conference play, and yet the Kentucky Wildcats accomplished that milestone again on Sunday with a 74-59 win at Florida.  Not only did UK complete the SEC season at 16-0, they also moved to 30-1 overall, the first time in school history that the Wildcats have recorded 30 regular season victories.

The win was a total team effort, but it wasn’t as easy as the margin of victory might suggest.  Florida’s last lead came with about 14 minutes left in the...

Now that the Cats have completed a 16-0 SEC season and won their 30^th game, it’s not too early to think a little about this team’s place from a historical context. In other words, how does the 2011-2012 Kentucky team stack up against the greatest teams of all time?

Ok, fine, I take that back. It's actually way too early to have this conversation. They still have a long road to pave if they want to be champions, and we cannot count on anything yet as a certainty. In fact, I could still see...

It was a thriller for most of the game, but the Kentucky Wildcats held off a determined Vanderbilt team by a score of 83-74 in Rupp Arena on Saturday.  The win runs UK's record to 28-1 overall and 14-0 in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and, more importantly, clinches the SEC regular season championship. 

In what has become a broken record (albeit the good kind!) Anthony Davis was an absolute beast in dominating the game on both ends of the court and, in many national opinions, possibly...

It was every bit the test John Calipari has been wanting for his team - and more - yet the Kentucky Wildcats passed with flying colors as they overcame their largest halftime deficit of the year to defeat the Mississippi State Bulldogs 73-64 last night in Starkville, Mississippi.  Kentucky placed five players in double figures led by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's 18 points and 10 rebounds.  Anthony Davis also had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds while Darius Miller had 12 and...

If there was any doubt as to who the best college basketball team in the country was, there isn't anymore after the Kentucky Wildcats ran the seventh-ranked Florida Gators out of Rupp Arena Tuesday night in a 78-58 rout.  Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, but the Wildcats used another balanced attack in overcoming a not-so-quick start against the Florida pressure defense.  Doron Lamb had another impressive outing in leading UK with 18 points while...

The Kentucky Wildcats put on a clinic at South Carolina and reaffirmed why they are the top-ranked team in the nation with an overwhelming 86-52 win on Saturday.  The devastation of the Gamecocks was so thorough that the outcome of the contest was never really in doubt past the 17:00 mark of the first half.  As Coach John Calipari stated after the game, "It didn't matter who we played today, someone was getting beat by 30."  While many may try to downplay the win due to the opponent, the...

The Kentucky Wildcats showed the nation why they are the #1 ranked team in the country last night with a thorough dismantling of the Tennessee Volunteers by a score of 69-44 at Rupp Arena.  Anthony "The Beast" Davis made yet another case to win the Wooden award for the best player in the nation by flirting yet again with a triple-double-18 points, 8 rebounds, 7 blocks, and three assists in just 30 minutes of play.  Michael Kidd-Gilchrist added 16 points and 8 boards while Terrence Jones had...

A recurring theme seems to fit this Kentucky basketball team in SEC play-it wasn't pretty, but a win is a win.  That was certainly true in Rupp Arena on Saturday as the Wildcats withstood a tremendous effort by Alabama to claim a 77-71 win.  Give the Tide credit-they had a great shooting performance for the game including 5-of-7 from three but, more importantly, it seemed every time UK was about to make a run, Alabama came up with a big shot to snuff it out.  It was great free throw shooting...

In what has become a recurring theme in SEC play, the Kentucky Wildcats overcame a sluggish first half and a raucous crowd while showing poise down the stretch to pull away to a 65-62 win over Tennessee in Knoxville.  Anthony Davis led the Wildcats with 1 points and 8 rebounds and turned in another huge second half when the Cats were trailing.  Davis also had four blocked shots to pull within one of the UK season record for blocks.  Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was again an absolute beast with 17...

The Kentucky Wildcats are in Auburn, Alabama tonight for their first SEC road game of the year.  The road was not kind to the Cats in league play last season-they lost six of their eight games on the road, yet they were able to rebound and win the SEC tournament and advance to the Final Four.  I don't expect this team to struggle that much on the road, but its fair to say that conference road games are a different animal and the freshmen are in for an eye opening experience.

With that said,...

Just a few random notes on the New Year's holiday as I sit here and watch college bowl games that unfortunately don't feature the Wildcats...

As expected, Kentucky moved up to the #2 ranking in both the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and the AP poll.  Syracuse has a serious lock on the top spot, but the Wildcats still garnered one top vote in the Coaches poll and five in the AP poll.  North Carolina, Baylor, and Duke round out the top five in the AP poll and the same three teams fill out the...

Rumor has it that there is a big basketball game in Lexington tomorrow, and one would have to agree. While I certainly thought the North Carolina game was a little better barometer for where UK stands on a national level, certainly there aren’t many more bitter rivalries in college basketball than the one that exists between Louisville and Kentucky.
I tend to put rivalries in two categories-there are some rivalries that are good ones simply because the rivalry is competitive, the competition...

As expected, Kentucky assumed the top spot in both the AP and the Coaches polls today following this weekend's loss by then #1 North Carolina.  Kentucky is followed in both polls by Ohio State while the Tarheels, who will visit Rupp Arena on Saturday, fell to #5 in both surveys.