The Big Blue Lowdown

Monday was Auburn’s night. The world watched as the Tigers captured another BCS national championship for the SEC.

On Tuesday, Kentucky reminded fans that Auburn is just a football school in a conference where basketball supremacy runs through the Bluegrass.

UK avoided its first losing streak on John Calipari’s watch and pounded Auburn from start to finish, winning 78-54 at home and evening its conference record at 1-1.

Terrence Jones made history for the Wildcats, scoring 35 points, an...

Kentucky started off SEC with a loss to the Georgia Bulldogs Saturday, falling 77-70 in Athens, Ga., to a Bulldog team that played like it was the national championship.

The Cats got a good performance from Terrence Jones, numbers wise, but Jones was inconsistent throughout much of the game.

Brandon Knight wasnt much of a factor either. He was outplayed by UGA guard Gerald Robinson, who was a step quicker for much the game.

Georgia played a physical ballgame and pushed the younger...

UK 86-62 Penn

This was the classic 'trap game': the crappy, easy-to-forget-about team at 8pm on a Monday night, sandwiched between Louisville (the emotional high point of the year) and the first game of conference play (the next step for a successful season). Penn, despite their .500 record, is a veteran squad used to winning on their level--granted, a decidedly lower level than UK plays on, but they're not used to losing even to teams that are better than them. So does UK have the...

Louisville took the early lead but once Knight tied the score at 12 on a jumper, it was all UK after that. Louisville had long stretches without offense and just couldn't any traction in the first half, as UK continued to stretch their lead up to 35-24 at the half.

In the early part of the second half, Josh Harrellson made his presence felt with an assist and two jumpers. Louisville was able to get into a bit of an offensive rhythm, but they couldn't keep UK from scoring. UK hit their free...

UK 91-61 Coppin State

Early on, Coppin State couldn't hit the side of a barn. UK was sluggish but relentless and finally blew it open by halftime. Coppin scored much better in the second half-- they actually looked like a real team--but the game was long over by that time.

UK played its most complete game of the year tonight. And Coppin State was the perfect opponent: they made UK work without ever striking any fear that they could pull off an upset. Coppin were scrappy on D, tenacious on...

Coach Calipari has stated many times that the success of this year’s squad depends a lot on the play of DeAndre Liggins. If you consider how deep a doghouse Liggins once occupied, this statement alone says a lot about the redemption of DeAndre Liggins.

Liggins was the signature recruit of former Coach Billy Gillisipie. While Patrick Patterson was ranked higher, Liggins was the only recruited player from his class that came to UK solely because of Gillispie’s recruiting efforts. Liggins was...

The Cats have clawed their way back to #13 in the rankings and I think that’s about right.  This UK team is good but not great, but outside of Duke, I don’t really see any potentially great teams out there yet.  And, fortunately, Duke’s really only dangerous when they’re the underdog, so I say keep voting them #1!  Sacrilege, you say?  Nah, rankings don’t matter.  And even if Duke was ranked #82, they’d still get to play in Greensboro or Charlotte all the way through the tourney!  Put the...

UK 89-52 Winthrop

Doron Lamb set the UK Freshman scoring record with 32 points and was a capable sideman to Brandon Knight in today’s drubbing of little ol’ Winthrop.  UK scored early and often, jumping out to a 29-11 lead by the second TV timeout and finished the first half on a 10-0 run squashing Winthrop’s last best hope of a comeback.  Lamb and Knight rode roughshod over the Eagles, doing anything they wanted.  Winthrop is a team that UK should never struggle with, but we’ve seen UK do...

Are there any teams that UK has played so far that I'd be afraid to see again? 

Not Oklahoma, I thought we were better than they were. 

Not Notre Dame, they just didn't have enough scoring punch after Hansbrough to be too fearsome. 

Not North Carolina--hell, no!  We played awful and still should've beat them in their own house, I have no worries about seeing them in the Sweet Sixteen.

Not Indiana, they can be dangerous but our athleticism bested them once before and would best them...

UK 72-58 Notre Dame

Notre Dame scored a ton in the first half but were pretty well spent by halftime.  Seriously, that's about it.  The second half was like a Blue-White game.   Notre Dame had nothing go on underneath and outside of Hansbrough's hot streak, they had little offense to speak of.  They got their lead up to 38-27 and from that point on, UK outscored the Irish 45-20.  It was a straight up housing.  They couldn't stop Jones and Knight, while not at the top of his form, hit enough...

College hoops gambling has become a national pastime. In the sportsbooks in Vegas during March Madness, you can feel the energy of the gambling masses with every shot. Eyes flit from one TV screen to another, as the point spread keeps even the biggest mismatches from becoming insignificant.

Today, you don’t even need to travel to Sin City to bet on college hoops. Online sportsbooks have made it easy. But if you’re going to put some cash on the line, you need to know a thing or two about...

I still remain doubtful that ‘Free Enes’ chants will resonate with the NCAA review committee. 

Kentucky will be very good at times this year without Enes. I believe, though, teams that have a strong inside game will give the Cats fits. (See UNC game). Harrellson has played great and within his role, but this is the same slow footed Harrellson who would be playing 5-10 minutes a game if Enes was on the floor. 

The keys I see early on for continued success assuming Enes stays in NCAA jail...

Kentucky took care of business Saturday in the annual border war with rival Indiana, pulling away late and winning 81-62 in front of another raucous Rupp Arena crowd.

The Hoosiers kept it close most of the way, building a 3-point lead in the second half. But as was the case earlier this week with Notre Dame, UK’s combination of perimeter shooting, athleticism and nasty halfcourt defense was simply too much down the stretch.

Kentucky got a huge game from its veterans. DeAndre Liggins...

Thoughts from the BBL’s UKHomer43 in the wake of Kentucky’s 72-58 victory over Notre Dame Wednesday night:

Is Terrence Jones the best UK frosh ever?

Sure we had John Wall last year and he was amazing for what he did and is now doing in the NBA, but fellas...umm...errr...This kid is a freak show.

What doesn't he do? He is the best rebounding UK player since.......??? I haven't seen anybody rebound better.

He is a 6-8 man child. He plays like Shaq around the goal. He has the ability to...

UK started the game sluggish, unfocused (Kyle Macy’s term was ‘non-chalant’).  For the first 10 minutes or so they looked like they were still thinking over the shellacking Connecticut laid on them in Maui.  They certainly didn’t start off like the team they breezed by East Tennessee, the last game they played at Rupp (seems like a while ago, don’t it?).  Knight, in particular, just didn’t get settled in and Miller got two quick fouls and disappeared for the rest of the half.  That said, UK...