Today may have been about green for St. Patrick and white for Royce White but in the end it was all about the Blue, Wildcats roll over Iowa St. 87-71.
This game was a game of runs. Kentucky found themselves up 38-27 at the half, looking to coast their way to the Sweet 16. Iowa St. came back and tied us at 42 all. UK took this punch and refused to allow Iowa St. to have the lead and went on a 20-2 run to lead 62-44. The game went back and forth from that point on, with UK coasting to the finish line.
Royce White owned Jones and Davis but it went to show how much this is a team game. White was the only Cyclone on the floor who could consistently do anything. White finished with 23, Allen-16, Christopherson-15. Many of those points by Allen and Christopherson came when the game was in hand.
It was frustrating to see White own us early but in the end it is nice seeing that we can get owned inside and still dominate thanks to the surrounding cast.
Teague was the story today as he brought it, finishing with 24. This is a career high for Teague and the first time he has ever led UK in scoring. 10-14 from the field with 7 assist with only 2 turnovers.
Other scorers: Miller-19 (3-6 from three), Lamb-16 (5-7 from three, great to see him shoot well tonight), Davis-15 (double double with 12 rebounds, 7 of his points came from the line), Jones-8 (2 points shy of a double double with his 11 rebounds), Wiltjer-3, Kidd-Gilchrist-2 (not a good game for MKG, 1-4 from the field, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 2 turnovers he did have 7 rebounds).
Iowa St. could not do what is their bread and butter, hit three pointers. The Cyclones went 3-22 (13.6%) from behind the arc.
UK on the other hand shot very well from three 10-20 (50%).
Kentucky shot 31-56 (55.4%) from the field; Iowa St. shot 25-61 (41%)
Kentucky won the rebound battle 40-31. An area we had to win thanks to our starting lineup being 7 inches taller than their starting 5. Outside of White, they are very small.
Kentucky had 19 assist to their 7. Not many blocks either way, UK ended with 5, Iowa St with 2. There was also not a ton of turnovers either way. Iowa St won this having only 7 to Kentucky’s 10.
Kentucky shot 15-22 (68.2%) from the line. Iowa St. shot 18-25 (72%).
Cal after the game (very short interview after the game):
We came out of halftime; sleep walking and we can’t do that in this tournament. Iowa St. is a good team. What we decided, if Royce White is going to beat us, let him score 30 but let anyone else go off. It was just like Sullinger with Ohio St. last year.
We had to make the three hard and if we are going to give up stuff we will give up a two.
Kenny Payne after the game:
We did a good job defending the three point line. You can’t ask for anything else better than that.
(On figuring out how to go about a game) There is no one way to skin a cat and at the end of the day it is Coach Cal’s decision and he does a good job figuring that out.
(On Teague) He is the engine for this team. He is tough to deal with. He is a very good guard.
(On eager to play Indiana) I hope so, I don’t think we have to do much motivating for this game.
UK will now take on Indiana in the Georgia Dome in the Sweet 16, Friday night. The exact game time has not been announced. Kentucky was setup to have a road to revenge against UCONN, Indiana, and then a 20th anniversary of the Duke shot. UCONN and Duke couldn’t get out of the first round, so Indiana is the only team UK gets to get back at.
You never know what will happen but Indiana plays very well at home, not so much away from Bloomington. Of course they did make it to the Sweet 16 with a comeback win over #12 seed VCU. I expect UK to come out ready to embarrass them; they have seen the last second shot over and over and over again thanks to ESPN.
Go Cats! Beat the Hoosiers!
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