Cats Rally, Earn Tough Win at West Virginia
With 17 minutes left in Saturday’s game at West Virginia, “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” an official state song of West Virginia, rang true for many Kentucky fans.
Really, the country roads could have taken the Wildcats anywhere. It didn’t have to be home, just so long as it was far away from WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia.
With 17 minutes left, Kentucky was getting pummeled by No. 7/7 West Virginia. After trailing by 15 points at the break, Kentucky found itself down by 17 points, 54-37. But instead of wilting, the freshman-laden team, playing in its toughest road environment yet, grew up before everyone’s eyes and flourished.
“We just kept telling each other we’re going to get this stop, we’re going to get this win,” freshman forward Kevin Knox said. “I mean, a lot of people are saying we have a hard time finishing games, but we were down (17) and we knew we were going to come back and win this game. We kept saying it to each other in the huddle in the timeouts. The next thing you know, we got stops, they took some bad shots and we got rebounds and we were scoring. The next thing you know we’re down two, next thing you know we’re up. We just kept telling each other this is our game, we can win this. We just kept playing, kept fighting and next thing you know we won the game.”
The Wildcats outscored the Mountaineers 50-28 in the second half and won 83-76. The victory following a 15-point halftime deficit is the third largest in school history, and the biggest since rallying from a 16-point deficit at Louisville on Dec. 18, 2004.
After losing two of its past three games entering Saturday’s Big 12/SEC Challenge game, many didn’t give the Wildcats much of a chance. And for much of the first half, it didn’t look like those doubters would be proven wrong.
Kentucky (16-5) had heard all about the physical, in-your-face defense the Mountaineers (16-5) deploy in the days leading up to Saturday’s game, but hearing about “Press Virginia” and watching the maniacal defense of the Mountaineers is one thing. Experiencing it is another.
Kentucky turned the ball over on its opening possession the game, and nine more times in the next 10 minutes, before finishing with 11 first-half miscues. The Wildcats opened the second half in much the same way, with a five-second call on the opening inbounds play.
“Unforced turnovers in the first half killed us,” head coach John Calipari said. “I thought they were tougher than us going to balls, so you give them that. They made some shots. The play at the end of the half: They make a 3 and we miss a layup. It’s just, ahh. But I told them, ‘We’re in good shape. Just play.’ And then we start the half and we don’t set a screen on an in-bounds play. I just said, ‘We’re going with spirit. I’m playing spirit.’ “
The player who displayed the most spirit was Knox, who finished with a career-high 34 points, hit 11-of-17 shots from the field and buried a career-high five 3-pointers on just eight attempts. He also snagged seven rebounds and went 7 for 8 at the free-throw line.
“He didn’t settle,” Calipari said. “He didn’t settle. He went at it. He took fouls. He went at the basket.”
Kentucky trailed by 15 at the break for a number of compounding reasons. In addition to turning the ball over 11 times, Kentucky was outrebounded by one and allowed West Virginia, a team entering Saturday’s contest averaging 8.9 made 3-point field goals per game, to hit seven treys on a dozen attempts.
But following its 10th turnover of the game at the 9:44 mark, UK committed just three more turnovers for the next 20 minutes and only six more for the remainder of the game. On the glass, Kentucky outrebounded West Virginia by 16 and held the Mountaineers to just 3-for-12 shooting from beyond the arc.
WVU senior guard Jevon Carter had 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the first half, but managed only eight points on 3-of-10 shooting in the second half.
“We had a lot of good play today,” said Calipari, who wore a black UK pullover during the game in honor of his friend on the other end of the court, WVU head coach Bob Huggins. “And then to come on the road and be down (17), in this environment and (against) a top-10 team is a—for us playing all freshmen. … To be able to do that in this environment means we’re growing up.”
Finally playing with more options at his disposal, Coach Cal has enjoyed subbing with rotations lately because it has eliminated any opportunities for players to complain about their playing time.
A big addition for the Cats has been Jarred Vanderbilt, whose energy on the court drew parallels with the Cats’ second-half fight. Vanderbilt played just 11 minutes against WVU as Coach Cal continues to try to figure out ways to get him more involved offensively, but he still led Kentucky with a team-high 11 rebounds.
“Unbelievable, right?” Calipari said. “I gotta figure out offensively. I’m losing my mind. I called Jarred in and I said, ‘Listen, I need you on the court. I need your rebounding. I need your toughness. I need your ability to pass and be that guy. What do you want me to run? Write up a play. Tell me how you want me to use you offensively so that you’re comfortable. He’s just not comfortable right now. But he’s only been playing, what, 10 days?”
Knox said a win like this, especially with how far down UK once was, can give the team plenty of momentum moving forward as it prepares for the second half of the Southeastern Conference season.
After failing to gets wins against Kansas, Tennessee and Florida, freshman guard Quade Green had called Saturday’s game a must-win. Calipari disagreed with that notion, but did say it would be “a big game” for whichever team came out on top.
“It’s a big game now,” Calipari said. “This is a huge game. This was a huge game. Because we won.”
