In spite of first-half foul trouble, Anthony Davis finished with nine point, 12 rebounds and three blocks. (Chet White, UK Athletics)
In an effort to bring you the most comprehensive coverage of the Kentucky basketball team’s postseason run, CoachCal.com and Cat Scratches will be teaming up throughout UK’s journey in the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament. You can find stories on the team at CoachCal.com and UKathletics.com/blog.ATLANTA — After exerting so much energy in a thrilling, up-tempo 102-90 victory over Indiana on Friday night at the Georgia Dome, one might think the Kentucky Wildcats are running a little low on gas.Calipari squashed those concerns in the immediate aftermath of his team’s win. “When you’re playing at this time of the year, you’ve got more energy than you need,” Calipari said. “This team is in great shape. They’ve been in great shape. We got a bad rotation because Anthony (Davis) got in foul trouble, but if he didn’t we’d have had guys playing about 32 minutes a game, which is about what they need to be playing.”Ironically, Calipari’s comments were said around 1:30 a.m., about 12 hours before UK has to be back at the arena for media responsibilities for the Baylor game. A record’s a recordKentucky broke Connecticut’s NCAA single-season blocked shots record Friday night surpassing the Huskies’ mark of 315 set in 2003-04.Go figure the Cats did it on a night they tied their season low with four blocked shots.With Davis saddled with first-half foul trouble, the nation’s leading shot blocker was limited to three swats. Nonetheless, he’s now just two blocks shy of breaking Jarvis Varnado’s single-season Southeastern Conference record of 170 blocks.Cats hold IU 3-point shooting at bayAnother talented 3-point shooting team for the Wildcats, another cold night from behind the arc for their opponent.Entering Friday night’s affair as the nation’s second-best 3-point percentage, the Hoosiers were limited to 5 of 18 from behind the arc despite an otherwise fantastic shooting performance.Like they did against Florida, Vanderbilt and Iowa State, the Cats forced Indiana’s 3-point shooters to drive the ball into the heart of their defense. But, with Davis battling foul trouble, UK didn’t experience the same type of defensive success at the rim.Indiana shot 52.3 percent for the game because of its 60.8 2-point percentage.”Normally we’re holding people to 56, 55, 59,” Calipari said. “They scored 90. They had more layups in the first half than we have had scored on us for the year.”Trading 3s for 2s, however, seemed to pay off. Indiana hit nine 3-pointers and won in the first meeting. The Hoosiers hit just five this time and were sent home for the season.Cal happy for his friendWinning at your friend’s expense is never fun, but both Coach Cal and Tom Crean knew someone would have to be at the wrong end of the straw for their teams’ matchup in the Sweet 16.After ending his friend’s season in the Georgia Dome, Calipari expressed happiness for the turnaround job Crean has done in Bloomington.”What he’s done there, where it came from – you think about it,” Calipari said. “They lost 25 games their first year. He had a lot of people griping, ‘Hey, you’ve got to build the foundation,’ and he did it. … The only thing that’s going to happen with Indiana, it’s going to get better and better and better.”Davis puts foul trouble behind himDavis hadn’t been in serious foul trouble since the last time UK played Indiana. Lo and behold he found himself in foul trouble in the first half Friday against the Hoosiers yet again.Asked afterwards how he blocks out Friday’s foul trouble, he said he’s already moved on.”It’s game over,” Davis said. “Can’t worry about it now. Just go out and get ready for Sunday’s game. Just play the way we normally play. Can’t worry about the past.”