Entries from February 2010 ↓

Looking ahead to Saturday’s game at Tennessee, UT big man Wayne Chism took a fall at Florida and limped noticably the rest of the game.

But Tennessee Coach Bruce Pearl said Thursday that Chism would play against Kentucky even though he did not participate fully in practice.

“The reason why he wouldn’t practice is because he wants to rest up to play,” Pearl told the UT press corps. “But in order to play effectively, he needs to practice.”

Pearl likened Chism to Willis Reed, whose limp onto the court and two baskets in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA finals is an iconic moment in New York Knick history.

“There’s a little Willis Reed in Wayne, there is,” Pearl said. “That’s OK, as long as it has that kind of ending. He’s certainly been through a great deal.”

Tennessee surprised Kentucky when the teams played in Rupp Arena on Feb. 13. For the first time this season, the Vols played a lot of zone. UK struggled with attacking the zone in the first half. Then with the UK offense at the UK bench end of the court for the second half, the Cats pulled away.

“The big challenge against Kentucky is we showed our cards (in Lexington),” Pearl said. “We did a lot of things differently. We did a lot of things that bothered Kentucky. It’s stuff that had been in the package, but stuff we hadn’t used much. But we’re also going to have to do some other things to keep them off balance.”

Kentucky freshmen John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins are among 30 players named as midseason candidates for the Naismith Award.

Two other SEC players made the list: South Carolina guard Devan Downey and Mississippi State center Jarvis Varnado.

Besides Kentucky, only one other program placed two candidates on the list. Kansas played guard Sherron Collins and center Cole Aldrich.

As a presenting sponsor since 2005, AT&T helps fans participate in determining this year’s winner. Fan voting via text messaging will account for 25 percent of the final results.

Beginning March 22, AT&T wireless customers — and sports fans on other wireless networks — will be able to text their votes for the player of their choice. Fans will be eligible to cast their vote for the winner until 11:59 p.m. EDT on Saturday, April 3, 2010. AT&T is making the voting open to other wireless carriers, allowing even more fans to participate. Other wireless carriers must opt-in for their subscribers to participate. Standard messaging rates apply.

As a presenting sponsor since 2005, AT&T has set the standard in fan participation in determining this year’s winner. Through the power and ease of text messaging, fan voting will account for an unprecedented 25 percent of the final results — more than any other national college basketball award.

Beginning March 22, AT&T wireless customers — and sports fans on other wireless networks — will be able to text their votes for the player of their choice. Fans will be eligible to cast their vote for the winner until 11:59 p.m. EDT on Saturday, April 3, 2010. AT&T is making the voting open to other wireless carriers, allowing even more fans to participate. Other wireless carriers must opt-in for their subscribers to participate. Standard messaging rates apply.

Duke center Christian Laettner is among those who will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame later this year. The good news locally is that the announcement of Laettner’s induction did not mention his game-winning shot against Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA Tournament East Region finals.

The induction ceremonies will be held Nov. 21 in Kansas City.

Other inductees this year include former UCLA star Sidney Wicks, coaches Tex Winter (the innovator of the triangle offense who coached at Marquette, Kansas State, Northwestern, Washington and Long Beach State) and Davey Whitney (more than 500 career wins in a long career at Alcorn State),  and two men who will be inducted as contributors: NCAA Executive Vice President Tom Jernstedt and Wayne Duke,
former commissioner of the Big Eight and Big Ten conferences.

For the fourth time this season, the Southeastern Conference named Kentucky big man DeMarcus Cousins its Freshman of the Week.

Teammate John Wall has won the award five times.

Only one player in SEC history, James Robinson, has won the award more often. He won it six times in the 1990-91 season.

Of the 15 Freshman of the Week awards this season, a UK player has won 11: Five by Wall, four by Cousins and two by Eric Bledsoe.

Cousins averaged 19 points and 9.5 rebounds in victories at Mississippi State and at No. 17 Vanderbilt last week. He recorded his 16th double-double of the season at Mississippi State with 19 points while pulling down game-high 14 rebounds. Against Vanderbilt he scored 19 points to go with five rebounds and three steals. Cousins has scored in double-figures in 18 of his last 19 games.

The SEC named Tennessee big man Wayne Chism as its Player of the Week.

Syracuse officials do not expect to break Kentucky’s record for attendance to a ESPN GameDay telecast. In fact, Syracuse will not even attempt to break UK’s record.

Kentucky fans filled Rupp Arena for GameDay on Feb. 13. The 24,000 was about three times more people than had ever seen the TV show, which ESPN launched four years ago.

GameDay is at Syracuse this coming Saturday (Feb. 27). It will originate from the Carrier Dome, which can seat more than 30,000.

But Syracuse is not taking aim at UK’s GameDay record, spokesman Pete Moore said. The school expects about the same 5- to 6,000 that attended two previous GameDay shows from Syracuse, he said.

The school’s relatively small enrollment (12,000) and widespread fan base in New York State make filling the Carrier Dome less likely than it might seem.

Syracuse is seeking to break the record for attendance at a game played in an on-campus arena. The old record is 33,633 set by Syracuse when the Orange played Villanova in 2006 (guard Gerry McNamara’s last home game).

Syracuse again plays Villanova this coming Saturday. Already the school has sold 34,616 tickets, Moore said.

Before Kentucky’s game at Mississippi State on Tuesday, UK freshman DeMarcus Cousins said he received crank calls and text messages from the state of Mississippi.

After the game, Mississippi State Coach Rick Stansbury said he got so many crank calls from the state of Kentucky that he disconnected his home and cell phones.

“They got my cell and home numbers,” Stansbury said on Thursday. “It started after 6 (p.m. on Wednesday). The first few, I didn’t pay much attention till it kept going on and going on and going on.

“I leeft and came back, checked my home (message recorder). Jeez, I finally took the batteries out of everything and unplugged all the lines.”

Kentucky won the game 81-75 in overtime. Afterward, Stansbury used humor to voice is displeasure with the officiating.

When asked to describe the calls, Stansbury said, “Lots of calls and just hang up. Some laughed. A couple talked.

“I got to where I wouldn’t answer anymore.”

A day after Kentucky’s victory over Mississippi State Tuesday night generated comment about the officiating, Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive reminded league coaches, school presidents and athletic officials to not publicly criticize refs.

In a memorandum dated Feb. 17, Slive told coaches and other that “there are proper channels available for head coaches to use when communicating officiating concerns to the Conference office.”

Slive advised coaches of  his powers of suspension and fine for violations of Bylaw 10.5.4. He also said that critical comments made by assistant coaches and other support personnel will be enforced against the head coach.

After Mississippi State took a 67-60 lead with three minutes left in regulation, the referees called 10 fouls on Mississippi State and none on Kentucky.

In his post-game news conference, State Coach Rick Stansbury used humor to express his displeasure with the officiating. He asked a reporter at one juncture if the reporter would pay half the fine imposed for criticizing officials.

On Wednesday evening, Associate SEC Commissioner Charles Bloom said that the league did not plan to reprimand or fine Stansbury nor the referees who worked the Kentucky-Mississippi State game.

Southeastern Conference Associate Commissioner Charles Bloom said the league did not plan to take any disciplinary action in regard to the Kentucky-Mississippi State game Tuesday night.
The Mississippi State fans, the referees and State Coach Rick Stansbury were all subject to speculation about possible reprimand or fine after Knetucky’s 81-75 overtime victory.
Of that speculation, Bloom said:
– The SEC would rely on Mississippi State’s internal investigation of fan behavior at the game.
Late in the game, plastic bottles came out of the stands and hit the floor. The SEC believed there were three bottles thrown, Bloom said.
– Referees Mike Stuart, Mike Kitts and Michael Stephens were the likely target of fan frustration. After State took a 67-60 lead with three minutes left, the referees called 10 fouls on Mississippi State and none on Kentucky.
Several calls were highly questionable, including a late whistle on a foul that sent John Wall to the foul line in overtime and a blocking call on State in which Patrick Patterson appeared to lower his shoulder and either charge or walk.
The SEC planned no disciplinary action against the referees, Bloom said.
– Stansbury used humor to say he disagreed with several calls. In response to a reporter’s question in the post-game news conference, he said his star big man Jarvis Varnado was the victim of more than one “nicky-pick” calls.
When a reporter prefaced a follow-up question by saying he didn’t want to belabor the point, Stansbury said, “Oh, belabor them (the referees). I know you want me to say something. Go ahead and belabor them.”
Then the State coach asked, “Are you going to pay my fine? Will you pay half of it? We’ll belabor the heck out of them.”
The SEC did not plan to fine or reprimand Stansbury, Bloom said.

Besides beating Mississippi State Tuesday, Kentucky did something that hasn’t happened with UK basketball since 1977.

Not in 33 years had three UK players had double-doubles in the same game. That happened on Nov. 26, 1977, according to UK.

The double-doubles against Mississippi State belonged to DeMarcus Cousins (19 points, 14 rebounds), Patrick Patterson (19 points, 10 rebounds) and John Wall (18 points, 10 rebounds).

In that 1977 game, the UK double-doubles were posted by four Wildcats: Jack Givens, Kyle Macy, Rick Robey and Mike Phillips.

Kentucky freshmen John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins have been named among the finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy,which the United States Basketball Writers Association presents to its national player of the year.
When the USBWA announced its finalists, the organization emphasized that a trio of returning finalists headed the list. The three are Kansas’ Sherron Collins, Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody and Ohio State’s Evan Turner.

Here’s the complete list of finalists:

Cole Aldrich, F, Kansas (6-11, 245, Jr., Bloomington, Minn.)
James Anderson, G, Oklahoma State (6-6, 210, Jr., Junction City, Ark.)
Sherron Collins, G, Kansas (5-11, 205, Sr., Chicago, Ill.)
DeMarcus Cousins, F, Kentucky (6-11, 260, Fr., Mobile, Ala.)
Devan Downey, G, South Carolina (5-9, 170, Sr., Chester, S.C.)
Jimmer Fredette, G, BYU (6-2, 195, Jr., Glens Falls, N.Y.)
Luke Harangody, F, Notre Dame (6-8, 246, Sr., Schererville, Ind.)
Robbie Hummel, F, Purdue (6-8, 208, Jr., Valparaiso, Ind.)
Damion James, G/F, Texas (6-7, 225, Sr., Nacogdoches, Texas)
Wesley Johnson, F, Syracuse (6-7, 205, Jr., Corsicana, Texas)
Dominique Jones, G, South Florida (6-4, 215, Jr., Lake Wales, Fla.)
Greg Monroe, C, Georgetown (6-11, 247, So., New Orleans, La.)
Scottie Reynolds, G, Villanova (6-2, 190, Se., Herndon, Va.)
Jon Scheyer, G, Duke (6-5, 190, Sr., Northbrook, Ill.)
Evan Turner, G/F, Ohio State (6-7, 205, So., Chicago, Ill.)
John Wall, G, Kentucky (6-4, 195, Fr., Raleigh, N.C.)