Entries Tagged 'Game stories' ↓

Vandy center A.J. Ogilvy was not listed in the starting lineup for Saturday’s game against Kentucky.

A bruised heel was the reason.

It was unclear if Ogilvy would play.

Ogilvy leads Vandy in scoring (16.5 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg). He and Patrick Patterson were the only two players named unanimously to the coaches’ all-SEC team this pre-season.

Turnovers made Kentucky’s once comfortable lead shrink.

UK led 54-37 with 12:30 left. Then the turnovers came.

On the first, UK threw long over the press, a strategy that worked repeatedly. But this time, the inbounds was too strong, forcing Patterson to blindly save the ball at the opposite baseline.

Jacob Pullen swished a three-pointer in transition to reduce UK’s lead to 56-46.

Meeks turned it over and Pullen hit another three-pointer.

Two more UK turnovers and K-State transition baskets narrowed the lead to 60-57 with 6:47 left.

UK called time.

After Kansas State closed within 45-37, Kentucky scored the next nine points to take complete charge.

Meeks scored four of the points. He cut backdoor, took a pass from Porter and hit a layup to increase his point total to 31.

Kansas State, which scored two baskets in the first minute of the second half to match its total in the final 14:28 of the first  half, went cold again. K-State hadn’t scored in more than four minutes when Coach Frank Martin called time with 12:26 left to talk about a 54-37 deficit.

With Kentucky continuing to turn over the ball, Kansas State thrice narrowed UK’s lead to eight points early in the second half.

UK opened the second half with two turnovers. The Cats’ 20th turnover came with 16:04 left. That put Kentucky on pace to break its season high of 28 (at North Carolina).

Three-point plays by Meeks and Harris prevented the lead from shrinking further.

Jodie Meeks outscored Kansas State 24-23 in the first half. Needless to say, that propelled Kentucky to a halftime lead.

The Cats led 37-23 at the break. UK used a 30-7 run in the half’s final 13:45 to take the lead.

Of those 30 points, Meeks scored 22 in a bravo performance.

Kentucky needed a big half from Meeks because Patrick Patterson went to the bench with his second foul at the 12:55 mark.

Twenty-four seconds later, Meeks gunned the Cats on a rally that erased an early 16-7 Kansas State lead.

If not for turnovers, Kentucky would have enjoyed an even more commanding lead. UK committed 17 turnovers against K-State’s relentless pressure. When UK got a shot off, most went in.

More Jodie Meeks propelled Kentucky to a 28-19 lead. For the second time in the half, he stole a pass and drove for a dunk.

Then for the second time, Meeks hit a three-pointer in transition. That shot put UK ahead 28-19 and, for the second time, prompted a Kansas State timeout.

Kansas Steate answered with 4:12 left when Dominique Sutton hit a three-pointer. That marked K-Steate’s second basket since taking a 16-7 lead with 14:28 left.

With Patrick Patterson on the bench in foul trouble, Jodie Meeks shot Kentucky into the lead against Kansas State.

Meeks scored the last 12 points of a 16-0 run that gave the Cats a 234-16 lead with 9:02 left.

During the streak, Meeks hit two three-pointers, two mid-range pull-up jumpers and a dunk off his own steal.

Those plays helped Kentucky lead 23-19 at the TV timeout with 7:23 left.

Kentucky rallied from a 16-7 deficit to close within 16-14. That prompted a Kansas State timeout with 12:29 left.

A three–pointer by Jodie Meeks, his first basket, capped the 7-0 run. It started when UK took advantage of Kansas State pressure with a dunk by Ramon Harris off a backdoor cut.

The problem for Kentucky was Patrick Patterson picked up his second foul with 12:55 left.

Kentucky’s intentions of putting Ouachita Baptist away in the second half took a hit when Patrick Patterson picked up his third and fourth fouls before the first television timeout.

Patterson picked up his third when he fouled Brandon Rose’s putback attempt at the 17:15 mark.

Less than minute later, Patterson got his fourth foul when he reached stop a drive by Ouachita center Daniel Maddox. That sent Patterson to the bench with 16:36 left.

Not that Ouachita got all the calls. The Tigres picked up their seventh foul, giving UK the one-and-one bonus, with 14:12 left.

Twenty-six seconds later, the referees called a technical foul on Ouachita’s Ed Keyes. This brought an incredulous smile on the face of Ouachita Coach Charlie Schaef, who whipped off his jacket to show his displeasure.

The first half Friday night showed a great difference from the first to the second exhibition.

Kentucky played sloppily and without a lot of zeal in leading Ouachita Baptist 43-35 at intermission. That contrasted sharply with the crisp demolition of Missouri-St. Louis on Monday, when UK led 63-23 at halftime.

The Cats spent much of the first half in this exhibition game as if distracted by how to pronounce Ouachita (it’s WASH-a-taw).

A troubling sign came early when Ouachita guard Rowan Ledbetter, a 5-10 senior who looked like he’d been lifted from an intramural game, dribbled down in transition and decided, oh what the heck, launched an uncontested three-point shot. It made you wonder what happened to the pressure defense, the shove the initiative down the opponent’s throats, that Gillispie preached upon his arrival last year.

Gillispie signalled his displeasure by replacing UK’s backcourt, putting in Darius Miller and Kevin Galloway for Michael Porter and Jodie Meeks.

However, a fewminutes later, Ramon Harris threw a lazy pass against Ouachita’s full-court press. Ledbetter, who was everywhere in a 15-point half, intercepted and set himself up for another three-pointer.

About the time a nine-point evaporated, Gillispie tried his own salute to intramural basketball. He put in walk-ons Mark Krebs and Landon Slone with Porter.

Krebs hit a three-pointer that put UK ahead for good at 27-24.

The lead grew to 37-27 late in the hialf.

Then the Cats got generous. Four straight turnovers helped Ouachita hang in there.