For the 2nd time in 5 days Kentucky found itself in an opponent’s “March Moment”, and once again they were able to take over the final 5 minutes of a game and win anyway. It was an important game simply because the Cats couldn’t afford to lose it. Kentucky is now 21-8 overall and 11-5 in the SEC.
Aaron Bradshaw Proves His Worth
Kentucky has had a bit of revolving door at the 5 spot this season. They’ve had 4 different guys play there and are getting some consistency with Big Z. But today Aaron Bradshaw had a resurgence. 15 big points and 5 rebounds in just 12 minutes is good production and is a big boost as we hit the home stretch of the season. Kentucky has multiple guys who have shown the ability to step in at that spot and help the Cats survive.
It also couldn’t have happened to a better kid. Aaron’s season was derailed by an unfortunate foot injury and the angst of BBN placed an unfair weight on him. From rumors about him backing out and going to USC. to confident declarations that he’ll “never play” Aaron has said all the right things. He’s also been a great teammate. Multiple scenes of him comforting a teammate when down and being the biggest cheerleader when not in the game. I couldn’t be happier that he got have a big moment in Rupp.
Rob Dillingham Is a Dog
Dillingham was once again struggling for large portions of the game but once again came through in winning time. Rob struggled with his shot but still found a way to score by 15 points but most importantly he grabbed 5 assists. Rob’s creativity off the bounce can cause so many problems that will give opposing coaches nightmares in a single elimination tournament.
Rob is not alone either. This team has so many guys who can take over a game at any given time. Good luck predicting which one it will be from game to game.
The Defense…Is A Rollercoaster
For 31 minutes Kentucky’s defensive intensity was virtually non-existent. Multiple Arkansas guards were allowed to get comfortable (I warned they would need a guard to go nuclear, just picked the wrong one). They allowed an individually talented but bad team to get hot early and struggled to wrestle control of the game back. With a little under 9 minutes to go Arkansas hit a layup to put themselves up 9 points. The Hogs made just 2 FGs the rest of the game. One of which came on the final possession and was uncontested by Kentucky.
The Hogs were forced into bad turnovers, rushed shots, and ultimately had to desperately try to draw fouls as Kentucky swarmed them. I don’t know what clicked or why that couldn’t have been done to start the game but I’ll take it. This team doesn’t need to be an elite defensive team, it just needs to play well enough in spurts to bury teams offensively.
What Does It Mean
The vibes around the program are good righ nowt but that would have been a really bad loss. A loss would have guaranteed Kentucky playing on Thursday in the SEC Tournament and likely dropped them down a seed line for the big tournament. You couldn’t lose and they didn’t, so credit for that. It’s especially important when everything that could have gone against them the last two games has but they still found a way to win.
Now Kentucky controls it’s destiny for the double by and could potentially find itself in a 5-way tie for the SEC Regular Season Title. The journey hasn’t always been smooth but Kentucky has grown a lot in the last month. This despite playing in the best conference in the country (do not fall for the B12 propaganda).
Kentucky will have it’s final home game of the season with Vandy coming to Rupp midweek. For now we’ll enjoy a season sweep over the Hogs.
Go Cats.
