Season Interrupted

Perry was on fire versus UAB on his way to a career game.

The CATS lost a tough fight against a talented UConn squad. The announcers felt the Huskies were having a much simpler time scoring in the early going and they probably did. The Cats stayed with the Huskies early on in the game, but fell behind after the 1st television timeout. UK was down by as many as 13 for the rest of the half, only cutting the lead to 8 at one point and going into the locker room down by 12. The Cats rattled off 7 points straight to open the 2nd half. UConn is not the type to roll over and play dead and as Marc pointed out they have the talent to beat whomever they want. UK was able to cut the lead to 5 on a few occasions, but the Huskies would always bounce back. The Cats even cut the lead to 2 a couple of times. Poor rebounding on missed Huskie free throws led to second chance points that buried the Cats. There was also a call late in the game that gave the Huskies the ball instead of the CATS. UConn capitalized big with 4 quick points. The Huskies nailed 6 straight free throws down the stretch that iced the game. Patrick Sparks put up a hell of a fight, especially in the 2nd half dropping in clutch, long-range threes. The Cats couldn’t seal the deal and ended up losing by 4. It was a tough loss, but not as bad as the bounce from last year when the refs completely ignored the foul on Sparks as he hit the game saving 3 that has shown up on ESPN time and again. Thanks for the memories Patrick and to the other seniors Ravi, Brandon and Preston, you proved yourself worthy of the Blue & White this year.


Sparks carried the team yesterday against the Huskies.



Rondo put UL down like dogs.

UK had a rough start to the season after losing Chuck Hayes, Kelenna Azibuke and Randolph Morris (1st half only). They lost to Iowa in November in the opening round of the Guardians Classic before soundly beating a solid West Virginia team. A couple of weeks later, the Cats lost a winnable game versus UNC by the same 4 points they lost to Iowa. Exactly a week later, UK took a beating from IU that was one of the worst losses in the Tubby era. The Cats bounced back with a decisive win against their archrival Louisville Cardinals. UK followed that game with three more wins and then ran into a buzz saw named Kansas. The lopsided game was the worst in the Tubby era and the Cats only scored 46 points. Randolph Morris returned to action in time for UK to drop 2 more games to Vanderbilt and Alabama. UK rattled off 5 wins and looked to be righting the ship until a trip to Gainesville (during Ski Trip VI no less) that allowed Florida to look like a decent team. Another 3 game losing streak was started, with losses to Tennessee and the season sweep by Vandy. The Cats turned it around with 3 wins against substandard teams. Losses down the stretch against LSU and Florida sealed the Cats into a 3rd place spot in the SEC East. UK played in the opening round of the SEC tournament for the first time in 50 years. The Cats won the first 2 games and then lost to South Carolina by the same 4 points as early season losses. Somehow they were able to make it into the NCAA tournament and handled UAB. On Selection Sunday, it looked like the D. C. bracket was specifically designed to takedown the Cats. UAB, UConn, Michigan St./UNC/Tennessee were all loaded up to take us out. There was no way we were going to make it out of the region alive. I respect the Cats for getting into the Dance and considering the season they have had, they fought hard. It would have been nice to knock off the Huskies, but without a go-to scorer it was hard to imagine that happening.

Future


Morris had a decent season, but was not dominant this year.

There are rumors abounding about the CATS. Tubby will be snatched up by the Charlotte Bobcats, Rondo will enter the draft and Atlanta will be desperate enough to offer Morris a contract. I’m not sure if any of those things will come to fruition, but they could be devastating to the team. This season has aged Tubby by a decade. He’s still a great coach and I wouldn’t trade him for anyone. And anyone that wants Pitino back is a moron. I believe UL missed out on a chance to go Dancing this year. Rondo is not ready for the NBA. He was not impressive through much of the regular season and only had a decent game yesterday. If Morris leaves, he will at least have a guarantee of a job but he was less than impressive this year. Tubby is reloading after losing so many guards this year. He has one of the best backcourts in the country coming in as well as a prospect that could provide a presence in the paint. Good luck to the CATS and what should be an exciting season.

Goodbye Seniors

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Preston LeMaster has his biggestaaababcdecdbe Ravi Moss could always be counted
game of the season against Ole Miss. fababcdecdoon for a clutch 3-pointer.

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Sparks started every game with range aabcdebcdaStockton took up a starting role late in
outside the gym. abcdefghijklabcdemabcdenopqtuthe season and gave the CATS a lift.