Off the Bubble???

Just when I thought our chance had passed, you go and save the best for last …

I’ve been saying it for a while now; Kentucky needed to win some games down the stretch and especially the last two games of the regular season. There were a lot of doubts lobbed at the team when Patterson went down. The CATS responded with a thriller in Knoxville that gave fans hope. The follow-up in Columbia against the Gamecocks was a chance for redemption for Joe Crawford. After containing himself in the TN game, he came out firing and posted a career high thirty-five points versus South Carolina. It’s always good to get a road win in the SEC, but South Carolina is not considered a top tier team in the conference this year. The true test would come in the form of the defending national champions, Florida. The Gators have come to Lexington for many a Senior Night and more often than not have regretted it. Florida is rebuilding after their back to back National Titles, losing most of the team to the NBA. Kentucky and Florida are both having sub-par years with ESPN proclaiming them as bubble teams. The winner of Sunday’s game would have the edge in fighting for a NCAA tournament bid. The Wildcats looked like they had the game well in hand midway through the second half during a twenty-seven to eleven run. That sixteen point lead with less than nine minutes remaining would not hold. Full court pressure helped the Gators with a twenty-six to thirteen run that cut the lead to a mere three points with twenty-three seconds remaining in the game. The CATS had to burn the remainder of their timeouts before fighting off the Gators repeated swipes at the ball. The refs finally decided to call a foul and Perry Stevenson went to the line and sealed the game with two free throws. UK will now enter the SEC tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East giving them a first round bye. They play Friday night at 9:45pm in their 1st game to reclaim the CATlanta title.