Another quick turnaround for the Cats as they finish their pre-Christmas schedule with their 3rd game in 5 days.  The players should be fairly rested for the game as no one played more than 26 minutes against Drexel.  What kind of effort will we see after the dominating performance against the Dragons, the elation of 2000 victories and with Christmas on the horizon?  Long Beach St has played some tough opponents already including Texas, West Virginia, and Clemson.  They've also played a not-so-good UCLA and Notre Dame and a pretty solid Utah St team.  Because of their tough non-conference schedule, this could be one of those games that at the end of the season ends up as an RPI 50-100 win for UK should they get it.

None.  For the second game in a row we have a first ever matchup for UK.

• GOG #00 has information about the game.  Follow the link if you have any questions.
• Statsheet.com has information about Long Beach St.
• Congratulations to btcoop71 for winning GOG #11!  Follow the link for full results. 

GOG 2009 #12: Long Beach St. [Max 32 Points]

1. The worst loss in terms of margin for Long Beach St was by 33 to Texas at Texas.  Does UK beat LBS by 33 points or more? [+1 point if correct, -1 if incorrect] No
   
2. Long Beach St doesn't have much height, they are not very good at defending 2 point shots, and they have no shot blockers of any note.  All of this spells a big day for the Cats inside.  How many points in the paint for UK? [4 points if correct, 3 points if within 1, 2 points if within 2, 1 point if within 3] 38
   
3. UK had 31 points at the 10 minute mark of the first half against Drexel - a pace for 124 points for the game.  How many points does UK have at the 10 minute mark against LBS? [4 points if correct, 3 points if within 1, 2 points if within 2, 1 point if within 3] 16
   
4. How many combined points for Patterson, Cousins, Orton, Stevenson, and Harrellson? [4 points if correct, 3 points if within 1, 2 points if within 2, 1 point if within 3] 34
   
5. After UK went 8-12 on 3's against Austin Peay, I almost used a question for the Drexel GOG asking if UK would be able to hit 40% of their 3's since they obviously wouldn't go 8-12 again.  Shows what I know.  UK is now an astounding 17-25 (68.0%) on 3's in their last two games.  Does UK hit 50% or more of their 3pt shots?  Does UK hit 10+ 3's? [+1 point if correct, -1 if incorrect each question] 6-19 for 31.6% shooting so no and no
   
6. DeMarcus Cousins is really improving rapidly.  His current averages of 14.9 ppg, 8.7 rpg, and 1.8 bpg are coming with just playing 20.3 mpg.  If he could stay on the floor for 30 minutes a game that would translate to 22 ppg, 12.8 rpg, and 2.7 bpg.  Oh, and he's also hitting all his free throws now: 13-13 in the last two games to raise his FT% to 63.0%.  Predict Cousins points/rebounds/blocks. [2 pts each] 15/10/1 in only 13 minutes
   
7. Against Drexel every player on the team played at least 10 minutes.  I can't remember the last time that happened.  How many players get double digit minutes? [3 pts] 9
   
8. UK finally put up a dominating effort on the defensive glass, grabbing 79.5% of Drexel's missed shots.  Does UK get 70% or more of Long Beach State's missed shots in this game? [+1 point if correct, -1 if incorrect] I was a bit surprised by this, but UK did in fact do better, grabbing 70.5% of LBS's missed shots
   
9. Just because.  Darnell Dodson: predict his points/made 3's/steals. [2 pts each] 5/1/0
   
10. Bonus Non-Basketball GOG question: Who wins the Music City Bowl between UK and Clemson? [+1 point if correct, -1 if incorrect] Clemson
    

Deadline for entries is tip-off at 1:00 PM Wednesday, December 23.

Congratulations to Wild Weasel for winning with 12 points!  EagleTDL was second with 8 and kentuckygirl0724 was a close third with 7 points.  As we are now into double digit GOGs, I have decided to implement a minimum participation level for ranking based on "Scoring Average".  You must participate in 40% of the GOGs to be ranked by average.  Full results are below.