I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to write about a victory again, instead of a defeat.  This four-game losing streak that just ended today has been among the most difficult times I have experienced as a Wildcat fan, and definitely the least fun stretch of blogging I have ever had to do.

Despite a determined effort from the Ole Miss Rebels today, a wounded David Huertas was just too tough an obstacle for the Rebels to overcome.  Terrico White was terrific in defeat, and even though Huertas managed 15  points, he was only 4-14 from the field.  Nice effort by the Rebels.  They will be much tougher next year when they get their injured starters back.

For Kentucky, this was a game of stretches.  For some stretches in the game, the Wildcats struggled like crazy to score.  In others, they seemed to score effortlessly.  But today, the Wildcats ran offense that looked like ... well, like offense, and defended very well in the second half.  Despite a white-hot first half shooting, the Wildcats wore the Rebels down and eventually, their shooting returned to form.

It really is amazing to me the difference between the way the Wildcats attacked the zone defense today and they way they failed to attack it last weekend in Gainesville.  For the first time in a long time, switching defenses did not seem to bother Kentucky.  When the Rebels went zone, the 'Cats got the ball into the middle, forced rotation and Darius Miller was usually the guy that drove the ball into the paint and scored.  When the Rebs were in man to man, Meeks made startling cuts and dribble dives to the basket, or repeatedly pounded the ball in to Patterson and Stevenson.  The result was effective offense -- dare I say,  "good" offense?  Maybe.

But what really won this game for Kentucky to day was the outstanding board work by the 'Cats.  13 offensive and 22 defensive rebounds for a 7-rebound margin against the Rebels.  Not a great margin, but when you look at the OR% of 37%, that is very solid, especially compared to Ole Miss' 15% effort on the offensive glass.  Combined with one of our lowest turnover games in a long while (10), the 'Cats got up 12 more shots than the Rebels.

Some observations:

• Patrick Patterson continues to struggle with shots he was making earlier this year.  I wonder why?  But he took a couple of face-up jumpers that were very nice.  It was a solid game for Patterson, but we have come to expect better than 7-15 from him.  But he was a beast on the boards, garnering 14 boards, 3 of them offensive.
• Perry Stevenson had a whale of a game.  I suppose we'll see him turn sideways and vanish into thin air tomorrow, but today he was large and in charge, with 13 points on 4-6 shooting with 8 rebounds including 4 offensive.
• The things Ramon Harris does cannot be measured.  He did a great defensive job on Terrico White, even though White was red hot in the first half.  Almost every one of those shots was challenged, but White could not miss.  It went the other way in the second half, though.  Harris also managed 7 rebounds.
• Neither team shot well from three, and only a late Jodie Meeks three saved UK's 3-pointer-in-a-game streak.  1-10 is loathsome shooting from the arc.  Ole Miss was at least not horrible at 30%.
• I loved the way Meeks played today.  He made shot fakes instead of taking wild shots, he knifed to the basket with frightening abruptness and finished or got fouled.  Despite only one 3, Meeks got his average.  That is a scorer.  That's why he'll get paid big bucks to play ball after next year.
• What can I say about Darius Miller?  The freshman was simply terrific offensively.  The only real criticism I can make is that he got bupkis for rebounds.  How do you manage that at the 3 spot?
• Michael Porter was ... well, Michael Porter.  He hustled, he defended to the best extent his limited athleticism would allow, he was tough and determined.  But he was also so far off shooting that his seven missed shots barely threatened to touch the rim, let alone go through the hoop.  He did make one very nice driving layup, had three assists and only one turnover.  I suppose, on balance, that his negatives and positives were close.
• Josh Harrelson had a positive impact in only 8 minutes, but a really dumb three limited his playing time.
• Kevin Galloway tried, but he really struggled today defensively.  His man beat him over and over, but he did make a couple of nice passes and did not turn the ball over.
• DeAndre Liggins barely played, and came with one foul of making no mark at all on the game.

One thing I did notice was that UK stayed at home, and only one person went to block the shot.  In my view, this was one of the reasons that Kentucky did so well on the glass today.  I would also note that Ole Miss did not pressure Porter, which is likely why we did not see a bunch more turnovers.  Another possible negative is that the 'Cats did not put away the game until fairly late, so Gillispie was not able to rest the starters a great deal.  But for once, his substitutions made some semblance of sense, and both Patterson and Meeks got at least a few minutes of rest.

All in all, this was a solid effort from Kentucky, especially defensively in the second half, holding Ole Miss to only 20 points.  Forcing turnovers was a big part of that, something UK has not done particularly well this year.

So now, the 'Cats move on for another shot at LSU, who will be rested and ready.  If Kentucky brings the effort they had today, they should be competitive, but Jodie Meeks must be more effective from the perimeter.  But for now, we can celebrate a victory for the first time in two weeks, and it feels really good.