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Corey Allmond set a new record for 3's in Rupp Arena. Sounds like a broken record, n'est pas?

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Well, that was all kinds of fun.

Great game by the Sam Houston State Bearkats.  They really came in and gave it all they had, and it was almost enough.  This team can really shoot when they want to.  If they could bottle tonight and dole it out in doses throughout the year, they might win their league and make the NCAA tournament easily.

I have been watching college basketball a very long time, more years than some members of this blog have been drawing breath.  But I am sure that I have never seen two opposing teams back to back hit so many three point shots.  For both Miami and Sam Houston, they made the three look like a layup, or a free-throw.  In fact, I've seen lots of teams shoot a worse percentage from the free throw line than Sam Houston did from 20'9" -- 18-38.

I really don't know what to make of it, this amazing three-point shooting.  It's as if teams come into Rupp Arena, look at the basket, decide that it looks as big around as Jared Fogle before his Subway diet, and start filling it up like it fire hydrant unleashed on a blow-up backyard pool.

Kentucky's perimeter defense was pretty weak, okay?  I get that. But I don't know very many people who could stand at 25 feet and shoot 50% unopposed, let alone with other players running at them.  At least half of those threes were two to four feet behind the line.  Amazing.

Perhaps it's all the pre-season publicity that is driving this ridiculous opposition shooting.  Perhaps they just hate Kentucky.  Who knows?  Whatever it its, UK needs an antidote, and that antidote is better and sharper defense.  A big part of SHS' outstanding night was confusion and failure to communicate.  That has to get better.  But even all that does not explain the otherworldly, Hand of God shooting that UK has faced in the last two games.

But there is one really big positive -- both games were victories, and even historic three-point shooting was not enough to upset Kentucky.  I think that's important, don't you?  Can you imagine what would have happened last year?

More after the jump.

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More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

The X man didn't look much like a mutant last night.

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Last night's game between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Memphis Tigers is a great lesson for the Jayhawks that they get to learn without much cost, much like Kentucky's game versus the Miami RedHawks the other night.  It isn't exactly free -- both teams took a hit to their pre-season hype and credibility -- but its value is far beyond that ephemeral penalty.

Take a look at what Yahoo's Jason King said about Kansas last night:

Kansas’ players seemed arrogant and, as a team, the Jayhawks lacked cohesion. Memphis, meanwhile, used pesky defense and hustle plays to stay in the game. The Tigers forced 21 turnovers while fighting back from a 10-point deficit midway through the second half.

Remember the article about swagger the other day?  This is the danger of having swagger -- the possibility that it can run over into arrogance.  Arrogance in a college basketball team, particularly early in the season, leads to defeat.  The Jayhawks dodged a bullet, the 'Cats dodged a bullet, the Tar Heels dodged a bullet, and the Spartans dodged a bullet.  There is a lesson to be learned here, I think.

The lesson is that unless you adopt a professional attitude about the work before you, swagger just looks arrogant and classless.  It inspires other teams not to fear you, but to want to kick your butt all over the arena, and sometimes, a little inspiration is all you need -- right, Nick Winbush?

The early season is for learning lessons, and right now, the lesson is don't crown yourself king until you have won a few battles.  That lesson should be burning into the brain of every player on UK, KU, Michigan State and UNC.  That crown doesn't fit any of these teams yet -- it's much too small to fit on swelled heads.  Those heads will shrink as the season goes on and young players learn, but the learning needs to start right now.

Lesson #1 -- respect your opponent, and don't take him for granted.  Otherwise, he might rise up and smite you.

More after the jump.

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More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

The great Wall smiles after his cold-blooded assault on the Miami Redhawks.

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The Kentucky Wildcats' 72-70 victory over the Miami (OH) Redhawks might not have been the bunny rabbit victory the fans clad in blue expected, but the play of freshmen point guard John Wall and power forward DeMarcus Cousins illuminated brightly why the two future NBA stars were so hotly courted by the nations basketball elite.  Sure, both players made mistakes -- Wall had 5 turnovers and a missed free throw late in the game, and Cousins was a no-show in the first half --  but when it came time for Kentucky to assert its second half authority, Wall and Cousins were the leaders of the 'Cat pack.

Although UK allowed an embarrassing 57.7% of Redhawk three-pointers (15-26) to tickle the twine, as well as making only 58.3% of their own charity attempts (14-24), the 'Cats' play over the final 11:00 minutes of the second half propelled a sure and shocking loss into the win it should have been.

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More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

Daniel Orton -- bloody, but unbowed.

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Wow.  Just wow.  At Kentucky, we don't expect to have barnburners in the second game of the year, even though we have sufferd through them in each of the last three years.  I know many UK fans were seeing visions of VMI and Gardner-Webb dance in their heads.  But not this time.

First of all, I have no words for the Miami RedHawks.  They were just incredible.  15-26 from three point range is some of the best perimeter shooting I have ever heard of, and Nick Winbush's 80% on 10 shots is simply breathtaking.  Superlatives fail me.  At the end of the day, it was only by dint of the most furious of all-out efforts that UK was able to prevail, by the narrowest of margins.  Folks, coming in to Rupp Arena, whether you are Miami of Ohio or North Carolina, and barely missing by two points is a moral victory, if there really is such a thing.

It would be easy for me to find fault with the Wildcats, as there is plenty of fault to go around.  But we'll get to that later. First, I want to remark on the absolute playoff atmosphere in Rupp Arena.  Never in recent memory have I seen a home crowd so into the basketball game, so animated, so determined to push the Wildcats over the top.  And that's what happened, I think.  I think the crowd was just enough to make the difference.  Remarkable.

I have to admit a certain ... Zen feeling about this game.  Unlike many games in the recent past, I never thought we would lose, even at the very last.  I cannot say that about the Wildcat teams for the last four years before now.  I was always pessimistic, for whatever reason.  But whatever the cause, I was never upset too much, and I kept my composure remarkably well during the whole game.  What does that mean?  I have no idea.

More after the jump.

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by Ed Reinke - AP

Heeeerrreees Johnny!

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We continue with four straight days of Kentucky Wildcats sports today with men's basketball -- the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks.

In this post, I'll be breaking down the game (insofar as possible with the very few games played so far) and look at what we can expect from the RedHawks this evening in Rupp Arena.

The RedHawks have played one official game so far this year, and two pre-season exhibitions, just like Kentucky.  The RedHawks won both exhibitions, but lost their opener to Towson State, 82-71.  In that contest, Miami had the lead early in the second half, but turnovers and excellent Towson free-trhow shooting ultimately doomed the RedHawks, and Towson shot 58% eFG for the game to pull away in the second half.

Last season, the RedHawks were 17-13 for the season and 10-6 in the MAC Eastern Division.  Miami returns 9 players from last year, losing 5.  The RedHawks and the Wildcats have met 23 times previously, with Kentucky prevailing in 20 of those contests.  The last time the RedHawks defeated the Wildcats was in 1927.

A further analysis after the jump.

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by Ed Reinke - AP

Do it this way, guys!

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First of all, I want to thank the Morehead State Eagles from coming into a hostile arena against a much more talented team and showing everyone how important experience is in college basketball.  Morehead gave a fantastic account of themselves, and Kenneth Faried showed tonight why he has a chance to play basketball for money somewhere when he graduates from Morehead.  Donnie Tyndall's team will likely be a force again this year in the OVC, and they gave Kentucky plenty to think about.

Okay, now to the Wildcats.  There is a big difference in Kentucky with John Wall, and without.  Eric Bledsoe is a remarkable talent, and he had a really good game tonight, but here is the stat that you don't want to see -- 4 assists and 7 turnovers.  That is not a good line out of your point guard, no matter how many points he scores.  And Bledsoe scored plenty -- 7-14 for 24 points overall, including a dipsy-doo whacko shot that will be a SportsCenter highlight tonight.

Kentucky, once again, was plagued by turnovers.  But the real problem is, they were plagued by bad shots.  Yes, I know, the three is open against a sagging zone like Morehead employed tonight, and the DDM is not as effective against a zone, especially one that essentially concedes the three-point shot.  But Kentucky was not patient and was too frenetic in their offensive effort in the half court.

On the upside, I really liked our effort on defense, particularly all the players giving up their body for charges.  UK is long and tall and will get a ton of blocks this year, but they really showed exactly how that is done tonight, managing eight blocks.  When this team really runs the floor, it is hard to get back fast enough to have any hope of stopping them.  It will be even tougher with Wall in the lineup.

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by Ed Reinke - AP

Expect to see a lot of Eric Bledsoe taking the ball to the hole tonight.

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Tonight, Kentucky takes on the Eagles of Morehead State, a Kentucky college.  Like most Kentucky colleges, the Eagles have had some success in the basketball arena over the years, and last year made it to the NCAA tournament where they nearly knocked off the #1 seeded Louisville Cardinals.  This is the season opener for the Wildcats, and as such is a very significant game.

Kentucky has had shocking failures early in the season in recent history.  Last year, UK lost to Virginia Military Institute 111-103 in its season opener.  The year before that, UK won the season opener only to lose its second game to Gardner-Webb (then affectionately known as "Gardener-Who?") 88-64 in a contest that wasn't even that close.

But Tubby Smith had a few tough years with early games, too.  In 2001-02, Kentucky narrowly defeated exhibition opponent Athletes in Action, 88-83, in overtime, then went on to lose its season opener to Western Kentucky, 64-52.  In 2000-01, Kentucky lost it's first two games of the season versus St. Johns and UCLA in the Coaches Vs. Cancer tournament.

As you can see, slow starts are not unknown to the Wildcats in the new millennium.

But tonight marks a new era in Kentucky basketball, and despite some trepidation about facing a team that made the NCAA tournament last year and who boasts one of the best rebounders in college basketball in Kenneth Faried, Kentucky comes into this game loaded with size, speed, talent, and an aggressive new offense and defense.  This is Kentucky as it has not been since the late Pitino years.

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More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

Pat knows swagger.

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There has been a lot of talk recently, both by Coach Calipari and the Big Blue Faithful, about regaining the "swagger" that Kentucky used to have.  Of course, most die-hard UK fans intuitively understand why this is important, but sometimes it gets a little confusing to the more casual fans, or fans who have recently been converted to the Kentucky cause.

Michael Eaves is a die-hard Kentuckian, and wrote one of the articles in Wildcat Tip-off 2009-10 entitled "Destination:  Indianapolis."  Michael talks on his blog today a little bit about swagger, and it's clear to me that he gets what Coach Cal is talking about.

First of all, a little overview of semantics.  When Coach Calipari talks about "swagger," he is not talking about smack-talk, or braggadocio, naked hubris or narcissism.  Those are all bad things, by my lights, and have no real place in college basketball or mature sports discussion except as a rare, momentary, guilty indulgence.

The swagger that Coach Cal and most of our fans want to see back is the confidence of a program that knows where it wants to go, knows it it is headed in the right direction, and knows that it will get there sooner rather than later.  It is an embrace of past glory, learning from past failure, and a determination to apply both in the present.

When basketball players take the court versus an opponent, you can quickly tell who has swagger.  Teams with swagger expect, not hope, to win 100% of their games by convincing margins.  Teams with swagger don't need to thump their chests or denigrate their opponents -- they are not that petty or vain. Teams with swagger have been there before, done that, and are happy to let their attitudes and abilities do the talking.

Swagger is what you have when you know you are among the best at what you do, and you don't need fawning validation of that fact.  It is the quiet confidence of going about your business knowing that, if you give your best, you can overcome any challenge.  Swagger is confidence on steroids -- confidence in yourself, your team, your coaching staff,  your school and your fans.

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