I have come to the conclusion that the Kentucky Wildcats do not play well with a lead of any significant size [Ya think? -ed.].  Great Zot, what a freaking way to win a game.

The Cats got a good, long look at the abyss on a three point shot that would have likely won the game for the Rebels after having come back from a 19-point deficit at the half.  That shot seemed to take forever, and looked good all the way.  Fortunately, it was just a little long, and Kentucky survives the Ole Miss Rebels in a game that can be best described as a tale of two halves.

Kudos to the Rebels for an amazing comeback.  The second half, Ole Miss dominated nearly as completely as Kentucky dominated the first.  It was another heart-pounding, skinny-margin victory for Kentucky when it looked like it might wind up a laugher.  Ole Miss just pounded the Cats on the glass, and Chris Warren was virtually unguardable as he hit three 3-pointers from 25 feet or more.  Not only that, Warren was simply too quick by orders of magnitude for any of Kentucky's players, and he often blew by Wildcat defenders like a Maserati blows by a Yugo.

But at the end of the day, the Wildcats got it done.  There is no place in the won-lost column for detailed descriptions, and after the final buzzer sounded, UK came out with their 10th SEC victory against only 3 losses.  One more victory will make the Wildcats very tough to overlook for the NCAA tournament, and two more should be enough to make an invitation highly likely.  As close as it turned out to be, the Cats did just enough, as they have done so many times before. Amazingly enough, 20 victories is now within reach, and I don't think anybody would have believed it possible in early January.

Patrick Patterson was dominated for one of the very few times this season, and he played very much like a freshman.  I don't blame him, that does happen and he has played above his years all season long.  Frankly, the Cats were outplayed completely the entire second half, but dominated the first half enough to hang on.  There are lots of mistakes to criticize, but let's face it -- we should just be glad to be here given what we faced coming into the SEC season.  Sometimes, criticism doesn't make much sense, and this seems to be one of those times.  A victory by 1 point or 20 looks the same in the record books.

It's amazing how this team seems to play better when the game gets close, so I suppose that we can look forward to more close games to come.  I'm glad I have recently joined a gym and begun a workout program, because it looks like my heart will need the support if the Wildcats do make it into the post season.  You would think I would be used to it by now, but to be honest, I don't think I am.  Narrow escapes seem to be the only type of games these Cats are comfortable playing, and although it is exciting, it is more exciting than I like my basketball to be.

Next comes the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville.  They are likely to be as mad as killer bees over their loss at Vandy, and that is never a good thing.  But these Wildcats are very much like young trees -- they bend almost double, but refuse to break.  These Cats do not go away, and even when they get rattled, they are still able to get the job done.  Having two senior guards really helps with that.