Kentucky 38, Kansas 28: Second Half Live Game Thread

Well, we saw pretty much exactly what we might have hoped — the Wildcats coming out and defending the crap out of every possession, getting every offensive rebound (of which there were plenty), and just overpowering Kansas for most of the half. A late run by the Jayhawks got them back within ten points, but only the poor shooting of Kentucky kept Kansas from being buried under a fusillade of blocked shots and second-chance layups.

Box score

Cauley-Stein has six rebounds and Towns has five. Full halftime box score right here: pic.twitter.com/RfOYlmKwrV

— CoachCal.com (@CoachCalDotCom) November 19, 2014

What we see here are a couple of things:

• 39% shooting from 2.
• 4-13 from three (31%)

Once again, Kentucky missed a number of point-blank shots, open looks, and layups. That’s got to get better. What they did almost peerlessly is defend. Bringing the ball into the paint against Kentucky is just not a plan. Then are simply too long and too athletic to deal with.

I was happy with the effort, but I was not that happy with the execution. Yes, I know, it’s early and they will get better. That can’t happen soon enough for me.

So here we are in the second half. Let’s just do what we did in the last game, namely hold the opponent to 14 points, and we’ll be okay. Seriously, Kentucky has to do a better job of making open shots, and continue the defensive effort. If they do that, it will be very difficult for Kansas to make a run.

Let’s get this done. Go, ‘Cats!