North Carolina 70, Kentucky Wildcats 84: Post Game Celebration Thread

The Kentucky Wildcats defeats the North Carolina Tar Heels today 84-70, a convincing win that could have been a lot better. Having said that, there is a bunch of good stuff and a few bad things to talk about today’s game, but the main point here is that Kentucky won this game and goes to 11-0.

North Carolina played pretty well. They were up against an unusually big team in a legendary home arena, and that really made it a tough proposition for the Tar Heels. They did a lot of good things, like beat Kentucky in transition a lot, and that trap they put on really hurt UK late, even though the issue was likely no longer in doubt. Marcus Paige found his rhythm from three, which I’m sure will be good news to UNC fans. We wish our foes from Chapel Hill well for the rest of the season, I expect them to be a factor in the NCAA Tournament and the ACC regular season.

Final game stats

FINAL: No. 1 #Kentucky 84, No. 21 North Carolina 70. Booker and Cauley-Stein with 15 points each. pic.twitter.com/qnIbc6nttO

— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) December 13, 2014

Observations

• Kentucky shot the ball well today from everywhere. That’s different. I can’t wait to see the efficiency numbers for Kentucky, they are going to be splendid.

• Kentucky’s legendary defense took a hit today.

• Turnovers were a problem for Kentucky today. They forced more than they gave up, but that’s not the goal — the goal is to never give it up and take it away a lot.

• 33 points off the bench is notable.

• I think Alex Poythress’ absence will mostly be reflected in the defensive numbers. Trey Lyles, his replacement, had an impressive game.

• I’m worried about Roy Williams’ health. He’s had several episodes lately. I really hope he’s okay.

• North Carolina played pretty well, but turnovers and offensive rebounds killed them.

I’ll have the full postmortem a bit later today. In the meantime, talk about the big win, these moments come far to infrequently not to enjoy.

Go, ‘Cats!