Cats Lock Down Gators

We could discuss the home winning streak this evening. It's quite pleasant.

Or we could talk about Darius Miller elevating his game and tallying a new career high of 24 points. Peachy.

We could even expound upon Brandon Knight playing 37 minutes without a single turnover. Swelleriffic.

But instead, we're going to chat about intangibles. Just briefly.

Things like effort.

Desire.

Dare I say...pride?

This Kentucky team has taken its lumps away from home, absolutely. They've been criticized for failure to execute in late game situations. Fairly so.

Their coach, the one who just notched his 500th career win, has seen a bit of heat coming his way for how his squad has allowed the close ones to slip away this season, again and again.

But I saw another flicker this afternoon. A brief suggestion. The slightest hint of an inkling of a possibility that these Cats could really make the leap going into the second season, the one that truly matters. The one where they give out trophies.

Because that was a pretty darn good Florida team. And yeah, they have a couple of conference losses already, and they are in the middle of a road swing, but still....the Gators came in ranked #13. Legitimately. Plenty of talent on that side.

And UK absolutely imposed its will on Donovan and Co. when it mattered. The boys in Blue put on a little run-- a team run, featuring none other than our much-maligned Darius Miller--that Florida could not answer.

Kentucky looked confident. They looked well-coached. They looked aggressive. Everything you would want from a team aspiring to peak as it heads toward the post-season.

So I'm going to relish this one for a bit. Give me Sunday at least. Vandy awaits on Tuesday, but that one's in the friendly confines as well.

It's just heartening to see once more that UK absolutely can beat quality teams when it plays a smart brand of basketball with full effort and initiative. I just like it when they play HARD, and they really did it today, like a Kentucky team should.