Kentucky grinds out a 62-52 win over Old Dominion

     Kentucky pulls out a win in what was one of the ugliest games I have witnessed in the last few years.  There was all kinds of things that happened during the game that caused it to be such a grinder.  Factors like energy, silly plays and officiating all played into this mess that we all just sat through.
     I have to talk a little about the officiating during this game.  Consistency is the one thing you ask for from a referee when your a basketball coach at any level of the game.  I don't mean to say that I think that the officials blew the whistle one way for one team and another for the other team.  I'm talking about being consistent on how you pull the trigger on calls throughout the game.  A player can adjust how he goes into the rest of the game by how tight or loose the ref is calling the action.  Today, neither team had that luxary, as the refs called it different at different times. Many time the whistle was loose .  Contrary, at other times, the whistle was really tight. 
     Silly play also had the Cats struggling throughout this game.  Marquis Teague really pressed things at times.  Just as with the Kansas game, Teague suffered from way too many turnovers in the first half.  On the bright side, Teague adjusted and played a much better game in the second.
    I have to wonder where the Kentucky energy was today?  It is my theory that being away from Lexington for such a long span has had much to do with Kentucky's slow start today.  The level of defense that we are accustomed to seeing from the Wildcats did not show up until late in the first half.  Again, being positive, Coach Cal led his team out of the locker room after the half with much more defensive pressure.
     Darius Miller is key to the Wildcats success early in the season.  I'm still on the fence if I am on the same page with Cal to keep Miller on the bench to start the game.  Being such a young team, Kentucky plays so much better when Darius Miller has the ball.  I wonder if it would  help us, if for some length of time, Coach Cal would put Miller on point?  He has the most experience on the team and is a proven winner.
     Overall, I am pleased to see how well the Cats adjusted in the second half to the Old Dominion zone defense.  It was just an ugly grinder of a game.  When we look back after the season a "W" is all we will remember.  A win is a win, no matter how ugly it is.