No. 4 Kentucky survives behind Cousins
November 20, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP)—DeMarcus Cousins had 27 points and 18 rebounds to help No.4 Kentucky outlast Sam Houston State 102-92 on Thursday night in the CancunChallenge.
Patrick Patterson had 20 points and nine boards and John Wall added 21points and six assists as the Wildcats (3-0) overcame a record-setting shootingperformance by the Bearkats (2-1).
Sam Houston State (2-1) hung around deep into the second half behind stellar3-point shooting, led by senior guard Corey Allmond, who poured in 37 points andmade a Rupp Arena record 11 3-pointers. The Bearkats made 18 of 38 3-pointersand never let Kentucky get comfortable.
The Wildcats survived behind Cousins and Patterson, who had little troubledoing whatever they wanted against the shorter, smaller Bearkats. Kentuckyoutscored Sam Houston State 48-18 in the paint and held a 48-33 advantage on theboards while shooting 60 percent from the floor.
Still, it wasn’t exactly the kind of crisp performance coach John Calipariwas looking for after Kentucky narrowly escaped an upset bid by Miami (Ohio) onMonday.
Wall hit a last-second jumper to lift the Wildcats to victory against theRedHawks.
There were no such heroics necessary this time, but the joy felt duringWall’s dynamic debut was replaced with a sense of unease as Kentucky allowedanother opponent to go crazy from behind the arc.
Calipari called Miami’s performance—the RedHawks made 15 of 26 3-pointers— somewhat of a fluke and said he was “ecstatic” after the Wildcats ralliedfrom an 18-point deficit to win.
He wasn’t quite so cheery when Kentucky failed to put away the Bearkats, amember of the Southland Conference.
The Wildcats never trailed, but the inability to slow down Allmond or getany production from the bench—Kentucky’s reserves did not score a single point— left Calipari in a frenzy.
He called timeout after timeout hoping to get his team to play with somedefensive intensity. It never happened.
Allmond simply wouldn’t let it. He hardly seemed bothered while beingguarded by Wall, considered the top freshman in the country. Allmond knockeddown eight 3-pointers in the first half alone. Some of the shots were flat-outridiculous, including a double-pump leaning 3-pointer with Wall all over him.
Kentucky still managed to lead 53-42 at the half then opened the second halfon a 7-0 run to push the lead to 18. Yet they simply couldn’t get free.
Every time the Wildcats appeared to be ready to break it open, they wouldcommit a turnover and the Bearkats would answer with another deep jumper.
Sam Houston State pulled to 81-73 with 6:58 remaining before one last burstby the Wildcats pushed the lead to 94-77. The Bearkats never got closer than 10the rest of the way, but Kentucky’s sloppy play had Calipari leaving the floorin a huff visibly angry at his team’s lethargic defensive performance.
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