Cats tough one out, beat ODU 62-52

So, that's how one of those games feels. It wasn't pretty. In fact, it was actually quite ugly, but still the Cats held firm and prevailed over Old Dominion 62-52 to win the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic. While they certainly weren't clicking on all cylinders, they managed to overcome a rough day offensively and what seemed like more whistles and official reviews than have ever occurred during a basketball game to remain undefeated on the year. Onto the notes... --Old Dominion played the Cats the way you have to play them if you're a team that's overmatched physically. They played a zone like Kentucky will see over and over this year, but it was one that was physical and made life difficult on the Cats. Kentucky struggled from outside, shooting 4-13 from three on the day and taking several quick jumpers. That's the formula for beating the Cats and although they're a solid shooting team, Kentucky can't fall in love with the outside shot or they make themselves beatable by teams that otherwise wouldn't have a chance. Fortunately, today the Cats played outstanding defense and got the ball in the paint enough to overcome an Old Dominion team that executed its game plan very well. --Speaking of that defense, it was there from the start today. What the Cats lacked in offensive polish for most of the day they made up for in defensive intensity. Yes, there were lapses, like when ODU went on a run to come with a point with under five minutes left, but for the most part Kentucky stayed disciplined and played halfcourt defense as well as we've seen. This team was expected to rely on its offense until the defense came around, but it's the defense that's been steady so far while the offense has been more inconsistent. When their offensive execution catches up with the effort they play with on every possession this Kentucky team will be tough to compete with. --Coach Cal touched on this after the game, but Darius Miller was the star of the show today. He came in off the bench and was fantastic in the first half, scoring 11 points and settling down the team as they had early trouble with the ODU zone. He finished tied for the team high with 13 points to go along with four rebounds and five assists on the day, but his contribution to the game was even bigger than that. He was the key to breaking down the Old Dominion defense and whether he was scoring or dishing to the open man he always seemed to be making the right play. People tend to focus on the downside of Miller coming off the bench, but fail to realize the value. He is, in essence, the perfect sixth man because he can come in for anyone in the starting five, from a struggling Marquis Teague all the way to Anthony Davis if need be. The calming influence he has on the team doesn't show up in the stat sheet but you can see it when you watch the game, and it makes him invaluable to the team despite not starting. --The other guy that I thought was a big key to the win was Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who also scored 13 points and tied for the team lead with nine boards. At this point praising Kidd-Gilchrist's energy is old hat but it's still amazing to watch him. He competes on every possession on both ends, stays locked in even when he makes mistakes and does plenty of the dirty work. His offensive game isn't the smoothest, but it's effective and his commitment to trying to get the ball into the teeth of the ODU zone was big for Kentucky. He's the best the team has to offer defensively, runs the break and passes well and even has shown a better jumper than people gave him credit for before the year. He's just a complete player that is flat out fun to watch and it was all on display today. --Where Miller and Kidd-Gilchrist were stars, Marquis Teague had a slightly different type of game. The freshman continues to struggle with playing under control and although he hit a couple of key buckets down the stretch, so far he has yet to get things really rolling. He earned a quick hook, and several subsequent ones, from Coach Cal today as he made some bad passes and seemed to force things a bit. The offense generally looks more crisp when Teague goes out and that's never a good sign for your point guard, but there's a long way to go and Cal seems to have a knack for getting lead guards to come around. Many people say Teague is the key to this team and he'll have to play better if they want to make a run in March, although it is nice to be able to win games like UK has been when he doesn't play well. --Anthony Davis played well, but fouled out after the whistles tightened up in the second half. Despite the foul trouble, Davis finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks on the day. He played with good energy and was active, although ODU did a good job of making it difficult to get him the ball. His presence was noticeably missed on the defensive end when he was out with foul trouble, though, as Old Dominion attacked the post with some success when he was on the bench. The Cats got away with it today, but Davis can't get in the habit of getting in foul trouble or better teams will exploit his absence big time. --Kentucky didn't play perfectly but locked down when it got to crunch time, finishing each half with a big run. The Cats ended the first half on a 12-2 run to take an improbable five-point lead into the break and kill the momentum that ODU had built by controlling things to that point. It was the last few minutes of the game that really showed that this team knows how to close, though. After Old Dominion hit a three out of a timeout to cut the UK lead to one, Kentucky went on a 12-3 run over the last seven minutes to ice the game. They were challenged, but never looked rattled and executed even in the face of adversity. Freshmen got the next three field goals after the lead was carved to one, and the fact that they didn't shrink from the challenge or pressure of a tight game is a great sign for a young squad. That about covers it for the game. It wasn't flashy, but a win is a win and there is a lot for Kentucky to learn from the weekend. It was good to see what the team would do in a game where they were challenged for 40 minutes, and even better that they got a win when the offense was far from its best. It was a successful road trip for the Cats as they took home the tourney title, and they'll finally return to Rupp on Wednesday against Radford. We'll have more in a bit.