I'm finally confident in saying that this team is showing signs that they're finally figuring this thing out. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, because they still have their flaws, but the amount of individual improvements we're seeing across the roster is tremendous.
Kentucky defeated Vanderbilt tonight in a late game thriller, 77-74, with a clutch lead-taking shot from Davion Mintz.
Jacob Toppin says their final play was exactly what they had drawn up. "We executed that play perfectly."
Davion Mintz says his pass from Devin Askew was "right on the money," and that he's practiced that shot "a couple hundred times" on one evening after a flight back home from one of their games. Mintz says that shot helps his and his teams confidence from here on out.
Dontaie Allen finishes with his second double-digit performance. Olivier Sarr goes for the double-double again. Jacob Toppin continues to prove his worth. Devin Askew is no longer a "should be in High School still" kind of player, as he is running the offense great. Oh, and Kentucky finished with only TWO turnovers for the whole game. That might be the best statistical effort of them all.
A great performance from the entire team, that just leaves BJ Boston as the only one who is still falling behind. Terrence Clarke is sidelined due to a knee injury, Cam'Ron Fletcher will play when Cal decides it's the right time, and who knows when we'll ever get Keion Brooks back, so that just leaves Boston left to figure out. Cal said in his postgame press conference tonight that, "BJ is going to be fine. We need our fans to absolutely support BJ. I donât know why any of our fans would ever say anything nasty... Our fans left Devin (Askew) alone when he struggled, and look where heâs at now.â
The Cats only win by three, but a win is a win, and there's a lot to be happy about. Kentucky is now 3-6 on the season, and 2-0 in conference play. Will see the next outing of this team this Saturday in Gainesville.
Go Cats.