Photo by David Stephenson.
It’s late but here are 10 notes from UK’s heart-stopping 68-65 win over Florida:
- 1. Take a bow Kevin Galloway. The juco transfer, so often glued to the bench this year, was the difference in the game for Kentucky. Galloway scored six points, dished nine assists and grabbed eight rebounds. He was aggressive, and terrific.
- 2. Good news. Patrick Patterson’s diagnosis is a sprained right ankle. The x-rays were negative. Patterson is listed as day-to-day. He left the game with 9:06 reamaining. UK led 50-48 at time, fell behind 60-54, then rallied to win.
- 3. Florida’s Nick Calathes claimed he got a hand on Jodie Meeks’ game-winning shot, that heave with 4.7 seconds left (one on the shot clock) and Meeks still made the basket.
- 4. Didn’t see the halftime interview Billy Gillispie did with Jeannine Edwards, but heard all about it from commenters on the Liveblog, e-mails and chatter at the game. My guess is that Gillispie is purposely acting like a jerk because he doesn’t want to do those interviews. If he doesn’t, get an assistant to do it. Better yet, win some titles, and you can do what you want — like Coach K. I’m withholding total judgement till I see the clip, but it seems unnecessary and insulting.
- 5. Ironically, on a night when UK made just nine of 16 free throws, it was Florida’s misses at the line that hurt most. Chandler Parsons missed two with 2:40 left that would have put Florida up 64-59 Then Dan Werner missed the second of two with 40 seconds left that would have made it 66-65 Gators. Then when Calathes had a chance to send the game into overtime with 00.6 left, he missed the first two of three free throws, then purposely missed the third.
- 6. UK fans don’t like him, but Nick Calathes is an outstanding player. The sophomore finished with a career-high 33 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
- 7. You have to love this quote from Billy Donovan: “As we were shaking hands at the end of the game (Meeks) says, ‘Coach, I was really lucky tonight.’ I always admire someone who is that humble. He is a great kid and he has had an unbelievable year.”
- 8. If Tennessee beats Georgia on Wednesday night, as Tennessee should, there will be a four-way tie atop the SEC East. Kentucky, Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee will all be 6-3.
- 9. The crowd of 24,355 was the seventh-largest in Rupp Arena history, and yes, Rupp rocked. I had ear plugs around my neck, but never got around to putting them in. I will probably pay for that down the line.
- 10. Florida lost senior guard Walter Hodge to a flagrant technical with 16:12 left. Hodge stepped on Perry Stevenson’s arm during a loose-ball situation. The officials ruled it to be intentional. Not sure it had that much of an effect. Florida committed just one turnover the second half.
Galloway should be starting, Why has he played so little??????
I agree about Galloway and starting. I always thought he would be a key for this season but he seems to always be in Billy G’s doghouse.
I think Jodie Meeks should be praised for being “TOUGH” in the clutch. He made that shot on his on. No indication of a designed play even though 2 timeouts were called.
Instead of having the team watch hours of Texas A & M tapes (I don’t thinnk the Aggies ever won a national title or made the Final Four!), the coach should be required to spend a week watchin tapes of Rupp, Hall, Pitino, and Tubby coached games to see how coaches make adjustments and handle last minute game situations. (he might also pick up some tips on how to handle half time interviews with class!)