(H-L photo/David Perry)
Quick thoughts from Kentucky’s 86-52 beatdown of South Carolina in Columbia.
What it means: The top-ranked Cats improved to 23-1 overall and 9-0 in the SEC. Kentucky has swept the season series with South Carolina and is now 5-0 on the road in the league. South Carolina dropped to 9-13 overall and 1-7 in the SEC.
What I liked: With a crowd that had to be easily more than half blue — and there were 16,527 in attendance — Kentucky came out and hit South Carolina in the mouth from the get-go. The Cats led 23-10 after seven minutes, 36-18 after 13 and 52-25 at halftime. True, Anthony Davis had 18 points and six rebounds in the first half, but Terrence Jones was a huge factor, scoring 16 first-half points. As he was last Saturday at LSU, Jones was aggressive, taking the ball to the basket, drawing fouls.
What I didn’t like: Jarrod Polson didn’t get in the game. John Calipari sent the sophomore guard to the scorer’s table with roughly four minutes to go, but there was never a dead-ball and the game ended with Polson still sitting there. Come on, Cal. Call a time out and get Polson in the game. Seemed like a 34-point win on the road would be enough to get Polson and walk-on Brian Long at least a little PT.
What’s next: It’s a big week. Florida, which beat Vanderbilt in Gainesville today, comes to Rupp Arena on Tuesday night. Kentucky leads the league at 9-0. Florida is second at 7-1. Then Saturday, the Cats travel to Nashville to face the 5-3 Commodores in an ESPN College GameDay 9 p.m. start.
