John Clay’s Sidelines

Here is the audio from UK’s post-game press conference after the Cats rallied to beat East Carolina 25-19. Click here for the audio.

E.J. Adams and Mike Hartline hold the Liberty Bowl trophy. Photo by David Stephenson.

If you don’t want to comment on the Liveblog, and just want to follow today’s Liberty Bowl game between UK and East Carolina, check back here for updates.

• Kentucky runs out the clock and wins its third consecutive bowl game, 25-19.

• Pirates punt and UK has it at own 45 with 2:34 left. ECU has all timeouts left.

• ECU is ruled down at 1 when fielding kickoff. Ball at own 1 with 2:56 left.

• Cats do it again as Ventrell Jenkins picks up a fumble and goes 56 yards for a TD to give UK a 25-19 lead with 3:02 left. Extra point is blocked again. That could be big.

• An 18-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Micah Johnson is overturned when replay rules that Pinkney’s knee was down before the fumble.

• Cats punt and ECU takes over at 20 with 5:22 left.

• Still tied 19-19.

• ECU punts and UK takes over at 20 with 8:32 remaining.

• Exchange of punts and ECU has ball at own 31 with 10:17 left.

• Attendance just announced at 56,125.

Continue reading ‘Updates: Liberty Bowl’

I’ve been told that there will be wireless in the press box — cross your fingers — for today’s Liberty Bowl tilt between Kentucky and East Carolina.

If that’s the case, we’ll use the Cover it Live format for the Liveblog on today’s game.

But for those of you put off by all that chat, and are just looking for updates, we’ll have a separate post with more of the meat-and-potatoes.

Kickoff is 5 p.m. EST.

Keep your fingers crossed on the wireless.

As we stumble into the New Year, good to know some things remain resolutely unchanged. On the final day of 2008, I earned confirmation with my trip to Freedom Hall to scout out the Louisville Cardinals in advance of Sunday’s annual Cats-Cards mash-up, only to witness Rick Pitino’s team take an unexpected pratfall and lose to a UNLV team minus its best player.

I admit that my admiration of Rick has grown with both time and distance, but losses still bring out the more petulant Pitino. Thinking that Terrence Williams was fouled on his final drive (in vain), Rick eschewed the post-game handshake with Vegas coach Lon Kruger to go after the official he believed blindly failed to make the deciding call in his favor. When the striped bandit proceeded off the floor and on to his New Year’s Eve plans without giving Rick the time of day, Pitino just continued on to the tunnel, head down.

Then in the post-game press conference, WLKY sports anchor Fred Cowgill asked the coach if Terrence Williams must shoot well for the Cards to shoot well. It was an obvious question with an obvious answer. Williams was a dreadful two-of-15 from the floor, and the rock-throwing ‘Ville wound up shooting a ghastly 29.6 percent on the way to its third loss of the season.

But, being the ultra-competitor, Pitino wasn’t having any of the media’s half-cocked theroies, even the correct ones. So Rick snapped, “No. That has nothing to do with it.”

In Pitino’s defense, this Louisville team could put Mother Theresa in a bad mood. The Cards are blessed with talent but cursed by a lack of early-season chemistry. You thought Kentucky had a point guard problem, Louisville has point guards but no one who plays the point, at least effectively. The Cardinal offense is disjointed, at best. Edgar Sosa is the key the way Rodrick Rhodes was often a key to Rick’s Kentucky teams. In 13 minutes last night, Sosa contributed four turnovers without finding his way to an assist.

So, in the spirit of the New Year, we’ll cut Rick a break. After all, he did end the press conference by wishing us a Happy New Year. His hope is that the new year will bring him a new and better team.

I’m at Freedom Hall tonight to get a look at Louisville before Sunday’s UK- U of L matchup:

• Williams misses drive to basket and Vegas pulls the upset, 56-55. Louisville ends up shooting 29.6 percent.

• Louisville turns it over and Bellfield scores off glass to give Vegas a 56-55 lead with 14.2 seconds remaining.

• UNLV’s Willis makes just one of two free throws, cutting U of L lead to 55-54. Cards call time with 56.8 ticks left.

• Louisville up 55-53 with 1:38 remaining.

• UNLV is back in front 51-50 with 3:15 left after Louisville had taken a 48-47 lead and then a 50-48 lead. Preston Knowles has helped the Cards get back in it, scoring 11 points on night. Vegas’ Tre’Von Willis stuck the three to give the Rebels back the lead.

• Louisville is finally making its run and has cut the UNLV lead to 43-38 with 7:28 remaining. That’s the closest the Cards have been since it was 3-0. Terrence Williams (2-of-12), Earl Clark (4-of-10) and Samardo Samuels (1-of-5) are a combined 7-of-27 from the floor.

• Vegas leads 40-32 with 11:36 left. Cards got it down to 38-32 after five straight points by Clark County’s own Preston Knowles. But Knowles has missed three shots since then. And the Cards are shooting 23.8 percent for the night. The clock is ticking.

• We’ve played just over four minutes in the second half and Vegas lead is still 11, now 38-27. Earl Clark is 3-of-9 from the floor for the Cards. Louisville is shooting 24.2 percent for the night. Rick Pitino’s team is going to have make a run, and soon, if they are going to avoid the upset going into Sunday’s game with Kentucky.

• All in all, a pretty putrid half by the Cards, who played as if they were more concerned about their post-game plans and New Year’s Eve parties. Keep this up, and my guess is that the party will be on the practice floor under Pitino’s critical eye and jagged voice. Not the way you’d want to ring in the New Year.

• Vegas shot an even 50 percent the first half. Louisville shot a frigid 23.1 percent. The Cards were 6-of-26 from the floor. Earl Clark led the home team with six points. Vegas’ Rene Rogeau led all scorers with 12. Louisville committed seven turnovers to UNLV’s six.

• Halftime: UNLV 32, Louisville 21.

• Rebels up 27-17 with 3:48 left in half. Cards have made a bit of run, and are now up to 23.8 percent from the floor. Vegas has made 61.1 percent of its shots. Remember, UNLV is doing this without its leading scorer, Wink Adams, out with an abodominal strain.

• UNLV leads 22-10 with 6:47 left in first half. Louisville’s first field goal came with 11:31 left when an Edgar Sosa shot was goal-tended. The Cards first actual field goal, that went through the hoop, was a three by Preston Knowles at the 7:26 mark. The Cards are 2-of-17 from the floor.

• It’s 14-3 14-4 UNLV with 11:55 left in first half. The Cards are 0-of-11 from the floor. Terrence Williams has missed all five of his shots. All three four Louisville points have come at the foul line.

• Vegas leads 10-1 at the 15:42 TV time. The Rebels jumped to a 10-0 lead. Pitino called time at the 18:22 mark when it was 6-0 UNLV. Then when Samardo Samuels hit the second of two free throws, finally putting the home team on the board, there were mock cheers at Freedom Hall.

• Louisville’s starters: Preston Knowles, Jerry Smith, Samardo Samuels, Earl Clark and Terrence Williams.

• If you missed it, Minnesota lost its first game of the season this afternoon. Tubby Smith’s team was beaten by visiting Michigan State 70-58.

• Looks like Earl Clark is back in the starting lineup tonight.

• UNLV’s leading scorer, Wink Adams, is questionable for tonight’s game with an abdominal strain.

Jerry Tipton just updated his blog, quoting Darius Miller’s father as saying the freshman is not leaving UK.

Here’s the post.

Excerpt:

During UK’s victory over Central Michigan on Monday, television cameras showed Darius Miller looking unhappy on the bench. There’s been subsequent talk about Miller returning home to Maysville, which fueled speculation him leaving the team.

“No, that’s not true,” his father said in a phone conversation late Tuesday evening.

When asked if his son was OK, Brian Miller said, “He’s doing fine. . . . He’s just a little frustrated. That’s all.”

Neal McAtee, a Lexington native currently living in Memphis, sent along the following barbeque recommendations for UK fans headed down for the Liberty Bowl. With his permission, here are his tips:

John,

Should have sent this to you earlier.  As a lexingtonian living in Memphis, thought I would give you a quick guide to Memphis barbeque.

As you probably know, the big two are Rendevous and Corky’s.   Rendevous is dry and is more about the experience.  Also, given the owners are Greek, it has a slightly different taste.  Corky’s is more traditional.  Of the two, I prefer Rendevous.

For a more traditional barbeque, I would try one of the following over Corky’s:

Neely’s – if I said the big three rather than the big two, Neely’s would be there.

Central barbeque -  a relatively newcomer, but by far my family’s favorite.  Their original location is a couple of blocks west of the Liberty Bowl.  It is the typical barbeque joint – with red and white checkered plastic tablecloths.   I went there on Saturday and he had new blue and white checkered tablecloths on the table – coincidence or not, it is great.

The Bar-B-Q shop on Madison is another very good place.

The last two are more off the beaten path and therefore, better, in my opinion.  The have more of the local, hole in the wall flavor and, more importantly, better barbeque.

Also, I noticed the team may practice at MUS field.  As a Rhodes grad, I always like to see the practice of pro teams at the my alma mater (grizzlies of NBA practiced there  and when I was in college, the showboats of WFL practiced there).  However, the MUS field is more comparable to the liberty bowl field.  It is quite impressive for a high school field – stands not as big as remember my high school – Tates Creek, but field is very nice).

Photo by Helena Hau.

Update: There were internet rumors last night that Miller had left the team, but UK insists that’s not true. By some reports, Miller did appear visibly upset on the bench near the end of Monday night’s game. There was also talk that he returned home to Maysville on Tuesday, but remember it is Christmas break, and school is not in session at UK. Below is my post from yesterday:

Another update.

In his last two games, UK’s Darius Miller has played just 17 minutes and scored all of two points. Not exactly Mr. Basketball type numbers, or blue-chip recruit type numbers. But the former Mason County star is a freshman, who appears to be encountering the usual rookie struggled.

Asked Billy Gillispie about Miller after UK’s win over Central Michigan last night:

His attitude is great. He’s probably too good a kid, and I don’t mean kid in any kind of derogatory – I guess some people take offense to that. There’s not a better person that I’ve ever been around. He’s probably too respectful to his teammates, and that’s a pretty nice compliment for saying something that he could improve on. He’s got to be more competitive, and he’s got to go and take something from somebody. But I think he’s just going through a tough time right now. He’s probably not reacting naturally, and he is a very, very intelligent basketball player, he’s a very gifted player. He’s one of the most important players on our team, in my opinion, as we move forward. We just have to be a little bit more aggressive on defense. But I’m not concerned about long-term or anything like that. I’d be surprised if he didn’t play greater next time out. He just defers to people a little bit too much. I think that’s because of his niceness. He’s the best person you’ve ever been around – yes, sir; no, sir; no matter what, great teammate. But we need to get him going.

Here is Miller’s last four games:

Full schedule of college basketball on TV for Wednesday, Dec. 31: