Kentucky finally discovered its Ft. Knox last night.
Freshman forward Kevin Knox scored a season high 34 points as the Wildcats overcame a 17-point deficit after halftime to defeat seventh-ranked West Virginia, 83-76, in the Big 12/SEC Challenge before a sellout crowd in the Coliseum at Morgantown.
It is never smart to write off any team John Calipari coaches.
Kentucky may be the youngest team in the country, but the Wildcats seemed to relish the role of underdog in this hostile atmosphere.
“I love atmospheres like this,” the 6-9 Knox admitted. “I love playing away games and going against people on the road. That was something I loved growing up, when the other team starts yelling and all the hype, the student section. All of that just gets me going. It’s just something I live for.’
Knox, who shot 11-for-17, made five of eight three pointers and seven of eight free throws, scored 19 points in the second half when unranked Kentucky (16-5) found its groove after turning the ball over 10 times in the first ten minutes against the Mountaineers’ suffocating pressure. The Cats looked like a different team after halftime, making all 18 of its free throw attempts and out rebounding West Virginia, 29-13, while committing just five turnovers.
This was the Kentucky’s first win over a ranked team and their second straight victory since dropping out of the AP Top 25 last Monday for the first time since March, 2014. It could be the turning point of this season.
”To be able to do that in this environment means we are growing up,” Calipari said.
This is not a typical Kentucky team, filled with lottery picks. The Cats, who start four freshmen and a sophomore, only have one player, Knox, who is a lock first round pick and he needs work on his rebounding. Freshman center Nick Richards, guard Hamidou Diallo, point guard Quade Green and sophomore forward Wenyen Gabriel needed seasoning earlier this season. As a team, the Cats were unimpressive by their standards in the non-league and lost three of their first seven games in SEC play.
But this comeback was impressive and may be an encouraging sign of things to come.
The Cats had fallen behind 54-37 after forward Sagaba Konate’s bank shot, but they made up the deficit when the active Knox went off for 12 points during a explosive 21-2 run, capped by his dunk with 10:39 left to take a 58-56 lead. Knox then made a clutch three pointer with 1:05 remaining to pry loose a 74-74 tie and put the Cats ahead for good.
Diallo had 13 points for Kentucky. Freshman forward Jarred Vanderbilt, playing just his fourth game, had 11 rebounds. Guard Jevon Carter scored 26 points for West Virginia (16-5), which lost for the fourth time in the last five games.
”A lot of people said we were having trouble finishing games,” Knox said. “But we knew that we were going to come back and win this game.”
