SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Their goal was a national championship.

Six newcomers and seven returners meshed together throughout a long season filled with individual and team records, late-game heroics and conference championships, to become a “family.” But in the East Regional Finals of the NCAA Tournament, the Cats couldn’t overcome a poor night shooting from beyond the arc and from the foul line and fell 73-66 to West Virginia.

“I’m proud of my team. They fought, they just kept trying,” UK head coach John Calipari said. “I’m proud of what they’ve done all season.”

In a tournament nicknamed for its bizarre plays and upsets, Saturday night’s game between UK and West Virginia had a little bit of everything.

For starters, despite missing all 16 two-point field goal attempts in the first half and being outrebounded 29-13, West Virginia went into the break with a 28-26 advantage on the score board thanks to eight 3-point baskets.

After missing his first five shots from the field and being held scoreless for the game’s first 13 minutes, West Virginia senior forward Da’Sean Butler made four of his next six shots and finished the half with 15 points. Butler was then held scoreless in the second half until he hit a pair of free throws with 3:42 left in the game to put the Mountaineers up 63-49.

Conversely to the Mountaineers’ outside shooting, UK couldn’t buy a basket throughout the game, missing their first 20 3-point field goal attempts before sophomore guard DeAndre Liggins hit a 3-pointer with 3:28 left to bring the Cats to within 11. The Cats finished the game 4-of-32 from beyond the arc.

“I think if we would have made shots, it would have spread out,” freshman guard John Wall said. “You give hats off for them. Their defense did a great job on us and we didn’t knock down shots today.”

The Cats frustrated the Mountaineers on defense in the first half and took a 16-9 lead with 8:07 to go. West Virginia stormed back on a 12-2 run and took the lead on a Butler 3-pointer with 4:14 on the clock to give the Mountaineers a 21-18 lead. UK would never get the lead back.

The Cats didn’t aid their comeback hopes at the foul line, either, making just 11 of their first 24 free-throw attempts, and finishing the game 16-of-29.

They didn’t make their first Final Four in a dozen years, but the Cats set numerous records in going 35-3 on the season.

Calipari tied former UK head coach Tubby Smith for most victories for a UK head coach in his inaugural season. DeMarcus Cousins set the UK freshman rebounding record with 364 boards. Patrick Patterson moved to within 11 points of 12th place on UK’s all-time scoring list with 1,564 points. Wall set the UK freshman scoring record with 616 points, freshman assists record with 214, and free throw record with 175 made.

As a team, the Cats won their 44th Southeastern Conference regular season title and their 26th SEC Tournament Championship.

Through all the records, all the highlights and all the glory though, the Cats said they will remember being together as a team, the most.

“All I will remember is being with this team and the last time we were in this locker room together, all of us being sad that we lost,” Wall said. “That’s the key moment because we wanted something special for this team and we had a chance but we came up short tonight and they did a great job against us.”

LOUISVILLE—The key matchup entering the Cats’ second round game was Michigan State’s size vs. UK’s speed.

Quickness won out this time, as the fourth-seeded Cats (27-7) defeated the fifth-seeded Spartans 70-52 to advance to the Sweet 16 in the Kansas City Regional.

This is UK’s first trip to the regional semifinals since 1982, when the inaugural NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament was competed among a field of 32 teams and UK head coach Matthew Mitchell was 11 year old. The win also extended the school record for wins in a season.

“Before the game, I told them I was afraid that this could be the last game we play together,” Mitchell said. “We couldn’t play with any fear, we had to put that behind us, and I thought they played remarkably confident tonight for this situation. I didn’t think any fear crept in at all.”

A UK win was anything but a certainty coming into the game, especially considering UK’s history of troubles with teams with solid size and rebounding skills. Mitchell said following UK’s first-round win that rebounding needed to be a point of emphasis.

The Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Victoria Dunlap was in for a challenge in the paint against Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Allyssa DeHaan, a 6-foot-9 senior with more than 500 career blocks.

“I think the big girl (DeHaan) was trying really hard just to try and keep me in front of her,” Dunlap said.

In the postgame news conference, the Spartan players said it felt as if Dunlap stood 6-foot-8 the way she was attacking the boards.

Dunlap wasn’t the only one attacking the basket, however. A collective effort in rebounding prevented the Spartans from advancing to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season.

The Cats held a 39-35 rebounding edge to make sure this postseason would not end like their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2006, when the Cats bowed out to MSU in the second round.

Following an evenly matched first half between the teams, as anticipated in this No. 4 vs. No. 5-seed matchup, the second half was entirely different thanks to UK’s swarming defense.

The Cats used a 17-8 run in the first 7:42 of the second half to keep the crowd’s interest in the game and built a margin the Spartans could never fully chip away at, scoring 21 second-half points.

At the start of the game, the Cats jumped out to a 5-0 lead one minute into the game exciting the partisan UK crowd. Save for a small pocket of green, the rest of Freedom Hall was uncharacteristically dominated by a sea of blue.

However, with the score 13-8 in favor of UK, the Spartans used a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the game.

The Cats’ offense and the crowd were reignited by an 8-0 run when they were trailing 28-24. The run included two fast break layups by senior forward Lydia Watkins, who along with senior Amani Franklin, are looking to extend their careers one game at a time.

UK, one of the NCAA’s most unlikely success stories this season, will most likely face No. 1 seed and one-loss Nebraska in its next game.

“I think the danger for us right now is to feel like the Sweet 16 is a place of arrival,” Mitchell said. “We need to resist that as much as we can. This team has a good chance to advance in the next round.”

Sophomore guard Darius Miller scored a career-high 20 points and freshman forward DeMarcus Cousins poured in 19 leading a group of four Cats who scored 13 or more points, and UK (34-2) cruised to a 90-60 win over Wake Forest to advance to the Sweet 16.

For UK, the wheels kept rolling in their drive to what they hope finishes at the Final Four in Indianapolis. After shooting 51.7 percent from the field against East Tennessee State on Thursday evening, the Cats shot a blazing 66.7 percent in the first half against Wake Forest, including 6-of-7 shooting from Miller.

“I don’t know what happened to Darius but I hope he keeps it up,” Cousins said.
When he plays aggressively like that it helps our team out tremendously. I mean, it’s going to be hard to beat us.”

Miller, who played for the U.S. under-19 National Team over the summer, shot just 1-for-5 in the Cats’ first round blowout, but after missing his first field goal of the game, a 3-point attempt, Miller was nearly unstoppable. The Maysville, Ky., product and former Kentucky Mr. Basketball hit his next seven shots and finished the game with 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds.

“It’s not going to be everybody’s night, somebody else is going to have to step up,” freshman guard Eric Bledsoe said. “Darius, I think, did a big part because he can see what he’s capable of doing. He can help us out. Once he knocks down shots, as you can see, we beat teams by a lot of points.”

The Cats continued their hot shooting in the second half, hitting their first 11 shots from the field, and hitting 23 of their first 25 two-point field goal attempts for the game. With 11:59 showing on the clock, the Cats were shooting over 76 percent from the field. Gaudy numbers junior forward Patrick Patterson said he hadn’t realized while the game was going on.

“I couldn’t believe that we were up by 30 or more,” Patterson said. “I was like, ‘Man, is this right, right now?’ ”

With 9:39 left in the game, perhaps frustrated with trailing by 30 points, Wake Forest senior forward Chas McFarland was called for a hard intentional foul on Cousins. Cousins laid on the ground before later getting up laughing waving for the crowd to cheer. Daniel Orton was given a technical foul for pushing McFarland in defense of his teammate.

“We’re brothers,” Cousins said. “We protect each other. When Daniel did that I knew it was all love.”

On Friday Cousins laughed when asked about McFarland’s reputation for getting under opposing players’ skin. Before the game began, during player introductions, McFarland waited at half court, and after Cousins came out toward midcourt, McFarland turned around and didn’t shake his hand.

“Come on, that was a middle school move, man,” Cousins said.

With two NCAA Tournament games under their belts, UK looks to be clicking at the right point in the season, averaging 95 points in their opening two games. Freshman guard John Wall, who scored 14 points and handed out seven assists, said they played “out of (their) minds,” and did a great job of following the game plan.

Now, with No. 1 Kansas’ upset-loss to Northern Iowa, the Cats will be the favorite to cut down the nets in Indianapolis on April 5, but they said they weren’t worried about that and welcome the idea of being the favorites.

“This might be our last time with a team this good,” Wall said. “We have a chance to do something special. Coming into the tournament me and Pat sat down and talked to the team and Coach challenged us saying, ‘This is your last chance, you’ve got six games to try and do it all.’ ”

Despite shooting a combined 56.1 percent in their first two games combined, and hitting 22 3-pointers, Cousins believes they still have room for improvement.

“We can still get better,” Cousins said. “I wish it was like the middle of the season so we could still – I want to see how good we can actually get. I mean, I don’t know. I don’t know how good we can be.”

UK will face either Cornell or Wisconsin in the Sweet 16 in Syracuse, N.Y. The winner of that game will then go up against upstart Washington or the winner of Sunday’s game between second-seeded West Virginia and Missouri.

“The people that are going to be in that region, it’s going to be ridiculous,” UK head coach John Calipari said. “You’re going to have four teams that are good enough, all four, to go win the national title.”

NEW ORLEANS – Playing in the city nicknamed the Big Easy was only fitting for UK (33-2) on Thursday against East Tennessee State.

The Cats shot 59.4 percent in the first half and 51.7 percent for the game, coasting to a 100-71 victory over the 16-seeded Buccaneers.

“(East Tennessee State) hit a buzzsaw,” UK head coach John Calipari said. “… Hopefully we’re this good. I’m not sure if we are, but we’ll see if we can keep it going.”

Freshman guard Eric Bledsoe led the young Cats, whose starting eight had never played in an NCAA Tournament game. Bledsoe was 8-of-9 from beyond the 3-point arc, the most made 3-pointers ever in an NCAA Tournament game by a UK player. The previous record holder, Tony Delk, sat by Bledsoe on the bench and has already started hearing it.

“I just said, Tony Who?” Bledsoe said. “He gets mad. He said I should have stopped after seven.”

For a team not known for their 3-point shooting ability, the Cats bombarded ETSU with seven in the opening half and 15 for the game, one short of tying the UK team record for most 3-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game. The Cats said they’re still not a 3-point-shooting team, but if they shoot the way they did Thursday night, they’re going to be a tough team to beat.

“I don’t think anybody can beat us (when we shoot that way),” Bledsoe said. “They’re going to come out and play hard, but we’re just going to have to come out and play harder. But once we start making threes it’s going to be a long day.”

For ETSU, it was a very long day.

After taking a brief 10-9 lead 4:09 into the game, the “buzzsaw” was lowered and UK was sharp from everywhere. The Cats exploded on a 28-4 run, bookended by Bledsoe 3-pointers, and outscored ETSU 45-17 for the remainder of the half.

The outside shot was open for the vast majority of the game for UK because of the double and triple teams assessed to freshman forward DeMarcus Cousins who didn’t make his first field goal, a two-handed dunk, until 8:06 showed on clock in the second half.

Junior forward Patrick Patterson, however, hit 9-of-10 baskets for 22 points and five rebounds. His lone miss, ironically enough, was a 3-point attempt.

“I didn’t know it was like that,” said Patterson of his shooting percentage. “I knew that Eric was shooting well tonight, but as far as my shooting, I wasn’t aware.”

Bledsoe and Patterson combined shooting 18-for-21 from the field and 9-for-11 from beyond the 3-point arc, and their 51 points were over half of UK’s total output.

With one game under their belt, the Cats talked about the relief of having it out of the way and the pressures of the opening match. Bledsoe said Delk told them before the game that the first game of the tournament is the toughest because of nerves.

“Once you get past the first game you get your nervousness out of the way,” said Bledsoe about what Delk told him prior to Thursday night’s game.

The Cats stretched the lead to as many 40 with 14:40 remaining in the game, and had 27 assists on 31 made baskets. The Buccaneers struggled from beyond the arc, going 4-of-17 for the game.

The Cats were all smiles after the game, but said they were going to have to bring it again in their next game, whether that be Wake Forest or Texas.

“Finally to be on a team – a true Kentucky team – that can represent Kentucky the right way, it just feels great to be a part of this and hopefully we can make a big run,” Patterson said.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It was physical, it was intense, it was a rivalry, and it was a rout.

Leading by only six points, UK (31-2, 14-2 Southeastern Conference) scored 29 of the game’s final 35 points, and blitzed Tennessee 74-45 to advance to their first SEC Tournament championship game since 2005.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game from the start,” said freshman forward DeMarcus Cousins who finished with a game-high 19 points and 15 rebounds in 26 minutes of action. “I mean, the first two times we played them, it was the same way. We’re two competitive teams with competitive athletes on the team. It was a battle, but we came in with the win.”

That competitiveness may have gotten out of hand with 3:33 on the clock. With two technical fouls already in the books, Tennessee junior guard Melvin Goins connected with Cousins on a hard elbow below the belt. Cousins and Goins were both assessed technical fouls, initially, the third and fourth of the game. Upon review of tape, the officials then assessed Goins an additional flagrant foul and ejected him from the game.

“I don’t really know what that was about,” said Cousins of Goins’ hit. “I thought it was a bad play.”

Cousins, whose volatile emotions have been well documented throughout the season, showed his growth in maturity during the game. While the big man from Mobile, Ala., said he still didn’t hold his composure together completely after “blurting some things,” it was Cousins that raced from the foul line to separate teammate Daniel Orton from Tennessee senior forward Wayne Chism when he saw the two jawing at each other with an official close by, and it was Cousins who stayed out of foul trouble.

“A lot of stuff happened tonight, a lot of emotions happened tonight, but DeMarcus just continued to push through,” junior forward Patrick Patterson said.

Goins’ blow was the culmination of an afternoon littered with trash talking, hard falls and frustration. Some of that frustration came from UK’s own bench.

In the first half freshman forward Daniel Orton left the bench and began walking down the tunnel toward the locker room before UK assistant strength coach Scott Padgett raced back to get him. Orton said he was told to go to the locker room to cool down.

“Emotions got caught up and everybody got caught up in the moment,” Orton said. “It’s basketball, it’s a really emotional sport and I think everybody just got caught up. Words were exchanged but we apologized about it.”

With the strong rivalry between the two bordering state schools in a central location and a conference championship game birth on the line, the atmosphere at Bridgestone Arena was electric.

Each time the Tennessee band began playing “Rocky Top,” Cats fans would break out with chants of “Go Big Blue,” drowning the band out on numerous occasions.

“I feel like we were playing at our arena to see our fans there,” freshman guard John Wall said. “We just feel like everywhere we go, our fans support us the most.”

Behind the strong crowd support, the Cats opened up a 13-point lead at the end of the first half to go into the break with a 32-19 advantage. UK’s defense held the Vols to 28.6 percent shooting in the opening half, and zero field goals in the final six minutes.

After the Volunteers cut the UK lead to six points on a layup by junior center Brian Williams with 9:27 remaining, the Cats’ defense clamped down and Tennessee made just one field goal for the rest of the game.

The Cats began the run their 29-6 run to close out the game with a dunk from Patterson assisted by Wall. Wall then found Eric Bledsoe in the corner for his fourth 3-pointer of the game prompting a timeout from Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl.

Following technical fouls issued to Orton and Tennessee senior forward Wayne Chism, sophomore guard Darnell Dodson hit two, 3-pointers and slammed home an alley-oop from Darius Miller on three consecutive possessions and the rout was under way.

“Winning the championship does matter to us,” Patterson said. “We know the overall number one objective is to have an overall number one seed (in the NCAA Tournament). That’s our main focus and our main goal. But we all want to win this SEC Championship.”

Its 44th Southeastern Conference Championship had been sealed before the game began, but UK (29-2, 14-2 SEC) still led their seniors and one of the fans’ all-time favorites out in style.

A balanced UK scoring attack, which saw five players reach double figures, led the Cats over a resilient Florida squad which cut an 18-point deficit to two. The Cats scored 12 of the game’s final 18 points and won 74-66 to put an exclamation point on their 44th SEC Championship. Still, after the game UK head coach John Calipari said he’s never coached a team that worried about a conference championship.

“What happens is, instead of playing for that championship you’re playing for something bigger,” Calipari said. “I’m not sure we’re quite there yet but we’ve done everything we were supposed to at this point. And you’re playing for a one seed (in the NCAA Tournament).”

After each team traded baskets for the first part of the opening half, the Cats caught on fire to give themselves a comfortable lead.

UK shot 53.8 percent from the field in the first half and 6-of-12 from beyond the arc to lead 41-31 at the halftime break. The Cats rode a 14-0 run in the first half to stretch the lead to 34-16, and held Florida without a field goal for 5:38. The Gators then used a 10-3 run to close out the half, and cut the once 18-point lead to 10.

“You just sit there and you tell them, these are things we cannot do,” Calipari said. “I thought Florida outworked us at individual positions which gave them a chance, and I just keep coming back to, our goal has got to be we’re going to play harder than that other team. We have to. If not, we’re going to disappoint ourselves somewhere along the way.”

The Gators continued their comeback in the second half. Following a Florida timeout at the 17:12 mark, the Gators went on an 11-3 run to cut the UK lead to four points at 50-46. Then, with 10:52 to go in the game, a Vernon Macklin dunk off an assist from Erving Walker cut the UK lead to three at 59-56.

“They fought their way back into the game, we know we have that killer instinct, we just have to develop it more and use it more,” Patterson said.

After a dunk by Erik Murphy with 5:23 to play cut the lead to two points, freshman guard John Wall rose to the occasion.

One game after saying he may not be the best shooter in the country but he knows how to score in crunch time, Wall hit a 3-pointer with just under five minutes to play which pushed the Cats lead to five points. Florida on scored only six points in the remaining minutes and the Cats closed the game and the regular season on a 12-6 run and a season sweep of the Gators.

“What I like is that someone would say that and then go into the game and back it up. Wow,” Calipari said. “… He is a great kid and is taking on leadership and talking in huddles and being aggressive with guys. We need it.”

The win capped off a perfect home record for the Cats and Calipari becomes the first head coach since Eddie Sutton in the 1985-86 season to go undefeated at home in his inaugural season at the helm.

When the final buzzer sounded though, the Cats didn’t celebrate their 44th SEC Championship with fireworks and pyrotechnics like other teams might. Instead, the Cats sang “My Old Kentucky Home” with the fans in attendance and cheerleaders, and went back into the locker room.

Patterson said the reason for no excess celebration was because the team’s No. 1 goal was to win a national championship.

“Winning the SEC, winning the SEC Tournament (are) just other accomplishments on the road to our main objective, our main goal,” Patterson said. “We believe that since we have the weapons, and the coaches and the players, we have a strong opportunity to achieve that goal. That’s our main focus.”

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A Kentucky native buried the never-quit Cats (27-2, 12-2 Southeastern Conference) with 37.6 seconds remaining, and the 21,214 fans who packed Thompson-Boling Arena saw Tennessee’s second home victory this season over a top-2 team.

The Volunteers (21-7, 9-5 SEC) built a 19-point lead with just over 14 minutes to play, but the Cats, led by freshman guard John Wall, stormed back to tie the game at 65-65 with 2:10 remaining.

Following a timeout by Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl shortly after UK tied the game, the Volunteers went on a 9-0 run highlighted by a 3-pointer from Hopkinsville, Ky., native Scotty Hopson, and the Volunteers celebrated a 74-65 victory.

“When it went 65-65, I thought we were winning,” UK head coach John Calipari said. “There was no question in my mind we were winning this game. And you know what, they made a play, a ball squirted loose – they had a guy who just took it out of our hands on the baseline. That means they wanted it more than we did. You have to give them credit.”

A physical affair in Knoxville, Tenn., not only saw players limping around the court and grimacing in pain, but also Calipari. The head coach had a UK trainer bandage up his right hand in the first half after he hit his clipboard during the first media timeout. Two band-aids were applied to his right pointer finger and pinkie.

Both teams struggled shooting out of the gate, but once Tennessee got on the board at the 16:31 mark with a 3-pointer from senior guard J.P. Prince, the Volunteers couldn’t be stopped. When the run finished at the 11:22 mark with two free throws from Wall, the Volunteers had rattled off 18-unanswered points and had established how the first half would be played.

“We just came out with low energy, and they came out early and hit us in the mouth,” UK freshman forward DeMarcus Cousins said. “They came with a better intensity than we did and it showed.”

The opening of the second half was no better for UK, as the Volunteers stretched the lead to a game-high 19 points with a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Cameron Tatum at the 14:05 mark.

Enter Wall. The electric freshman phenom carried the Cats on an 11-0 run, playing a part in every basket scored during the 3:58 span, scoring seven points and dishing out two assists. The Cats held the Volunteers scoreless for just over four-and-a-half minutes to cut the lead to nine, and eventually tied the game with 2:10 remaining in the game.

“He was unbelievable,” said Calipari of Wall’s play.

Wall’s 19 points, six assists and five rebounds weren’t enough for UK though, and the Cats wouldn’t score for the remainder of the game. A layup by Prince and the 3-pointer by Hopson proved to be the dagger for UT, and four free throws in the waning seconds by Prince were the icing on the upset-cake.

UK shot 35 percent from the field, and a horrid 2-for-22 from beyond the arc. The Cats are now 8-of-49 from beyond the arc in their last three games combined, but say they aren’t worried about their recent shooting woes from deep.

Cousins and Wall said they make shots in practice, so there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be making them in the games. Though they missed 20 3-point shots in a hostile environment against a rival, the Cats were still tied with two minutes left. Wall said they simply need to hit the gym and work more on their shots.

“Even though they beat us with the intensity matchup at the beginning of the game, if we made a couple shots down the stretch and got defensive stops we would have won,” Wall said. “So it basically just is getting to work on our jump shots and getting our confidence back.”

It was UK’s first two-day turnaround in SEC play, as the Cats normally play on Tuesdays and Saturdays. In fear that the Cats would be fatigued, Calipari opted to not have a morning shootaround. It was a decision he said after the game he regretted.

“… In an afternoon game, which we can be in during the NCAA Tournament, we need to get up and have a shootaround,” Calipari said. “I do not care if we play Thursday or not.”

With only two games remaining on the regular season schedule, Calipari said the game will serve as a great learning experience for the young Cats when the NCAA Tournament rolls around.

“That is all I can ask of my team,” Calipari said. “To think about that, and have a chance to win on the road, I am stunned.”

Eric Bledsoe has his confidence back.

One game after saying he had lost the confidence in his shot, Bledsoe found it in the second half against Tennessee, combining with fellow freshman John Wall to score 21 of the Cats’ final 23 points to lead UK (24-1, 9-1 Southeastern Conference) to a 73-62 victory.

“Today, Eric showed so much courage in what he did and how he played,” UK head coach John Calipari said. “It was a great game. I liked what I saw.”

Bledsoe scored all 16 of his points in the second half while shooting 5-of-6 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Bledsoe also tallied two assists in the second half and didn’t turn the ball over in the half.

With 10:12 remaining in the second half, Tennessee (18-6, 6-4 SEC) led UK 52-50. Over the next 7:28, Wall and Bledsoe guided the Cats to a decisive 20-4 run, combining to score all but two of the points. The run was highlighted by back-to-back Bledsoe 3-pointers from the each corner that ignited a Rupp Arena crowd of 24,402 waiting to explode.

“We weren’t pushing at the bottom and those guys were wide open in the corners,” Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl said. “… If I’ve got a chance to get beat by Eric Bledsoe from the three versus DeMarcus Cousins or (Patrick) Patterson in the inside, I think that’s the risk we took, the game we took, and obviously it made us tight.”

The two other points scored by the Cats other than Bledsoe and Wall in their 20-4 run came from sophomore guard DeAndre Liggins. Yet again, Liggins provided an energy boost for UK on the defensive end of the floor that caught the attention of Calipari, and apparently has caught the attention of a few other onlookers.

“He’s becoming a real high profile prospect, just so you know that,” Calipari said. “I mean, everybody that’s evaluating my team is all of a sudden, DeAndre is now being talked about. You got people that absolutely love him.”

Liggins logged 28 minutes against the Volunteers, scoring seven points, grabbing four rebounds and dishing out four assists to go along with a block and a pair of steals.

The Cats began the game on a 6-0 run before succumbing to a 12-1 Tennessee run. The Cats then went on a 10-0 run of their own to take a 20-14 lead with 7:43 remaining in the half. By the time the buzzer sounded at halftime, the Cats led Tennessee 30-29.

At the end of that half, Bledsoe was 0-3 from the field and nearly invisible in the game plan. Calipari said he told Bledsoe, if he wasn’t shooting he was going to take him out of the game.

“If you don’t shoot it they’re playing five versus four,” Calipari said, referring to his conversation with Bledsoe. “They’re not playing you in that corner which is what happened in the first half.”

Bledsoe said there was no hesitation on his shots in the second half and let it fly. The magnitude of the game aided Bledsoe in finding his confidence, and he said he now feels like he’s back. Bledsoe said Calipari didn’t care if his shots went in or not because he was confident in UK’s big men to grab the rebounds.

“In the second half of this game Coach just told me to shoot it,” Bledsoe said.

The two rivals traded baskets and small runs throughout the second half until the 10:12 mark when the Cats held the Vols to four points in seven minutes and 28 seconds of basketball. The Cats’ 14-point lead built up in the run was the biggest lead of the game for either team, and capped off a day where the Cats celebrated having ESPN’s College GameDay.

“I think there was a real passion that we played with right there and our guys really dug in and we were taking charges,” Calipari said. “We were coming up with loose balls and there were a lot of plays that we made … If Eric doesn’t make those threes and we don’t make a couple of free throws it is a different ballgame.”

For UK (23-1, 8-1 Southeastern Conference), it was another slow start, but this time there wasn’t a coast to victory.

Double-doubles from DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall saved the Cats in a 66-55 win over a pesky Alabama team (13-11, 3-7 SEC).

While Cousins and Wall provided the statistical answers for UK, the performance of sophomore guard DeAndre Liggins might have been the difference.

Liggins gave the Cats a boost throughout the game, diving on loose balls and grabbing timely rebounds. Upon entering the game in the first half, Liggins immediately grabbed two offensive boards to keep a possession alive for UK which eventually led to a two-point basket.

Liggins finished with eight points and seven rebounds, but his hustle and defensive presence might have been even more impressive.

The Cats missed five of their first seven shots of the game, and committed 11 turnovers in the first half, but used a stingy defense to hold Alabama to 24 points in the period, taking a seven-point lead into the break.

“They came out and they made their shots early,” Calipari said. “We were all over them and they were making shots. I’m telling you, this is how Alabama has played all year. Three, one-point losses.”

UK trailed 11-6 at the first TV timeout. Similar to last weekend’s game against Louisiana State, the Cats found their groove a short time later and went on an 11-2 run to take a 17-13 lead. Alabama came right back to tie the game at 17, but wouldn’t lead again.

With 3:41 to go, Wall took an outlet pass from Liggins and sprinted into the open court. Wall made a quick crossover to his right, moved the ball behind his back, jumping backwards while getting fouled and banked in the shot. The ensuing free throw gave the Cats a 24-19 lead.

Conversely, Alabama made five of their first seven shots, but just six of their last 24 shots of the half.

After leading 31-24 at halftime, the Cats methodically pushed the lead to 14 points at 42-28. But Alabama wouldn’t go away, cutting the lead to six with 7:46 to go in the game.

With 2:30 left in the game, Wall dribbled into the lane and slotted a perfect bounce pass to freshman forward Daniel Orton for a dunk to give the Cats a 60-51 lead and some much needed breathing room.

“In the second half (Wall) played,” Calipari said. “He ran our team. We were grinding it out at times which we have to learn to do which I was happy we were able

to do.”

The Cats held the lead for the final few minutes and capped it off with a Patrick Patterson one-handed jam. Wall stretched in the closing possessions to get his 10th rebound for the points-rebounds double-double.

“We missed some shots to make this a higher scoring game, but you have to give them credit,” Calipari said. “They did their thing and they were grinding it out. They did well.”

Confetti rained down from the ceiling of Rupp Arena and history was made.

The UK men’s basketball program holds claim to numerous records. Now they can say they’re the only program to have 2,000 wins. The Cats (12-0) beat the visiting Drexel Dragons 88-44 in front of 24,354 fans hoping to see history made.

“That was for the greatest fans in college basketball history,” said UK head coach John Calipari at midcourt of Rupp Arena following the game. “We weren’t a part of many of those 2,000 wins and that was to drag us across the line before that other blue team got there. This is a special moment for this program and this school and this state. This is the Commonwealth’s team.”

What started with an 11-10 win over the Lexington YMCA on Feb. 18, 1903, has since developed into the winningest college basketball program of all-time. On Monday night, the Cats put on a show for the fans in demolishing Drexel from start to finish.

The Cats jumped out to a quick 15-3 lead less than five minutes into the game. By the 13:39 mark, Drexel head coach Bruiser Flint had called two timeouts and the lead had stretched to 28-7.

“At the beginning of the game we got to them,” Calipari said. “It’s really the first game this year that we got an opponent down and just kept going.”

For UK, it was a game that had been highlighted on the schedule from the beginning of the year. For Calipari, it had been highlighted from the day after he took the job, though he said he didn’t think it would come so quickly into the season.

After the game, former players and coaches applauded the current Cats and the milestone victory. Former UK head coach Joe B. Hall thanked his predecessor Adolph Rupp for establishing the program and setting a winning standard. He also had some words for the current team.

“I’ve seen teams progress,” said Hall to the Rupp Arena faithful that stayed for the celebration. “But this team is coming along faster than you (Calipari) led us to believe … We’re so proud of this group and Coach Calipari. Thank you, Coach.”

The Cats have played for 107 years and claim to have the greatest tradition of all the programs in the sport. Against Drexel the young Cats showed their potential, and freshman forward DeMarcus Cousins had one of his better games of the season.

In only seven minutes of playing time in the first half, Cousins scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds. For the game, the man they call “Boogie” scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while shooting a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul stripe.

“Not only did he start strong, but I want you to understand he got punched in the head one time, he got ripped, he got arms jerked out, we’re up 45 and they don’t call the foul which they should have but you’re not going to call a foul when you’re up 45 and he never responded in a negative way,” Calipari said. “I told him after the game, ‘you have grown son, you have grown.’ ”

Fellow freshman John Wall scored 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting and dished out seven assists. Not wanting to be left out, junior forward Patrick Patterson scored 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

“I just want to say, I want to thank all of you for supporting us these years and these past three years I’ve been here,” said Patterson at midcourt to the crowd. “It’s been a roller coaster but this year’s a lot of fun.”

The Cats were never threatened in the second half as they scored the half’s first ten points and stretched the lead to as much as 51.

The UK players each received commemorative ticket stubs after the game that had the date and 2,000 wins on it. Junior forward Josh Harrellson said he believed the fact that this game was for win No. 2,000 played to the Cats’ advantage in pumping them up and everything throughout the day went well.

Calipari told the crowd after the game that this win was just one step in what they were trying to do this season and that they were making him proud.

“This is one of those things that separates this program from all others,” Calipari said.