First off, it sounds like Ramon Harris is going to be just fine. All of the tests they ran last night didn’t show anything but he was kept overnight for observation. We saw Michael Porter on the bench for the second half but I don’t think he was all there. He looked dazed and confused a couple of times, probably the results of a concussion. I wouldn’t be suprised if Harris didn’t have one as well. Here are some other things from last night.
How about the play of DeAndre Liggins and his backup for the second half, Kevin Galloway. Liggins replaced Michael Porter when he went down and did a great job. He went 6-6 from the floor, hitting two threes in the second half on his way to scoring 16 points. He dished out 4 assists as opposed to only 2 turnovers in 27 minutes of work. He also added 7 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal. Not a bad night considering the drama that happened in Las Vegas. Kevin Galloway also had his best night as a Wildcat, seeing 19 minutes of playing time. Although he only scored 2 points, he had 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, and only 1 turnover. Looks like these two are gaining confidence as the season continues. Look out Michael Porter, you have competition.
The one downside to last night (other than the injuries to Harris & Porter) had nothing to do with the players on the court. Students, where the heck were you. Now I realize next week is the “dead” week before finals but come on. You guys get great tickets for these games and proceed to not show up. The upper deck had hardly anybody in it in the student section. Again, I know school is most important but a basketball game usually takes maybe 3 hours total between travel, the game, and leaving. If you are too busy to set time out for UK basketball then maybe you should not get tickets to future games or give them to me.
We’ve got Miami coming to Rupp on Saturday fresh off of a home loss to Ohio State Tuesday night. For anyone who saw that game, Miami’s leading scorer and best player Jack McClinton got ejected in the first half for swinging at a Buckeye player who was playing intense defense. Now, my question is whether or not he will be playing Saturday. According to NCAA rules, any player who is ejected for fighting is required to sit out their next game. Many have argued that he was tossed for a flagrant foul but in the rule book, what he did is considered fighting (from page 69 of NCAA rule book)
Section 26. Fighting
Art. 1. A fight is a flagrant foul.
Art. 2. A fight is a confrontation involving one or more players, coaches
or other team personnel wherein (but not limited to) a fist, hand, arm, foot, knee or leg is used to combatively strike the other individual.
Art. 3. When during a confrontation, an individual attempts to strike another individual with any of the actions defined in Art. 2, whether there is contact is irrelevant. The perpetrator shall be deemed to have been involved in a fight.
Article 3 pretty much sums up what he did. Whether there was contact is irrelevant. If the NCAA sticks to it’s rules, he should not be in uniform on Saturday. Of course, the NCAA often has crazy interpretations of their own rules so we still may see him.
Last but not least, last night North Carolina visited Michigan State for a game in the BIg Ten/ACC Challenge. The game was played at Ford Field in Detroit, home to the 2009 Final Four. If you remember, Ford Field also hosted the BasketBowl between Michigan St and Kentucky a few years ago, which produced the largest crowd to ever see an NCAA game. The attendance for that game was 78,129 compared to a measily 25,267 at last night’s game. My point is this: Kentucky has the greatest fans in the country, by far better than UNC’s. It was easy to see last night. Now I know it was a weeknight game and it wasn’t billed as the BasketBowl, but I somehow think that if Kentucky were playing MSU instead of UNC, the venue would have still had 50-60 thousand people. It’s just how dedicated and diehard Kentucky fans are.