The Great Wall And A Grey Beard...

You've seen the hype.

You followed all the trials and tribulations when he was a high school senior trying to determine whether or not his time of Raleigh-Word Of God would send him to Miami or Duke.

Sure, Coach Cal was at the front of the line, but the whole Memphis fiasco put that in limbo- as did the illegal contact from his AAU coach that forced him to sit the first two UK games this year.

You wonder what all the hype is about... you know he's a one-and-done, but it's like that wreck on the side of the road. You want to check it out on your way past...

Thus, another game at the last year of Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum on the corner of Roosevelt and Donahue on the Auburn campus.

((Ashley Judd is on the front row somewhere behind the UK bench, pictured thanks to me... What...? You don't see her...???))

Before the game was over, I think the entire world saw a bit of a blueprint on how to beat Kentucky come tournament time. It starts with free throw shooting...

I know that comes as some short of a shock when it comes to a Cal-Coached team...
The second-ranked Wildcats went 23-for-35, but at one point were 15-for-26. Wall's free throws down the stretch saved that average. Auburn only went 8-for-14, but the ridiculously one-sided whistling by SEC officials gave it that margin.

Auburn drew close in the first half, but a DeMarcus Cousins block/no-call and a bucket at the other end turned what could have been a four-point game to an eight-point game. That also happened on two possessions in the second half where the Tigers could have drawn even, but block/no-calls ((and a 10-second call on a walk-up and a bad cross-court pass on offense)) gave away too many opportunities.

There's your second point... you can't give away possessions. Auburn was smaller on the inside and had to live and die by the three. They were 9-for-24. At times, DeWayne Reed was out of his mind from the outside for an over matched Jeff Lebo-coached team.

Kentucky tried to turn the game into a track meet, but Auburn wasn't buying. The possessions were slowed down, the ball was worked around, and there were a lot of chacnes with the paint wide open that went ignored off a back door look.

One last thing...

Kentucky's speed can not be taken for granted- ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.

And I'm talking on both offense and defense. Their closing speed when the other team is in transition is unreal, their size on the inside needs to be matched for any level of success if your favorite team can't shoot from the outside.

And Wall...??? Flashes of brilliance, freshman mistakes, and team that's now 18-0.