Kentucky Back On Course, Favored Big Against Ole Miss

Sports News - February 2nd, 2010 - Written By John Ritter

Head coach John Calipari learned two very important things last week. His group of freshman can certainly get caught up in the moment when things are going right, but they also know how to punch back when things aren't.

Kentucky lost it's very first game after being named no. 1 in last week's poll and drew the ire of hardcore fans who panned the team on their Facebook pages.

But the Wildcats clawed back and responded with a blowout win over streaking Vanderbilt, 85-72, to salvage the fourth spot in the most-recent rankings and have reached 20 wins quicker than any Kentucky team in five years.

Now it's time to keep it rolling with another ranked conference opponent when no. 25 Mississippi comes to Rupp Arena on Tuesday. According to College Basketball Betting Lines, the Wildcats are favored by 11, according to BetED, with a 151-point total. Kentucky has gone over in seven of it's last eight home games, and nine of it's last 12 overall.

But winning against the Commodores didn't heal all wounds. Freshman point guard John Wall didn't improve his play in the win, and went public about his displeasure.

“I just try not to listen to him and go out and play basketball and try and help my team win,” Wall said about criticism he gets from Calipari. “The last two weeks I haven’t been playing well, I haven’t been having fun. I’ve kind of been frustrated with everything. I’ve got to figure it out.”

Wall later apologized and said he had a good talk with his head coach over the situation, which he said caused him to say things he didn't mean. But it is clear the freshman isn't used to playing poorly on the big stage, and is still adjusting to obedience of a coach.

It's not like Calipari isn't used to this sort of thing. While at Memphis, he coached Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans as freshman before they both bolted for the NBA. Wall is likely to be a third, projected to be the first overall pick in this summer's draft, but is cooling off a bit. He only made four shots and turned the ball over seven times against Vanderbilt.

He is still fifth in the SEC with 16.9 points per game, and the Wildcats sure can click when he's rolling. And if he's not, someone else can step in. Forward DeMarcus Cousins had 21 points and 10 rebounds against the Commodores to pace the win.

“Part of the reason DeMarcus is having a field day, is they are all concerned about John Wall,” Calipari said. “Now, it opens up the whole court, you throw it in to him and it’s one-on-one. He’s too big.”

Cousins and Wall are two of three Wildcats who average over 15 points per game. Forward Patrick Patterson is the third with 15.2 per. Cousins and Patterson also average over 7.5 rebounds per game.

Ole Miss recently lost to Arkansas, 80-73, at home without star center Reggie Buckner. He has been hobbled by an ankle injury and is expected to sit this one out, too.

Mississippi beat Kentucky in their only regular-season meeting last year, but lost the rematch in the first round of the conference tournament. The Wildcats have a 48-2 advantage against the Rebels at home, their last loss coming in 1998.

“We’ve got to come up with some kind of defensive scheme for Kentucky,” said Rebel forward Murphy Holloway.

Both teams average over 80 points per game and shoot well over 45-percent for the year. Ole Miss is 9-4 ATS in it's last 13 Tuesday games.