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General Impressions Despite the loss, fun game to watch, at least for me. UK did not deserve to win as we wilted at clutch time. Overall, it was poor performance team wise... and the grades will reflect that.
Jacob Toppin C- 10 pts on 3-7 shooting. Fouls certainly took there toll but he still needed to step up, and he didn't. Played 31 minutes, grabbed just 4 rebounds, had a turnover and no assists to go with a block. Really was no factor in a game that needed something.
Cason Wallace B+ Defense was outstanding as illustrated with the 8 steals. Led the team in minutes played with 44, all being deserved. Had 14 pts, making 2 of his 5 trey. His missed free throw late was a key but I'm not going to dwell on that. Were other plays that were more important. Had 5 assist to 3 turnovers, including a very costly one late.
Chris Livingston D Started well with three big strong rebounds, then disappeared. Only played 12 minutes, failed on all 3 FG attemps but did hit 1 of two free throws. Not sure why the 12 minutes though. Played less than Lance, who had a better line.
CJ Fredrick D Stink game! Part on him, part on the excellent defense by MSU on him, but also part on the inability to have teammates get him open looks. Clearly we have not worked on screens for shooters. Just compare and contrast to what the Spartans did to get their shooters open looks. We did none of that for CJ. 5 pts on 1-6 shooting from the arc and 1-1 from inside. Surprisingly his -13 plus/minus matched Damion Collins, and was one better than Savhir's -14. CJ failed to get a rebound, or an assist, or any other stat except fouls, of which he had 4. Just a flat turd of a game.
Lance Ware C I will give Lance some credit for a decent game, not good but decent. Not the most skilled player on the floor so what he gives is bonus. 2 pts, 3 rebounds and a block was C worthy compared to the crap most of the team brought. We should never have to rely on Lance as that isn't his role. He played his role tonight adequately, hence the C grade.
Antonio Reeves D- Was a challenge to see who would get the lowest grade. Fortunately for AR I include the staff/game preparation. Reeves manages a paultry 5 pts in 22 minutes to go with an assist, rebound and turnover. Managed to see the ball go thru the rim once in 7 attempts.
Adou Thiero DNP Hell, could he have done worse that the SGs we had?
Ugonna Onyenso IC In his one minute, he showed what its like to be a gangly freshman with limited offensive skill. Got beat defensively, and beaten bad
Daimion Collins D- Hate giving him a D- due to all that has gone one in his life. Maybe limiting him a bit would have been a good idea. All I know is that defensively he was a train wreck. Time and time again he lost his man, and time and time again his man buried the shot. 2 pts, a rebound and a turnover in 18 minutes. He matched CJ with a -13 point difference.
Oscar Tshiebwe A Give him a plus if you want. One of 3 players with a positive pt difference. He was plus 10 (Reeves +5, Toppin +1). Oscar led the team in points with 22, rebounds with 18, blocks with 4, but also 5 turnovers and 5 fouls (called fouls). Without him we are destroyed. I had reservations about him having as good a year as last year. Not now.
Sahvir Wheeler B- Had the worse +/- on the team with -14 in his 40 minutes. Led the team with 8 assists on 3 turnovers and a couple steals. His 16 pts on 6-16 shooting was expected. He looked good driving to the basket and made a couple treys. He took smart ones today, something not always seen.
Coaching D-- Two things we need....a couple inbounds plays and setting screens. We have the shooters but we need to run the off screens. That must be February's tweek.
Officials F Guys were in midseason form. UK finished with 4 guys with 4 fouls and 1 with 5. Missed and made up calls all over the floor. Officials: Terry Oglesby, Courtney Green (NOT TONY), Brian Dorsey SUCKED
Commentators F Am I the only one who kept screaming STFU Dick, or talk about the game! The camera angles sucked. And why is it we can manage a split screen to talk about the CFS but can't do it when a game runs long? PS I don't really care who Dick Vitale thinks should be the football playoffs. He knows nothing about football.
Other We got outshot and out rebounded. Overall we shot a measly 39% to their 40%. Long range it was 29% to 37% and rebounds it was 35-40 despite us having the best rebounder in the nation. Shows you how little the other forwards offered.
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