Clarion Visits the Woodshed in Loss to Kentucky

Kentucky 117
Clarion 52

Exhibition at Rupp Arena

I represented AllKYHoops.com at Rupp Arena last night and offered live coverage from the game. Here are a few notes I made and some quotes that were made during the post-game coverage:

Basketball Analysis:

Kentucky

- One thing you may or may not have seen on TV: Clarion presented Coach Calipari with two replica jerseys from his playing days at Clarion
- John Wall is the real deal; the offense looked totally different tonight with Wall running the show; for a stretch early in the 2nd half, he literally looked like an NBA point guard playing against a high school team
- For the second consecutive game, kudos to Mark Krebs and Perry Stevenson; Calipari is high on both and he should be; these guys are getting it done right now
- He did not look terrible by any means, but Patrick Patterson does not look comfortable in his new role at this point
- Kentucky went a long ways towards easing fears that they have no shooters tonight; the Cats were 8-16 from long range in the game; 7 different Cats hit 3-pointers tonight
- DeMarcus Cousins is was simply unstoppable tonight; he has tremendous strength and when he gets the ball in good position, there is just no defending him
- I came away impressed with Ramon Harris; he appears a little quicker, a little more explosive and ten times more confident than he has previously in his career
- One thing that you may not have noticed: UK was 25-30 from the free throw line
- Something else you may not have noticed: UK had 27 assists and only 12 turnovers
- For the second consecutive game, DeAndre Liggins was the only Wildcat that did not play; see quotes below for Calipari's comments on this situation
- Kentucky was 42-71 from the field for 59.2%
- My guess on a regular rotation after this game: Wall, Bledsoe, Cousins, Patterson, Miller, Dodson, Orton, Stevenson, Harris, Hood

Key Individual Stats:

Cousins: 9-12 FG 2o PTS 6 REB
Patterson: 6-12 FG 2-2 3PT 14 PTS 6 REB
Miller: 3-5 FG 11 PTS 7 AST
Dodson: 3-11 FG 11 PTS 9 REB 4 AST
Wall: 10-14 FG 27 PTS 4 REB 9 AST
Harris: 5-6 FG 11 PTS 7 REB
Stevenson: 2-2 FG 4-4 FT 8 PTS

Clarion

-The Golden Eagles were simply overwhelmed with Kentucky's size, speed and length
- Clarion struggled all night with UK's pressure defense and really struggled with getting shots off
- This will be a decent DII team, but they ran into a very motivated Kentucky squad and were the victims of the proverbial buzzsaw
- I jotted down a note that Lloyd and Jamar Harrison both look like talent players that will have a bright season; they were a combined 4-25 from the field tonight, but that isn't going to happen any more this season
- Kentucky's pressure and athleticism contributed to Clarions 23.8% FG shooting (15-63)
- Clarion had 23 turnovers and only 8 assists

Key Individual Stats:

McQueen, L. Harrison, J Harrison, Carty and Mungo combined for 6-41 from the field (14.6%)
Sherry: 3-9 FG 3-7 3PT 11 PTS
Carty: 1-5 FG 8-10 FT 10 PTS 6 REB

Post-Game Press Conference Quotables:

Ron Righter, Clarion head coach:

On John Wall:

"He's the real deal. He's in another league."

On Calipari picking up the intensity this week:

"He definitely got their attention, and he got ours."

On UK:

"They're a very long team."

On UK's athleticism:

"My team plays below the rim this year. UK plays above the rim. In fact., they play above the block."

On bringing Clarion to Rupp Arena:

"This is an experience they'll never forget the rest of their lives."

John Calipari, Kentucky head coach:

His first comments (in reference to Jerry Tipton):

"Questions? Anybody but Jerry..."

On John Wall's leadership ability:

"He's saying to me 'we gotta get Patrick some shots here.' At the end he was saying 'let's get DeMarcus the ball.' That's a leader."

On DeMarcus Cousins tonight:

"How about Cousins? I mean, the guy's a beast."

On Perry Stevenson:

"Perry Stevenson is now solidly the backup to Patrick."

Joking about Coach Righter:

"He also asked me for those jerseys back after the game."

More praise for Mark Krebs:

"I need the Krebs effect from these other guys."

Why didn't Liggins play?

"You know what, I'm gonna talk about the guys I'm playing... I'll never throw kids under the bus. I'll take responsibility myself. Um, I don't wanna do anything that hurts a young person, um, so let's just talk about these kids that played."

Listen to Calipari's Entire Postgame Press Conference (via John Clay)

A Couple of Things that I Consider "Cool":

- I met Tony Delk before the game; he was very nice and one of my all-time favorite Cats
- I watched Delk sign several items for fans as he walked by and what I liked - he seemed to be enjoying it
- I watched a fan ask Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio to sign his basketball before the game (not a misprint)
- Kudos to the young lady that sang the National Anthem tonight; very pretty voice on that girl
- I'm not sure this is cool, but it must be reported: I made a note that it was 108-51 and a foul was called against Kentucky; a fan about 10 rows behind me stood up during a quiet time and screamed to the top of his lungs, "You suck ref!!!"
- Kentucky scored 117 points; I don't care who they were playing, tonight's game generated a buzz that hasn't been felt in these parts for some time now