Kentucky Game Guide

The Basics

No. 10/11 North Carolina (7-1) will face off against No. 5/4 Kentucky (7-0) for the 32nd meeting between the two winningest programs in college basketball. Kentucky has 1,995 wins and North Carolina has 1,991. This is the tenth consecutive regular-season meeting between the two clubs and in the overall series, Carolina holds a 21-10 edge. Carolina is 6-5 against Kentucky in Rupp Arena and has won the last two straight meetings there. This has been a series of streaks; Kentucky won four in a row in the series from 1999-00 through 2003-04 and then Carolina won the next five straight dating back to last season's win in Chapel Hill. The last Kentucky win in the series was on January 3, 2004 in Lexington; Carolina lost 61-56. Carolina is coming off of an 89-82 win over No. 9 Michigan State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge Tuesday night. Kentucky beat UNC-Asheville at home on Monday, 94-57. After the Kentucky game, Carolina will be off for one week. This game will put Carolina halfway through a four-game stretch that will include three top-ten teams, two outside the Smith Center.

Game Time: Carolina at Kentucky, 12:30 PM.

Last Time: Carolina beat Kentucky 77-58 on November 18, 2008 in the Smith Center. Kentucky shot 44.4% but turned the ball over 28 times. Carolina had just ten turnovers and shot a lower percentage than Kentucky, 41.4 percent. The Wildcats shot 52.4% in the second half to 38.2% for Carolina. Deon Thompson led Carolina with 20 points on 10-of-16 shooting and added nine rebounds. Tyler Hansbrough was out with an injury and Tyler Zeller started in his place but broke his wrist late in the second half. Wayne Ellington had 16 points and Ty Lawson added 11 points, nine assists and just two turnovers. Kentucky was led by both Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks who scored 19 each. Patterson added a game-high 11 rebounds and Meeks had six of the Wildcats' turnovers. Ramon Harris had 15 points.





Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage will begin at 11:30 AM.

Storylines

Road warriors: Much about this young Tar Heel team is unpredictable, but in the closest thing it has had to a road game this season, Carolina was blown out by Syracuse in Madison Square Garden. Obviously, that wasn't a real road game and Syracuse played a tough-to-solve 2-3 zone, but this will be a much more intense atmosphere in Rupp Arena. Even Ed Davis, a sophomore who has played in Cameron Indoor Stadium and a packed Ford Field full of MSU fans for the national title, said he hasn't experienced anything quite like it yet. "I don't think I can really say much, because I haven't played in front of a crowd like that on the road, other than like Maryland and Wake Forest. But they say Rupp Arena is a whole different experience, so it should be fun," Davis said.

Perhaps. Traditionally, Roy Williams' coached teams have thrived on the road, and that is something that helped jump-start the 2005-06 version of Carolina, a group that lost just one road game all season. The first significant road game that team won, coincidentally, was in Lexington against a heavily-favored Kentucky team. "You go back to '06 and I think we won 7-8 (road games) at the end of the season that year," Williams said. "It will be a hostile environment and I think you've got to get ready for that. It was a hostile environment in the Garden because it was a lot closer to Syracuse than it was to Chapel Hill, but it wasn't a true road game. ... You just have to stay focused, focused on our bench and what's going on on the court and keep everything else out of it. When I say `focus', do the best that you possibly can to hold your concentration regardless of whether things are going good or going poorly."

Williams has pointed out before that even at home, this team hasn't always responded well to adversity, seeking foul calls rather than making the basket first, turning the ball over in silly ways and missing free throws. But that adversity will only increase on the road, and hopefully it has learned the Syracuse lesson that if they start to hang their heads, they will be down 20 points before they can turn around. It will be too deep of a hole to crawl out of, so this team needs to learn to fight through any kinds of problems it will face because hardly anyone will be in their favor, except for the team itself.

Who can finish?: It all started against Ohio State when Carolina let a 20-point lead get down to four points late, due to a barrage of offense from the Buckeyes combined with errors - missed free throws and turnovers - from Carolina. Carolina executed well down the stretch against Nevada but nearly let a similar lead slip away against Michigan State by missing five of 12 free throw attempts and committing three turnovers. "I'm obviously discouraged with the way that we ended the game. We have three turnovers, give up two or three offensive rebounds and miss four free throws in a row in the last three minutes. So you don't want to finish a game like that. If you do, you'd better have played your tail off before that," Roy Williams said.

The odd thing is that it's Carolina's veterans that are unexpectedly faltering. Deon Thompson had three turnovers down the stretch against Michigan State and in crunch time of four of Carolina's games, either when Carolina was trying to protect a big lead, fell behind or was trying to stave off a run, Thompson has six turnovers and has made just 3-of-8 shots from the floor (though he had drained 5-of-6 foul shots). Marcus Ginyard, the second-most veteran player, has just one turnover in that span but has made just 1-of-4 foul shots down the stretch. As a team, Carolina has made 24-of-39 foul shots down the stretch in those four games (61.3%), but has missed the front end of a few one-and-one's. At this point, it's all psychological when it comes to that part. But his team needs to make them, particularly on the road in a hostile environment. And Carolina has improved from turning it over 13 times in the final 18 minutes or so combined of the Ohio State and Valpo games to turning it over just three times in its last two close contests.

"It always seems like we'll have a team and they always try to make a rally at the last second. It's something we're going to have to work on - the last 5-6 minutes of the game, not to let them try to rally back, have us make a rally and attack them to close the game out. It's another learning experience for us. This game was definitely a learning experience and we're just going to get better from this," Larry Drew II said after Michigan State.

But Kentucky has had some similar problems this season, not surprising seeing as the Wildcats are even younger then Carolina. Kentucky starts three freshmen and one sophomore out of their five starters, plus the very experienced Patrick Patterson. They have begun the second half almost as shakily as Carolina, only to have to finish later with a great performance. The Wildcats have had three "close" games and in the clutch of those contests, they have turned it over 13 times in 27 minutes but have made 66.7% of their shots (62.5% from beyond the arc) and 66.7% of their foul shots. In the first minutes of the second half of those games as they got out of control, Kentucky shot 49.1% from the floor and 28.6% from beyond the arc, scoring four fewer points in nearly 38 minutes but committing one fewer turnover (12). This is a team that hasn't played the kind of schedule that Carolina has played quite yet but is gaining confidence from every close win it can get, and they have been plentiful this season.

At The Game

Listening to the Tar Heel Sports network at the game: The in-stadium frequency, f possible, in Rupp Arena will be 93.5 FM.

Watching At Home

Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.

A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.

CBS coverage: The game will be available on CBS. Ian Eagle and Clark Kellogg will have the call.

Names To Know

Larry Drew II: He has heard the doubters all summer long and even into the regular season - can Carolina withstand the inevitable fall-off it will have from Ty Lawson to Drew II? Sure, there is a fall-off between one of the better point guards in Carolina history and a young Drew. But it's not nearly as much as people would imagine it to be. And none of his teammates are surprised by what he has been able to do so far, even under enormous pressure. Drew himself is confident, but not cocky, and looks forward to the challenge of facing elite point guards like Michigan State's Kalin Lucas and now Kentucky's John Wall. "I can say I'm pretty good and I'm here for a reason, but not really getting as many minutes and experience last year, I wanted to make this game a statement to myself that, `Okay, you're among the top point guards in the country. You can do this.' I'm going to try and feed off it for next game," Drew II said after the Michigan State win.

Despite being a relatively inexperienced player, particularly compared to some of his older teammates, Drew has shown the cool head of the prototypical Carolina point guard down the stretch. Towards the end of close games, he has made 6-of-7 field goal attempts, including 5-of-5 three-pointers, and has drained 11-of-17 free throws (7-of-9 since in the last three close games). Drew has averaged 7.0 points in the closing minutes of those games, adding four assists and three turnovers (all in one game against Valparaiso). He has 28 of Carolina's final 67 points in those close games and in all the other time during those four games, he has scored actually two fewer points (26) than in the most important time. Earlier in the games is when he gets his teammates involved, dishing out 26 assists to nine turnovers in those four games. It's a good characteristic of a young Tar Heel point guard to be cold-blooded when it counts the most.

Deon Thompson: Prior to the Michigan State game, Thompson had never had fewer than seven rebounds or three offensive rebounds. Against the Spartans, Thompson had four rebounds and no offensive rebounds. He did have 14 points but shot just 5-of-12; in fact, against the previous three top-25 teams Carolina has played, Thompson has shot 12-of-32 from the floor (37.5%) compared to 39-of-62 (62.9%) in Carolina's other games. But the good news is that Thompson has had a good career so far against Kentucky, shooting 14-of-27 from the floor (51.2%) and averaging 9.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and nearly a block per contest in a little over 20 minutes. Last year against Kentucky, Thompson had 20 points on 10-of-16 shooting and nine rebounds (seven offensive), fouling out in 29 minutes. Carolina played that game without Tyler Hansbrough.

But against Michigan State on Tuesday, Thompson struggled some. Even though Coach Williams somewhat jokingly compared Thompson to Meadowlark Lemon (see: Quotables), the senior uncharacteristically seemed to come apart down the stretch. He turned over the only rebound he pulled down and turned it over two more times as well, missing an uncharacteristic three-pointer also. Down the stretch of Carolina's four close games this season, Thompson has shot just under 38% and turned it over six times; through the rest of those games, Thompson has shot just over 50% and turned it over five times. Carolina needs Thompson to be a reliable late-game option in a hostile environment as he has shown he is capable of being; he did it against Duke on more than one occasion and he can do it again.

Marcus Ginyard: A bit uncharacteristically, Marcus Ginyard became a scorer in his first five games for Carolina, averaging 12.4 points on 63.9% shooting (8-of-16 from beyond the arc), but just as uncharacteristically, he added just three rebounds, 1.8 steals, 3.8 assists and 3.2 turnovers. In the last three games, he has increased and decreased all the "Marcus" stats that matter as his turnovers have gone down to 1.3 per game and his assists to 5.7, giving him 17 assists to just four turnovers in the last three games, and he has increased his steals to 2.3 per contest as well. His rebounds have also gone up to 4.7 per game and his points down to 11, but just about the only statistic that is troubling is his free-throw shooting 3-of-10 in the last three games, including some big ones down the stretch. The senior played a team-high 36 minutes against Michigan State, and Williams said that would likely continue because he makes the coach feel safe. And doesn't he make most of the Carolina faithful feel the same way, particularly on defense? Of course, but he can't do it on his own. Ginyard was one of the primary defenders on Michigan State's Kalin Lucas, helping give him a different look. He will likely see a lot of time on the 6-4 John Wall who might not match up as well against a shorter Larry Drew II.

John Wall: The freshman sensation is one of the rare examples of a rookie - particularly a point guard - who lives up to the hype. John Calipari's dribble-drive offense is ideal for the speedy Wall, who is already out-performing two of Calipari's best point guards when they were freshmen (Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans, both currently in the NBA). Part of what sets Wall part is his willingness - and ability - to take and make the big shots. He hit the game-winner against Miami of Ohio in his first-ever collegiate game and he hit the game-tying shot against Stanford with 33 seconds left, then tying it again on two free throws with 2.4 seconds to go. He was already a great player, one Coach Williams compared to Jason Kidd, but his ability to take those kinds of shots sets him apart from the average college freshman or even the average college player. And the way he fits so perfectly into Calipari's offense is certainly a problem, because if Carolina can't handle Wall - averaging 18.5 points on 55.6% shooting and making nearly as many trips to the foul line per game (7.7) as he is assists (7.8) - defensively, then they will not get to see the end of a close game. "It's going to be a team effort to try to stop John Wall," Ed Davis said. "He's a great point guard - one of the top point guards in the country. So this is going to be a team effort. It's somewhat like Ty Lawson last year (for Carolina) - they need him to get going."

Patrick Patterson: Everyone wondered aloud before the season began just how the true post man would adapt to John Calipari's dribble-drive offense. It turns out that he is adapting just fine, averaging 16.3 points on a ridiculous 69.1% shooting (not counting three-point attempts, that would be an insane 76.4%), adding 10.6 rebounds per game. He has at least one block in every game this season and he has not picked up more than two fouls in any game, something Cousins' presence seems to have helped as well. He has picked up just two fouls and committed no turnovers in the last two games, averaging 31 minutes per contest and adding 14.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and a blocked shot per game. He has also shot 2-of-5 (40%) from beyond the arc in the last two games after making just 3-of-8 in the first five, making him that much more dangerous. He has shot 13-of-21 from the floor in the last two games as well.

Against Carolina, Patterson has done very well, shooting 60.1% from the floor and averaging 19 points and ten rebounds per contest, adding 1.5 assists, 1.0 block and 2.0 turnovers in 35.0 minutes, fouling out of his first game against Carolina in 2007. But last season, Patterson was one of the few bright spots for Kentucky in a turnover-filled game. He had just one turnover in 37 minutes and added 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go with 11 rebounds and two blocked shots. Deon Thompson has come a long way in his ability to guard other elite post players but someone will have to contend with both Patterson and his teammate, DeMarcus Cousins. One - or both - are good enough to go off on the Tar Heels if they are not guarded well. Carolina has not yet faced a team that has two post players quite like these two; Syracuse had just one and a versatile wing forward in Wesley Johnson. These are two true post players who can muscle their way around and Carolina had better be ready.

DeMarcus Cousins: As mentioned above, Cousins even without Patterson is an elite freshmen big man. But with Patterson, he is even more lethal as teams can't concentrate on just one of them. He had just seven points and four rebounds in his first college game and he has not had fewer than ten points or five rebounds in any game since. He has three double-doubles, one behind Patterson, and has at least one block in every game this season. He is averaging 16.1 points, 8.6 rebounds (4.0 offensive boards) and 2.6 blocks per game in just 20 minutes per game, shooting 55.8% from the floor. If he has a weakness, it is foul trouble and free throw shooting (56.5%). He has fouled out of two games this year and has three or more fouls in six of seven games. But at 6-10, 260 pounds, Cousins is a real load and particularly so when he is fired up, which he no doubt will be on Saturday afternoon.

Quotables

"Deon (Thompson) got an offensive rebound and tried to act like Meadowlark Lemon, dribbling the ball at a casual pace to the corner. That's the reason they don't give coaches guns because I would have shot his rear-end. ... I've told the old-timers in here, my mother told me she was going to shoot me 5,000 times and I never one time thought she was. Deon better understand that I'm not his mother." -Roy Williams

"It's 6:45 on a Sunday night and who gives a darn what's happening on Week 10 in the NFL, anyway? " -Roy Williams on the Nevada attendance

"I wish the (color) green would help us on our frickin' free throws at the end. Maybe I'll get them to paint some green on the backboards." -Roy Williams, when asked about the effect of the color green on his team

"(Larry Drew II) had a spell there in the second half where he threw the two passes off the backboards. The Houston Rockets a hundred years ago had a play like that throwing it to Moses Malone. Those were not plays." -Roy Williams

"The doctors did have some things to say to me, some that I appreciated and some that I didn't. He said, `Coach, you have to understand, you're five days after major surgery,' and I appreciated that. He said, `And you have to realize that you're 59 years old,' and I didn't appreciate that very much at all." -Roy Williams on hurting his ailing shoulder against Nevada

Lauren Brownlow is the executive editor of Tar Heel Monthly.

source: http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/120409aaf.html