CatsPause.com - Hangin' A Hundred

November 6, 2009

Matt May
CatsPause.com Senior Writer

When John Wall announced his intention to play college basketball at Kentucky everyone knew the young man was a difference maker. The Cats found out just how much the electrifying freshman could alter their season in one night.

The nation's top-rated recruit swerved all over the court in his season debut as UK completed the exhibition portion of its season with a 117-52 pounding of Clarion University in front of 23,0802 giddy fans at Rupp Arena. The point total was UK's highest in any game since scoring 118 against Kentucky State in December of 2001 and the most in an exhibition affair since it pinned 119 on Athletes in Action to kick off the 1995-96 national championship season.

As expected, Wall had his fingerprints all over the performance. The 6-foot-4 freshman scored a game-high 27 points, dished out nine assists and grabbed four rebounds to lead the Cats to a much better effort than the exhibition opener he missed earlier in the week.

"I knew how good John Wall was but he's the real deal," Clarion coach Ron Righter said. "He's in another league."

Wall displayed the undeniable skill set - speed, athleticism, vision - he was known for on the prep level but it was his unselfishness that left his coach and teammates raving after the game.

"I asked him if that was his 'A' game," UK coach John Calipari said. "Pretty good, pretty good. He makes us different obviously. Let me tell you what I loved about what he did...he was saying to me, 'We've got to get Patrick some shots here' and at the end he was saying, 'Let's get DeMarcus the ball'. That's a leader."

"Amazing," Patterson said of Wall's game. "Whenever he gets the ball I'm screaming, 'Go John, Go.' He just takes off. He moves so fast. Playing with John is amazing and he's only going to make us better."

Even with Wall's impressive debut the Cats were much better in virtually ever aspect of the game in their second outing. Calipari instituted 6 a.m. practices after slogging by Campbellsville in the previous exhibition to get his talented team's attention and the tactic appeared to have the desired effect.

The Cats swarmed to a 32-9 lead in the first eight minutes of the game and closed with 20 points over the final 4:09 to leave Rupp Arena with a feel good vibe heading into the regular season opener against Morehead State.

"Clarion is better than Campbellsville we just did a better job of guarding them," Calipari said. "They're more skilled and bigger. We're getting closer. What I demand they'll do. They want to be coached."

Righter was duly impressed.

"That's as skilled a team as I've seen, it's just a matter of time that this place is really going to see something special," the longtime coach said. "He's got good young talent but what I saw tonight was the veterans blend in and give the 100 percent he demands. There was nice team play out of every one of those guys. He definitely got their attention this week.

"You could tell from the get-go their closeouts were more intense and they didn't allow many open jump shots but the biggest difference was the spacing in their Dribble Drive. The aggressiveness in their eyes was there. It was good to see."

The Cats played without freshman guard Eric Bledsoe, who sat out after rolling an ankle against Campbellsville and then lost freshman forward Daniel Orton in the first half with what UK called chest soreness but didn't seem to miss a beat. Now they'll have to survive a dangerous Morehead State team without the game-changing Wall as he sits out a final game to complete the conditions the NCAA put on his certification to play.

"I couldn't wait (to play)," Wall said. "We have a great team and have a long way to go but to be out there I couldn't wait.

"Man it's so difficult. I was already thinking about (missing Morehead State) right after the buzzer. To have a great game and then have to sit out again, it's going to be tough to sit down but it's a process I'm glad to have behind me and it's something I've got to do. I have to sit down there with my team, support them and hope they win the game."

The good news for Kentucky is it's only one game.

LIGGINS SITS...AGAIN
The only UK player to not see any action in either exhibition was sophomore guard DeAndre Liggins, who once again remained in his warm-ups at the end of the Cats' bench for the entire night. It was an issue Calipari did not want to delve into when asked about it after the game.

"I'm going to talk about the guys I'm playing," Calipari said. "I'll never throw kids under the bus and I'll take responsibility myself. I don't want to do anything that hurts a young person so let's talk about the kids that are playing."

The mysterious answer shed no light on what may be going on with Liggins but it would not be the first time he has had issues that have kept him off the court. The Chicago native famously (or infamously) refused to check into a game against Kansas State early last season and missed the Tennessee game in Knoxville for disciplinary reasons during his freshman season.

Liggins raved about the opportunity to play for Calipari when the new coach arrived, having been recruited by him at Memphis, and drew praise for his effort and willingness to take instruction during spring workouts, but has remained bolted to the bench thus far.

Matt May is the basketball beat reporter for The Cats' Pause. If you have questions or comments about the Cats e-mail him here.

Kentucky NEWS

[More]

Latest Headlines:

Resources:

Font Size:

FEATURED PRODUCT