Well, we thought they were unbeatable. Actually, they were…once. I guess January’s win against the Wildcats was all Kentucky was going to give us. They came back ready to play this time, and it was kind of upsetting. Fans were disturbed at the sight of their poor Gamecocks getting beat down by the newly energized team that we once mastered.
But yeah…it happened. However, it wasn’t near as entertaining as the previous match-up, but nothing is.
I wouldn’t quite call it a blow-out, but it was pretty bad. We once even went a whole six minutes without scoring. We had a good chance in the beginning, but that went out the door quickly. As the seats began to empty one by one, it became a grand indicator of our soon-to-be-loss.
We tried as we might to catch up, but like the JoJo song, it was just too little, too late. Coach Horn admitted that we gave up too many easy baskets, but maybe Kentucky was just too good. And we just couldn’t hold them back.
No one gave 100%, or played as well as they did the first time around. Even my recent favorite Sam Muldrow assisted a crucial shot…for the other team. Downey was good, but I could say that for every game. And Lakeem Jackson was great, but not until the second half.
I’ve honestly seen much more entertaining games this season. Maybe I was just hoping for another exciting game like the one the Gamecocks gave us back in January, or maybe the team just knew it wouldn’t happen again.
It was like watching a high school basketball game, only extremely televised and larger populated. Fun to watch, but very predictable. I wish I could write another “W” on our schedule, but to be honest, I’m not surprised at all that it’s an “L.” I mean, it is Kentucky. We were the upset team that beat them, but they weren’t ready to let it happen again.
The only thing Kentucky gave up was 26 points to Downey, and that’s where it stopped. And it’s these kinds of games that make us nervous as to what’s going to happen next year without him…
But for now, we can celebrate the fact that on Kentucky’s record (27-1), we are that “1.” And that should make us all proud.
Playing the Field updates every Monday.
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