2014-2015 Kentucky @ South Carolina (Game 19)

as this precocious crew authors get another historic big blue nation season today though this crowd in columbia south carolina boys and ready look to both repeat and rewrite history wildcats gamecocks turning up next welcome everyone to saturday showcase presented by five hour energy today's game part of espn's journey to the tourney presented by sonic a season-long spotlight on games that will impact the tournament colonial life arena sold out for just the sixth time to see one of just two unbeaten teams remaining in ncaa division one basketball hello everybody i'm mark jones courtside with the new people's choice mayor of columbia south carolina dick vitale dick kentucky comes in here after their fourth best start in school history california the coach has questions about his team goes through well he's always got questions he's become the lew holtz and coach i was teasing him before the game i started reading a paper about who you're playing and i think the spurs are coming here i think i'm looking for tim duncan parker genoa i mean he makes everybody the best but you know what that's how you win get respect from your players pretty opponent and i'll tell you about kentucky it's all about defense defense defense 30 team shoot against them they give up 50 points a game they rebound in the glass offensively 45 number one in all those categories the most suffocating defense i have seen in my 36 years at espn wow major statement california though has reason to have a little lou hold some of them for this one because this is a place where historically they'd struggle hey struggle don't get nervous with the new button on in lexington you want to hear this three of the last five trips here they left winning now last year left would enable four of those starters they're back to south carolina tonight 2010 19-0 john caliber's first loss as a kentucky coach right here got beat by south carolina watch out watch out big blue nation not trying to hear all that dick let's take a look at our anatomy of an upset sonic showdown first of all you got to make sure they only get one shot they really offensively rebound so well you got to make sure they're not official offensively not making shots south carolina to win they better make some freeze and they better feed off the emotion of this crap i know what that their starters will not be intimidated four of them started last year in this game when they beat kentucky let's go courtside to kaylee harton well mark the gamecocks take on frank's personality they're bawling that was john calipari's way of complimenting his opponent today now with a 1-4 start in fcc play frank martin might disagree with that sentiment the energy and the toughness that fueled an upset of iowa state has relinquished as conference play has started with senior guard tyrone johnson told me there's been a renewed sense of urgency this week he addressed the team saying no more pointing fingers no more excuses we'll see how that translates on the court today all right kayla to the action south carolina with possession dwayne notice off the screen here's carrera herrera getting to start for kevichus kevin just went to the bench in that last game did he make shots against tennessee johnson was two for 13 shooting three he's gonna have to make some here cornwall hits the floater for the game's first bucket he's a good athlete double figure scorer had a good strong freshman year their plan is basically to shoot the ball quickly if it's there if not we're going to use some of that shot clock that is the plan of south carolina paulie stein out front inside now to towns nice drop step and he's fouled inside by demetrius henry as we take a look at the starting lineups for kentucky we mentioned a change in the starting five as trey lyles gets the start today for dominique hawkins who started the last game against vandy a couple of nights ago and for south carolina and kevichus goes to the bench michael carrera the junior gets the start for him carrera gives him some energy more but right now when you look at kentucky inside if they drop the ball into the big guys they got great size you gotta hope they have a bad day shooting because they they're capable of doing that they've had games would have really been really difficult on the offensive end towns goes over to henry with the rebound and on the push it's tyrone johnson the villanova transfer he's a key player for that they need him to make some shots from the perimeter if the shot's not available right away they're going to take some time off the clock to try and shorten the game a little bit frank martin talked about playing inside out how important is it for them to do that well that's good philosophy but you got to make shots if you come back outside to the perimeter they didn't make them in that tennessee game dwayne notice with the 15-foot jumper rebounded by paulie stein and here comes andrew harrison he gets more criticism than any kid in the country i'm telling you every time something doesn't go well for kentucky blame andrew blame andrew it's really sad in a way he's a good college player gets into the paint missing the bank shop rebounded by henry and henry throws away the outlet pass sloppy right there there's aaron harrison who's been coming alive from downtown inside trey lyles with the bucket and there's the offensive rebound and power that's their strength offensively notice got eaten up and swallowed inside not shot kentucky needs the nation to block shots 8.1 again andrew harrison and he gets blocked by fornwell one thing very fiscal team south carolina they're gonna have some good physicality they had a good win over iowa state and another kentucky steel dick here comes harrison makes the left-handed lay-up this time and andrew harrison on the board with his first bucket poor job offensively by south carolina they're going to have better execution can't allow kentucky taking the turnover and go the other way for layups calipari warned his team dick that this is going to be a quote-unquote street fight a very physical type game and he said we need that we need to get bounced around a little bit physically but we'll get that today pereira on the wing you know you can twerk well that you want but it comes down to still making shots 10 on the shot clock jackson working against harrison a tough floater no good notice with the loose ball rebound inside and he'll go to the free-throw line for a pair also making free throws really big when you're trying to spring that upset has the blocked shot [Applause] and good kentucky defense to get the fast break going yeah the steal the turnover the transition game nice left-hand lay-up there by harrison there's an improved defender this year as dwayne notice goes to the free-throw line a 78 foul shooter had five points and three assists against tennessee in that loss several nights ago a couple of subs coming into the ball game hacked us and kitcheness [Applause] as herrera sits down along with demetrius henry i hope you rehearsed those names man all day looking in front of your mirror i've been in the lab working on it and now a little full court pressure by south carolina they're going to play aggressive attack not be intimidated [Applause] paulie stein with the ally and the punch home by towns counts with the slam jam but the great lolly who passed and johnson on one perfect play by johnson coming back after the dunk gets the score attacking frank martin said we're going to try to score quickly that's an example [Applause] that's a part of their offensive ability because of that size the athleticism has the drive great drive by johnson right there sealed off the defense well freddie for sheldon did a great job on our billboard he has been. he's been analysis very athletic [Applause] just picked up a warning from the bench remember last year he got thrown out at this game they ran him tied at six and importantly now that's two fouls on willie calling stein if you leave him in or calipari may be going to take him out here i need to take him out right now he's going to the bench actually frannie did that analysis was done on towns and he did a great job talking about his wingspan his athleticism [Applause] as the white platoon will come into the ball game now for kentucky don't get me started with the bluetooth system because i got started with him already he put a picture up he said let's take a picture two fired coaches i said yeah we are he said we haven't done too badly calvary said had to he got fired you it's the highest paid amateur golfer in the country lead marcus lee out top trey lyles with the pull up he was really big for them against vanderbilt vanderbilt really hung around played really effectively made some threes in fact kentucky went one for 10 starting the second half and lee then stopped that by making three consecutive plays and three scores nine mcdonald's all-americans as part of this kentucky roster most coaches wish they had one i have i was praying hoping i would get one wendy's are you kidding me nine mcdonald's all americans and uh three more subs get ready to check into the ball game for the wildcats there's kitcheness out top weak side now to notice they've had some good moments south carolina this year they went through a stretch where they won about seven in a row they beat oklahoma state iowa state either state ranked number nine that was a quality win off the miss here come kentucky down by one harrison for three and rebounded by south carolina strowman thornwell took the hit really attacked really attacking the transition play with a lot of emotion the one thing kentucky's doing a better job of recently he's making clues time on the floor back after this there's a little bit of history working today for south carolina kentucky back in 2010 undefeated 19-0 but devin downey got loose on him but that was after demarcus cousins went to work for the wildcats downey hitting shot after shot on his way to 30 points in a 68-62 upset over then number one kentucky then 2014 just last year in january kentucky shooting just 27 coach calipari as we mentioned earlier was ejected they ran him from the game and south carolina won it 72-67 they stormed the court afterwards having to pay a 25 thousand dollar fine i don't think they minded dick by dell hey i'll tell you one thing i remember reading some i believe jerry tipton and lexington wrote about aaron harrison at that game after that the press conference they asked him he said hey coach got ejected he said heck i would have injected him the way he was acting he said he was frustrated he said but i'll tell you this we're gonna write a great story and was it amazing how the kid had the intuition that they were going to go on a run and he made three dramatic shots against michigan wichita state and wisconsin to get him to the final game against against a final game connecticut those harrison twins have been so scrutinized and criticized but really great kids as tyler euless now takes the reigns of the offense he's point guard he's missed the popularity a lot of people in lexington feel he should get more playing time at that point guard slot he's a guy that creates a lot of excitement with the ball to make shots quick everybody likes the little guy yeah everybody likes everyone likes a backup quarterback too right exactly the foul out top on the gamecocks looks like it's going to go against carrera he's a high-energy guy guerrera there's a lot of enthusiasm energy but one thing that's a key right now south carolina's four for four in the free throw line and you got to do that if you're playing against a team that has a lot more talent than you south carolina's lost four out of their last five games after a great non-conference schedule and those wins including the one we mentioned against iowa state they're rotating now on the show 2-3 zone euless penetrates kicks it out he's been shade 21 out of his last 29 three-point attempts in the last nine games that is incredibly accurate yeah he's a phenomenal shooter that was a big star at missouri ulysses booker played really well together i mean let's face reality they would start at 99 percent of the schools in america thornwell took it in and lost the handle it'll save south carolina basketball kentucky the last three games were 24-41 shooting the threes booker just great style he didn't give many opportunities against vanderbilt he only had one opportunity he was 20 for 27 coming into that game there he is great look squares his body exceptionally well for you young kids great follow through tucks the elbow in great dna his dad melvin one of the all-time greats in missouri here's henry 10 on the shot clock for thornwell now a little bit of a mismatch working against marcus lee or maybe it's not a mismatch after all three on one harrison shot blocking ability turning to the layup they lead the nation and block shots [Music] boy great recovery dick defensively by marcus lee they are so good defensively you're transitioning every part of their game action is with the miss you're one shot very tough to get second shots against kentucky rebound of power you got to make shots man you got to make him count when you get a good look fearless on the drive gets double team kicks it out to lee takari johnson working on the low block and henry with the block on the play nice play by henry defensively showing his athleticism rotating over good timing and block shot let's take a look right here marcus lee from behind excellent timing and that converted there's the block on the other side but henry booker with a tough contested two johnson there for the rebound and the stick back and there's the offensive rebound again i mean they just beat you like you cannot believe with the offensive rebound the missed shot the miss shot has become a real weapon so much size on that front line only the portland trailblazers out of all nba teams have a bigger front starting five kichinas swings it around to strowman inside demetrius henry goes up strong and he draws the foul on the play either harrison or lee the culprit i'll tell you one thing practices must be unbelievable at kentucky i think sometimes when you think about it there's only one team that can beat them and that is kentucky having a bad bad game yeah you go back to last year and as henry stepped to the free throw line a couple of the players aaron harrison included said you know what i think coach kind of mellowed a little bit after that loss and he changed his disposition a little bit although because cal might disagree with them whatever it was dick it led to a fantastic run down the street well james young said he chilled a little bit at the end of the year and john calabrea had a great answer he said no he said james young unchilled he unchilled and i'll tell you he's an intense competitor you're not going to change that personality that's what he is and that's why he wins he gets the most out of people he's not about what he did yesterday he's about today henry misses the second foul shot might be bothered a little bit by that mask that he's wearing broke his nose in practice three days ago a little friendly fire here's euless calls out the set out of ohio looking inside for johnson kicks it back out and sets the screen 10 on the shot clock to curry johnson nice look to marcus lee who draws the foul great interior passing yeah good enjoy engineer passing they're so big on a front line and they're so athletic they're not just big slow they're mobile and they really have some good athleticism very physical good athletes marcus lee gonna go to the foul line marcus lee had seven points and six rebounds in their most recent game against bandy yeah he did a great great job in that game kentucky on a free-for-all last three games you saw the numbers there talk about a guy who's very ambitious says that one day when he's finished playing basketball he wants to run apple oh wow wow i like that i like that not a bad not a bad deal he's shooting for the moon dick chase your dreams man all you young people chase your dreams and then have a commitment to try to make that dream a reality i peeked at some of the pages of your new book had a chance to be inspired by you saying exactly that in it lee with a seventh different cat to score [Applause] [Applause] johnson outside south carolina going deep into the shot clock here down to 10. [Applause] seven on the shot clock they got to get busy here strowman throws up a tough shot and draws the foul on euless lucky you got the foul call right there i mean it's such intimidation the way they block shots kentucky [Applause] well folks big monday presented by verizon this week has an acc big 12 double dip for you at 7. syracuse taking on number 15 north carolina then at 9. number 17 texas taking on iowa state texas really playing really well now defensively last few games really effective hey you talking about block shots they had 146 coming into this game mark the record in the ncaa is 344 held by the kentucky team in 2012 led by a supreme shot blocker mr davis a.d is unbelievable and he's only 21 years old one of a couple of kentucky players named to the starting lineup voted on by fans to be a starter in the upcoming nba all-star game anthony davis in the western conference and in the eastern conference john wall who leads the nba and assists right now i'll tell you one thing john calibarri could put together one heck of an nba team of players that he has coached that are now played in the nba carolina dick with a little half-court pressure yep want to post somebody up to the foul line and go opposite they swing it around to harrison for three and that's what he does aaron harrison shooting 34 from downtown picking it up of late i'll tell one thing when harrison and booker are making threes you got no shot you got no shot to be deaf with their defense you got no shot you got to hope they're missing shots and you got to make some threes which south carolina has not done early in this game good defense by harrison on strowman here's johnson they got to get some screens to get johnson's capable even though he had a bad game he's capable good held by takari johnson five on the shot clock dwayne notice out top booker nice contest and a fourth shot carrera with the offensive rebound nice play by carrera they're really going to get that opportunity under this shot euless now south carolina trying to muck this game up a little i think that one thing kentucky came to play though is that if some girl is going to win this game it's going to be because they had our players because kentucky has come to play here today they've learned that in sec conference play it's not as easy as otherwise might seem a couple of overtime contests already euless from downtown halfway down and out guerrero with the board not stopped by carrera on the offense on the defensive boards so we'll get around to mackie justin mackey whose dad played here one of the all-time greats phenomenal player play freddie fogler nice body by carrera couldn't finish though and back comes euless kentucky leading by four harrison same spot different result give it one shot that's a key you got to give it one shot gotta come back and make some shots out here good heads up [Applause] can't go to sleep on kentucky defensively or offensively harrison strict butter onto three this is the sec on espn and the journey of the attorney presented by sonic continues in south bend on wednesday when number five duke takes on number eight notre dame there it is a look at some of the cogent numbers big monday presented by verizon part of journey to the tourney and dick a lot of the talk right now as we look at that duke notre dame game coming up coach k looking for win number thousand in his career how good is he how do you put into words and characterize just what he means i'll make it very simple i think right now if you take the whole coaching profession of all sports i have them number one number two i look out there popovich popular just been unbelievable number three i would probably go right now when i think about the third best you think about belichick even though about the football the football is deflating him i'm tired of that whining or crying but anyway the before i think about gino orienta okay gino ariel what he has done and i would revive mr saban and eventually he might get urban meyer on that list might get john calipari they gotta win more national tennis hey the reason they have coach k one not only what he's done as a college coach what he's done internationally what he's done on that level they say ticket prices are going crazy for new york city with st john's and steve lavin could be a trivia question who did coach k get his thousands against by the way dan schumann can't wait for wednesday that'd be a heck of a battle up there in south bend for the notre dame duke it wouldn't be such a bad thing to be the guy that coach k gets the number one thousand against doesn't matter yeah make it a good trivia answer doesn't matter lyles knocks down the first foul shot one thing that's not going to be easy here because deangelo harrison st johns is very athletic and they're going to play with a little chip on their shoulder new york city be going wild [Applause] [Music] lyles goes one for two catchiness with the rebound south carolina down by five as we approach the midway point of the first half kentucky really matching up on the perimeter there haven't been any really good looks by south carolina for a three the three ball is really big when you're trying to spring an upset henry on the baseline one and done at the offensive end for the gamecocks harrison on the drive not sure whether that was a pass or a shot looked like he was looking for towns that's the first turnover the game by kentucky he was caught up in the year johnson tipped up and in looks like kitchenette's got a hand on it nice little offensive tip right there very aggressive on the glass frank moore brings that passion to coach in he did one heck of a job with kansas state took over for hugs averaged 23 wins a season for the wildcats out of kansas state before coming here notice thought about it they swing it around to thornwell notice off the screen the step back and a nice offensive rebound by mendel's kitcheness notice the sophomore out of toronto a good ball movement trying to show some patience use some of that clock shorten the game a little bit when you got out talented thornwell gets the switch on lyles and drives it on a nice look straight away with the brush great penetration by front left shoulder athleticism mid 6'5 timeout right there john calipari not happy gonna watch a little great two-man play here great penetration four and well very often it dumps it off to henry and henry with the flush and a jab good two-man execution right there by south carolina south carolina dick on a six-to-one run as califari tries to tinker whatever adjustments they might make on defense saw bobby kremens in the house he played here 69 70. had a great team of 14 to know and conference play under the great frank maguire and they got beaten double overtime by nc state and he disappeared they couldn't find kremens for days he told me he said i went to the mountains i was so depressed because remember in those days you had to win the tournament acc to get into the ncaa alex english another game caught great in the stands watching today and booker silences the van and shows you that he's got his driver's license too he can put it on the deck a little bit one lead i love guys that can make shots i mean there's no substitute for guys that can make shots and he can make a booker one of the best three-point shooters in the conference car scored now to johnson johnson played at villanova notice off the screen nice speed kevin just missing everything didn't hit the rim no reset on the shot clock thornwell missing they got a couple tries at it and back comes kentucky in transition booker with the slam great movement without the ball lookers and then you steal sloppy play kentucky's got their effort really working today yeah they're really playing they're playing a little chip on their shoulder they remember leaving here five point lead time under the floor and when we come back we'll have a chat with one of the top coaches in the sec the old ball coach [Applause] here's harrison on the break lacerating that south carolina defense kaylie harton looked like he almost beat a two-deep zone if he were a football quarterback speaking of which well mark coach spurrier here today to celebrate that independence bowl win in front of this raucous crowd coach for a season that otherwise saw some disappointment how do you describe the energy that's been around your program in the off season yeah kaylee i tell you what uh winning the bowl game to all teams now is the game you talk about t play again so it lasted seven or eight months until we played in september so it's a good win for us and to have a winning season that sure beats a losing season pharaoh cooper your offensive mvp of that bowl game how do you describe what his role will be as an offensive player he's one of the best all-around players in the country he can run he can throw he catches punts he can do it all so he'll still be our wildcat quarterback and play wide receiver but we've got to find a real quarterback most of the time we got we got some good recruits coming in also so we hope to be a different team next year what can you tell us about the competition for your quarterback spot well we got three guys on campus that'll fight it out in the spring and then like i said we got a freshman coming in but uh hopefully out of spring we'll have you know a player that we we have confidence in could go play about a week and a half until signing day how do you feel about the class you love coming in well we think we have a chance for one of the best recruiting classes we've ever had of course february the 4th when you know it is or isn't and then four years later you'll know how you did but uh we do have a lot of good players and we returned some good players also so hopefully we can do a little bit better next year we'll have fun celebrating that bowl win with this raucous crowd coach yeah this is some crowd here the gamecocks they love their sports teams our women's basketball number one in the country so kentucky they may have the men but we got to win them thanks coach real ball coach huh they were recruiting like you could not believe there's a woman's i'm gonna do this dawn staley's club number one in america and i'm making an ultimate request for the gamecock fans listen to me those young ladies have been brilliant they have been super monday night they play at home here against texas a m sell this place out this is the first sell out here tonight this afternoon rather in the last four years they deserve a sell-off dawn staley and her kid she's a hall of famer and what a job she's done as the architect of this program great things happening here in columbia south carolina with both the women's and the men's basketball programs harrison at the free throw line knocks down the second kentucky leading by six you know kelly with that good interview with steve spurrie about football when i checked in the hotel yesterday i took a picture with the whole football staff was there recruits were all over oh they were working man they were working big weekend for them trying to get some of those commitments and they weren't trying to recruit me i could tell you that they had some some guys in the hallways i couldn't believe the size of it you're the media coordinator dick harrison with the rebound off the henry miss and back come kentucky that's a bad sign for south carolina not making shots getting open looks there you gotta convert south carolina has not made or attempted a three-pointer yet good defense by thornwell on harrison that's because kentucky has really matched up on the perimeter and playing exceptional defense here today i mean 25 percent they're shooting about right now south carolina eight on the shot clock for tyler ewis tough pull-up blocked and back from south carolina looking for a little early offense thornwell with a step through henry with the board knocked out of bounds south carolina ball not getting any really good looks i mean the looks really are tough everything's challenged even in transition when they try and get an easy bucket challenge that town's coming back into the ball game i think about the great defensive teams i've seen over the years georgetown certainly with the patrick ewing team was tremendous think about unlv when stacey worked as well you got to go right up and which he does with the bucket his first hacker just he hesitated right there he hesitated and he finally got away with it he's wide open four-point lead for the wildcats lee couldn't find the handle steps out of bounds yeah one thing frank has got his kids playing a lot of energy a lot of passion they are playing hard frank martin with those uh penetrating looks certainly gets his players attention and he said that after that big win against iowa state dick they came back and they kind of lost their edge a little bit but he says in the last couple of days they've gotten back to being themselves a little bit in practice by the end of the tennessee game they were down double digits late and made a big run and mackie took a three that could have tied the game i swear i watched it it went in i thought that sucker was in and it came out the vows by the way have done a good job in the league maybe the surprise team so far out of bounds and it'll be south carolina basketball south carolina coming in at 1-4 in conference play 10-7 overall florida's been a major disappointment in conference play so far billy donovan's got to be totally frustrated because that is not a billy donovan basketball team away that point great move off the inbound that's german nice little execution getting the open look they got to lock it up now play a little multiple defenses frank boyd he's got the pride going crazy he's a cheerleader on the sideline [Applause] harrison on the way all the way to the bucket missed the punch out of bounds south carolina ball lost control with the ball on that drive for the goal time gotta break up we're gonna be in the dog fight today they're gonna come they're gonna strap they're going to fight they're going to claw well california is going to be encouraged by the fact that at least he went strong with it because he warned his players this is going to be a street fight a physical game it's amazing that they haven't been able to take a three by four south carolina see how they lock them up right in their face with a buck right up on them thornwell that's a good screen he doesn't use the screen goes opposite [Applause] they swing it back weak side corner there's the first three and it's good and south carolina takes the lead [Music] there was a buzz man a buzz last night when i went to dinner to be those who played italian restaurant i'm gonna tell you there was a buzz there all right kept here it was we're gonna open up with it so right now they're a little bit of an ending now they've had their dream and booker off the mark one of his rare misses from downtown beckham strowman [Applause] you win a kentucky uniform you get everybody's best hit people play at such a level against you dukes faces that north carolina louisville teams like that on the elite teams they get everybody's best hit at kevich's baseline to henry good patience by south carolina they turn it over euless not straight ball fake and he converts terrific more faith right there he really came into prominence after coming up big in that game against louisville that win against louisville where he had 14 points second half he was pretty in that game which works between those kids one point just the sixth sellout crowd ever here watching his tight game and they turn it over two turnovers in a row two turnovers in a row and booker fouled by tyrone johnson he'll go to the free-throw line you don't get a shot they get two and they go to the free-throw line no surprise seeing a little blood fiscal out there when we come back all right kentucky with one point lead right here south carolina hanging tough a busy day in the sec texas a m taking on tennessee kentucky undefeated the only team in the conference 5-0 well you know when you look at that right there ron morris wrote a column here in the local paper about the sec about how it's better this year than people anticipating i agree with that from top to bottom however they won't beat each other they're all going to beat each other right now you look under verge arkansas looks like an ncaa burt team certainly lsu you got george and tennessee still going to do some work but they've all beat upon each other and that could hurt you talking about tournament time and selection sunday yep booker meanwhile going to the foul line an 81 free throw shooter they're the last two possessions i want to harp on but kentucky did a great job they got a deuce of a steal without south carolina getting a shot and then they get another turnover and he gets booked around the free-throw line who's at 80 and as you said 81 free throw shooter so you got four points without getting a shot that's a no-no you can't do that if you're trying to spring that major upset 306 to go in the first half i think that dick if you ask frank martin if you take this score at this part of the game you take it though right well probably but i think you'd like to take back those last two possessions i know coaches man they don't want to be able to lose inside he don't want no moral victory no moral victory kevin just gives it to henry henry played his high school basketball in the state of florida faith baptist before that northeastern in fort lauderdale a good south florida connection for frank martin and his coaching staff booker on the lead and vicker now with double figures he has 11 the leading scorer nobody rotated back defensive transition wasn't there had a good opportunity and a wide-open 15-foot shot and did not make it booker's been sensational off the bench tell you they were working on him during the timeout dick he got cut sporting a band-aid on his face right now they score so quickly they got the more right out there's the transition he kicks it up euless to his buddy what a great pass by euless let him perfectly perfectly nice catch a nice jam thornwell [Applause] guarded by lyles [Applause] here's johnson looking inside for henry off the screen it's thornwell good help by takari johnson had kevin just missing from outside and there's a foul underneath it looks like it's going to go against south carolina and demetrius henry who has his palms pointing skyward you know with three minutes ago they were up one here's a matter of another minute they're already down five and it looks like it could even go up higher right now in the free-throw line you can't let this get away from you you want to go in that locker room with a little momentum south carolina actually had a seven-game winning streak at one point this year after non-conference play and then went into this mini tailspin one in four in their last five games once conference play started meanwhile it's harrison at the foul line for the wildcats at kevich's with the rebound these two minutes are big to south carolina they're really big you get allowed kentucky to get a little spurt here [Applause] johnson and that's going to be a foul against harrison andrew harrison that's his first personal let's check in courtside with caleb well mark kuch says you've got a battle or you're not going to play in this game he reminded his team in the last timeout south carolina is one of the most physical teams they'll play all season and he knows that they've prepared for that it's the seven offensive rebounds that south carolina has that have led to 10 second chance points that really has cal frustrated right now i thought kelly had certainly a great point right there they've done a good job i like boards when you talk about south carolina but they got to make shots they have not shot the ball well down by five thornwell with the step through and that's going to be a turnover against the gamecocks seven keep coming up with those empty possessions they're letting a nice little performance get away from them at the end of this half and he's got to be really frustrated frank martin you know knowing frank for a while now as a resident of south florida miami myself he has mellowed a little bit although most people might not know he started there as a high school coach miami high school great basketball lineage there anthony grant the head coach of alabama and chicky rodriguez high school legend former head coach at fiu here's euless euless and booger have done a really good job off the bench look at that lyles with the finish what a great finish here by kentucky they are really doing a superb job defensively and offensively and it's really created by julius right there great passing ability penetration biggest lead to the ball game for the [Music] wildcats right there brings the defense down and there's laughs with the flesh and finish originally committed to indiana changes by euless man he can handle the rod not speaking of point guards wade rose on the screen there uh durant james for fans of greatness this is your game nba countdown tips at 12 30 then it's a great double header on abc thunder's cavs preceded by the heat and the bulls at one o'clock darris rose and the bulls with great back-to-back wins against the spurs and then the mavericks last night derek rose really starting to round back into form and another guy that played under john calipari albeit at memphis at the time let's see what south carolina does out of this timeout dick chicago picked it up a lot but they got to really get better shots and that's really easier said than done because look at that defensive stance great stance inside wild shot by kitcheness had no chance to win that shot no chance john gallipe's gonna be very pleased with that defensive effort a superb superb last three minutes here by kentucky that's the first foul against kitcheness let me tell you this there's no substitute for kids that can make shots i want guys that can make shots i got a kid where we live in sarasota ryan mcmahon he had 37 last night he goes like for 8 to 10 against people making threes i mean there's there's no no substitute for that skill all right man you got to make shots you want to win kentucky speaking of making shots now just 5 for 12 from the free throw line and that's helping to keep south carolina alive but the last three minutes it's been all kentucky here when they had that one-point lead thornton made the big three place was electric going bananas that are off so bam they can never overstate the importance of closing out the half well that was a lane violation against south carolina and johnson will get back to the free-throw line right here unbelievable south carolina's inside strength rebound margin second fifth offensive rebound about scored 16 under seven g to bonus in the lane this is kentucky this is a different kind of animal though as johnson knocks down this one here it is you get a line violation now you put them back on the line and give another chance for another joke you could simply say uncle moe is on the side of the cats takari johnson at the free throw line from my bird academy in florida before that a teammate of michael kid gilchrist i got a kid there ben simmons right now who's the number one player according to many paul b and carter who's in the house the best player in the country he's going to lsu along with antonio blakeney [Music] off the screen here strowman 34 seconds to go in the first half kentucky has the lead up to eight [Applause] tough shot by johnson a little bit strong rebounded by the wildcats and they're gonna run it down now with 18 seconds to go [Applause] really cool very quiet in the first half too seven minutes the only play euler's off the wild screen the floater draws the foul and with 6.2 to go he'll get two euless has been a different speaker here talk all you want about size euless has been the difference maker here it's interesting as colleen stein just seven minutes of play in the first half because of those two fouls you would guess as tyler euless goes to the free throw line he's been best buddies with his kentucky teammate booker since elementary school those two go way back dramatical hey there's a kid in ohio how's this for back-to-back games high school kid named kenori he goes for 11 consecutive threes in the game comes back to the next game oh by the way in that game he scored a mere like 55 and then he came back the next game he went to the free throw i've never seen this before free throw line 40 times he made 34 for 40. he was getting a good whistle he scored 45 in that one oh by the way he will be a dukey coach k getting another one i got that from howard garfinkle called me a five-star guru he said dick you gotta talk about this kid is unbelievable ten point ball game three seconds to go johnson misses everything strowman couldn't get the tip and what looked like a great first half for the gamecocks until the final three minutes of it ends up in a kentucky 10-point lead as kentucky goes on a well they're 14-0 this year when leading at half and end the half on an 11-nothing run kaley coach what do you make of the way your team's responded to south carolina's physicality well we're doing fine but we got a couple guys the game's too physical can't play in it and we're just figuring out who can play in this physical game i thought trey went back in the second time and competed but we got to have everybody knowing going to be bumps and grinds you got to play through them given the defensive pressure south has brought how do you want to see your offense adjust to that well one of the things i'd like to do is just spread it out and beat them on the dribble and we're doing that but we're throwing direct passes instead of lobs which i don't know why we're doing it but we're fine kids are playing well thanks coach kentucky leading by 10 at the break a lot of pressure on the wildcats but jonathan coachman pressure makes diamonds and pressure bus pipes no need for a plumber here time for them as the halftime report today's game is part of espn's journey to the tourney presented by sonic a season-long spotlight on games that will impact the tournament just the sixth sellout ever here at colonial life arena in columbia south carolina mark jones back with the people's choice mayor of columbia south carolina dick vitale dick the gamecocks led it with four and a half minutes to go in the first half and then kentucky went on another 11 nothing sprint how did they recover well you know they got to come out start right now make a couple of shots can't win man you got to make shots it's a simplicity don't have to go to harvard to figure that out and they shot 26 they had that one point lead and then all of a sudden i thought they did a terrific job defensively kentucky and they executed offensively they made them pay after those turnovers offensively those freshman guards and booker did a fantastic job too they weren't dying to fight outside you look at booker we know he could shoot for three so effective but he was outstanding in transition he was cutting out the ball and found him wide open and what a pass right there great catch by booker but what a look by euless to make that happen tyler euless gotta love this little guy i mean he knows how to swing the ball the open shooters he knows how to penetrate change the direction good front change finds the open man draws the d2 up and it converts yes that dynamite duo is the reason they are up to [Applause] see how south carolina comes out here in the first five or so minutes of the second half i've said to keep contact i've said over the years mark vital it is those first five minutes especially when you're here and you're the underdog like south carolina you got to make something happen here to give back a little momentum because momentum is all on kentucky's side now euless getting to start in the second half along with booker and aaron harrison in the backboard andrew harrison and on the bench right now johnson's got to make some things happen he's been a solid player all year for that he really didn't have a good game against tennessee carrera got blocked inside a whistle and that's going to be a block or a charge looks like we got a charge as marcus lee stood in there and took the hit as we check in with kaylee harton hello mark great martin saw a team he recognized from the beginning of the season as this game got underway a team playing a way that would give them a chance to win but in the last few minutes of that first half he says they got away from the game plan the guards specifically got a little lost tried to do too much one-on-one it goes back to dickie b's point you've got to make the shots and frank martin told me when you're shooting eight of 30 you're not going to beat the number one team in the country bad formula euless out top 15 on the shot clock comes off the johnson screen he's earned that start here in the second half euless with the floater an offensive rebound by lee who was fouled made an aggressive move to the class willie cauley stein and aaron harrison pardon me andrew harrison on the bench two starters now part of the white platoon that's the way you get attention to guys to play hard and to do what you want to be done nothing like sitting on a pie to wake somebody up that's a player and of course in kentucky you've got some guys who are behind them that can take their spot well you know willy willis fine in fairness didn't the kid have two fouls early in the euless into the corner to booker there's that combo again and it pays off what a dynamite they are i mean booger shoots it you feel it's going down i love kids that can make shots and he has been doing just that now 22 of his last 30 three-point shots over the last eight games that's going to be a foul inside against akari johnson good driving kick here dick what a nice combination there's euless he finds his teammate they are so smooth they got good rhythm the two of them together and last foul was on euless i mentioned earlier booker his dad melvin former great at the university of missouri see the one thing you know it's okay to drive trying to attack but it's very difficult to attack them inside nice there it is there's a block shot coming over the defense lee with the block there are six of the games you got to make some threes to hang with them and that's why vanderbilt was able to hang they've been a number of threes in that game you got to be able to do that if you can't do that you're going to attack attack attack you're in a lot of trouble thornwell inbounds except the kid in that of mississippi did a great job moody he was unbelievable against them had 26. kentucky to overtime a whistle and a foul gonna go against the wildcats starting getting away from right now south carolina fouls against takari johnson that's his first look at frank and his staff alex pardon me uh kerry clark on bench and lamont evans herrera a little show and go drew the foul on marcus lee taking it right at him he agrees jack in the basket and they got to find somebody making some threes somewhere they got to let the three ball fly they haven't taken any opportunities really from the three michael carrera meanwhile gonna go to the foul line a 72 free throw shooter on the season it's been a long time since they've scored [Music] herrera missed three games earlier this year with a concussion you think about consecutive did earlier this year what they did to ucla it was unbelievable at the half it was 24-0 the fourth touchdown lead before the game even woke up they'll be sitting there steve law for you like shell shock what about kansas 19 against that i mean you think about what they've done to some of the great teams beat carolina he's got a lot of firepower a whistle and a foul going to go against demetrius henry who is pushing dakari johnson that's henry's third and then immediately gets ikejamis [Music] that's kitchen is coming in the ball game [Applause] henry with three takes a seat south carolina down by 12 dick can they afford to be i'm not going to say passive but play this half court zone as opposed to extending the defense a little bit well right now it's really tough to pressure them with euless on the floor because he will just beat you off the bounce and find open shooters and right now they've got harrison booker playing together deep and believe it or not he actually missed the three-pointer notice pereira inside [Applause] so intimidating lead the nation to block shots you can see why i mean you got a three on two when you come back empty seven block shots for the big blue nation average 8.1 for the season here's euless 15 on the shot clock notice all over harrison flares on the screen but there's going to be an offensive foul against kentucky what about johnson on the defensive end right now through the ends broken inside given a lot of hustle tough to deal with that size size good timing they always got a hand up in your face they intimidate you man they intimidate your defensively that last foul was against booker i think it'd be a great game with virginia i would love to see virginia with their defense they'd lock you up rick pagino jumping the other day they don't give you a good shot man-to-man they play it get anderson's terrific gill blog one thing about this kentucky team though dick unlike some of their past teams there's a lot of skill a lot of shooting on this team when you play booker harrison drive to the bucket no good that time by strowman and back from the wildcats they got a three on two traveled with it you know every shot is a struggle you don't see any really wide open shots there for south carolina that's the fifth turnover against south carolina look at them wildcats look at those numbers unbelievable i mean are you kidding me the old people are those kind of numbers they're going on a record pace here if you go percentage that's uh guru ken pomeroy read some of his numbers about what they're doing pretty impressive herrera fouled on the play by townes frank martin trying to motivate his team and right now kentucky leading with great defense as we take a look at the latest dish on college basketball today brought to you by dish florida state against number 15 north carolina espn at 2 espn2 at ford's miami syracuse followed by oklahoma against baylor on espn2 at six o'clock tell you one thing southern orlando's did a great job rebounding the basketball and that means you're playing aggressive basketball they've out rebounded in kentucky but they have not been able to make shots and that's really a nightmare you look on the glass right now they have 27 to 19 plus eight against kentucky that's a rarity but if you're shooting eight for 35 or one for three they're gonna find a way to get some old looks for threes let him fly you got to take a little chance out there into the corner and now strollman pulls it out they do a great job with kentucky trying to take away that three you can run up in your face this is a special team this kentucky team notice blocked at the rim another blocked shot the eighth right at their average dick how mark how do you get to the basket to score against them in a half court offense when you attack roy williams said as good as defense he's ever seen i mean look at this right here you make a good drive and then you got to deal with that so you better set some screens up on the perimeter and try to get some open looks and shoot the three if it doesn't go down it doesn't go down but at least get an opportunity there's lyles out front against thornwell get eight field goals and eight block shots for kentucky unbelievable harrison in the corner nice pull-up and he knocks it down aaron harrison who had 14 points all in the second half in that vandy win a couple of nights ago they're really playing with a lot of poise right now kentucky playing hard playing with passion playing like the number one team in the country this look appears to be dick one of their more complete games so far against a pretty rough and rugged gamecock squad strowman in the corner pulls it out limited size match-ups on the perimeter johnson working against lyles those kentucky pigs contest to move their feet pretty well too although that time johnson makes the shot his fifth point of the ball game makes the medium-range shot right there 12-point lead for the wildcats knocked out of bounds by thornwell remember a year ago in this game kentucky lost by five upset and back in 2010 they came in ranked number one and were upset by the gamecocks this is a much better team than last night i know last year went to the last second against connecticut but this is a deeper team more talented team their bench competition is unbelievable that they can bring in to compete with the starters towns with the jump hook inside money he's skilled chad ford's got him right up there on top we know what number one's going to be i mean you have to be a genius to figure out mr ogrefort herrera inside blocked but fouled by towns they don't look at the skills and italian towns mr new jersey came from out of jersey and watch them all go down to post and he knows how to finish in the post comes right over that left shoulder good move i'm talking about it a little bit earlier fran for schiller did a great breakdown in his espn.com film room piece on his skills i remember seeing towns as a 16 year old as part of an international game between the dominican republic he was playing for the dominican national team coached by calipari at the time a 16 year old his development dick since that time to now has really been phenomenal i'll tell you one thing it doesn't hurt recruiting what do you mean he's got a 7-3 wingspan it's unreal and a size 20 shoe and it'll be taking time in the nba it'll be potential potential again guys being drafted on here's harrison now andrew harrison i think i'm coming some stops right now south carolina if they want to get back in this game i think it looked like they drew a play right to go right back to towns and they get the foul and kaley has more on towns well mark coach calipari says he wants towns to be the best big man in the country by the end of the season he says he's got to get him playing more aggressively honey more post catches he says he's still really good but he's not where cal wants him to be right now but you know kelly he could want him to be that's a great dream but he's got a long way to go to catch a kid down to duke underneath the volca first a long way to go stein with the dunk inside finish on the inside by cory stein i mean he's not wrong being number two happy number two that's called stein's first field goal of the ball game remember it was hampered by those two fouls in the first half and frank martin calls a full timeout we'll take one right along with them 14-point lead for the wildcats when we come back to columbia kentucky's impenetrable defense leading them to a 14-point lead south carolina shooting just 24 dick taking a little inventory midway point of the college basketball season tell me about your mid-season all-americans well you know mid-season all-american teams you want to be a post-season all american but we're going to give a little reward here some kids that have played well early i know some people will disagree with some of these but you know i look here anderson's been terrific for that virginia team milan right larry kristovic has done a great job at utah real surprise team he's been phenomenal okafor enough has been said i got willie cawley stein down there and frank kaminsky people have said willie cauley stein look at his numbers but what he does to affect the game defensively blocking shots his rebounded ability and he is playing on the number one team in the nation so i gave him that edge but there's some other kids jerry and grant's playing great for notre dame the fighting irish should be he could be out there as one of the perimeter players bran had one of the highlights of the year on that slam dunk a little bit earlier his own defense right now zone defense get it out of the corner usc has made just one of the last 14 field goals had that one point lead and then kentucky just took charge five on the shot clock for strowman got to get to work here and do it quickly whistle and is that going to be a foul on harrison yes why it's the only thing you can ask that's his second but with two on the shot clock not a good play another not a good basketball play right there and he'll be reminded [Music] against aaron harrison imagine the shot you ended up see the two three zone i'll tell you what that 2-3 zone repair the length in their athleticism that can be a factor for them in certain situations during the course of the year strowman at the free throw line a 59 foul shooter john calipari normally a man a man guy down the first i was teasing john before the game i said my bad job you know you meet with the sid you got certain minutes you got to meet with him i said john when you were in massachusetts you would meet us in the parking lot man you'd be out there in that parking lot to interview you to talk to you [Music] he did a great job harrison herrera swipes at it and harrison got hit on the giants name in the house hey i bet he didn't pay for those shirts i better pay for that jacket his son makes a few dollars down in kentucky making the most months 13 point lead that foul is going to be against carrera his third john's put together one heck of a staff i know you talked about certainly barry clark and the staff that frank is put together but that's staffed and john has john robert is solid on that sideline and then he's got kenny payne and the addition of barry slice watson has been big it's already paid off they signed the one of the top point guards in america came in briscoe out of new jersey 12 48 to go and they're gonna take a look and let's see who this foul is on might be able to take your picture i would think it's career henry was there as well pereira kind of swiped at it here's one more look at it notice was also in the vicinity so three different south carolina players i would give it to guerrero yeah why was making the call [Music] calipari warned his team has saw some of the contact there that this game is going to be physical they come right at you he's talking of south carolina it's a drive to the goal yeah a lot of physicality but they're very strong as well when you take a look at kentucky i mean he got blasted no question i think they're looking to see if maybe it was a flagrant because of the contact to the head there our officials tony grain jim burr and ron grover today i don't believe there was any intent here i don't believe there's any intent at all mark i think he went after it aggressively well the flagrant by definition is excessive unnecessary not a legitimate play on the ball saw carrera kind of swipe at it i thought he ended up hitting him in the head i thought he went after the ball some veteran officials right there mr murray that's the green mr cooper i think it's not carolina man i think in the greatness of frankie mcguire's days we're gonna call it a common foul dick for harrison and that was a good call i think about the great teams they have now when they have john roach and tom reicher you don't remember those days kevin joyce the winters oh man so many great players he had that underground railroad from new york city coming down here to south carolina don levy eventually what great plays harrison knocks down the first he's got nine in the ball game harrison shoots 76 percent from the line this year he was pre-season sec player of the year his numbers down a little bit this year dick but part of that is a function of uh i dare say the word platoon system yeah bluetooth system but also the balance i still say platoon system effects you are offensively tough to get a good rule of thumb and don't forget when you go south carolina mr english as well alex english who by the way is in the house here yeah one of the all-time greats well there he is they can use him right now i guarantee he can come out here i don't care how good kentucky is defensively i will take mr english to put points on that board the key was taking that little that little floater that runner in the lane before it became vogue you know now now we have a name for it he was a scoring machine he was on the drive tough pass for henry pereira ends up with it and makes it not the way they threw it up but they'll take it anyway i'll take any kind of points they can get because everything is a challenge nice double team at the midcourt line half court trap swinging the ball away from the trap you should get open looks there's towns mr jones do they have a run in them do you smell a run out of the game cox i'm not sure this kentucky team defensively has been rock solid today look at a group coming off the bench four more subs getting ready to come in nine on the shot clock for the wildcats lyles they swing it around harrison with the pull-up way off to carrera with the rebound might be time to make a move if you're the game cops can't get anything easy you're not going to get anything in transition that easy and it's very difficult for them to get overlooked from the thread senderius thornwell paulie stein on the switch for kentucky with their length they get in all the passing lanes dick and then if you beat him you got to deal with all that size there's little example you beat your guy off the bounce and here comes willy crawley style that's why he's all american ninth block of the game for kentucky they're gonna catch that record i believe they're gonna catch that record of missed anthony davison company by that 2012 team the one thing they want that the 2012 team that ring that championship ring you think about the selflessness that calipari has been able to teach with these talented teams davis was the fourth leading scorer on that kentucky team that won spike i agree with you martin i think it's really amazing to convince kids to play 18 20 minutes at night when everybody wants to play 35 minutes a game thornwell on the move clocked by towns but a foul on the attempt and that'll be two shots for south carolina perhaps forged and ready to make a run here with 10 49 to go [Music] all right guys kentucky with a 12 point lead recently coach calipari sat down with seth greenberg and he asked him about the challenges of having so many stars i want to have seven eight different guys lead us in scoring at some point in the year which means we're coaching all of these kids but in the other side then you got to teach them what it means to share minutes share and be selfless here's why in high school it was all about them so every one of them not just one so now eight of them everything was centered on them now you've got to come in and share so those are the challenges i'll tell you one thing you talk about john calibarri the beat's only going to go on and on i've read today paul being and cardi's latest rankings on espnu they have the number one class in america coming in again next year so he just reloads and he gets them to share he gets them to understand it's all about the team take a look right here they're scoring you're not gonna get any 20 point scorers in the kentucky lineup you're not going to gain 20 point scorers they got great balance and they play together and they understand what they're there for and many of them they want that journey to the nba into the big dollar signs and you know what maybe they were going to get it 10-point lead and south carolina of course was kentucky to call a timeout on the trap and we're going to stay right here votex games aspen continues tonight the planet's most talented athletes are going for gold and women's snowboard super pipe in the gopro ski big ear finals x games aspen tonight at nine on espn presented by gopro well calipari going to draw one up out of this timeout here his team leading by 10 as we approach the midway point dick what do you think he's saying to his squad right now is it a matter of trying to close it out and show some maturity here well absolutely go on a little spurt right here put this away because right now there's a little effort by south carolina to be only down 10 and shooting the ball the way they have shot i mean really they're not out of this game yet and they gotta just right now the next three minutes i think that vital are vital to tell us whether or not we'll have a game at the end so frank martin's kids got to dig in and on the other side kentucky he's got to respond because they're going to get an incredible effort against him right now let's go to kaley well mark during halftime cal's message to his team was as i've told you guys before i want to play all of you the differential in playing time in this game is how physical can you be and if you can't play physical that's when you sit he's been warning him all week he's ready for a fight johnson being physical inside couldn't finish though one thing south carolina came in here kentucky had a plus 9.4 rebound average today south carolina has a plus eight on him on the glass but you gotta now make some shots here you know we keep mentioning that but they make one right here this place might explode thornwell with the pass i had an open look cachinus [Applause] yeah frank martin sorry dick clapping about the effort that his team is giving they just can't make shots terrific effort i mentioned the kid earlier i tell you about ryan mcmahon i want to see him play three times i was mesmerized by his shooting ability he had 92 points in three games he's six foot maybe six foot and a half inch but every time he shoots it you feel it's going to go in and that's what you need players that you at least have some threats on that perimeter that's what booker is booker evan aaron harrison you feel it's got a good chance of going down who can ever forget those three unbelievable shots that he made against wisconsin he made against michigan and a turnover by dakari johnson that's the seventh of the game for kentucky he also made a big one against wichita state and undefeated harrison's going to sit down and his brother aaron comes into the ball game see john gillibrand knows one thing he's been around coaching that this game is not over yet this game is one real this team could knock down a three they could be really interesting strowman on the drive took the contact never an easy shot henry lost the handle have you seen it easy everything's challenged harrison all the way and draws the foul that's going to go against justin mackey bj mackey was something else his dad i was here in 97 double overtime they beat kentucky that's where the last time i was here to do a game eddie formula did a great job that club when you think about them in the mid 90s they got beat by the number they were a number two c and my memory tells me they're gonna be by coppin state and then a year later they got beat by uh richmond a number three they were a number three seed south carolina here's a look at mastermind mackie now an assistant coach at uh coastal carolina he's the all-time leading scorer i want to say charleston southern the school's mixed up 12-point lead harrison knocks down to second see mark would have been big psychological if they could have got it in single digits but it was down 10 they had two good opportunities it's interesting we looked at south carolina dwayne noticed their leading scorer coming into the game today dick has been kind of quiet offensively and has actually spent a lot of time on the bench today oh so johnson's been quiet again herrera from downtown tipped up kept alive but kentucky controls you cannot win even i can recognize that and i'm a dummy if you're not [Applause] don't want to foul him he's like what a mannequin on our free-throw line that's [Applause] he's more than just a three-point shooter he's got some good skills [Applause] no question booker 80 free throw shooter gonna go to the line one of several mcdonald's all-americans you see the band-aid on his upper lip area he took a shot in the first half this crowd just waiting for something to happen just the sixth sellout ever here crowd has been so live they've been really awake [Applause] for the safety of the players on the court anything coming out of the stands we call it a technical file of the game looks like we might have a warning public address announcer said that you can't throw anything on the floor else it's going to be a technical foul against south carolina there's official jim burr talking to coach frank martin i think that's a good message let them know because you can't have that happen out there you can injure maybe even your own players you don't need that well the school president promised all the students free pizza and a party if they upset kentucky let's get to know devin booker brought to you by burger king look at some of his stellar numbers as a high schooler mississippi gatorade player of the year okay not bad 30 points as a high school senior 32 minute games what a stroke beautiful stroke tucks the elbow in goes up the ladder [Applause] 14-point game great rotation look at the effort by your center perimeter comes contagious look at that defensive stance by brooklyn so aggressive defensively matthew over to strowman 15 on the shot clock and it's great you can play a little request about the perimeter because you know you got help inside if you get beat that's why georgetown will say that you can pressure on the perimeter you have to deal with patrick ewing there's strowman he's struggling they gotta go tough shot at the end of the shot clock that has been the refrain today and it's forced by kentucky that's not an accident very simple man the formula so far for the plus 14 has been blue nation's defense that defensive efficiency and oh do they have people that travel that's a lot of blue [Music] drink all about kentucky basketball [Applause] under eight minutes to go and the top defensive team in the country at least one of them statistically doing a great job again today south carolina just two of their last 21 days and it starts getting better and better with those kind of numbers came in allowing only 30.9 field goal percentage it's going below that today cross court harrison with the pull-up rebounded by south carolina the numbers got numbers thornwell took it right into the chest of the defender harrison and draws the foul should have given it off should have passed that basketball had an open cutter time running out on the gamecocks when we come back wildcats with a 14-point lead as we go courtside to kaylee who's going to tell us about a special visitor this week well mark the power of luck a poignant reminder from rick elias to the wildcats last night he's the ceo of a marketing and sales powerhouse in charlotte but he was also on board that u.s airways flight that had an emergency landing in the hudson river back in january of 2009 as he explained to the team last night bad luck can turn to good luck he brought it home speaking of alex poythress the mcdonald's all-american for the wildcats who's out for the season with their torn acl he said alex right now could be asking why me how could this happen to me but you never understand how that moment of bad luck two years from now alex could look back and say that's exactly what i needed to take the next step uh great point you know huge story he was on that plane i didn't engage with a couple months back with the captain of that captain it was unbelievable and also condoleezza rice was pointed at it's a real estate multi-million dollar club out in san fran that i spoke at and condoleezza spoke at it and so did the captain of that um legendary landing captain sully uh landing that thing in the hudson 13-point lead thorne will have the free throw line talking about the great company you keep dick i've been fortunate this weekend i had hugh brown on wednesday for my nba game and i gave you this week man that's a lot of good years so that's it's a lot of you guys i know that new jersey guys are trying to make it we're trying to make it we have two jersey guys you made it all right you because that phil in high school i could city startup they had a scrimmage one time against each other i went to the laboratory during the scrimmage and the guy says to me man i just came out of camp lejeune and i've never seen two guys left you two guys how are you beating up on these kids oh he's unbelievable um he's a terrific analyst 12 point lead harrison twins in the backcourt paulie stein johnson and booker on the floor for the wildcats still playing hard defensively south carolina really giving an effort but contest by thornwell forcing the miss thank god make some shots man want to get this crowd going the roost wants to explode strowman cross court to mackey i want to see an open shot every shot is challenged like right there tough and an offensive foul against herman wow tried to take use the free arm can't get away with this watch just right here there's the left arm oh yeah no doubt about it he had the open 15 footer but they want to go a little further and get in trouble stop and shoot that quick jumper [Applause] three fouls against thornwell their second leading scorer can't get it under single digits six and a half to go [Applause] harrison draws the foul on strowman and that will send andrew harrison to the free throw line harrison a 74 foul shooter folks big monday presented by verizon this week has an acc big 12 double dip for you at 7. syracuse taking on number 15 north carolina then at 9. it's texas taking on iowa state syracuse really got a tough break when the kim mccullough went down good looking freshman christmas certainly an improved player kennedy meeks has really approved lost some weight carolina's been playing well lately after the free throws it's a 14-point lead and you know frank martin was telling me prior to the game when their leading scorer dwayne notice gets passive they get in trouble and that may be part of what happened here today offensively mackie fires [Applause] plenty of time and justin mackey one half of the mackie combo that played here at south carolina the all-time leading scorer with 219 points there he is the prolific guard all-american and three-time all-sec honoree remember the 1997 scc championship team they went 15-1 in league play he was a scorer he had a great scorers mentality shoot the ball he could drive with the ball his son almost dramatically had this place rocket would have had it explode and he made that three against tennessee at the end of the game that went down three it went in it rolled around and it popped out both of them from irmo high school local high school one of the state powers here in the state of carolina look at some of our upcoming games talking about a bad injury you're taking a look at wisconsin mischief wisconsin loses jackson michigan loses the kill avert game day game tonight guys will be rocking down here 11-point lead for kentucky looking for their 19th win of the season against cyril ross's kentucky one of just two undefeated teams remaining in the nation as we look at the sec standings tennessee arguably the surprise pleasant surprise of the sec so far in conference play arkansas boy what a dramatic win they had a couple of nights ago against alabama at home solid player he did that against kentucky also a year earlier alabama's really played well this year i hope anthony grant gets himself an extension he's quality guy and that team has been so close frank martin and anthony grant a couple of miami high school guys [Applause] they got dozier coming in dreaming about recruits his dad played here harry dozier very good high school player strowman out top on harrison kentucky's showing some patience [Applause] puts it on the deck drove it all the way in a whistle contact and it's against south carolina in charge against kentucky yeah there's a charge there's no question good call defense was established now they're going to make something happen offensively they're going to get some efficiency offensively our defense is absolutely established that carrera was there and the rule of course modified this year in terms of the charge call how you got to do something offensively get the ball back you got to convert right here five and a half to go it's been a long time since it's been a single digit lead it's amazing south carolina just placed explosive with about four minutes to go with four and well made to three to take a one-point lead and then the momentum totally swung to kentucky let's see what they run here on this possession mackey made a three a few moments ago and they came right over his own he played zoning at one possession kentucky rotated out back into man-to-man there's mackey on the wing herrera thornwell good help by johnson at kevich's they double team them and they almost turn it over five on the shot clock thornwell from deep that temperature's battling mackey just missing they cannot get away so close to making it a single digit deficit had an opportunity again came up empty i mean kentucky's very intimidating defensively they really are intimidating they can test everything at the defensive end lyles a tough shot and he earns a trip to the free-throw line improvising a little bit they are really skilled so skilled offensively as well you wouldn't really see the true ability of a lot of these guys offensively unless they play 30 35 minutes a game miles is going to go to the foul line native of indianapolis 64 free throw shooter i think that's a great coaching achievement that you can convince kids sitting in their rooms when they're looking that you're gonna play probably 20 minutes a night at most and i mean that really takes a lot of salesmanship there's a look at kentucky's defense yeah we're gonna be altered shots 13 wow scored five points and had four rebounds a few nights ago in that win against bandy look at that size they put across the front great wingspan athletic [Music] a young team when you look at the number of sophomores and freshmen i know it's amazing i looked it up kentucky has not won the scc tournament the last three years that's unbelievable i was shocked when i saw that i was shocked gives it to thornwell vandy mississippi and florida won the last three mackey off the screen on top now 13-point deficit never getting easy possession against them they haven't had any easy transition layups south carolina but everything's challenged he'll take a desperation shot another tough one at the end of the shot clock and they won't get one off that's why they allow opponents just 30 shooting from the field and that's why i have him in the top five as one of the five best defensive teams i have ever seen in 36 years at espn you know dick we hear so much about virginia's suffocating defense i don't know that kentucky's a second to theirs either well virginia is certainly supreme team defense they do it a little differently great position defense they don't have the shot blockers like you're seeing right here leaving it for 49. i mean come on how are you going to win a basketball game like that three and a half minutes to go three from 19 here in the second half south carolina harrison kicks it back out goes to get the back from carly stein gets into the paint and manufactures his own shot and knocks it down he's got 13. good one-on-one move right there have a strong second half against vanderbilt largest lead of the ball game now for kentucky and hopes of an upset in front of a sold-out crowd starting to fade for the gamecocks as thornwell draws the foul time on the floor things getting real urgent for the gamecocks when we come back doing a nice job this year at tulsa yeah fantastic tell me about a marco and his staff used to be on jimmy v stop let's do that kid woodward scoring for them two shots two shots coming up for cinderia stornwell the team's second leading scorer shooting 71 from the free-throw line and it was him that was very vocal yesterday and in the days leading up to this game saying hey as a basketball player these are the games that you want to play in but so far south carolina effort aside not equal to the task you know mark you mentioned the president was going to buy pizza for everybody if they're upset well if he's a great great president and a good guy and i'm sure he is you know what he should buy pizza for everybody anyway they all came out and they cheered they went bananas don't let them off the hook buy pizza i'll buy it for the women's team and all the fans that are here on monday come on mr president 30 minutes of free come on hey dawn staley what a job she's done there's a look at some of the women's players undefeated number one in the country i'm telling you this they deserve to have a sellout crowd here monday night they play a good texas a m team top 10 team in the country and they have earned the right that every seat should be filled so if you're a game and you're proud of your game cox came here today come on back and cheer for dawn and her team euless knocks down the free throw different sentence points difference in the game mark is when they took that one point lead this little guy euless took the game over he and booker on the perimeter to give kentucky the impetus at the end of the half now when you've got good guard play boy you're in good hands largest lead to the ball game for kentucky at 16. they got four big time guards mackie swings it around to the corner strowman certainly can lack the effort of the south carolina kids they played hard they came here played with intensity emotion and just were not able to make shots but you know what they're not the only team that hasn't been able to make shots against kentucky there's a reason it's happening because these guys are determined defensively they're talented they got size and they got athleticism what do you think their chances are dick of going the rest of the season undefeated i think including the tournament well including a tournament i think obviously that's gonna be a tough tough run but however they got a very good chance it's gonna take a special performance to beat that i think they had their wake-up calls in those two games with texas a m and mississippi i think since that calling they're on their way and i think the competition's getting better a kid like harrison andrews going to feel it with mullis you got booker's going to get more playing back and henry's just going to make competition of practice even better every day harrison outside with 12 on the shot clock did you hear the go big blue chant from the kentucky fans that made the trip here to south carolina harrison with a good ball fake comes up short under two minutes to play thornwell on the move [Applause] inside carrera shot contested maybe partially blocked you know you're making a lob inside you did it by ugly live and it's not really a heady play because you got to know what you're dealing with that's their strength around that basket with their size meanwhile over on espn news they'll be tipping off florida state against north carolina and chapel hill florida state seminoles year to year leonard hamilton stan jones that staff does a great job defensively their team's always in ball games as towns gets ready to check back in for kentucky lyle's out top taking some time off that clock and good movement it's so well coached say what you want go to watchdog california's practices and it's acquainted it's a clinic the guy's more than a recruiter he's got the full package harrison working against mackey backed out to his twin brother booker with a shot on the baseline butter i just love the way he shoots you right butter he's velvet man he's smooth you got good arc pretty tough and keep a kid like that on the bench one minute to play thornwell tries to make a tough pass and paulie stein who didn't have one of his better afternoons with the steal you got to give a good evening and they blessed to kentucky today on the road getting the best heat they're gonna get sell out crowd for the first time but listen to this listen to that the cheers that's that's that's a big blue nation right there unbelievable no question they travel they love the other catch you want to get a sell out some places play conjunction i think the fans will fill your arena [Applause] listen to that look at the cheering on the sideline euless and company cheer for one another harrison with the floater short out of bounds it'll be south carolina basketball well what started off as a real promising season for south carolina big win against iowa state up in brooklyn they actually received a few votes for the top 25. once conference play started things have gone south a little bit but frank martin will recalibrate his team and get this thing together before it's all said and done and have them on the right track soon they won seven in the world but now they're really in a little bit of the slide but man they lost to an outstanding team this is really a legitimate big time number one basketball team the racks to kentucky and also really enjoyed working with you more i can trail him my pleasure as kentucky wins its 19th straight 58 to 43. for kaylee hartung and the hall of famer dick vitale i'm mark jones saying so long from columbia coming up next florida state north carolina so long everybody as we go to chapel hill with dave o'brien and doris burke

Channel: O__BALL__O

Views: 4,683

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Id: yZH50iyCZPA

Length: 93min 47sec (5627 seconds)

Published: Sat May 30 2020