NEW ORLEANS — What Kentucky fans lacked in numbers here, Tarya Woods compensated with passion.
Woods, 22, brought a sign to The New Orleans Arena that let the world know of her love for the Cats. Well, one Cat in particular.
It read, "Cousins, will you marry me?"
Woods, who drove to the NCAA Tournament with her mother from Mount Sterling, was at least somewhat serious.
"I absolutely love him," said Woods, who bears a resemblance to a young Olivia d'Abo. "I think he's great. He's a great basketball player. I think he's beautiful."
From her seat 14 rows from the court in the corner closest to UK's bench, Woods had a chance for Cousins to see her sign. Then again, she could have been at the top row of the arena and been seen. Maybe heard, too.
The upper bowl of The New Orleans Arena was mostly empty and the lower bowl included a good number of unoccupied seats.
"What happened to Big Blue Nation?" Cousins said in mock horror. "I figured it'd be a sellout."
Cousins shook his head when a reporter suggested the fans had abandoned the UK team.
"Oh no," he said. "They'll be back. We'll see them next game."
The attendance was 10,984. The New Orleans Areana seats more than 17,000 for basketball.
Woods and her mother, Tammi Henderson, did their part. They left Mount Sterling at midnight and drove all night to get here. As they say, the things we do for love.
"I don't know what it is," said Woods, who works at a cabinet factory in Mount Sterling. "He drives me crazy."
As for Cousins' well-chronicled short fuse, Woods' mother said her daughter also had a quick temper. "She'll treat him like Coach Cal," Henderson said.
When told about Woods' sign, Cousins said, "I've been seeing a lot of those signs lately."
Cousins thought Woods was looking for a boyfriend. Her thoughts of marriage led him to say, "I don't know about that."
Orton as point guard?
Daniel Orton made a nifty play. He dribbled down on the break and fed a lob that Patrick Patterson dunked.
"That's something I'm capable of doing," Orton said. "You all just haven't happened to see it."
Cousins, who had cornered the market on UK big man as point guard, expressed his doubts.
"Daniel's not ready for that," Cousins said with a smile.
Cousins took a career-low two shots. He didn't take a shot until a putback attempt with 12:25 left in the game.
When asked about keeping his gun holstered, Cousins said, "Double and triple teams. I just find the open man."
Eric Bledsoe cited the defensive attention Cousins drew as leading to open shots on the perimeter.
"They were too much focused on DeMarcus," Bledsoe said.
Few fans
Kentucky Coach John Calipari noted how unusual it was for so few UK fans to be at the game.
"These were the first empty seats that we've played in front of all year," he said. "There's never one in Rupp Arena. There's 25,000 every (game). It doesn't matter who we play. If it's snowing (or) sleet, they're there.
"And every game we've played on the road has been a sellout. So we've had no empty seats until today."
Liggins returns
Calipari welcomed the contributions of DeAndre Liggins, who had five assists and no turnovers in 26 minutes.
"It was great to have DeAndre Liggins back today," Calipari said. "He hadn't played in two weeks. Today he dove on the floor, came up with four balls. ... He missed some shots (one of six), but I'm not worried about that. He defended."
Liggins' three rebounds matched his total in the six most recent games. His two steals were as many as he'd had in the four most recent games.
Etc.
Patterson's 22 points marked his second-highest total of the season. He scored 23 in the second South Carolina game. The 22 points moved him past Mike Casey on UK's career scoring list with 1,543 points. His next target is Louie Damper at 1,575.
When asked if he expected to make his first eight shots in his NCAA Tournament debut, Patterson said, "Definitely not."
