If any coach's dream is to win a game that also serves as a cautionary tale, Kentucky made John Calipari a happy man Wednesday night.
The Cats beat Lamar 86-64, and Calipari had plenty of deficiencies to note.
"There were just things that went on the game that just aggravated me," Calipari said.
The victory so annoyed Calipari he begged off a question about Saturday's game against archrival Louisville.
"I'm not in a great frame of mind to talk about Saturday," he said. "I'm, like, right now, there are no excuses. I don't want to hear it."
Of UK's remaining opponents, only Louisville (No. 6), Alabama (No. 13) and Florida (No. 32) had a better Ratings Percentage Index than Lamar's No. 34. And it showed.
Lamar came close to becoming only the third opponent to outrebound Kentucky this season, with the count 36-36 at game's end. The Cardinals got many of what Calipari calls 50/50 balls.
"What bothered me is they had 14 offensive rebounds," said Calipari, who added that Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Anthony Davis are almost the only UK players who rebound.
"We have other guys that are flinching going after balls," the UK coach said, "or ducking, or hoping."
Guard Mike James, a 6-foot-1 senior from Portland, Ore., led Lamar with a season-high 29 points. That eclipsed the previous high for a UK opponent this season: 22 by Tyshawn Taylor of Kansas.
Kentucky (12-1) never trailed.
The game saw the return of All-American candidate Terrence Jones, who missed the past two games because of a dislocated finger. He scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds.
"It was OK," an underwhelmed Calipari said of Jones' return. "But I went at him late because I didn't want to hear any excuses. I don't care that you're missing shots, missing free throws, layups. Go get balls. Go be tough."
Kidd-Gilchrist led a balanced UK attack with 18 points. Darius Miller added 15, which left him 12 shy of 1,000 for his career.
Marquis Teague also scored 15, Doron Lamb had 12 and Davis added 10 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Before the game, Lamar Coach Pat Knight promised to leave no strategy untried.
"We'll throw everything we can at them," Knight said in noting Kentucky's versatility. "Hard pressure. Soft pressure. Man-to-man, zone, trap mixing it up. Doubling. Not doubling. That's the only thing you can do. You can't let them get into a rhythm."
Knight sounded satisfied.
"We couldn't have played any harder," Knight said. "... I thought we gave them everything we could."
Kentucky led 44-28 at halftime. That looked good considering Lamar had lost by 20 in earlier games at Louisville and Ohio State.
As in those games, Lamar battled a taller and presumably more talented opponent. UK got outrebounded 21-18 in the first half. Lamar had 10 offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
"The things I liked was in each game, we battled, played defense and rebounded with the big boys," Knight had said on Tuesday. "Hey, we know that. How about we shoot well one time and see what happens? That's what we'd like to get done."
Kentucky made sure that didn't happen. UK limited Lamar to 9-for-32 shooting in the first half. Lamar's 0-for-7 inaccuracy from three-point range made the Cardinals' 0-for-19 in the last 60 minutes (0-for-12 at Ohio State on Dec. 20).
For a third straight game, Kidd-Gilchrist picked up two fouls inside the first 10 minutes. He picked up his second foul with 15:53 left.
"Normally when a guy gets two fouls, I will not play him the rest of the half," Calipari said. "The problem with this team is you need his toughness so bad."
Kentucky scored the game's first seven points and limited Lamar to two baskets in the first eight minutes.
Jones entered the game at the 17:31 mark. He immediately got into the action by posting up for a shot within seconds.
After being curiously sluggish at Indiana on Dec. 10 and then dislocating a finger on his shooting hand a week later, Jones was busy against Lamar. His seven first-half shots led Kentucky. His five rebounds tied Davis for team high.
Yet, the first of Jones' three baskets suggested he wasn't 100 percent. He drove the left side of the lane, but shot right-handed.
The victory was not seamless.
When UK got only a rushed three-pointer with the first half's final possession, Calipari walked off the court with his hands on his hips.
The first two possessions of the second half prompted the UK coach to rush Jones back into the game. Teague's errant pass — one of his six turnovers, which equalled a career high — resulted in a Lamar fast-break layup.
Kentucky's next possession reaped only a hurried three-point miss by Teague to beat shot clock. That got Jones off the bench.
