Cats reject talk of moral victory

By Jerry Tipton / jtipton@herald-leader.com

A week ago, Kentucky big man Patrick Patterson saw the Louisville game as an opportunity to tell college basketball that the Cats are back as a national contender.

The hard-fought 74-71 loss in which UK extended the No. 18 team to the game's final possession was not good enough to serve as such a statement. For Patterson, this was a bottom-line, pass/fail proposition.

"We didn't make the statement," he said after the game. "The score is up there. We lost."

Patterson acknowledged UK's grittiness. The Cats came back from an early nine-point deficit, its own 14 first-half turnovers and a seven-point deficit inside the final 50 seconds. Yes, he added, Louisville had its collective back to the wall after losing two of its last three games.

"For it to be a statement, we have to have a larger score than they do," Patterson said. "We have to be ahead and, bottom line, we have to win."

Teammate Michael Porter echoed that sentiment.

"There are no moral victories here," he said. "We realize we can beat whomever we want to beat. I guess that's what we take from it."

Timely technical

Coincidentally or not, the momentum shifted dramatically when the referees called a technical foul on UK Coach Billy Gillispie.

UK had just scored six straight points to take its only lead, 43-42, with 17:17 left. It seemed he got the technical because of a no-call on a drive by Porter. Even though Patterson scored on a put-back, driving to the basket and drawing fouls is a big part of UK's offensive approach this season.

"He might have thought I got fouled," Porter said of the technical.

Louisville then scored the next 12 points to go ahead 54-43 with 14:40 left. That marked the Cards' first double-digit lead.

When asked whether Gillispie's technical changed the game, Porter said, "It didn't hurt us. If anything, it fired us up a little bit. Maybe it gave us a little bit of energy."

The difference

Although Edgar Sosa hit the game-winning shot, Gillispie saw other factors as key to the outcome.

"He made a big play to end the game, but that wasn't the story of the game," Gillispie said. "I thought our transition defense was terrible, and they were tougher than us in the lane."

Pitino salutes UK

"First and foremost, I want to congratulate Kentucky," Louisville Coach Rick Pitino said. "They played a terrific game. They are very tough to guard. ... It was a dramatic finish for the fans. I want to congratulate Kentucky. They never quit, being down nine, being down 10."

Turnovers return

Turnovers created a hole for Kentucky to overcome. The Cats committed 14 first-half turnovers, which included six by the first television timeout.

"They had good pressure on us," Gillispie said, "but not to disrespect their pressure because it is good, I think it was more so us playing a little bit nervous.

Gillispie said the Cats were not disciplined and "that is 100 percent on the coach. I don't think we had great discipline offensively and defensively."

No play signified Kentucky's ball-handling woes better than a sequence inside the final three minutes of the first half. With 2:21 left, freshman DeAndre Liggins replaced Porter at point guard. Liggins exited 22 seconds later after charging into Sosa.

Meeks and ranked teams

Jodie Meeks broke out of a streak of shooting woes against ranked teams. Before Sunday, he had made only 30 of 99 shots (14-for-49 from three-point range) against ranked opponents in his career.

Meeks made eight of 19 shots, including three of nine three-point attempts, against Louisville.

But his six turnovers matched the six he committed at North Carolina. UK's first four possessions included three Meeks turnovers.

Etc.

■ U of L made a season-best 82.6 percent of its free throws, including five of six in the final 90 seconds. The Cards came into the game ranked 12th among the 16 Big East teams in free-throw accuracy.

■ U of L's 11-for-20 shooting from three-point range marked the best against UK since San Diego shot 56.3 percent (9-for-16) on Dec. 29 of last season.