Jerry Tipton on UK basketball

Despite concluding the half with four straight turnovers, Kentucky lead 31-30 at intermission.

Two free throws by Jodie Meeks put the Cats ahead 31-28 with 1:49 left. Kentucky had nothing but turnovers the rest of the way.

UK’s defense limited Louisville to two free throws in the final 3:54. Andre McGee’s free throws with 53.3 seconds left set the halftime score. Otherwise, the Cards missed three shots and committed three turnovers down the stretch.

The third of Kentucky’s turnovers irked the fans. Ramel Bradley was called for walking near midcourt as he tried to navigate U of L’s press, the same pressure UK fans loved with Rick Pitino was their coach.

This time, the fans booed to show their displeasure that a foul was not called on a Cardinal contesting Bradley’s dribble.

After the second TV timeout, Kentucky applied noticably more defensive intensity. The sight sparked enthusiasm from the crowd and wobbled Louisville.

Back-to-Back baskets  by Joe Crawford reduced a one-time 11-point deficit to 19-14.

But Andre McGee drove purposefully for a layup. Then Crawford threw away a pass against U of L’s press.

Mark Coury picked up his third foul with 7:30 left. At that point, U of L led 21-14.

Louisville had a 10-5 lead at the first TV timeout (15:49).

Kentucky made its first shot — a three-pointer by Ramon Harris seven seconds into the game. But UK made only one more shot (a dunk by Patrick Patterson off a Mark Coury pass) at the first timeout.

By then, UK had already put Derrick Jasper (the hero of the victory over Florida International) into the game.

After that game, FIU Coach Sergio Rouco questioned whether UK could duplicate the 11-for-22 three-point shooting that buried his team. Until the first TV timeout, the Cats had made two of six shots (one of four from three-point range).

All seemed on cruise control as Kentucky kept expanding its lead.

A 16-4 run put UK ahead 61-34.

UK shot well, defended with purpose and completely outplayed Florida International.

Four UK players reached double figures mid-way through the second half. The four were Jodie Meeks, Ramel Bradley, Patrick Patterson and Joe Crawford.

Bradley reached the 1,000-point plateau. Meeks eclipsed his previous career-high of four three-point baskets.

Kentucky matched its highest-scoring first half of the season in taking a 43-21 lead over Florida International at intermission.

Two baskets by Ramel Bradley in the final 35.2 seconds enabled UK to match the 43 first-half points scored against Texas Southern.

Each basket was memorable. On the first, Bradley drove on the fastbreak, cuffed the ball as if to start a behind-the-back pass to the left before bringing it back and completing the fastbreak himself.

On the second, Bradley stole Alex Galindo’s pass near halfcourt, then sped to the basket in less than three seconds for a layup at the buzzer.

The flurry was part of a 13 first-half for Bradley. He came into the game needing eight points to reach 1,000 for his career.

Good shooting enabled UK to have a big scoring first half. The Cats, who had made at least half their shots in the past four games, hit 12 of 24 in the first half.

Jodie Meeks hit three three-pointers, which left him one short of a career high.