A sweet respite in a turbulent season.
That’s what Kentucky’s 92-49 victory over Florida International represented on Monday.
The Cats took the lead barely three minutes after tip-off and steadily expanded it. The margin reached 42 points with barely three minutes left in the game.
Kentucky, which is off to its worst start since the 1989-90 season, needed a feel-good game. The Cats improved to 6-6 overall going into Saturday’s game against arch-rival Louisville.
Florida International fell to 3-9 in losing its sixth straight.
Jodie Meeks matched his career high of 21 points. Ramel Bradley led the Cats with 22 points. Patrick Patterson added 20 and Joe Crawford 11.
Bradley became the 55th UK player to reach 1,000 points in his career.
Derrick Jasper played well in his second game of the season. He scored four points, matched a career-high 10 rebounds and handed out five assists in a demonstration of floor generalship.
Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald- Leader has covered Kentucky basketball since the 1981-82 season. That time includes five coaches, five Final Fours, four athletic directors, two interim athletic directors and many memories. Before coming to Lexington, Tipton worked eight years for the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch. He covered Marshall’s basketball team for two seasons before coming to the Herald-Leader.
I thought jasper played his best game as a cat. i haven’t looked at the stats but his rebounding should make the rest of the team just get pumped up. if a guard can do what he did, how about the taller guys pinning their ears back and getting into it? w/the exception of patterson, the front line has been remarkable by their absence around the backboard