Kentucky vs Oklahoma....A Preview

Kentucky vs. Oklahoma UK leads series 2-0 11/22/10 Monday 5:30/4:30 (ESPN2) 2010 Maui Invitational

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Oklahoma

Enrollment: 30,092
Location: Norman, Okla
Arena: 12,000

Head Coach: Jeff Capel
Career Record: 161-92 (63.6%) 8 Seasons
At Okla-82-51 (61.7%) 4 Seasons

2009-10 Record: 13-18
2009-10 Big 12 Record: 4-12
2009-10 Postseason Record: None

2010-11 Record: 3-0

Okla 77 Coppin St. 57
Okla 71 NC Central 63 OT
Okla 82 Texas Southern 52

PPG-77
FG%-45.7%
3-PT%-38.8%
FT%-80.6%
RPG-40
TPG-14
APG-16
SPG-7
BPG-3

Probable Starting Lineup

Andrew Fitzgerald F-6’8” So…..PPG-15.3
Nic Thompson F-6’9” Jr………..PPG-6.0
Cade Davis G-6’5” Sr………… PPG-12.7
Steven Pledger G-6”4” So……...PPG-16.7
Cameron Clark G/F 6’6” Fr…….PPG-8.0

Oklahoma returns only one starter off last season’s disappointing 13-18 Sooner team. As a result, Oklahoma is an inexperienced team starting a freshman and two sophomores. On the plus side….the Sooners have added some nice talent and have good size throughout the lineup. The Sooners are off to a nice 3-0 start, but the competition has been lesss than stellar. Thus far, Fitzgerald, Pledger and Davis have been the leader scorers….all three in double figures. Davis is off to a good start hitting 42.1% from 3 point range. Thompson and Fitzgerald are the leading rebounders….while Thompson and Pledger lead the Sooners in assists

A prime reason for Oklahoma's poor season last year was very poor team chemistry which Capel found to be draining mentally and emotionally. Now the Sooners are essentially a new team and there is optimism that this will be a much better year. Time will tell….and coach Capel will now get a good opportunity to see where his team is fundamentally and chemistry wise as he faces ranked Kentucky and other good teams in the Maui Invitational.

Kentucky arrives in Hawaii with a 2-0 record and a very solid win over Portland. UK shot 55% including 44.4% from the perimeter….hitting 8-18 against the Pilots. The Cats once again moved the ball well with only 11 TO’s. In addition.UK out rebounded Portland and hit 15-20 FT’s. All in all, an impressive road win for these young Cats.

Individually, game ball to Darius Miller who garnered 15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 block shots…..terrific game by Miller. Importantly, Brandon Knight had another solid game hitting for 21 points, but had only one assist. Great defensive job from Liggins who really shut down the Pilots best long range shooter as Stohl finished with 9 points on 1-7 from long range. Terrance Jones, playing before his home fans, didn’t have a great game, but he did contribute 12 points and showed signs of greatness with some terrific moves.

Josh Harrellson got his 2nd start of the season and he didn’t disappoint….pulling down 12 rebounds, adding 6 points and having zero TO’s in 23 minutes….nice effort from Josh. Also, Vargas added 4 points and 4 rebounds in 14 minutes…..so the pivot got 16 rebounds and 10 points from the duo of Harrellson and Vargas…not bad….not bad at all.

While UK has looked very good in it’s first two games against questionable talent….they will very likely get a much truer picture of their strengths and weaknesses in the 3 games at Maui when they face more talented teams then they have faced thus far. When UK leaves Maui….we will all see whether UK’s ranking is too low or too high….or whether they even deserved to be ranked….at least at this point in the season.

Although Oklahoma is not ranked, they are bigger and more athletic then the two teams UK has faced. The game will be a good first test in Maui. I like the Cats to get their 1st win at Maui by defeating the Sooners by 11 points.GO CATS!