the columbia lions journeyed to lexington, kentucky and showed the nation how the immense and immensely deep kentucky wildcats might be beaten. the box score tells the familiar story of visitors undone by home team favoring officials (with kentucky enjoying a 17 – 4 edge in freethrows), but allgame has no beef with a crew that let the lions play aggressive defense. indeed, though on the short end of a 56 – 46 stick, columbia was statistically the better defensive squad. not a bad showing considering the hosts boasted their domination of most of the important div 1 defensive stats this season. particularly in the first half, the lions did a terrific job of giving strong side help whenever the wildcats threw the ball into the post. on the perimeter, they chased and contested shots all evening, vividly demonstrating how much better kentucky has to get from the outside if they are to make a 40 -0 run to the championship in march 2015 and realize their hype as one of the all time great college squads.
maodo lo was the best all round player on the floor, scoring 16 points while snatching 7 rebounds and making off with three steals in his 37 minutes of tireless play. all honor to cory osetkowski as well who battled manfully throughout against willie cauley-stein and dakari johnson. first year kyle castlin showed himself un-awed by the big time surroundings and made a couple of much needed, timely buckets. in general, the crew spread the floor efficiently, passed well and seldom gave up the ball to the lengthy wildcat defenders. exhausted by the pressure they had exerted on kentucky all night and the pressure they had endured, the boys finally appeared gassed during the last ten minutes of play. they couldn’t quite get off the shots they needed during the game’s last quarter. and indeed, late in the game, the lions continued to box out on the glass but couldn’t get off the floor for the ball. they had battled the wildcats to a draw on the boards in the first half grabbing 15 rebounds to 17 for kentucky. in the second half they could manage but 13 to the hosts 24. that was fatal. harsh realities aside, the first four minutes of the game remain a wonderful dream as the lions raced off to an 11 – 0 lead. one minute in, an undaunted kyle castlin took the ball to the hoop against the wildcat bigs, getting and cashing two free throws to open the run. twenty five seconds later, isaac cohen dunked off a steal by and pass from maodo lo. two and a half minutes after that, chris mccomber drilled the lions’ first three pointer of the evening. fifteen seconds later messr lo had his second steal and flashed the rim for a 9 -0 edge. this gorgeous stretch of play concluded with a castlin layup for the lion’s biggest lead. from here, kentucky relentlessly closed in and it was down to a two point lead at the half, 25 -23. the game was eventually knotted at 34 six minutes into the second stanza on a cauley-stein free throw. derek willis’s two free throws put kentucky up for good, 36 -34 with thirteen minutes remaining in the contest. the hosts would stretch their advantage to 15 at 56 – 41 with a minute and a half to go. the lions weren’t beaten, though, just out of time, as they continued the fight with luke petrasek throwing down his first dunk of the season and kendall jackson draining a late three to reluctantly conclude the evening’s entertainment.
our title is only partly in jest. front runners can dismiss kentucky’s performance as a function of looking ahead to their rugged stretch of challenges from north carolina, ucla and louisville. they were missing two regular participants in their usual rotations – devin booker and tyler ulis, but columbia was short handed, too and the presence of grant mullins might have gotten them close enough to really scare the bejeezus out of the wildcats. all this is mere speculation. the game was played and the lions showed their quality. three quarters of the season remain along with the opportunity to prove that last night was no fluke.
peace out and d up,
paulie b
All praise Columbia! I was out for the evening, so listened to the game on the radio, alternating between ESPN on Sirius and WKCR. The Kings Crown Radio kids were a lot more fun, especially when they had to eat some good natured crow at halftime for their pre-game predictions of a good start as Columbia being behind by 10 to 12 points at the half
I had DVR’d the game so I could watch later and it was a treat to see Columbi spread out the floor on offense and pass with purpose to find the best, not just a good, shot. The swarming defense was also impressive but it appeared some of the rebounding and possession turnovers Columbia won was as much from sloppy, lethargic play by the Wildcats as from our hustle.
Looking forward to the iVy season…but first a victory in Bridgeport over the Huskies would be nice.
Oh YEAH! Well said Paulie, B….
I was pleasantly surprised when I tuned into the game last night…How great was that for CU to be going up against KY?
I think the outcome might have been closer if the Lions made a few more baskets—I watched a few good looking shots go up that had they not clanked….It is always tough to sink a basket in the opponent’s building—the iron is just different and what perhaps would have dropped in Morningside Heights is bouncing in Lexington…
The CU Men acquitted themselves very well—-can’t wait to see them in person sometime soon.
you should get a listen to the talkshows here: UK sucks, they’re done, cooked, history, overhyped (got that right), under- and mis-coached, a bunch of spoiled high school stars who can’t adjust to sitting for long periods, and blah blah blah. maybe Col. played a good game? naaah.