[-STAT-]

Despite it being bowling shoe ugly, that was the type of win they desperately needed, an ugly, physical grind it out type victory. A&M is a team who brings a ton of physicality and defense, they sure brought both last night in droves, and in the first half brought enough offense to keep it interesting, hitting 7 3's in the first half I think it was. Slow starts have hindered this Kentucky team, but they always still find themselves still in at half, Robinson hitting that 3 going into the locker room was huge but it was obvious the ref didn't see him taunting Buzz and the A&M bench (for a second time) or he would've been tossed. I understand he once played there, and Buzz once said he didn't have what it took to play there or high level college basketball (something along those lines), I understand you're trying to prove your worth and prove the coach wrong, but don't act like an idiot, he got popped once and easily could've got popped again and ejected, and then who knows how the trajectory of the game goes, bc he played a great game the whole way.

A lot of things to take away from this one, they finally played with some toughness, not just in spurts but the whole 40 minutes. Butler will definitely be feeling it this morning, he got beat and battered pretty bad, hopefully nothing too serious with that shoulder as he was grabbing onto it multiple times last night, then took that inadvertent kick to the face, and then done something to his knee/ankle area late in the game, he'll be getting plenty of work done today. Gotta give all kinds of credit to Perry for stepping in and providing valuable minutes in Butler's absence. He was a little rattled early on as A&M was attacking him often, but he finally got settled in, played great defense and hit some big time shots, so glad to see that for him. I'm sure when Kerr comes back his minutes will go back down, but if he can keep providing a spark and knock down a couple shots in some spot action, Pope will find a way for him to get in.

Like I said this was exactly the type of game/win they needed. We've already grown accustomed to the shootout, run n gun type victories, but to slug it out like they did last night and finish strong was great to see, and hopefully a positive sign moving forward. Ohh yeah, how about Oweh's personal dunk contest in the 2nd half? That first one had to be #1 on the SC Top 10.

Does not get any easier as we host Alabama this Saturday who lost at home pretty convincingly to Ole Miss last night, so they'll be ready to get back on the right track.