WALK OF SHAME: VICTORIOUS

Somebody's inlaws have courtside seats.

There's only one topic suitable for discussion in this week's Walk of Shame, and that's the UK-Vandy game last Saturday.  It was crazy.  The student section was rowdy.  DeMarcus Cousins was an anti-cheerleader, and I loved it.  A.J. pretty much choked (and Matt Freije agreed with me).  It was a really fun game to see live and in person, and I'm glad my team won. Really credit the Memorial crowd for trying to will their team to a win.  There were a lot of Kentucky fans in the building, and they were pretty vocal.  I got a lot of F-you's when I went out into the concourse, which were sort of unexpected from a group that considers themselves the class of the SEC, but I won't let a few bad apples spoil the bunch.  The only kind of crappy part of the game experience was during timeouts: Vandy has got to do more to keep the crowd energized or at least keep their attention.  It's like a funeral home in there when there's no action.

This was a game that was a lot like other road games (and some home games) the Cats have played in this year, meaning tight and with the margin of victory being determined in the final minutes (or in this case, seconds).  Kentucky played the best perimeter defense I've seen all year, which explains holding the Dores to (I think) four three pointers, two coming from noted hacker and smacker Steve Tchiengang.  Jeff Taylor had a great game for the Dores, but it wasn't enough to match a re-emergent Patrick Patterson and the somewhat spotty game of DeMarcus.  Wall was Wall when it mattered, except for a few bricked free throws.

Vanderbilt was sort of in a win-win situation here.  They really weren't supposed to win the game, but it would have been huge if they did.  If the 'Dores win out the rest of their regular season schedule and take at least two in the SEC Tournament (and they get a bye for sure), there's no way they're worse than a 4 seed in the NCAA.  Kentucky, with that win, I think probably locked up a 1, assuming no more losses or even a loss at UTK.