UK’s Season Comes To An End
Holy cow! I’m out of breath right now. What a fantastic game I just watched, the regional semi-final matchup between UK and Michigan State. It was a double overtime game, with Michigan State eventually winning it.
It was back and forth most of the game, with Michigan State pulling away for a little bit in the second half. The ‘Cats battled back though, pulling within three towards the end of regulation. At the buzzer, Sparks shot a three, which rattled around the rim, took a bounce, and finally fell in, tying it up and sending the game into overtime. However, the officials took several minutes to review the call, since Sparks’ foot was so close to the three point line. Thankfully, the “ruling on the field” stood.
UK looked great in the first overtime. They were ahead most of the time, but couldn’t hold on. Hayes and Azubuike were in foul trouble, though, and couldn’t play as hard as they probably wanted to. Michigan State tied it up, and the game went into another OT.
Things started to fall apart on the second OT, as the UK’s freshman began to show their lack of experience. Azubuike fouled out, and Hayes was still hesitant. Michigan State pulled ahead and stayed there.
It was a great season, though, with the team doing about as well as could be expected, considering the lack of experience this year’s team had. Considering we lost four starters from last year’s team, I personally didn’t think they would have as great of a season as they did. Kudos to the entire team for stepping up and making it this far into the tournament.
I’m sure gonna miss Chuck Hayes. Though he wasn’t a “star” or big time scorer, he did a lot of the little things that don’t make it into the stats, and was a great veteran and overall leader. He’s an all around nice guy and I wish him the best with his future.
As for the rest of the team, I’m looking forward to a great season next year. We’re only losing two seniors, Hayes and Josh Carrier, and only Hayes was a starter. With the freshman getting a lot of playing time this year, and much needed experience, they should be ready to take it to the next level this time next year.
Go ‘Cats! Thanks for a terrific season!
P.S. Go Louisville!
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Mar 27th, 2005 at 22:38:12
Kentucky just didn’t look like they wanted to win in OT. They weren’t moving on offense at all and weren’t even moving toward the basket until the shot clock was almost out. Michigan State just looked like they wanted the win more. And what ticked me off was Tubby putting in Stockton with .4 seconds left in the game. C’mon, if that’s not a smack in the face I don’t know what is. If I was Stockton, I would have refused!
Mar 28th, 2005 at 10:02:24
It was a great game to watch, regardless of the winner. Fantastic shot by Patrick Sparks to take it to overtime. UK blew it when they held the ball too long in the first OT period. They should have taken it in; they held the ball too long and didn’t get a shot off. They could have won it.
Anyway, well, I am going to support the state school and cheer for Louisville
*LAUGH CHRIS, LAUGH
Mar 28th, 2005 at 14:20:01
Yeah they did hold it too long, and like you said they did lose the game. They could have very easily won it in overtime by taking it to the basket, no UK team should have lost it in that situation, and then the second overtime was too many mistakes. So frustrating to be that close and to achieve such a great thing and to have it all fall away like that.
Did anybody notice the bump against Sparks on the last shot….hmmmm…as close as they were calling it should have been a free throw for the win. That would have been nice, and I have bee told this even by state fans and others that don’t root for UK. Such a shame that it didn’t end up better, but still good game.
Mar 28th, 2005 at 15:26:39
You’ll rarely see refs make those buzzer calls. It could have been a foul, it could have just been a two-pointer. The refs did the right think. Both teams had an additional 10:00 of basketball to win the gmae.
Mar 28th, 2005 at 21:41:22
KY had the chance to win that game a couple times. Rando’s inexperience and being a freshman stood out in the two overtimes. I felt like Tubby should have put someone else in to take over as point. Someone that had a bit more experience. As they said on the radio tonight, Rando has choked at very timely points in ballgames of recent. He is only a freshman and should have been replaced by someone with a bit more experience.
The last seconds of regulation were awesome and the guys had their heads on them. I say it definitely was a three not sure about the foul, but they had a chance to win it in OT and didnt accomplish it. Great shot by Sparks…why didnt he play to start the 1st OT. He was on a high..you go with it. I didnt quite understand Sparks not palying much in OT.
The Cats did a great job and went further than they were expected. It should be a good year next year.
Mar 28th, 2005 at 23:29:26
Sparks didn’t play in the first overtime because he wasn’t playing defense. I figured they wouldn’t call a foul on that shot, you never want to win or lose to something like that, unless it is an obvious foul.