LEXINGTON, Ky. _ As the kids say, Lubbock will be lit Saturday.
Kentucky basketball is coming to town. Kentucky basketball never comes to town. Almost never. Thus the latest check of StubHub shows the cheapest ticket for Saturday's UK-Texas Tech entry in the Big 12/SEC Challenge is priced at $153. Most expensive? Try $1,155. For basketball. In Texas.
"We're everybody's Super Bowl," UK coach John Calipari says over and over and over again, and this time there's no room to argue.
So how will Cal's Cats react to such a unique situation? They did just fine last Saturday, outlasting Arkansas inside a packed and pounding Bud Walton Arena. (Let us put in a plug for good ear plugs.) Those around Eric Musselman after the game reported the first-year Razorbacks coach felt he let the Arkansas fans down by not following through on the pregame hype.
Saturday is a slightly different scenario. Kentucky has played at Texas Tech just once, in 1965. The Cats won, 66-60, if you're keeping score at home. Pat Riley scored 29 points. Tommy Kron grabbed 14 rebounds. That was the Rupp's Runts team that made it to the national championship game before falling to another Texas team, Texas Western.
Texas Tech played in last year's national title game where it lost to Virginia in overtime. The Red Raiders are a different team now, but Chris Beard is still the same excellent coach. Beard believes in defense, and Tech falls back on its training. Despite a 12-6 record, the Red Raiders are No. 26 in the latest Ken Pomeroy overall efficiency numbers. They're 88th in offensive efficiency, but No. 8 in defensive efficiency.
They've already beaten one Kentucky team, knocking off Louisville, 70-57, in the Jimmy V Classic when U of L was ranked No. 1. That win snapped a three-game losing streak in which Beard's bunch had fallen to Iowa, Creighton and DePaul. Since then, the Red Raiders have lost 57-52 to Baylor, now ranked No. 1 in the land; 66-54 at West Virginia and 65-54 at TCU on Tuesday night. They're 9-1 at home.
Saturday will be just Kentucky's fourth true road game. The Cats are 2-1 thus far, with wins over Georgia and Arkansas and a loss at South Carolina. But the team that lost twice on a neutral floor in Las Vegas, or even the team that lost to the Gamecocks in Columbia a week ago, is not the same team we're seeing now.
Keion Brooks is one reason. Johnny Juzang is another. Both are freshmen. Both come off the bench. Both are becoming important contributors when Calipari normally starts to narrow his rotation. Hey, March is not that far away.
Juzang appeared glued to the bench, especially when the California native missed two weeks with a virus. Since his return, however, Juzang's minutes have gone from eight to 17 to 18. He scored five points at Arkansas, six on Tuesday night in the 89-79 win over Georgia. He's made five of 10 shots his last two games and his defense has kept him on the floor.
Brooks was just starting to come along (seven rebounds at South Carolina) when associate head coach Kenny Payne, subbing for the ejected Calipari, put the Indiana native on the floor down the stretch at Arkansas with the promise he would stay on the floor. "That gave me confidence," said Brooks, who scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 17 minutes.
Brooks followed that up with eight points and five rebounds against Georgia, taking time from teammate Nate Sestina, who played a season-low six minutes. Sestina is the better shooter, but the athletic Brooks is the better defender. He's starting to adapt to the game's physical nature. "You can look at me and tell I'm skinny," he said Tuesday night.
What will Saturday's trip to northwest Texas tell us about Kentucky? Probably plenty. Another rabid crowd. Another tough opponent, only this time an unfamiliar one. Another fun game. Lubbock has every reason to be lit.
