LEXINGTON, Ky. — Earlier this month, Kentucky basketball took a 2,000-mile field trip to Spokane, Washington. It did not turn out well. This week, UK travels 4,000 miles for another educational opportunity, this time in the original UK, i.e. London, England. The Cats need this trip to be a success.
After all, a team only gets so many shots at beating a big shot. John Calipari’s club air-balled its first two, gift-wrapping a double-overtime win for Michigan State in the Champions Classic before that jarring 16-point loss at Gonzaga. Sunday brings royal opportunity No. 3. Michigan is the opponent. London’s O2 Arena is the setting. ABC has the 1 p.m. coverage. That’s WTVQ locally.
Before packing bags for Britain, the Cats played Bellarmine in a Tuesday night tune-up. Kentucky won, 60-41. The final score told only half the story. At intermission, the teams were tied at 21. (This was basketball, not football.) That’s the fewest first-half points by a Kentucky team at Rupp Arena since Tubby Smith’s Cats trailed Kevin Stallings and Vanderbilt 23-20 on Jan. 10, 2006. Vandy won, 57-52. Luckily, 16 years later, Cal’s Cats did not suffer a similar fate.
