Fri Jul 30 2010
LEXINGTON – The Vanderbilt Commodores didn’t have any more answers for Kentucky freshman center DeMarcus Cousins Saturday at Rupp Arena than the South Carolina Gamecocks did this past Tuesday.
Cousins had 27 points and 12 rebounds Tuesday in the Wildcats’ 68-62 loss at South Carolina, and he added 21 points and 10 rebounds Saturday in an 85-72 UK win versus Vanderbilt.
The difference in the two games is that Cousins got a lot more help from his teammates against the 21st-ranked Commodores than he did versus the unranked Gamecocks.
Sophomore guard Darnell Dodson started in place of Eric Bledsoe Saturday and responded big-time, scoring 16 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Dodson shot 5-of-10 from 3-point range, and it seemed like every trey he hit came at a time when Vandy was making a run.
Freshman guard John Wall had just 13 points but added nine assists. Bledsoe played 33 minutes off the bench and had 13 points and seven rebounds. Patrick Patterson was at 12 points and four rebounds. And DeAndre Liggins had yet another solid outing off the bench with nine points and four rebounds and constant hustle on defense that again set a great example for his teammates.
Kentucky outrebounded the Commodores 41-22 in improving to 20-1 overall and 5-1 in the SEC. Senior guard Jermaine Beal led Vandy in scoring with the team to beat in the SEC.
“We’ve got a ways to go,” Calipari said. “We beat a good team. We’re getting balance.”
And they’re getting consistent effort from Cousins, who shrugged when asked if he was nervous about playing in front of James. Having James in the stands is nothing new for the freshman big man, who said James was a regular at several summer camps Cousins attended during his high school days.
“He was always around. I’m used to seeing him,” Cousins said.
And James might get used to seeing Cousins in the NBA sooner rather than later if Cousins can continue his precocious play.
Cousins almost single-handedly gave Kentucky an early double-digit lead — he converted four three-point plays in the game’s first eight minutes — and did his best to stay composed despite Vanderbilt’s best efforts to rattle him.
“He is really quickly becoming a dominant inside player, maybe the best dominant inside player in our league,” said Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings. “We were trying to double-team him and we told our players what he would do when he was double-teamed, and he did.”
When the Commodores tried to throw two or more bodies at Cousins, he would spin toward the baseline for an easy basket or kick it outside to an open teammate for a jumper — the latest facet in his quickly developing game.
And there were good looks aplenty for the Wildcats, who made 12 of 23 3-point attempts and dominated the boards, outrebounding Vanderbilt 41-22, leading to 20 second-chance points.
Darnell Dodson had 16 points in just his second start of the season. Eric Bledsoe had 13 points and seven rebounds while Patrick Patterson chipped in 12 points.
Kentucky’s supremacy in the lane helped make up for a less than spectacular performance from freshman star John Wall.
The point guard finished with 13 points, nine assists and seven turnovers in 34 minutes. He shot just 4 of 12 from the field as the Commodores did a fantastic job of keeping Wall from getting out in transition. The Wildcats failed to score a fast break basket for the first time in memory.
“The last two weeks I haven’t been playing well, I haven’t been having fun,” said Wall. “I’ve kind of been frustrated with everything. I’ve got to figure it out.”
He’d like to do it while the Wildcats are winning. And perhaps their ability to snap Vanderbilt’s 10-game winning streak without relying too heavily on Wall is a good sign of the team’s maturity.
“We’re getting balance,” Calipari said.
Jermaine Beal led the Commodores with 19 points, but Vanderbilt couldn’t pull off its second road upset of the week in a physical, whistle-plagued game that featured 58 fouls and very little flow.
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