RELATED STORY: game recap

The Cats had the perfect remedy for the Miami blues on Sunday.

One day after UK suffered its third loss of the season after a stirring comeback fell just short, the Cats had to play doctor and come up with a cure for those Miami blues.

A 33-point blowout victory, an emotional tribute to a late legend, a welcome home party for a former star and a little magic from a native son were perfect ingredients for the Cats’ remedy. Not to mention the medicine works better when taken at the first sign of symptoms, just a day after their loss.

“This team is improving at a very fast rate,” UK head coach Billy Gillispie said.

Less than 24 hours after their 67-73 loss to Miami, the Cats were back on the court, welcoming home Mississippi Valley State head coach Sean Woods.

Woods played at UK from 1990-92 and was a member of “The Unforgettables.” The highlight of his career came when his shot put the Cats ahead of Duke, 103-102, with 2.1 seconds left in overtime of the 1992 NCAA regional final before Christian Laettner’s famous fade-away buried UK’s Final Four hopes. Just like that fateful night, this one didn’t end well for Woods.

“We are who we are,” Woods said. “We are going to play hard. Because I got the job so late, I was only left with three scholarship players. I’m just trying to get the most out of these guys. My guys keep scrapping.”

UK chose this homecoming game for Woods to pay one final tribute to former equipment manager Bill “Mr. Wildcat” Keightley. At halftime, UK re-retired Keightley’s jersey during a ceremony with his family on the court.

“There’s never enough you can do for him, but I think all the things they did today were great,” Gillispie said.

The meaning of the ceremony wasn’t lost on Woods, either.

“It means everything to me for the simple fact that I got stuck in San Antonio at the Final Four before getting to say goodbye to Mr. Keightley,” said Woods. “Mr. Bill means everything to every person who has ever walked through or been associated with this program.”

Just over three minutes into the game, UK added its final potent ingredient to the elixir. The first man off the bench tonight wasn’t heralded freshmen DeAndre Liggins or Darius Miller. It wasn’t sophomore Josh Harrellson. It was freshman walk-on and Paintsville, Ky., native Landon Slone.

“I was a little surprised that Coach Gillispie called me to go in the game tonight,” Slone said. “I know I have to be ready whenever he calls my name.”

Just before the half, the Cats were nursing a four-point lead behind six points from Slone, the Cats’ leading scorer at the time.

“He plays hard and shot the ball well today,” Gillispie said. “I think he can make shots and is used to scoring points, but more importantly, he plays hard and that is why he was in there early today.”

On a night when Unforgettable Sean Woods was in the house, the Rupp Arena crowd was full of memories of that famous team with a former Paintsville High School standout on the floor, just like Unforgettable John Pelphrey.

When asked how they were celebrating in Paintsville today, Slone was coy.

“I’m not sure, but I got a lot of text messages when I got back to the locker room after the game.”

Just like that, 24 hours after another heart-breaking defeat, UK and its fans got their cure for the Miami blues. A blowout, a tribute, a homecoming and a little magic from a native son did the trick. The eye of the Hurricanes’ storm has seemingly passed.

“We are inexperienced but we are making giant improvements every time we play and that is what you have to do,” Gillispie said.

Sounds like the perfect cure for the Miami blues.