In order to continue winning, Cats need Stevenson

TAMPA, Fla. — This must be what life on the edge is like.

With a slim chance of making the NCAA Tournament, the Cats hustled and clawed their way to live another day — not only in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, but to keep alive those NCAA Tournament hopes.

Breaking a four-game losing streak that basically put UK in its current predicament, the Cats fought their way to a 71-58 victory over Mississippi on Thursday in the first game of the SEC Tournament.

The Cats got their typical output from sophomore Patrick Patterson (15 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks) and junior Jodie Meeks (25 points). The difference between Thursday’s game and Ole Miss’ Jan. 27 victory over the Cats came down to two other blue-clad players — Perry Stevenson and Darius Miller.
During that four-game losing streak, Stevenson seemed lost, confused and out of place. In Tampa, Stevenson was more at home than a snowbird this time of year.

Having the St. Pete Times Forum packed to the brim with UK fans helped. But not as much as Stevenson helped his teammates stay alive one more day, scoring 13 points and grabbing eight rebounds.

“Winning does a lot for your confidence,” Stevenson said. “That’s what a lot of guys needed.”

Guys like Miller, who has shown flashes of talent throughout the season only to never turn flashes into full-blown fireworks. Yet Miller illuminated the Rebels’ zone defense, almost trademarking his drive to the basket, pull-up jumper against Ole Miss. Miller didn’t outdo his Ole Miss counterpart, SEC Freshman of the Year Terrico White, on the stat sheet, but Miller did more in the second half when his team needed him the most.

“If Darius can come in and score like he did, it makes it tough for other teams to focus on Jodie and Pat,” junior Michael Porter said.

Allowing other teams to focus on UK’s 1-2 power combo is what doomed the Cats in the second half of the season. But a change of scenery — sunny Tampa — has helped UK fix their problems for at least one game.

In the locker room after the game, there wasn’t any talk about Friday’s 1 p.m. showdown with No. 20 Louisiana State. Gillispie deflected a question about the Tigers by saying the team was going to celebrate their win for 30 more minutes before thinking of LSU. The win over Ole Miss was a welcome sight for these Cats.

And if the Cats can continue the defensive intensity they showed in the second half, maybe the Cats will live to see their tournament hopes still there Saturday morning. A win over the Tigers would be a signature victory UK needs.

But if they don’t get the production they received from Miller and, more importantly, Stevenson, then Gillispie and Co. may have had the last of their celebrating.

“We have to have Perry to win,” Porter said after the game.

As Thursday showed, he couldn’t be more right.

Kenny Colston is a journalism junior. E-mail kcolston@kykernel.com.