Cats pull out close victory over Cleveland State
UK forward Julius Randle jumps to shoot the ball against Cleveland State forward Marlin Mason during the first half of the University of Kentucky men’s basketball game vs. Cleveland State at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., on Monday, November 25, 2013. Cleveland State led 31-27 at the half. Photo by Tessa Lighty
November 26, 2013
By Nick Gray
Freshman guard Andrew Harrison converted two three-point plays in the final 3:55, and UK survived 35.8 percent shooting to come back and defeat Cleveland State University, 68-61, on Monday.
The Cats went on a 12-0 run to retake the lead with 3:22 left in the game. Harrison’s first three-point play tied the game at 54-54, after which the Cats took their first lead of the second half.
His second such play sparked a 12-4 UK run to give the Cats the lead for good with 2:08 left to finish off the Vikings.
Though Harrison missed all four of his three-point field goal attempts, the 6-foot-6-inch freshman guard scored 12 points, including the two baskets and free throws late in the game.
“I thought Andrew (Harrison) made the plays, and it’s nice to know we have two or three guys that we can go to when the game is in the balance,” UK head coach John Calipari said.
The Cats found two avenues in which to score in the first half— free throws and getting the ball inside the paint. UK shot 13-of-18 from the charity stripe in the opening 20 minutes and all seven UK field goals in the first half came in the post.
The Cats took the lead briefly 17 minutes into the game before Cleveland State took a four-point lead into the half.
Freshman forward Julius Randle scored nine first-half points on 3-of-7 shooting (the only Cat to make more than one shot from the field), but committed four of UK’s seven turnovers in the half.
Freshman guard James Young, who was named the SEC Freshman of the Week, went scoreless in the first half and did not make his first shot until his three-point basket cut the Vikings lead to 44-36 with 14:02 left.
Cleveland State sophomore guard Bryn Forbes hit a pair of free throws to push the Vikings lead back to 10 with 7:41 remaining before the first of UK’s two runs to win the game.
Randle ended up earning his sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Randle’s next double-double will tie him with Jim Andrews, who had seven double-doubles to start the 1971-72 season.
Forbes had a game-high 22 points for Cleveland State, a program that has never beaten a top-5 opponent. Though the Vikings let a double-digit lead slip away, head coach Gary Waters was complimentary of the Cats.
“I thought Kentucky did a good job of coming back and fighting back,” Waters said. “I whispered into Calipari’s ear, ‘Hey, you needed this more than I needed this.’”
