Terrence Jones leads UK to win over LSU
January 28, 2012
UK might have had its “coming of age” game in Louisiana with a 74-50 win over LSU.
A game that made it look like UK might be on its way to five more games in the state — three in the SEC Tournament and two in the Final Four.
“That’s probably the best we’ve played all year,” head coach John Calipari said.
And if Terrence Jones plays like he did Saturday, those goals become that much more attainable.
Jones scored a season-high 27 points, grabbed nine rebounds and played the way a Terrence Jones running on full throttle can play.
In one stretch that spanned the late first half and early second half, Jones went on a personal 13-0 run. Jones scored on a dunk or layup four straight times, including a three-point play to finish his spree.
Calipari said this type of game from the sophomore was “what we’ve been waiting on.” It finally came.
But it has to continue.
“If this is who you are, then this is who you should be every game,” Calipari said.
UK is starting to separate itself from the rest of the college basketball pack. It’s the near-unanimous No. 1 team. It’s undefeated in conference play and a point away from being undefeated, period.
The main thing Calipari has said must happen for UK to totally split away from the pack, to assert itself as the unquestioned dominant team in basketball, is to negate physical play.
UK did that against LSU. Who did it start with? Terrence Jones.
“Now you’ve got a 250-pound guy who’s not backing away,” Calipari said.
If Jones isn’t backing away, he’s closer to being what Calipari called him back in October — one of the top three players in the nation. He hasn’t expressed the same sentiment since.
He wishes he had. As Calipari said, if he knew the secret to getting Jones playing like he did against LSU every game, he would have resolved it “a month ago.” Instead, a 27-point game serves as a reminder of what could be, what should be. The talented sophomore taking the reigns of a talented, young team.
“That’s the guy,” Calipari said, “that people want to play with and coach.”
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