Kentucky 75 - 70 Louisana St. (No. 2,103)

Every time I try to get out, they pull me back in.

I didn't want to watch UK again after the debacle at Alabama, but there I was, same as usual, back in front of my TV on Saturday.  Here were my thoughts:

1.  The Cats are slowly getting better.  Alex Poythress played his best game of the year on Saturday -- 6-9 from the field, 8-10 from the line, 20 points, 12 rebounds, and only three fouls.  Noel had another solid game -- 4-5 from the field, 8 rebounds, 6 blocks, and only one foul.  As a team, the Cats out-rebounded LSU 39-26 -- the second consecutive game in which they've had a solid lead in that critical category.

2.  Goodwin and Harrow continue to struggle.  Together, they went 10-23 from the field, 6-11 from the line, and they had only 3 assists compared to six turnovers.  Goodwin did have 5 rebounds, so we'll hope that keeps up.

3.  Despite their relatively weak guard play, UK shot 61 percent from two-point range (25-41) and held LSU to only 39.5 percent (17-43) inside the arc.  UK missed their usual raft of free throws, but they still went 19-28 from the line, while LSU went 12-15.  So UK outscored LSU by 16 points from 2-point range, and by seven points at the line.  In other words, if the teams had been even remotely close in their three-point scoring, this would have been an easy win for the Cats.

4.  But UK's woes from three-point range continued.  They made only 2-11 three-point shots for the game.  In six SEC games, the Cats have made only 31.8 percent of their three-point shots -- in large part because Goodwin and Harrow have combined to make only 5 of 34 attempts (14.7 percent).  Remarkably, neither of these players has made a three-pointer since the Cats played Texas A & M.  In UK's last four games, Goodwin and Harrow have gone 0 for 15 from three-point range.  Meanwhile, LSU was hot from outside -- they made 8-20.  You're going to run into hot teams from time to time, even in the SEC, and it's good that the Cats were able to win a game where they were outscored so badly from behind the arc.

5.  I should also note that UK was the victim of one of the worst bits of officiating you will ever see.  With 6:22 left in the game, the Cats were up 65-54 and Nerlens Noel had just stolen the ball from LSU.  The Cats brought the ball down floor, and set up their offense, and an LSU draped himself over Julius Mays in a pretty blatant foul.  If Mays had gone to the line, as he should have, he could have put UK up 13, and the game would have been pretty much over.  But this is the SEC, where the officials tend to bring their own sense of justice to the proceedings.  Not only did they refuse to call the foul on LSU, they decided that Mays's desperate efforts to hang onto the ball represented a deliberate attempt to harm the LSU defender.  LSU got two free throws (which they made) and the ball, which they used to score two more points.  Suddenly, the score was 65-58 with 5:42 left, and LSU was inspired for a late-game charge.

6.  There is no doubt that this bit of officiating -- of a type with which we fans are so familiar -- rattled the Cats, and they struggled down the stretch.  In fact, they did not make another field goal for the rest of the game -- their last 10 points all came on free throws.  But adversity is part of life in college basketball, and they have to get better at dealing with it.

7.  My goal is for UK to take third place in the SEC, and we're still on pace to achieve that mark.  In fact, we're tied with Alabama and Missouri at 4-2, and together those teams are 1-4 on the road.  It's also fair to note that Louisville is 4-3 in the Big East, that Duke is 4-2 in the ACC, that UNC is 3-3 in the ACC, and that Minnesota is 3-4 in the Big 10.  Conference play is hard.  But the Cats have a brutal week ahead.  Ken Pomeroy gives them only a 39 percent chance against Ole Miss on Tuesday, and he says there's almost an 18 percent chance that they lose to both Mississippi and Texas A & M this week.  Plus our offense is not very good.  Here are UK's offensive efficiency numbers for the last four years in SEC play (these numbers are points per 100 possessions):

2010:  107.9
2011:  109.9
2012:  120.4
2013:  103.2

And here are the defensive numbers (points allowed per 100 possessions in SEC play):

2010:  94.0
2011:  98.4
2012:  93.5
2013:  97.9

As you can see, this team's defense is not close to the lock-down version we had in 2010 or 2012.  That's not surprising, and it is encouraging to see that they're actually doing a little better than the 2011 team so far.  But they are far behind that 2011 team on offense.  That team made 38.5 percent of its three-point shots and 73 percent of its free throws in SEC play -- this year's squad is at 31.8 percent and 65.0 percent, respectively.

Nevertheless, we still have a lot to play for, and we'll know a lot more after we see how this group does at Oxford and College Station.