Anthony Hickey poked away a steal on Kentucky’s first possession. Johnny O’Bryant swished an 8-foot jumper with a hand in his face. Shavon Coleman and Jarell Martin buried 3-pointers on consecutive possessions — all before the shivering fans had a chance to settle in.
A game that was in peril from the beginning seemed out of reach within the first five minutes.
As Winter Storm Leon threw an icy punch outside, it was LSU who drew first blood Tuesday in the PMAC, racing out to a 22-6 lead within the first six and half minutes and never trailing in an 87-82 upset of No. 11 Kentucky.
“To get that big of a lead early and never look back was huge,” O’Bryant said. “It helped us and we kept pushing.”
O’Bryant led all scorers with 29 points, besting Kentucky’s vaunted frontline and preseason Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Julius Randle.
Randle finished with six points on just 3-of-11 shooting, a testament to the 2-3 zone the Tigers (13-6, 4-3 SEC) employed all evening, which was a contrast from Johnny Jones’ customary man-to-man defensive gameplan.
“I thought our length helped us on the perimeter with the great shooters that they have,” Jones said. “We wanted to make sure that we were able to rebound the basketball out of the zone.”
The Wildcats (15-5, 5-2 SEC) out-rebounded the Tigers 42-37, but saw the Tigers block 11 shots and swipe 11 steals.
O’Bryant outscored the Wildcats 10-6 during the early 22-6 onslaught as Kentucky sent a mix of Randle, freshman Dakari Johnson and sophomore 7-footer Willie Cauley-Stein at the Tiger forward defensively.
“I was just attacking,” O’Bryant said. “I knew they were younger guys and I had an advantage in experience and body type. I was just trying to attack them and go at them.”
It was an attack Kentucky coach John Calipari said his youthful bunch was ill prepared for.
“We weren’t ready for the physical part of the game,” Calipari said. “We weren’t ready for the energy of the game and the viciousness of the game. They beat us to every 50-50 ball from the beginning of the game to the end.”
Kentucky forward James Young buoyed an otherwise stagnant Wildcat offense in the early going, scoring 12 of his team-high 23 points in a seven minute span that whittled the LSU lead down to three.
With the Tiger lead still at three after an Andrew Harrison bucket, Hickey scored the game’s next four points to stretch the Tiger lead to seven. A 3-pointer from senior guard Andre Stringer followed, putting the LSU lead at eight.
For Hickey, a Hopkinsville, Ky. junior and the state’s former Mr. Basketball, the game was three years in the making.
“I grew up watching UK all the time,” Hickey said. “I feel so great right now. I just wanted to at least get ’em once while I was here.”
Holding a 44-36 lead coming out of the locker room, the Tigers protected their lead despite numerous Kentucky threats.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Hickey and Stringer with just over 13 minutes to go swelled the LSU lead to 62-48.
But as was expected, the Wildcats came with a run. Randle bullied his way for a layup through contact and Young followed with a jumper in the paint to bring the deficit to ten at 62-52.
That would be the plot line for the majority of the second half as Kentucky got the LSU lead down to ten four different times within the final nine minutes, but couldn’t capitalize with defensive stops.
“Kentucky’s a great basketball team and we knew they would make runs,” Jones said. “Our guys were able to settle in, get rebounds, second-chance opportunities, cutbacks.”
In front of a bigger than expected crowd comprised mostly of students, Jones’ Tigers continued a season surrounded by hype and plagued by inconsistency with what Jones termed the biggest win of his tenure.
Jones was quick to thank those students, grabbing a microphone seconds following the win and addressing the PMAC crowd.
“You’re the reason we got the victory tonight,” Jones told the crowd. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
O’Bryant, defense key 87-82 upset of Kentucky
January 29, 2014