Kentucky has to battle back against Florida Atlantic

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The halftime intervention was directed at Perry Stevenson, but the message seemed to resonate across the Kentucky bench.

After averaging 89 points in four straight cakewalk wins, the Wildcats were being tested by a seemingly outmatched opponent Saturday and, post-holiday doldrums or not, they needed more effort.

Stevenson got an earful from his teammates in the locker room, then looked like a completely different player in the second half. He was hardly the only Wildcat who made the transformation as Kentucky (10-3) fought back for a 76-69 victory over Florida Atlantic (4-9).

“We told him to pick it up,” Kentucky center Patrick Patterson said of Stevenson. “When we were in the locker room, we said some things I’m not able to say here. We tried to pick him up, lift his spirits, make him angry.”

Patterson, as usual, did his part with 27 points and 14 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. But, with star shooter Jodie Meeks struggling from long range, the Wildcats badly needed somebody else to step up.

That proved to be Stevenson, who had 10 points in the second half, including two dunks in 30 seconds that swung momentum to the Wildcats largely for good.

Stevenson acknowledged his teammates’ pep talk, coupled with a hard foul committed against him, got him pumped up.

“I wasn’t playing up to my ability,” Stevenson said. “I wasn’t even playing up to normal basketball standards. I am just like any competitor. I don’t like to be pushed around, and I think that my frame fools people because they don’t think that I will snap back.”

Although Kentucky’s offense hardly resembled the one that appeared to be on autopilot the past few games, the Wildcats allowed the Owls few extra chances, committing a season-low seven turnovers and allowing only seven second-chance points.

“We were not in a stressful situation during our last couple of games,” Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie said. “Today we got ourselves in a little stressful situation and it could not have gone better, if you ask me.”

On a day when Meeks made only two of six 3-point attempts, Kentucky had to find its points from beneath the basket. The Wildcats answered with Patterson and Stevenson, dominating points in the paint, 48-24.

Patterson, who came into the game with the best shooting percentage in the Southeastern Conference at 71.1 percent, added to that by making 12 of 16 shots from the floor and all three free throws.

After the Owls cut the lead to 68-66 on two free throws with less than 3 minutes to go, Patterson scored the next four points to ice the victory. The seesaw game featured nine ties and 19 lead changes.

Kentucky’s victory came despite a career-best performance by Florida Atlantic’s senior guard Paul Graham, who led all scorers with 31 points.

A jumper by Graham with 15 minutes left gave the Owls their largest lead at 51-46, but Kentucky seemed to awaken from its post-holiday slumber behind Patterson and Stevenson. They accounted for eight points in a 10-0 Kentucky run that put the Wildcats ahead for good.

After Patterson’s second-chance layup, Stevenson slammed home two dunks within 30 seconds. One was set up by a crisp crosscourt pass from DeAndre Liggins, the other resulting from a fierce block by Patterson at the other end.

By the time Florida Atlantic coach Mike Jarvis could call timeout, the Wildcats led 52-51. They wouldn’t stop, stretching the lead to eight on Stevenson’s layup in traffic with 7 minutes to go.

“I hope that our kids learned and grew a lot tonight,” Jarvis said. “A game like this should help us.”

The first half was an entirely different story. Meeks and Patterson combined for Kentucky’s first 17 points, and no other Wildcat got on the board until DeAndre Liggins’ bucket 10 minutes in.

Largely outplayed throughout the first half, Kentucky needed a block at the buzzer to head to the locker room tied at 37.

After starting the season with consecutive losses to VMI and North Carolina, the Wildcats have won 10 of their past 11. Florida Atlantic continued its slide, losing for the eighth time in nine games.