Strange: Meeks held, but Kentucky let loose

LEXINGTON, Ky. - It wasn't about Jodie Meeks this time. In hindsight, maybe it wasn't the first time, either.

When Jodie Meeks played like Superman last month, Kentucky beat Tennessee by 18 comfortable points.

Jodie Meeks played like Everyman on Saturday. The Vols didn't close the gap one bit. Kentucky won by 19 comfortable points.

Irrefutable conclusion: Whether Meeks scores 54 or 14, Tennessee couldn't get within arm's reach of the Wildcats.

The two historic rivals may be neck-and-neck in the SEC Eastern Division race, but you couldn't prove it head-to-head.

Two years ago, after a 76-57 loss to Kentucky in Rupp Arena, I wrote that Tennessee would win in Rupp before it lost here again by 19 points. That was my testimony for Bruce Pearl.

Kentucky's 77-58 win here Saturday made a liar out of me.

It made Pearl feel like crawling in a hole, judging from his postgame comments.

He talked about this team's lack of purpose and passion. But the Vols did get one thing right Saturday: They may have gotten embarrassed but they didn't let Meeks embarrass them.

It was five weeks ago in Knoxville that Kentucky's junior guard lit up the Vols for 54 points, a Kentucky record and a Thompson-Boling Arena record.

He made 15 of 22 shots, 10 of 15 3-point tries, 14 of 14 free throws. The Vols looked like the Washington Generals, playing patsy for a Harlem Globetrotter.

Tennessee was determined that wouldn't happen again Saturday.

"They had a smart game plan in store for us,'' said Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie.

The Vols dogged Meeks everywhere, primarily rotating Josh Tabb and Bobby Maze.

Meeks made 4 of 14 shots, zero of his seven 3-point tries and needed a perfect 6-of-6 at the free-throw line to account for 14 points.

Mission accomplished. So what went wrong?

"Defensively,'' said Pearl, "you have to make the other guys beat you. We did and they did.''

The other guys were Darius Miller and Michael Porter.

Patrick Patterson did his part, dominating in the paint with 19 points. But that was almost to be expected.

Miller and Porter weren't.

Miller picked an appropriate moment for his coming-out party. With Mason County High School's most famous alumnus, Chris Lofton, in the house, the freshman from Mason County notched a career-high 17 points.

Miller was perfect: 6-of-6 overall, 3-of-3 from 3-point range, 2-of-2 at the foul line.

Porter, a sophomore point guard, pitched in nine points. He made three big 3-point shots, two in the second half to help stem any notion of a Tennessee rally.

"That's what they have to do,'' said Gillispie. "Jodie's really getting knocked around a lot."

Miller had been averaging 4.3 points, Porter 3.8. So if they give you 26, it makes up for holding Meeks 12 points under his average - not to mention 40 under his game in Knoxville.

"That's the Darius Miller we recruited,'' said Gillispie. "I really thought he'd be our third-leading scorer over the course of the season.''

Miller just took what was there.

"Half the time my man and Mike's man was looking at Jodie, too,'' said Miller. "So we had a lot of open shots and a lot of open driving lanes.''

But, as Pearl pointed out, spotting Kentucky a 13-0 lead, made the basket look bigger for the so-called other guys.

"It's one thing,'' said Pearl, "to take and make those shots in a close game. It's another when they've got it all going their way.

"And they got it going their way right from the very beginning.''

Meeks, meanwhile, cut and slashed, weaved and bobbed for 37 minutes. He never stopped moving. It's probably no coincidence that on the offensive end, Maze was 1-of-7 shooting and had zero assists. Or that Tabb had neither a field goal nor an assist.

"Jodie,'' said Gillispie, "had another tremendous game today, even though the numbers won't look like it.

"He helps everybody. We haven't made teams pay for it really enough over the course of the season.''

They made the Vols pay dearly for it on this day.

Maybe it really was about Meeks.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strangem@knoxnews.com.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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