Adams: UT had no answer for Meeks, just trash talk

Kentucky guard Jodie Meeks spotted point guard Michael Porter across the floor and pointed toward the top of the key. Then, in a blue flash, he was gone.

When Porter’s pass met Meeks at the top of the key, Tennessee’s defense was nowhere to be seen. Meeks caught the ball, jumped and swished through another 3-pointer.

It was that way all night long Tuesday at Thompson-Boling Arena. It was Meeks and more Meeks.

Never mind the six defenders who took turns trying to guard him. Meeks reduced them all to irrelevancy in scoring a school-record and arena-record 54 points in Kentucky’s rousing 90-72 victory over the Vols.

Meeks broke Dan Issel’s school-record of 53 points. He also broke the arena record of 49, set by LSU’s Chris Jackson.

Meeks didn’t know about the arena record. But he knew about the school record.

“It means a lot to me to be mentioned in the same sentence with a legend like Dan Issel,” Meeks said. “It’s kind of mind-boggling to me.”

Mind-boggling to him? Imagine how the guys guarding him felt.

Meeks made 10 of 15 3-point tries and 15 of 22 shots overall. He also was 14-for-14 from the line.

And he did most of that within the context of the Kentucky offense, rarely forcing shots against UT’s man-to-man defense. Bobby Maze, Tyler Smith, Josh Tabb, Cameron Tatum, Scotty Hopson and J.P. Prince all took turns guarding to him – to no avail.

Even on those rare occasions when UT managed to cover Meeks, it didn’t prevent Kentucky from scoring.

On one inbounds pass, Patrick Patterson faked a handoff to Meeks, then scored on an uncontested layup.

“Coach (Billy Gillispie) designed that play,” Patterson said. “He said, ‘Maybe I should fake the handoff.’ ”

Two defenders went with Meeks. No one went with Patterson.

Fakes seldom were needed. Getting the ball was simpler and more productive.

In fact, Meeks was so productive, his teammates confessed to turning into spectators on occasion.

“I caught myself watching him a few times,” Darius Miller said. “But it didn’t matter because the ball kept going in.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. It was like every time he shot it, it was going in.”

Meeks’ shots went in with little assistance. He didn’t use the glass – or even need the rim. Instead, it was almost constant net.

Meeks, who leads the SEC in scoring with a 24.2-point average and free-throw percentage (.902), had a previous high of 46 points against Appalachian State. He also scored 39 against VMI and 37 against Kansas State.

“I knew he would knock down jumpers,” Patterson said. “But I didn’t know he would knock down that many.”

No matter how many shots Meeks hit, he didn’t shut up the UT defense, according to Patterson.

“Even in the last minute of the game, they were still talking trash,” Patterson said. “When somebody scores 50 in your gym, I wouldn’t have been talking.

“My mouth would have been shut.”

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.