Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Maui Invitational Day Two Recap Day Three Preview

The Washington Huskies played a very emotional game tonight and came away with a 74-67 defeat to the hands of the Kentucky Wildcats.

Huskies fans who were waiting for this game for a long time were looking for some justice with Kentucky fans for what happened over the off-season with the Terence Jones mess. The Huskies fans never got any. All they got was a bunch of horrible calls from to the refs.

The game started great for the Huskies. They forced turnovers on the first to defensive possessions and scored twice on first two offensive possessions and made John Calipari call a early timeout. Kentucky made the adjustments that were needed to make and before you could blink Washington was down 20-6. Then it was Washington's turn to re-group they calmed down and surprisingly had a 35-34 lead at halftime. In the second half both teams traded leads as the intense back in fourth game was getting more intriguing by the second. Kentucky slowly pulled away and Washington wasn't able to re group as they were in foul trouble all game and their bench players were not able to bring the team back.

Matthew Bryan Amaning and Isaiah Thomas both had pretty disappointing efforts in today's big game. You combine that with Terence Jones and Brandon Knight both having solid games for Kentucky and that equals a  devastating loss. The refs were a bit inconsistent at times but they were the same refs for both teams.

In the other Semi Final it was Uconn upsetting #2 Michigan State.  Uconn stayed with Michigan State until Kemba Walker took over the game with his team leading 30 points including the game wining shot with under a minuet to go.

Michigan State is the Huskies next opponent. The Spartans are one of the best coached teams in College Basketball by Coach Tom Izzo. Furthermore, the team returns four starters from last years final four team that lost to tournament runner-up Butler.

The Spartans best player is Kailan Lucas. He averages 17 points per game and has been a key contributor for Head Coach Tom Izzo. If the Huskies want to come home with a third place finish they have to do a better job rebounding as too many times Kentucky was able to get the Offensive rebound tonight.

My prediction is that Tom Izzo will get his kids up for the game and Lorenzo Romar's team will not be mentally prepared to play and the Spartans will slip past the Huskies 81-74. Look for Durrell Summers to have a big game for the Spartans as he has been quiet this Tournament with only 19 points total over the two games. The game will be an appox. 2pm tip off on ESPN2.


Tomorrow's Final:

Kentucky and Uconn has all the ingredients for this game to be a all time classic. Both teams are playing great basketball right now and Tomorrow's final should be no exception. Look for Uconn to make a upset bid but Kentucky will find away to win.

Final Score: 69-64

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