Kentucky beats Mississippi at Rupp

DeMarcus Cousins dominated once again in the paint, leading the Wildcats to their sixth SEC victory and 21st overall, 85-75 over Ole Miss. DeMarcus had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and seemed to only be hampered by his own fatigue. John Wall added 17 points and 7 assists, showing everyone that he has shaken off the over-blown controversy that has been swirling around the team since Wall's comments about Cal.

Darnell Dodson had a great game, nailing four three pointers and finishing with 14 points. Meanwhile, Deandre Liggins remains to be a spark plug off the bench, scoring the ball for 5 points and grabbing 5 rebounds.

The only disheartening thing about the game was that Kentucky once again failed to deliver a knock out punch to a team that was clearly on the ropes. In the first half, Kentucky was up by 18 points before the Rebels came storming back to cut the lead to 3. Again, in the second half, Kentucky expanded the margin to 18, only to have Ole Miss go on another big run to get back in the game.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, I can't talk about this game without saying that this team has to learn to play for a full forty minutes. When the other team is reeling, the boys in blue have to deliver the definitive knock out punch. If not, one of these games is going to slip away. Tonight, it was noticeable that Kentucky would sorta' slack off and let their guard down when the lead grew to 10 or 15, only to turn it back up when Ole Miss started to fight back.

Jimmy Dykes made a good point, and it wasn't about playing with house money or making violent cuts either. It was about Kentucky's place among the best teams in the NCAA this year. Kentucky is most likely the fourth number one seed right now, just behind Syracuse, Villanova and Kansas, but Kentucky might be the team with the most potential. Even though, the Cats are 21-1, they've yet to play to their maximum ability, and you know that the younger kids are just going to continue to get better and better as we get closer to tourney time, which is only a little over a month away. That's a scary thought for the opposition, but a point that's hard to argue against. With the exception of maybe the Arkansas game, can you name another game where Kentucky played anything close to a full forty? Me either.

Next up on the list is LSU. We'll be talking about that game more in the days ahead. As always stay tuned for more UK News and Views right here at The Big Blue Nation Report.