Kentucky Media Update and Numbers Recap

UPDATED
Great posts already from Hilltopper and MUWarrior92, and if you haven't checked it out, we highly encourage you to look at "On Golden Pond" and "Time to Exhale". There are a ton of outstanding video clips and stories.

• This Chicago Tribune article recaps the game.
• ESPN.com has the AP recap, and they also have Instant Analysis. There's also an article by Gene Wojciechowski that focuses on the Cats, but has some complementary info about Marquette's Defense.
• Rosiak's feature article talks about balance and relief, where the jsonline blog has a ton of entries (lots of good stuff).
• Here is a transcript of the postgame press conference, if you just can't get enough.
• CBSSports.com has a good article about Marquette's experience under pressure.
• From the Kentucky side, Matt Jones' KentuckySportsRadio.com has lots of coverage from their perspective.
• Yahoo Sports says we're no longer first round flops. Amen
  

In addition, Cracked Sidewalks wanted to commend the Kentucky fans for being good sports, even in defeat. The back and forth interaction, including cross-posting, and discussion on both sides was of a quality level. Our respect for Kentucky basketball has been increased this week.

Numbers Recap
Don't know what all of these numbers mean? Take a look at our explanation for Team Stats and Individual Stats first.

Despite the Kentucky Preview focusing on their defensive abilities, this was an offensive game that Marquette managed to win. We came out ahead in three of the four factors, especially on Offensive Rebounding Percentage (OR%). This was a key area for Marquette in the non-conference portion of our schedule, especially against UW@Madison, and the team has been on a roll at Offensive Rebounding in the last four games. Stanford will provide a real test (more on that later).

Individual Player Review



No surprise that the top four performers in this game were the top four players on our team. It was yet another good game by McNeal. James was just behind McNeal, and thanks to shooting 8/10 from the free throw line, ended up positive net points.

We're going to have more information here at Cracked Sidewalks as we begin looking towards Stanford, so keep checking back regularly.