Ten reactions to UK's revenge on Robert Morris

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Kentucky needed a feel-good game after losing to Michigan State and Robert Morris was the perfect medicine. The Cats cruised to an 87-49 win over last season’s little villain in front of a raucous crowd at Rupp Arena. Here are my ten takeaways:

1. The vets got their revenge

Take that, Bobby Mo! Although UK is practically an entirely different team now, the team’s veterans badly wanted to avenge their first-round NIT loss to Robert Morris in March. Mission accomplished. According to Aaron Harrison, the older players wanted to hold Robert Morris to 25 points tonight. While they didn’t quite dominate Bobby Mo that badly, Aaron said “Yeah, they were happy to beat them by a lot.”

2. Aaron Harrison is so over his trip to Chicago

Aaron Harrison did not play well against Michigan State. With only three points in 18 minutes, he put it best when he said he played like poo. Aaron put the poo in the past tonight with an excellent performance, putting up 28 points in 27 minutes, along with four rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block. He came out with something to prove, scoring nineteen points in the first half, nine of them off threes. Cal credited Aaron’s big game to hard work in practice, and his perfect 10-10 mark from the free throw line was a blessed sight for Kentucky fans. Aaron’s 28 points were great, but according to him, Calipari is “probably more happy about my body language than anything else,” telling reporters “if people take [my body language] the wrong way, I have to change it.” That’s a lesson his brother Andrew is still working on.

3. If you pout, you’re out

While his twin was on fire, Andrew Harrison still seemed a little lost. Andrew had eight points, and Cal said after the game that his talented point guard “still doesn’t have it” and that they “aren’t on the same page yet.” Whereas Cal stuck with Andrew on Tuesday when he struggled, he didn’t hesitate to take him out tonight, telling reporters that if he sees bad body language in his guys from now on, they’re headed to the bench: “When I saw the head go down, you’re out. It’s not about you, it’s about our team.” Another move that will get you sent to the bench? Jogging:

“And you could see the last couple days that’s all we worked on, and if a guy jogged, I took him out. You must be tired. It’s okay. You jogged. Well, I hit the guy and the line jumped up and I slipped on the broom. Okay, sub him.”

(I knew those brooms at the Joe Craft Center were slippery characters.)

Thankfully, Andrew didn’t pout for long, and chipped in eight rebounds, something Cal noted and praised in his postgame remarks. Who stepped up in Andrew’s place?

Who #25

— Doron Lamb (@DLamb20) November 18, 2013

4. Dominique Hawkins showed he belongs on the court

Andrew Harrison’s loss was Dominique Hawkins’ gain. Cal said he was going to play Hawkins and Lee more tonight, and he followed through, giving the two eighteen and ten minutes respectively. Hawkins may have only had four points, but he also had three assists and a monster block that showed he belongs on the court. Like Lee, he immediately infuses the team with energy, and Cal said that he’s the same way in practice: “The kid works so hard. …He’s good for our team.” In fact, Cal said he’s worried he works too hard in practice sometimes: “I have to stop him because I’m afraid he’s going to fall out.” After that big block, Hawkins joked that he’s the best shot blocker on the team now, which Marcus Lee overheard and told him he’s coming for him in practice this week.

5. Marcus Lee gave “just the tip” a new meaning

For the first time in school history, Kentucky started five freshmen. Marcus Lee got the start tonight in place of Willie Cauley-Stein, a move Cal said he made because Willie was losing too many tips. Lee only stayed in for 51 seconds (Cal says he “panicked”), but shaking up the starting lineup was just the first of many changes Cal made. The Cats had 29 substitutions in the first half, something Cal said he was felt he needed to do after thinking about the Michigan State game:

“We’re still figuring each other out. As you could tell I changed a lot of stuff for this game, and I did it in three days, and I told them, guys, there are things we did against Michigan State, we can’t play that now, so now it’s out. Forget about it, we’re not playing that.”

6. The lob is back

Another pleasant surprise tonight? The lob is back. The Cats have struggled to execute the lob all season, but finally got the timing down against Robert Morris, connecting on four glorious tag team dunks that brought the Rupp crowd to its feet. Why did the lob work tonight? Cal says it’s because his guys are moving faster in transition: “Guys are running, if you run, you’re gonna get that opportunity.”

7. Julius Randle’s double-double streak continues

Randle had his fourth straight double-double, joining Jim Andrews, Dan Issel, Cotton Nash, and Reggie Hanson as the fifth Wildcat to get at least four straight double-doubles. Randle’s final numbers were 10 points and 15 rebounds, but still, Calipari wasn’t completely satisfied, calling Randle out for going for rebounds with one hand:

“And again, he went after five other balls with one hand; he could have had 20, because when he gets two hands on the ball you’re not getting it from him, he’s too strong, but his habit is one hand.”

8. They’re working on free throws

Kentucky looked much better from the free throw line tonight, connecting on 24-34 for 70.6%. That’s probably because players that shoot less than 80% from the free throw line in a game now have to make 100 free throws each day, a duty Cal added after Tuesday night’s horrific showing at the charity stripe.

9. The best shot of the game didn’t even count

With 1.6 seconds left in the first half, Andrew Harrison threw up a circus shot from 85 feet away, and amazingly, it went in. Unfortunately, he also traveled and the basket was waved off. Best travel ever?

10. The crowd was awesome

The student section got a lot of criticism this past week, but tonight, they’re getting kudos. The students, and the crowd in general, were excellent. Not only did they show up, they were really loud, for a blowout game in November. That’s almost unheard of it in Rupp Arena. Keep it up, guys. And someone work on this for Tuesday: