John Wall (11) and DeMarcus Cousins were a part of John Calipari's first team at Kentucky. (NBCSports.com photo)
John Calipari’s first season at Kentucky in 2009-10 ended quicker than some expected and ushered in the one-and-done era of college basketball. Meanwhile, Murray State beat SEC school Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and finished with 31 wins. Kentucky and Murray State make it a point not to play each other on the hardwood. What would happen if these teams had played? We simulated a best-of-seven series using www.whatifsports.com, one of the top sports simulation sites on the web. Each team’s stats and trends are in their database, and here is what it gave us.
BACKGROUND: Kentucky hired John Calipari in 2009 to turn around the fortunes of a program that took a large step backwards under former coach Billy Gillespie. Calipari brought in one of the highest-ranked recruiting classes in history to get his UK tenure started off on the right foot. With freshmen John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, and DeMarcus Cousins meshing with returning players Patrick Patterson and Darius Miller, Kentucky finished the season 35-3 before losing to West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament region finals.
Billy Kennedy was in his fourth season at Murray State and was coming off three consecutive second place finishes in the Ohio Valley Conference. Led by Isaac Miles, Danero Thomas, B.J. Jenkins, and freshman guard Isaiah Canaan, the Racers won the OVC with a 30-4 record. They entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 13 seed. Danero Thomas hit a buzzer-beater to beat four-seed Vanderbilt 66-65 in the first round. The Racers took No. 5 seed Butler to the wire in the second round before falling 54-52. Murray State ended the season with a 31-5 record.
GAME ONE – Kentucky 92 Murray State 83 (Kentucky leads 1-0)
DeMarcus Cousins scored 16 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Kentucky past Murray State 92-83 in the first game of the Best-of-7.
Patrick Patterson also had a double-double for Kentucky with a team-high 20 points and 11 rebounds.
The Wildcats used their size to own a 49-31 advantage on the glass. The game was close early when Darius Miller drained a 3-pointer to give Kentucky a 15-12 lead with 13:31 left in the first half. John Wall followed with a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 18-12. Jeffery McClain’s putback of a missed shot brought the Racers to within 26-20 with 7:07 left in the half.
Freshman Darnall Dodson came off the bench to hit back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the Kentucky lead to 32-20. The Wildcats took a 47-38 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Murray State got to within 57-54 on a 3-point play by McClain with 15:07 left. The game stayed close until the 7:13 mark when an Eric Bledsoe steal and dunk pushed Kentucky’s lead to 77-70.
Danero Thomas buried a 3-pointer with 31 seconds left to pull Murray to within 88-83, but the Racers would get no closer.
Thomas finished with 15 points for the Racers, while freshman Isaiah Canaan came off the bench to score 16 points.
Kentucky (92) – Patterson 20, Bledsoe 16, Cousins 16, Wall 13, Dodson 11, Miller 6, Orton 6, Stevenson 3, Liggins 1
Murray State (83) – Canaan 16, Thomas 15, Jenkins 14, Aska 13, Easley 7, Miles 5, McClain 5, Daniel 4, Poole 2, Wilson 2
FG – UK 46.9%; MSU 41.2%
FT – UK 24-31; MSU 15-20
3PT – UK 8-16; MSU 12-27
REB – UK 49; MSU 31
GAME TWO – Murray State 73 Kentucky 71 (Series tied 1-1)
Murray State held off Kentucky 73-71 to tie the Best-of-7 at one game apiece thanks to a 15-point, 13-rebound performance from Tony Easley.
Kentucky built a 46-38 second half lead on a bucket by DeMarcus Cousins with 16:43 left. The lead extended to 51-40 on a 3-pointer by Eric Bledsoe with 15:19 left.
Ivan Aska answered with four straight points to get the Racers to within 51-44.
Midway through the second half, John Wall hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 57-46.
On Murray’s next possession, Easley got the deficit into single-digits with a dunk that sparked a 14-3 Racer run. Danerio Thomas buried a 3-pointer with 5:24 to tie the game at 60.
Aska tipped in a missed shot with 4:27 left to give Murray State their first lead of the second half and a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
B.J. Jenkins added 13 points for Murray State, and Aska scored 10. The Racers hit 19-of-25 free throws to seal the win.
John Wall led Kentucky with 15 points and seven assists. Bledsoe added 14 points. DeMarcus Cousins battled foul trouble and scored 11 points before fouling out.
Kentucky (71) – Wall 15, Bledsoe 14, Cousins 11, Patterson 10, Orton 8, Miller 3, Liggins 3, Dodson 3, Harrellson 2, Stevenson 2
Murray State (73) – Easley 15, Jenkins 13, Aska 10, Miles 8, Thomas 8, McClain 6, Poole 5, Canaan 4, Wilson 3, Daniel 1
FG – UK 45%; MSU 43.1%
FT – UK 11-15; MSU 19-25
3PT – UK 6-18; MSU 4-19
REB – UK 38; MSU 34
GAME THREE – Kentucky 83 Murray State 72 (Kentucky leads the series 2-1)
A monster game from DeMarcus Cousins sent Kentucky to an 83-72 win over Murray State and give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead in the Best-of-7.
The Kentucky freshman scored 16 points and pulled down 20 rebounds as Murray State had trouble containing the UK big man.
Cousins scored eight straight points during a 12-2 Kentucky run that ended the first half and sent the Wildcats to the locker room with a 46-38 halftime lead.
Kentucky maintained an 8-10 point lead for most of the second half as the Wildcats had an answer for Murray State throughout.
With 6:43 left, Ivan Aska made two free throws and followed with a jumper on the next possession to bring Murray State to within 68-64. B.J. Jenkins made one-of-two free throws to trim the lead to 68-65 with 5:57 left.
John Wall then keyed a 9-0 run with a 3-pointer and a steal and dunk with 3:07 left to push the UK lead to 77-68. Donte Poole buried a 3-pointer, but Eric Bledsoe answered with a 3-pointer to salt the game away.
Bledsoe added 19 points and six rebounds, and Wall had 14 points. Kentucky again owned a huge advantage on the glass (45-31).
Aska led Murray State with 14 points. Poole scored 11 points.
Kentucky (83) – Bledsoe 19, Cousins 16, Wall 14, Patterson 8, Dodson 6, Harrellson 6, Miller 5, Orton 4, Liggins 3, Harris 2
Murray State (72) – Aska 14, Poole 11, Canaan 9, McClain 8, Miles 8, Thomas 7, Jenkins 7, Easley 7, Daniel 1
FG – UK 43.1%; MSU 45.5%
FT – UK 23-31; MSU 19-29
3PT – UK 4-12; MSU 3-11
REB – UK 45; MSU 31
GAME FOUR – Kentucky 90 Murray State 75 (Kentucky leads the series 3-1)
Patrick Patterson scored 23 points and drilled a pair of 3-pointers during a key second half run in Kentucky’s 90-75 win over Murray State. The Wildcats moved out to a 3-1 advantage in the Best-of-7.
UK held a slight 45-43 halftime lead before Patterson scored the first six points of the second half. Murray stayed with the Wildcats as Isaiah Canaan grabbed a missed shot and raced down the court for a layup to cut the UK lead to 54-53 with 15:06.
DeMarcus Cousins answered with a bucket in the paint that began a 14-0 UK run that gave the Wildcats control of the game. Patterson’s 3-pointers came during the spurt. Another Patterson bucket with 7:59 left gave Kentucky their biggest lead of the game at 80-59. Patterson also had 12 rebounds as Kentucky continued their dominance on the boards in the series with a 46-36 advantage.
Cousins scored 17 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for the Wildcats, and Bledsoe also had 17 points.
Kentucky knocked down 11-of-22 shots from behind the arc.
Danero Thomas led Murray State with 13 points. Isaac Miles added 12 points, and Jenkins scored 11.
Kentucky (90) – Patterson 23, Bledsoe 17, Cousins 17, Wall 13, Miller 7, Dodson 7, Liggins 4, Orton 2
Murray State (75) – Thomas 13, Miles 12, Jenkins 11, Easley 9, Canaan 8, Aska 6, McClain 4, Daniel 4, Long 4, Poole 2, Wilson 2
FG – UK 47.1%; MSU 40.6%
FT – UK 15-26; MSU 18-23
3PT – UK 11-22; MSU 5-16
REB – UK 46; MSU 36
GAME FIVE – Kentucky 84 Murray State 61 (Kentucky wins the series 4-1)
Kentucky’s bench sparked a 17-2 first half run that gave Kentucky an 84-61 win over Murray State to clinch the Best-of-7 in five games.
Darnell Dodson and Daniel Orton each scored four points during the run that came after Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins got into early foul trouble.
Kentucky led 12-11 and ballooned their lead to 29-13 with 9:26 left.
Eric Bledsoe scored Kentucky’s final seven points of the first half to give the Wildcats a 44-27 halftime lead. Murray State got no closer than 16 points in the second half.
Patterson led Kentucky with 23 points to pace four players in double figures. Bledsoe added 19 points, and Cousins had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Dodson gave Kentucky 11 points off the bench.
Danero Thomas was the lone Racer in double figures with 13 points. Murray State shot just 32-percent from the field and got outrebounded 47-33.
Kentucky (84) – Patterson 23, Bledsoe 19, Cousins 15, Dodson 11, Wall 5, Orton 5, Liggins 2, Harrellson 2, Harris 2
Murray State (61) – Thomas 13, Miles 9, Aska 7, Easley 7, McClain 6, Canaan 6, Jenkins 5, Long 5, Daniel 2, Poole 1
FG – UK 44.3%; MSU 32.2%
FT – UK 27-33; MSU 17-23
3PT – UK 3-9; MSU 6-17
REB – UK 47; MSU 33
READ: BEST OF 7 – The Laettner Game
