Terrence Clarke (SEC Photo)
Count me as one who didn’t think Terrence Clarke would play in the SEC Tournament. The UK freshman had not played in a game since Dec. 26 and even though coach John Calipari said Wednesday he had been medically cleared to play, it just figured he would not be in playing shape for a must-win game for Kentucky.
I was wrong. Clarke came off the bench in the first half and ended up playing 10 minutes. He scored two points on 1-for-4 shooting. He also had three assists, including the pass that led to Dontaie Allen’s only first-half field goal before he erupted for 20 points in the second half.
Clarke did not have a rebound and made one turnover. He also had a deflection that led to a UK steal.
Overall, not a bad performance and I actually thought his play in the first half gave UK a little spark.
“What I tell you about Terrence, he was fine until he got a little winded, then there was a play, the ball bounced near him, he had no chance of getting it because he couldn’t even move to go get it,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said.
“That’s when I took him back out. It’s not fair to put him in and then have him make a play that we lose. It was all coming back to effort and intensity at the end anyway.”
The whole time he couldn’t play Clarke was always cheering for teammates on the bench during games and often coaches said he was the first one to get to practice. His ankle injury just never gave him a chance in SEC play to show he could improve off his first seven games and be the special player many thought he would be.
“I thought he did fine. It’s a heck of a thing that he wanted to try to play to help our team,” Calipari said. “He knew if we had four games in four days (to win the tournament), he was going to be needed.”
