Foul troubles Johnson
“I want to look at the tape, but I struggle with that kind of play. That ain’t good. It’s one thing to foul a kid hard in the confines of the game going to the basket or whatever, but bottom line is you can’t get frustrated just because he’s handing you your tail and you can’t guard him. That’s not what we’re about.” Trent Johnson, LSU coach, on Malcolm White’s late foul on Kentucky’s Anthony Davis
LSU coach Trent Johnson said he wasn’t sure what to think when he saw Malcolm White grab Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis from behind with 15:24 to play Saturday and yank him to the ground.
Davis appeared on the way to a transition bucket before White grabbed him by the shoulders.
Officials whistled White for a flagrant foul and, after viewing video of the play, ejected LSU’s senior forward from the game. Kentucky led 48-30 at the time of the infraction.
“I want to look at the tape, but I struggle with that kind of play,” Johnson said. “That ain’t good. It’s one thing to foul a kid hard in the confines of the game going to the basket or whatever, but bottom line is you can’t get frustrated just because he’s handing you your tail and you can’t guard him. That’s not what we’re about.”
White played seven minutes in the 74-50 loss, finishing with no points and one rebound.
Packing the PMAC
Kentucky has a way of drawing a crowd.
When the Wildcats visited the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in 2010, a paid crowd of 13,083 turned out to watch. The paid crowd of 11,631 for Saturday’s game was the largest for an LSU home game since then.
The actual crowd Saturday was 10,060, including 2,280 students. Fans received gold rally towels courtesy of LSU Athletics as they took their seats.
Martin back to football
Ronald Martin is no longer a member of the LSU basketball team after deciding to turn his focus entirely to football.
A former two-sport standout at White Castle, Martin joined the basketball team days after the football team lost to Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game.
Martin dressed for four LSU games, but saw his only action in the final minute of a loss at Florida on Jan. 21.
“We’d love to have him out there,” Johnson said. “It was just too much for him.”
Remember me?
LSU point guard Anthony Hickey played against his boyhood favorite team a year after leading Christian County High to a state championship at Rupp Arena and earning Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball award. Hickey had five assists and no turnovers, but scored only five points.
Kentucky coach John Calipari assigned 6-foot-7 forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to guard Hickey most of the game after using 6-2 guard Marquis Teague to defend him early on. “It’s a learning point,” Hickey said. “Hopefully we’ll see them again.”
Several of Hickey’s friends and family members came from Hopkinsville, Ky., to watch the freshman play against the team he cheered for as a kid.
Y’all come back now
Johnson said he expects Kentucky to return to Louisiana twice before its season ends.
The Wildcats will certainly be in New Orleans for the Southeastern Conference tournament March 8-11. The other possibility is for the Final Four in the Crescent City from March 30-April 1.
“That is a pretty good basketball team,” Johnson said. “They will be back in New Orleans probably twice.”
Notes
Going back to Calipari’s first season at Kentucky, the Wildcats have outscored LSU 237-149 in three games. ... LSU center Justin Hamilton, who went for 27 points against Florida a week earlier, had only seven Saturday in 19 minutes of action. Hamilton, who picked up two fouls in the game’s opening six minutes, fouled out with 3:57 to play. ... Kentucky improved to 65-1 under Calipari when holding an opponent to 67 points or fewer. ... Members of both coaching staffs Saturday took part in Suits and Sneakers weekend, a national initiative in which coaches where sneakers with their suits in an effort to raise cancer awareness.