Brandon Knight's Heroics Allow UK To Win A Close One

Brandon Knight puts it up with 2 seconds
left.  Knight would make it, allowing UK to
beat Princeton, 59-57, Thursday.

By:  Cooper Ledford


The SEC Champion, the Kentucky Wildcats, were taking on the Ivy League Champion, the Princeton Tigers.  This was the "2nd" round of the Tournament, the game was being played in Tampa, Florida.  UK was favored in this game, I had them winning it by about 8, but it was much closer.  The Tigers played their hearts out and looked like a great team, but it was Kentucky who won it, 59-57.


There were numerous lead changes in this one, it was going back-and-forth, Princeton would have the lead, then Kentucky would answer back.  At times it looked like Princeton was going to win and were up by 5 or so, but before you knew it, Kentucky had a 5 point lead of their own.  


This was a very exciting game to watch, but the most exciting moment was when Kentucky had the ball with 36 seconds to go, the game was tied at 57 and they could basically hold it for the last shot.  The ball was in Brandon Knight's hands, he drove to the glass, and tossed it in with 2.0 seconds to go, and that gave UK the lead, 59-57.  The Tigers missed the buzzer-beater giving the Wildcats the win.


Princeton cannot hang their heads though, as they played their hearts out, and played a great game with one of the best teams in the country.  As for Kentucky, they can exhale, and get ready to take on West Virginia on Saturday.  


Darius Miller was UK's leading scorer, as he had 17 points, behind him was the man who I said would be the key factor in this game, Josh Harrellson.  Josh had 15 points and 10 rebounds, a nice double-double performance for him.  Terrence Jones added 10 points.  Oh, and by-the-way, Brandon Knight only had 2 points, but those two points were very important.  


For Princeton, Dan Mavraides 14 points, Douglas Davis had 13 bench points, Maddox had 12 points, and Hummer had a near double-double with 11 points and 8 boards.


With this win, the 'Cats advance to the "3rd" round, and will take on West Virginia.  That game is Saturday the 19th, the time for that is TBA, as is the network, but I have a feeling it will be on CBS.  Expect the Wildcats to be playing angry, as they want revenge after what happened last season, even though not many players currently on the team were part of that game.


Here is the game winning shot, courtesy of SI.com