MBB: Kentucky routs Gamecocks 89-62

Photo Gallery by Paul Collins and Chris Gillespie

Kentucky beat South Carolina 89-62 to take over sole possession of first place in the SEC. Michael Carrera had a double-double with 25 points and ten rebounds.

For the second time this week, South Carolina hosted a game with first place in the SEC at stake. The first game, Wednesday night against LSU, was a thriller that wasn't decided until the final minutes. The scene was set for another exciting matchup Saturday. The game was a sellout. Two-and-a-half hours before the game, students were already lined up around the building. Every shot during warmups was cheered or jeered. Darius Rucker sang the national Anthem.

And then the game started. It was exciting for 2:24.

That was when, after South Carolina was called for a loose ball foul, Kentucky coach John Calipari went nuts. He screamed at the officials, drawing a technical. Then he charged the scorers' table while the officials registered the technical, an automatic second technical foul. After he was ejected he chased after the officials as they walked to midcourt. Players restrained Calipari before he made contact and he left the floor without incident.

Things appeared to be going the Gamecocks' way. Carrera, a 77 percent free throw shooter, went to the line for four shots. He bricked three of the four. Instead of the Gamecocks having the momentum from the ejection and four easy points, the Wildcats seemed motivated by having dodged a bullet. Carrera knew he had killed the Gamecocks momentum.

"I think so," he said after the game. "I should have made those free throws. I was really frustrated about it. That's how the game goes."

From there, the story of the game was simple. Kentucky made shots. South Carolina didn't. South Carolina largely succeeded in accomplishing its two main objectives. It attacked the rim on offense, drawing fouls on Kentucky and getting to the free throw line, and defense, blocking eight shots and keeping the rebounding battle roughly even for most of the game. But even when they did something right, the Gamecocks got in their own way.

"Kentucky came in here and proved a point and put a couple black eyes on us," Frank Martin said.

Free throws kept South Carolina close early, but also kept Kentucky in the lead. South Carolina missed five of its first six free throws and was only 7-15 in the first half. It finished the game 22-31 from the line (71 percent) and made more free throws than Kentucky attempted. On several occasions, multiple South Carolina players battled for the same rebound before losing the ball to the Wildcats. Or a nice pass to an open player wasn't caught. Or when South Carolina forced a turnover, and Jamall Gregory tried to slap the ball away from the Kentucky player, drawing a technical foul.

Meanwhile, Kentucky kept chugging along. Tyler Ulis controlled every facet of the game, scoring a career-high 27 to go with a career-high 12 assists. He got into the lane at will, opening up space for an array of pull-up jumpers and three-pointers. His favorite target passing the ball was Jamal Murray, who scored 26 off mostly wide open threes. Ulis also made the play of the game with a steal and then a pass off the backboard to Marcus Lee for a fast break dunk over Carrera. That play put Kentucky up 20 early in the second half and seemed to break South Carolina's spirit in the process.

"For the most part they gave me the green light to call my plays," Ulis said.

"The story is Coach Cal coached the team through Tyler Ulis," said Kenny payne, who acted as head coach after Calipari was ejected. "I never touched on offense. Tyler Ulis ran the offense. It was his show."

"He guides the other four guys on the floor and makes their jobs easy," Payne said.

Kentucky led by as much as 34 in the second half before South Carolina made the score respectable late. Carrera finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and made 11-15 free throws, bouncing back from the early trip. But he had little help. South Carolina shot only 33 percent for the game and allowed Kentucky to shoot 48 percent. South Carolina actually outrebounded Kentucky, although it did not feel that way.

"They beat us to every ball," Martin said. "Any time the ball was there for someone to get, they got it. They kicked our tails. That was a good old-fashioned butt-whooping there."

Notes:

Little-used guard John Ragin did not dress for the game due to illness. He has only played in four games this season and just once in SEC play. He was also unavailable against LSU. ... Calipari did not speak to the media after the game. ... Duane Notice and Chris Silva both scored 10 points for South Carolina. Silva also grabbed eight rebounds. ... Marcus Lee had 11 points and 13 rebounds for Kentucky. Isaiah Briscoe added 10 points. ... Attendance was 18,000. ... South Carolina returns to action Tuesday night at Missouri.