Some weeks ago, John Mulvaney and I circled the Kentucky-Tennessee game on the schedule and decided that could be a very interesting game to go to. Turns out the 3^rd ranked Volunteers came to Rupp Arena as the early clubhouse leader in the Southeastern Conference. A national TV audience watching on ESPN only heightened the stakes. We were live inside the arena for the 6 O’clock news. We were able to hook up with Patrick Patterson and his high school teammate, Tennessee ’s Tanner Wild, for a story about both players. We also talked to both players’ parents, and the pride in their faces reminded me why covering sports is such a pleasure most of the time.

From the early going, the Vols must have known they would be in for a battle. Kentucky did a tremendous job of getting the ball inside to Patrick Patterson, and the two guards who’ve had the toughest transition to Billy Ball seemed to finally be getting the message. Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley played the inside out game to near perfection. Quite frankly, Huntington ’s Patrick Patterson was the dominant player on the court. The freshman has quickly established himself as one of the better post players in the league.

It has been an uneven voyage for Billy Gillispie in his first year at Kentucky . Teams like Gardner Webb and San Diego just don’t come into Rupp Arena and beat the Wildcats. There’s been plenty of finger pointing and more than one rabid fan wondering if Coach Gillispie was the right choice for the job. All I know is this—the looks on the faces of the players after the game spoke volumes. The talk in the media room afterwards, was that this was definitely Kentucky ’s best showing of the season. I visited with former UK All-American Kyle Macy after the game and you could see that a true blue fan could show some pride again.

How will the season play out from here? Negotiaiting a touch SEC schedule is never easy. One thing’s for certain. Coaches can draw up all the plays in the world, and run practice drills until the players can’t go anymore, but none of that really sinks in until you beat someone you’re not supposed to. That’s what happened at Rupp and undoubtedly that win can propel the ‘Cats into a much more confident second half of the season.