March 28, 2015, Queens, Game is tied at 31. Back and forth. This is live so here are my impressions. Kentucky is not playing well. They are lucky to be tied. They will get their stuff together. Thirteen lead changes. Notre Dame is playing as well as they can play. Kentucky is underperforming. They are far from playing their best ball. Can Notre Dame sustain their level of play? Even if they can, their best play has them even, not ahead. Second half begins.
Kentucky inbounds. Towns scores from in the paint. Kentucky up by a deuce. Auguste goes down the middle for an uncontested dunk. Score tied. Three-pointer by Kentucky’s Booker. Notre Dame misses. Towns scores again from the inside. Kentucky up by five. Foul on Grant. He makes both. Good defense by Auguste on Towns who is called for traveling
. Auguste scores his twelfth point as shot clock winds down. Notre Dame by just one. Towns in the paint for two. Steve Vasturia goes inside for two. Andrew Harrison misses trey. Zach Auguste on the flush. Notre Dame up by one. Booker hits a high arching shot. Kentucky up by one. Astoria hits three for Kentucky. Booker misses. Pat Connaughton dunks. Notre Dame up 46-42. Commercial Break. LG’s new television. Outta sight. Reese’s candy. Tight intertwining. (Sports Marketing Term.) Well done.
Back to live action. Kentucky misses. Notre Dame with ball. Cauley-Stein blocks attempt by Auguste. Nasty. Timeout by Kentucky. Commercial Break. Axe. BMW commercial with Grandma backseat driving. Funny. Ice drops into glass of Coke. Thirst inspiring.
Back to live action. Notre Dame misses. Harrison trips on incidental contact. Play stopped. Kentucky down four. Towns goes up strong. Cuts the lead to two, 46-44. Towns has 16 points. Auguste goes up and under for two. He has 16 points. Kentucky misses. Auguste gets sixth rebound. Connaughton misses three. Towns commits foul. Notre Dame ball. 48-44. Commercial Break. Ford commercial. No intertwining. Verizon commercial. Not good. Another commercial for the movie Get Hard starring Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart. I hope it’s good. They spent a ton on advertising. Southwest Airlines commercial. Plays “Get Down Tonight” by K.C. and the Sunshine Band. The song is 40 years old.
Back to live action. Notre Dame with the ball. Colson misses jumpshot. Lob to Cauley-Stein. Kentucky down by two. Vasturia is fouled on the other end. He hits both free throws. Notre Dame up by four. Under ten minutes. Zach Auguste commits his third foul. Johnson misses both free throws. Trey Lyles gets rebound and scores. Misses free throw for the and-one. Notre Dame’s Jackson gets his shot blocked by Lyles. Kentucky has eight blocks. There is 9:08 left. The pressure is mounting on Kentucky. Out of bounds on Kentucky. Grant misses trey. Harrison (the one with facial hair) drives and is fouled. He misses free throw. That’s four misses in a row. He makes the second. Kentucky down by one. Demetrius Jackson makes his first bucket of the game for Notre Dame. Notre Dame up 52-49. Jackson fouls on the other end. Commercial Break. Allstate “Mayhem is Everywhere” commercial. Very funny.
I expect Kentucky to begin to pull away at the 5-minute mark. Let’s see.
Towns is back in the game and scores from inside. Vasturia up and under for a layup. Towns again. He has 20. Auguste puts in a missed shot. Kentucky down by three. Vasturia hits a big three. Calipari calls a time-out. Down by six 59-53. Commercial Break. “This is How You Sonic.”
Back to live action. Kentucky with the ball. Lewis hits a three for Kentucky. Down by three. Notre Dame’s confidence is growing. Zach Auguste drives, scores, and is fouled. Commercial Break. Budlight. Applebee’s. Buick Enclave. Sprint. Lowe’s. Allstate.
Calipari’s got to calm Kentucky down.
Back to live action. Auguste misses free throw. Andrew Harrison dunks for Kentucky. Down by three. Notre Dame’s Jackson is fouled. Johnson fouls Grant. Bailout foul. Twooooo shots. Grant hits only one. Towns is abusing Auguste. Hits basket and makes free throw. Kentucky is down by one. Foul on Kentucky. Commercial break. Powerade D. Rose commercial. Capital One Venture Card. Subaru commercial with three boys. Cute.
I still like Kentucky. But I am not brimming with confidence.
Back to live action. Connaughton hits one out of two. Aaron Harrison buries a three. Kentucky is on top. Kentucky up 64-63. Commercial break. Quicken Loans. Loose intertwining.
Back to live action. Possession arrow to Notre Dame. Grant hits a three with the shot clock expiring. “Here it is, Bam!” Commercial break. Buick with Wi-Fi.
Back to live action. Kentucky down by two. The bearded Harrison steps out of bounds. Notre Dame struggles to inbound. Calls timeout. Kentucky has been too mistake prone.
Back to live action. Notre Dame’s Grant misses three-pointer. Bad shot. Notre Dame fouls. Towns manhandles Auguste. Tie game. Under a minute. Notre Dame with the ball. Cauley-Stein blocks shot. Scramble for the ball. Referee’s confer. Tense moment. 34.1 seconds left. We might get overtime. So much riding on this call. Notre Dame gets the ball. One second on shot clock. Game clock reset to 34.7. Notre Dame inbounds. Ball deflected. Kentucky ball. The broadcast is not going to commercial breaks. Great television. Kentucky with the ball. Clock winding down. Andrew Harrison drives and is fouled with six seconds left. Twooooo shots. Makes first. Cool. Makes second. Even Cooler. Grant with ball. Drives the baseline. Throws up a prayer. Misses. Kentucky wins. 38-0. Final score 68-66. As Kyle Greene would say, “The Cats are going to the Nat.”
Professor Clifford Benton can be reached at cliffb@puresportsny.com