Kentucky's D leads them to a win

There were three things Cornell had to do to win this game.

The first was controlling the tempo. The Big Red simply didn't have the horses to run with Big Blue. And despite the Wildcats getting a couple run outs towards the end of the first half, Cornell did a fairly good job of keeping the pace of the game at a level they could compete. A 62 possession game is far from a track meet.

The second was defending Kentucky and finishing possessions. In other words, Cornell had to keep guys like John Wall and Eric Bledsoe from penetrating, try and slow down DeMarcus Cousins, hope that Kentucky missed from the perimeter, and then go and get the rebound. And, well, they did that. Wall and Bledsoe combined for just 20 points on 6-16 shooting, Cousins was allowed just eight shots, and Cornell grabbed 20 defensive rebounds to Kentucky's 10 offensive boards. As a team, Kentucky finished just 2-16 from three.

Kentucky beat Cornell thanks to an incredible defensive performance.
(photo credit: FOXSports)

If you worship at the altar of Kenpom like we do, then you'll appreciate that tonight was easily Cornell's best defensive performance of the tournament, the only time their defensive efficiency was below 100.

The third, and theoretically the easiest, thing that Cornell had to do was to make shots. I mean, we are talking about the best three point shooting team in the country, a team that systemically sliced two vaunted defenses in their first two games.

Tonight, the Big Red simply could not get comfortable offensively. In fact, just four days after their best offensive performance of the season, Cornell had their worst. By far.

The sweet-shooting Big Red shot just 33% from the field and 5-21 from three. They turned the ball over 15 times. They scored only 45 points. And if you believe in tempo-free numbers, Cornell's offensive efficiency was just 71.7, exactly half of what it was in their win over Wisconsin. Kentucky's defensive performance is all the more impressive when you consider that Cornell was up 10-2 five minutes into the game. Over the next 35 minutes, the Big Red mustered a mighty 35 points.

Kentucky's athleticism was the difference.

Jeff Foote was ineffective against the Wildcat bigs. Louis Dale was hounded by the likes of DeAndre Liggins, Eric Bledsoe, and even John Wall. Every time Ryan Wittman looked to shoot, he had a hand or three in his face.

John Calipari deserves to be praised for the defensive effort he got out of his players tonight.

It was that defensive effort that sent Big Blue nation into the Elite 8.