TBT is back! The greatest rivalry in college sports meets once again but this time under new lights.
Today starts a best of three series between these two teams. Game one at Memorial Coliseum, game two at Freedom Hall (Monday, 7/20), and game three will be back at Memorial Coliseum if needed (Wednesday, 7/22).
Today’s game marks the beginning of year three for LaFamilia as they look to turn the tables this year and win it all this time in what seems to be Kentucky legend, Willie Cauley-Stein’s, final run. Third times the charm, right?
Some may remember two years ago when LaFamilia took down The Ville in Freedom Hall in front of a hostile record-setting TBT crowd. The former ‘Cats won 70-61 with an Andrew Harrison’s Elam Ending game-winner and will look to continue their success against The Ville this year in this highly anticipated rematch.
Starting line ups are as follows…
LaFamilia: Andrew Harrison, Darryl Morsell, Chris Coffey, James Mainor-Bell & Willie Cauley-Stein
The Ville: Trey Lewis, Chris Jones, David Johnson, Jay Withers & Montrez Harrell
Andrew Harrison had a hot start for LaFamilia, he assisted or scored on their first seven points. The first quarter was a hard-fought back-and-forth defensive battle that ended in The Ville going on a run due to some sloppy play by LaFamilia in the last two minutes, giving The Ville a 21-17 edge at the end of the first quarter.
Kentucky fans were introduced to Darryl Morsell & Sean McNeil to begin the second quarter. They put the team on their backs as they took LaFamilia on a 9-0 run to give them the lead back. Morsell contributed four points while McNeil contributed five points. It seems like Big Blue Nation gets bigger and bigger every year with these new additions.
LaFamilia held the Ville scoreless in the quarter until the 3:56 mark, giving them a commanding 41-33 lead going into the half, led by Andrew Harrison (12 points) & Sean McNeil (8 points) who combined for 4-6 from three-point range.
Halftime Stats
The Former Kentucky Wildcats managed a total of 20 points while the non-Kentucky alumni players went for a combined 21 points.
The second half started off very slow for both sides, with eleven total points scored halfway through. Things got chippy, resulting in a tech from The Ville bench, which still failed to put a pep in anyone’s step. Scoring continued to be scarce unless they were at the charity strike. 22 total free throws were attempted in the second quarter alone. Everyone was in their seats, that was until DeAndre Liggins made the play of the game with an absolutely beautiful behind-the-back dime to Khalil Whitney for a three.
Historic Memorial Coliseum went nuts, of course.
A fairly even third quarter had LaFamilia going into the fourth quarter with a ten-point lead, and with victory on their mind.
The Ville was not ready to give up just yet; they started the fourth quarter on a 9-3 run to make things interesting as we entered into the Elam Ending. LaFamilia led 63-59, making the target score 71!
The Ville tied things up at 63 and you could feel the tension inside HMC.
Darryl Morsell answered the following possession and LaFamilia looked like they were going to pull it off, but the Ville kept fighting, eventually bringing it to 70-68, with the next shot winning it all…
Darryl Morsell CALLED GAME!
With the final basket, LaFamilia took game one with a score of 72-68 on a game-winning layup by new honorary ‘Cat, Darryl Morsell, who finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Final Stats
Post game interviews can be found on the Cats Coverage YouTube channel as well on our social media platforms.
Up next, LaFamilia vs. The Ville comes on Monday at 7:00 PM EST in Louisville, KY.
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