45 at Arkansas. Bud Walton Arena record. I'm gonna go on and say what we all want to say but then we think back to Mashburn, "Sky" Walker, Macy, Delk, etc. Jodie Meeks is the greatest UK player of my lifetime. He's not just a shooter who gets hot sometimes. He's not just a scorer. He's probably the best defender on the team as well. He works harder without the ball than any player I can EVER remember. He just gets it done in every facet of the game. Another great thing about Meeks is that you'll never hear him brag about anything. He just wants to win, and he's very humble. He doesn't hoot and holler after every dunk or three pointer. He's not covered in tats, and we all know people with tats suck. He scored 54 points at UT and broke the all-time UK record for points in a game. His first comment to the reporter was about how happy he was to get a win at Thompson-Boling Arena. He had never done that. Nevermind that nobody had ever scored 54 in a Kentucky uniform.
Saturday was the third game this season that Meeks topped the 40 point mark. He is only the second Cat to do that in a single season. (edit) He's only the second Cat to do that EVER, forget the single season stuff. Only Issel has ever accomplished that in a career. I believe the things he is doing this season are being taken for granted. I was talking to Brian Bullock shortly after the game yesterday and we were talking about Ramon Harris having a good game, Galloway not playing much, Porter hitting some shots, and other stuff. What we weren't talking about was Jodie Meeks dropping 45 points. I finally stepped up and mentioned it and Bullock said the 45 just wasn't as big of a surprise as the other things we were talking about. That's amazing. I can remember back to, well, every season I've ever watched actually, and it was a big deal if a guy scored over 30. It's a big deal if Meeks don't score at least 25. It's also amazing that he does this without another real perimeter threat. Jodie Meeks IS the Kentucky perimeter offense, and teams know this. Yet he still manages to get off plenty of open shots each game. I was under the perception that Meeks had been somewhat shut down the past few weeks. I guess that's because of the losses and stuff. In reality, what he has done is put up at least 20 points in 12 of the last 13 games. That's not shut down. That's me being a spoiled fan. Please appreciate what we are witnessing this season with Meeks. There is a chance we will never see anything like it again.