Meeks shoots into Kentucky's record books
Posted: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 8:54 PM
Filed Under:
SEC, Scoring outbursts
Jodie Meeks shot his way into Kentucky’s record books and gave the SEC a much-needed boost Tuesday night. Scoring 54 points will do that.
We knew Meeks could score. The 6-4 junior opened the season with a 39-point effort in a loss to VMI, dumped 46 on Appalachian State in December and entered Tuesday night’s game against No. 24 Tennessee as the nation’s fifth-leading scorer (24.2).
But this was a thing of beauty.
And even though Meeks embarrassed the skidding Vols (the SEC preseason faves dropped to 10-5), the SEC must have been happy to see Meeks light it up. The conference’s hoops résumé has seen better days (see here, here and here). Makes sense that Kentucky would be the one boost the league.
Meeks’s monster night broke Dan Issel’s 39-year-old record and was remarkable to watch. Unlike Ben Woodside’s 60-point outing earlier this year, Meeks did most of his damage from the field.
He didn’t press things, but just let his points come in the flow of Kentucky’s offense. He hit threes, he drove the lane, he hit pull-up jumpers, he did it all. He took 22 shots -- a normal night for Meeks -- and scored 54 points.
Some players would be lucky to score 30 points on 22 attempts.
Meeks made 10-of-15 3-point attempts, made all 14 free throws and even dished four assists (to 1 turnover). He missed just seven shots total. For tempo-free nuts, that’s a 1.885 PPWS and an eFG% of 90.9. When it comes to offense, you won’t see a more efficient, remarkable night. Simple as that.
(Check A Sea of Blue on Wednesday for more on Meeks and his performance. Truzenzuzex is probably breaking it all down right now.)
