These kids from Kentucky are growing up fast. The second-ranked Wildcats showed they learned their lessons from their only loss of the season and got a preview of the intensity of postseason basketball, beating Mississippi State 81-75 in overtime on Tuesday night in one of college basketball's most hostile arenas.
It was an historic night of scoring and rebounding for John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins , but most of the discussion after the game was about what Kentucky's two freshman phenoms did wrong in yet another easy victory for the Wildcats .
Kentucky and North Carolina, two of college basketball's most illustrious programs, became a study in contrasts within the new ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll released Monday.
Now that the Rick Pitino-John Calipari soap opera is over for another year and the sideshow can be tucked back in the circus tent, let's get down to more tangible topics.