Day After Record, UK's Meeks Still Humble

The junior from Norcross, Ga., has had quite a few big games this season. There was his previous career high of 46 points against Appalachian State, 39 against Virginia Military Institute, 37 against Kansas State and 32 against Tennessee State.

Kentucky's Jodie Meeks (23) shoots over Tennessee's Wayne Chism (4) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009 in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

(AP)

But what he did Tuesday tops them all — by far.

"He had 46 against Appalachian State and they're a nice team, but not nearly like a Tennessee on their home court," Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie said.

Kentucky (13-4, 2-0 SEC) was picked to finish third in the East Division behind Tennessee and Florida.

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said he worked with his players for several days trying to come up with a game plan to keep the ball out of Meeks' hand.

To say it didn't work is an understatement. Meeks went 10-for-15 from 3-point range (he also set a school record for 3s in a game), made all 14 of his free throws, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists. He scored 26 points by halftime.

Kentucky stumbled into foul trouble with 9:34 left, and Tennessee (10-5, 1-1) sank 11 straight from the free throw line to cut the Wildcats' lead to 71-64 with 6:52 left. But Meeks scored nine straight points to put the game away.

"We tried to deny Jodie Meeks the basketball but to show how pitiful we were, Meeks did anything he wanted to do," Pearl said. "We tried to guard him as a team, but we were not able to get anything done."

What made Meeks so much more difficult for the Vols to guard than star teammate Patrick Patterson, the inside part of Kentucky's dual threat, was his ability to both shoot from the perimeter and drive inside. Patterson had nine points and 12 rebounds.

Meeks' heaped much of the credit on his teammate.

"He's probably the main reason we're getting such good looks at the basket," Meeks said. 'He's such a threat inside. Without him, I wouldn't be scoring as many points as I did."

Kentucky's challenge now is to keep from getting shut down if Meeks has a bad night shooting or a team with a stronger defense than Tennessee's finds a way to contain him.