By LARRY VAUGHT

LEXINGTON — As soon as Patrick Patterson saw the shot, he knew it was in.
“I knew he was going to make it. The ball was going in all the way,” said Patterson. “I had a perfect view and as soon as he let it go, I knew the game was over.”
He was right as Wall’s collegiate debut ended with him making the game-winning shot jump shot with 0.5 seconds remaining to give the Wildcats a 72-70 win over Miami.
“That is John. Mr. Clutch all the way. I went after the rebound any way, but I pretty much knew the shot was going in,” Kentucky freshman DeMarcus Cousins said.
It was only fitting that the game ended this way because it was Miami’s hot shooting — 15-for-26 from 3-point range — that gave the RedHawks a chance to pull a monumental upset that veteran coach Charlie Coles admitted would have been the biggest in his coaching career.
Instead, the win proved why the John Calipari era is going to be far different than the Billy Gillispie time.
When Miami went ahead by 18 points in the first half, Calipari said he was “ecstatic” because he wanted his young team to be tested.
“I wanted to see what we were made of. Then this team (Miami) wouldn’t go away and my team in the huddle said we were not losing,” Calipari said. “We needed this. It was kind of fun. When you are not in a life and death situation and trying to get your team better, it was fun.”
When did Gillispie ever have fun or let his team have fun? He didn’t.
That’s why Calipari’s team didn’t fold when a big underdog was making shot after shot and the Cats — by Calipari’s own admission — were discombobulated on both ends of the court at times.
Wall showed why he could be special. He struggled early with turnovers and defensive lapses. He found himself on the bench with Calipari being told to calm down by the coach and junior Patrick Patterson. And he listened.
“Pat’s leadership really helped me,” Wall said. “Then everybody stepped up and made plays. But when Coach did put me back in, I was ready. I made the plays I should have been making.
“I learned a big lesson tonight. You can’t try to do too much or do everything by yourself. I am a competitor and don’t want to lose, but I realized if I am not scoring, I have to get the ball inside and play better defense. I have never seen a team shoot like that and I let it bother me. I learned that didn’t help.”
Wall, who had to sit out UK’s season-opening win over Morehead, had 19 points on 4-for-9 shooting from the field and 10-for-14 shooting at the foul line. He had five assists, three steals and two rebounds in 38 minutes to offset his five turnovers.
Calipari never considered calling timeout after Miami’s Kenny Hayes hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with :08 left. Instead, Wall got the ball and went to work.
“When I hit the shot, I flew back. I saw him running to the ball. Everybody was pretty much back, but he is fast and good. It was contested, but he just hit a big-time shot,” Hayes, who had 16 points said.
That’s what big-time players do. It’s why Wall when and got the ball late in the game and drew a foul when Calipari had called a timeout to set up getting the ball to Eric Bledsoe. Wall had been battling leg cramps, but he wanted to take the free throws. He missed one of two shots, but winners want the ball with a game on the line.
“This is not high school,” Wall said. “They would not let us penetrate. It was great to have a tough game like this and it showed us we are nowhere near where we need to be. But we won.”
Don’t forget that because the last two seasons, Kentucky lost this kind of game to Gardner-Webb and VMI.
So while this was not an overpowering performance for the Cats, they did get a superb second-half performance from Cousins (10 points, 10 rebounds), clutch play from Darius Miller and the standard from Patterson (17 points, 10 rebounds).
“We were down 18 at home where we’re supposed to win every game by 37 and we didn’t fold,” Calipari said. “I am proud of them.
“There is no reason to be upset with any of these kids. This falls back on me. We have got to have better shot selection. We were out of control. We have got to get the ball inside, but our big guys have to catch the ball and make lay-ups.
“But I am happy we won and to be tested like this is good for a team.”
Especially when there is a player like Wall around at the end to make sure the Cats won a game they probably would not have the last two years.

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