He had only played 25 minutes all season, so Jarrod Polson had little reason to think Saturday would be the day John Calipari called on him for extended time.
Thankfully for Polson and his Kentucky team, he was ready anyway.
When the senior point guard checked in with nine minutes left in the first half and UK facing its largest deficit against Belmont at 25-14, Polson was thinking about delivering only one thing.
“Energy,” Polson said.
With that approach, Polson completely changed the game with starter Andrew Harrison out due to two first-half fouls. In 90 seconds, UK cut Belmont's lead to six. By the end of the half — with Polson playing every second — the Wildcats closed to within two.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.