Tonight DeMarcus Cousins takes on Jarvis Varnado in a match up I have been waiting for all season.  Before the season started I was somewhat frustrated about the level of press that Cousins was getting.  In fact I had many discussions with people about Cousins being the best big man in the country.  The biggest argument that I got in return was Cole Aldrich and the second was that Cousins attitude would keep him from becoming the elite big man int he country.

Cousins is coming off of his worst performance of the season against Tennessee in which he only had 5 points and 12 rebounds.  He played most of the game extremely frustrated with the zone that UT was throwing at the Cats.  Cousins did not get many touches and when he did he was getting a lot of contact and not able to do much.  There was one big play in which Cousins took the ball away from JP Prince off a rebound and dunked it.  His other basket came from a tip in when he was falling down and managed to get one hand on the ball and finese it through the basket.

Even with his worst game of the year he still grabbed rebounds showing that he can dominate a game on the glass even if his offense is struggled.  The only part of the game Saturday night that is concerning was the technical foul.  From my point of view it looked as though Bledsoe and Maze got into a battle of words following Maze pushing off several times.  What I did not see, and according to Bledsoe was Maze taking cheap shots on Cousins including a knee to the back at one point.  Bledsoe had even stopped guarding Maze at one point to look him in the face and tell him what he thought.  Just seconds later there was a dead ball and Cousins got involved in the talking as soon as the ref walked up which meant Cousins was going to get the technical foul.

I do agree with Coach Cal that this is just another learning point and 100% agree with Cal that when you do anything in life mad you are not at your best.  That being said, tonight is going to be a big challenge for Boogie.  I believe Cousins will be back and show why he is the best big man in the country.  Top to bottom there is no big in the country who can score, pass, rebound and move as well as him.

Varnado has had his way with UK since he has been at Mississippi State blocking shots with ease.  Tonight is going to give Varnado a much different look than he has seen at UK and different than any other player he has ever faced.  I do believe that if any player in the country can pose legitimate problems for Cousins one-on-one it will be Varnado.  I do expect Cousins to rise to the occasion, because he is the best player in the country right now and that is what big players do.  Tonight’s game is the game that I have been talking about all year long and I believe this will be one that UK shows its true power and the rights to own the over all number 1 ranking in the country.

Cousins talking about his match up with…..