LEXINGTON — As Andrew Harrison drove into the lane and took a pair of Herd That defenders with him, he twisted his body in midair, turning around to dish off the ball to his open teammate, Nate Sestina. Though Herd That’s Tyrus McGee tried to knock the ball away, it safely reached its destination. Sestina tracked down the ball, rose and fired less than a foot in front of the interlocking “UK” logo at Rupp Arena’s half-court line.
Sestina’s long-distance try was true, swishing through the basket to extend La Familia’s lead to 14 (53-39) in the middle of the third quarter.
But Harrison wasn’t done Tuesday.
On the subsequent possession, the visitors in green and white pushed the ball up the court, attempting to catch La Familia’s defense sleeping after Sestina’s triple.
Harrison had none of it.
He swatted the ball out of bounds as Herd That tried to pull off an alley-oop. All that accomplished was setting off a loud cheer from those in attendance as the game went into a media timeout.
Harrison’s defensive intensity and Sestina’s poise were merely two examples of La Familia’s excellence Tuesday, as the group of former Kentucky basketball players stomped Herd That, 95-66, in a round of 16 matchup in The Basketball Tournament.
“We’re pretty familiar with each other. But now guys are starting to get their legs under them,” La Familia coach and former UK star Tyler Ulis said. “Everybody’s starting to get in shape.
“And the outcome is showing.”
It was a drubbing in every sense.
La Familia won every quarter: 22-16 in the first, 16-14 in the second, 32-18 in the third and 15-12 in the fourth before the Elam Ending was enacted. La Familia led 85-60 when the Elam Ending started, then outscored Herd That by four (10-6) to bring the lopsided affair to a conclusion.
But the numbers don’t lie: In its three TBT games to this point, La Familia has been far better in the final two quarters than the two prior to intermission.
La Familia has outscored its three opponents (305 Ballers, The Nawf and Herd That) 113-94 in first halves, a far cry from its second-half advantage (119-72).
“I think we come out flat in the first half, and in the second half, I think we lock in and play with a sense of urgency,” said Eric Bledsoe, who scored a game-high 24 points (on 8-of-16 shooting) for La Familia on Tuesday.
“I feel like it’s part of the game,” Ulis added. “Guys are coming to play at Rupp Arena, at the end of the day, playing against Eric Bledsoe, who was a lottery pick. James Young. Willie Cauley-Stein. These are big-name guys.
“So (other teams) come in, they’re going to be energetic. They’re going to make shots early. But you try to not let them sustain that throughout the game.”
Aside from Bledsoe, four other La Familia players tallied a double-digit point total in Tuesday’s 29-point rout. Kerem Kanter had 20 points to go along with a game-high eight rebounds. Sestina and the Harrison twins, Aaron and Andrew, finished with 11 points apiece. Young came up one point shy of double figures but ended the game on a high note.
He sank the game-clinching 3 as he was knocked to the ground.
“I just came and prepared,” said Young, who had nine points and was 3 of 4 from the field, attempting all of his shots beyond the arc. “The guys gave me a lot of confidence coming in tonight. And I just wanted to take all the shots that I could.”
With the win, La Familia clinched a spot in the TBT quarterfinals, which will be held next week. La Familia will face the winner of the contest between The Ville and Team DRC, who square off at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Freedom Hall.
If The Ville, a U of L alumni squad, holds serve Wednesday, it will set up the latest edition of the Governor’s Cup rivalry on the hardwood.
“Everyone knows the history of Louisville and Kentucky,” Bledsoe said. “We know (a game against The Ville would) be a dogfight.”
