Scott Van Pelt Loves Him Some Jodie Meeks

Where's Jimmy Patsos and his triangle-and-two when you need it? All Jodie Meeks did Tuesday was put up 54 to lead Kentucky over Tennessee, 90-72. Multiple Scott Van Pelt-gasms ensued.

Thwarting the defensive genius that is Bruce Pearl is not easy*. Nor is surpassing the great Dan Issel; but Meeks did both, breaking Issel's 39-year-old school record (53 vs. Mississippi) at Thompson-Boling Arena to go 2-0 in the SEC. Meeks had 10 3-pointers, was 15 of 22 from the field and 14 of 14 from the line. Meanwhile, I was trying to replace the ink cartridges in my printer and failing.

Meeks' heroics thrilled Van Pelt, as you can see. But the ESPN anchor could not stop vibrating even after the telecast ended, and hopped onto the Rivals.com Kentucky message board to respond to a commenter.

var postUser123372548=795288; DrawHeaderNew (93, 'Ellicott1', 795288,'','',4885,'',1,123372548,1383,'You fine people are bananas',123372548,888,'#ffffff','','',''); Ellicott1Post #4885MyFanPageAdd Buddy You fine people are bananas Reply ....I had to mention you on the show because I saw there were 5,000 + of you on here. Love the passion.I recall how bitter you were when we lead the show with VMI. As I think I explained that night, you all will ALWAYS be news because of who you are.We weren't "anti-Kentucky" that night or "on the bandwagon" tonight.You are KENTUCKY which, as I said on the show, puts you on the short list with UCLA, Kansas, IU, Duke and Carolina for all time programs. When something like VMI happens, we are going to lead with it. When a player establishes a new scoring record at a school with all your history, we are going to lead with it. Pretty simple.As a hoop fan, I enjoyed it because I think Meeks is fantastic and I love how he carries himself.SEC is wide open ..good luck the rest of the way.I'll drop in from time to time to say hey - I know ESPN sucks, or so I read, but I have developed a think skin. I know it's all rooted in a passion for sports that I share.Y'all be easy. SVP

Billy Gillespie had said at the start of the season that he wanted the Wildcats to play at a faster pace, and I guess he meant it. Kentucky wasn't picked by anyone to finish higher than third or fourth in the Eastern Division due mostly to its youth. Meeks is only a sophomore, and the roster includes six freshmen, with Jarrod Carter being the only senior on the team. But if Kentucky can do this to the Volunteers, who are ranked 24th in the nation, no telling what it's capable of.

Of course I'm withholding final analysis on this until I see Kige Ramsey's YouTube report.

By the way, if you'd like to relive the glory, the game will be replayed on ESPNU today at 4:30 p.m., ET. Y'all be easy.

UPDATE: It's already started; Tennessee is really being taken to the woodshed. How WAS Meeks so wide open so often?

* = May be sarcasm.

Meeks' 54 Points Ensure 'Cats Torch No. 24 Vols [NBCSports]