Kentucky's highlight reel was one to behold this afternoon after these Wildcats decided they wanted to start fast after getting home from a small road trip. South Carolina wishes they just didn't have to be the team Kentucky walked all over on Saturday.

Kentucky got off to a 26-6 start on the Gamecocks which quickly took away any hopes of an upset they had in mind. If Kentucky is able to punish teams this much for the rest of the season it could get ugly for the college basketball world.

With the win Kentucky moves to 25-0 (12-0, SEC) to match the 1953-54 Kentucky team that accomplished this task as well. If Kentucky is able to beat SEC and border state rival Tennessee on Tuesday it will mark the best start in program history.

South Carolina falls to 12-12 (3-9, SEC) in a rather underachieving year for Frank Martin's Gamecocks. South Carolina started the year off well beating the likes of Iowa State and Oklahoma State in the nonconference. The SEC season has been the biggest problem for the Gamecocks and could cause them to miss the NCAA Tournament.

Kentucky's Willie Cauley-Stein has undoubtedly returned to full form after his fantastic outing against South Carolina. Cauley-Stein recorded 14 points and seven rebounds in another double digit scoring effort for the junior.

Cauley-Stein was labeled "soft" as of late and the experienced big man had some words on that.

"I'm just going to start dunking on people." Cauley-Stein said.

Which he definitely has. Many times. And if the 7-footer begins to get even better in the post we could be looking at Jahlil Okafor's biggest competition.

It's safe to say at this point Kentucky is easily in the NCAA Tournament, it's whether they can be a force or not for the rest of the season. South Carolina on the other hand is firmly on the bubble. They'll have to win out for the rest of the season to even be considered for postseason play. Conference play can flip a team in only a few games, and the Gamecocks are feeling the results of that.

Star Players

Sindarius Thornwell- Thornwell was arguably the best player on the court scoring 20 points and five rebounds. He did what was expected and got to the free throw line and hit 9-11 to slow the pace of the game down. It was just the rest of his Gamecocks team that didn't help out this game.

Willie Cauley-Stein- The big guy is really shaping up to be what every Kentucky fan has wanted. He scored 14 points, seven rebounds and two steals in an energetic game for the junior. Kentucky has tasted experience and they are loving it.

Aaron Harrison- Harrison scored all 11 of his points in the first half which is an odd occurrence for the clutch shooter. He was able to put in two assists as well for an unexpectedly quiet second half.

Dakari Johnson- Johnson does not deserve to be at the bottom of this list. He had 10 points and 13 rebounds to go along with two blocks. He was able to use his size against the smaller Gamecocks and had one of his better games in the conference season so far.

Up Next

Kentucky at Tennessee 2/17/15

South Carolina at Georgia 2/17/15