At Tennessee earlier this year, he took 22 shots and scored 54 points.
With Patterson ailing and Meeks showing he's really not Superman, the Cats needed a lift. They partially got it when A.J. Stewart (11) and Kevin Galloway (9) both had career-high scoring nights and combined for 20 points.
However, when the Cats needed junior Perry Stevenson to be the man inside, he disappeared.
Remember late last season when Patterson was injured and Stevenson turned into a consistent double-double performer? That didn't happen the last two games with Patterson out again.
At Arkansas, he had six points, five rebounds and five blocked shots. Kentucky won because Meeks was extraordinary. At Vanderbilt, Stevenson had three points on 1-for-3 shooting. He had two rebounds in 23 minutes. He did not block a shot - something he had done in 21 of UK's previous 25 games.
While it's impossible to blame him solely for the loss, his play was a contributing factor in Vanderbilt's 18-8 edge in second chance points as well as enabling the Commodores to get to the foul line 40 times because he didn't protect the basket.
"We got outrebounded and we lost," Stevenson said of Vandy's 37-26 edge on the boards. "You can't do that. It does not happen many times when you get outrebounded and win."
'That just will not work'
So how did Stevenson rate his play?
"I didn't think I played that well at all," Stevenson said. "I did not make a shot from the free throw line. Maybe I had one or two rebounds. That just will not work."
No it will not, even if Patterson was playing. But without Patterson, there was no reason for Stevenson to be dominated by Vanderbilt's inside players.
Kentucky coach thought the rebounding deficiency was UK's biggest problem.
"We had 15 defensive rebounds. That's a good game for a good player," Gillispie said. "That will not get it. We were dominated."
What about Stevenson's play?
"He needs to play better. There was not much production there," Gillispie said.
No, there wasn't, especially since the coach pleaded at his Monday press conference that UK desperately needed more consistency from Stevenson.
"I think he should score 10 to 12 points and get 10 to 12 rebounds per game," Gillispie said Monday. "He knows how to do everything. He has experience now. But his consistency and responsibility to the team is lacking. It is very important to know when the team needs you to perform the most."
Obviously, Stevenson missed the message that he apparently heard so well last year when he did help compensate for Patterson's absence. Of course, sophomore Josh Harrellson didn't listen, either. He started the game and had one field goal and zero rebounds in only seven minutes.
"He didn't play hard enough. I do not need to say any more," Gillispie said.
Actually, he might because there's no guarantee Patterson will be back when Kentucky hosts Tennessee Saturday in a must-win game if the Cats want to stay in the SEC Eastern Division race and NCAA Tournament contention.
"Pat probably could have grabbed most of those rebounds (tonight). That's a huge void to fill," Stevenson said.
Or at least it is when Stevenson, the player most qualified to fill that void, gets pushed around inside, fails to rebound and becomes a non-factor for a team that desperately needed him to play well.
