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Men's Basketball

NBA Cats Shined Over the Weekend

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2 years ago

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© Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Kentucky has more players than in any other school in the country, and many of them are performing at a high level. Over the weekend, three Wildcats put up career-high types of performances.

Let’s take a look!

De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk Combine for 87 Points

On Friday night, Kentucky fans got a chance to see what both former Kentucky basketball stars, De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, could do on the court together as teammates again.

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The two were teammates during the 2016-2017 season as they helped led Kentucky to an Elite Eight appearance. This past summer, Monk was a free agent and made the decision to sign with the Sacramento Kings, one reason was due to the relationship and bond he built with Fox in their one season at Kentucky.

This season the Kings have had a slight emergence. With a 34-25 record, the Kings have the third-best record in the Western Conference and are looking for their first playoff appearance since 2006.

On Saturday, the Kings picked up a big win against the Los Angeles Clippers in large part to Fox and Monk who combined to score 87 points in a double-overtime win. With a final score of 176-175, the game finished as the second-highest-scoring game in NBA History.

Without much defense, Fox neared a career-high as he scored 42 points and he was three points away, meanwhile, Monk set a new career-high at 45 points. The most impressive part is that Monk scored 30 of his points in the fourth quarter and overtime periods, including a game-tying three to send it to overtime, which was set up by none other than Fox.

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Julius Randle Ties Career High

Julius Randle has taken his game to levels that some fans never expected. An all-star this season, the lucky lefty picked up right where he left off before the NBA All-Star Break. In his first game back, Randle and the Knicks traveled to Washington to play a playoff-caliber Wizards team, who are fighting for a spot in the play-in tournament.

Playing 36 minutes on Friday night, Randle tied his career high of 46 points, 16-29 from the field, 7-14 from 3-point range, with two rebounds and two assists in the 115-109 Knicks win.

The Knicks, led by Randle, are sitting at 34-27 in the Eastern Conference, securing a 6 seed if the playoffs started today.

If the Knicks with Randle, and the supporting cast that includes high-level guards like Jalen Brunson, Immanuel Quickley, and RJ Barrett amongst others, continue to play how they’ve been playing so far this year, New York could make a deep playoff run come April.

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Men's Basketball

Former Louisville Player “Pissed Off” at Rick Pitino’s Return to Kentucky, Suggests He Is a Liar

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5 days ago

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October 17, 2024

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Former Louisville player Luke Hancock was "pissed off" about his former coach Rick Pitino returning to Kentucky, and suggests he is a liar.
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If a Kentucky fan had been told on January 1st that Rick Pitino would return to Rupp Arena for Mark Pope’s first Big Blue Madness as the Wildcats’ head coach, they would have given you quite a look. Yet, it happened, and it even caught Louisville fans off guard.

“I want to come back to Camelot one more time,” Pitino said teary-eyed with a Kentucky blue pullover on. This was quite the opposite act of what he did the last time he was in Rupp Arena, which was flipping off the Wildcat fans as the head coach at Louisville in 2015.

Already angering Louisville fans with his return to their rival, Pitino was asked if he sees himself returning to Louisville in a similar fashion one day, to which he responded, “Probably not”.

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“I love that place, and I love the fans at Louisville, but I’ve never been invited back to Louisville. They fired me quite abruptly and not nicely, but I harbor nothing against the fans and certainly nothing against my players. I love them dearly. But I’ve never been invited back, not one time.”

Former Louisville captain Luke Hancock refutes this, saying he has invited Pitino back himself.

“I’ll tell you what pissed me off,” Hancock said. “The fact that coach went out there and acted like he hadn’t invited back. That’s the line I don’t like. Of course, you’ve been invited back… For him to go out of his way to say that, that’s simply not true.”

It likely is the case that Hancock invited Pitino back to Louisville, but being invited back by a player and an administration is different. Again Pitino left Kentucky on his own will to go to the Boston Celtics, whereas he was fired from Louisville.

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Now that he is back in the good graces of Big Blue Nation, and given the turmoil in his relationship with the UofL administration, it’s difficult to envision Pitino returning to Louisville for a reunion.

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BB Recruiting

Malachi Moreno Helping Kentucky Recruit Top 2025 Point Guard

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5 days ago

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October 16, 2024

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Five-star Kentucky commit Malachi Moreno is helping the Wildcats recruit one of the top point guards of the 2025 class Acaden Lewis.
UK Athletics

This past weekend was a big moment for Kentucky basketball, as the first Big Blue Madness of the Mark Pope era took place. In years past, the event has hosted multiple five-star recruits and this year was no different.

While the guest list was smaller due to USA Basketball junior mini camp, the Wildcats had two top recruits in attendance, 2026 five-star Anthony Thompson and 2024 four-star combo guard Acaden Lewis.

The latter is one of Kentucky’s biggest recruiting priorities in the 2025 class and was also on campus for an official visit as he prepares to make his college decision in early November. To help was five-star commit, Malachi Moreno.

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While Moreno couldn’t make it to Big Blue Madness, he was able to meet with Lewis during his visit on Thursday and even took part in his photo shoot, as the pair posed together in Kentucky uniforms in Rupp Arena.

It helps to have a five-star commit just down the road to help recruit. Could we see the pair play together next season at Kentucky? Things are trending in that direction, but time will tell.

Also published on A Sea of Blue.

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Men's Basketball

Rick Pitino Takes Shot at Louisville Following Return to Kentucky

Published

6 days ago

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October 16, 2024

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Rick Pitino returned to Rupp Arena for Kentucky's Big Blue Madness, and took a shot at his former school Louisville.
© Clare Grant/Courier Journal

Time heals all wounds.

In 2015, Rick Pitino walked out of Rupp Arena with his middle finger up at the fans, as the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals. On Friday, he returned for the first time since, and as he emerged from the tunnel wearing Kentucky blue, holding the 1996 championship trophy, Big Blue Nation cheered for him for the first time in over two decades.

Clearly holding back tears, Pitino sat the trophy down on a mantle alongside seven others, and was welcomed with a warm embrace from his former player and now head coach, Mark Pope.

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“I am so happy to be back,” Pitino opened. “Before I pack it in, in coaching, I want to come back to Camelot one more time. This is one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time.”

On Friday, at an event that had become stale and repetitive of late, was a moment that will be remembered in Kentucky basketball history. To close this historical night, Kentucky Insider asked Pitino if he ever thought he would be wearing Kentucky blue again.

“Yeah, I thought so. Once I left Louisville, I said I’ll sleep in Kentucky blue.”

Pitino is one of Kentucky’s own again. Wow, how time has changed.

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