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Kentucky vs. Illinois State: TV/Streaming Info, Keys to the Game, and Predictions

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Kentucky Wildcats forward Justin Edwards celebrating with fans as he walks off the court.
Photo by Chet White | UK Athletics

The Kentucky Wildcats will look to end 2023 with a victory as they play host to Illinois State on Friday night. Game time is set for 7:00 pm ET on the SEC Network.

After more than a week off and nearly a month since they last played in Rupp Arena, the Wildcats take the court in what will be deemed The Antonio Reeves Game against his former school in Illinois State.

Historically, Illinois State is not a very prestigious program, last making the tournament in 1998. However, they are on pace for their first winning record since 2019 under second-year coach Ryan Pedon.

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This will be just the second time the two programs have played, the first of which took place in 2015 as Isaiah Briscoe and Jamal Murray led the Wildcats to a 75-63 victory, a game Tyler Ulis missed with an elbow injury.

Here’s what you need to watch for in this Friday night affair.

Speed Up The Game

One marquee characteristic of this Kentucky team is to play fast. Averaging nearly 80 possessions per game, they rank 14th in the country in doing just that.

However, Illinois State plays at a much more deliberate pace. In fact, they will play at the slowest pace Kentucky has faced so far this season at under 70 possessions per game.

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The Wildcats will naturally look to push the pace with quick ball movement. However, they will also look to create quick scoring opportunities off rebounds, which has improved greatly since Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso have returned from injury.

Force Turnovers

This leads to the next point, force turnovers. This is one of the best ways to push the pace in a game and create transition opportunities.

Unfortunately for Illinois State, they are not great at taking care of the ball. They currently rank 243rd nationally in turnovers per game (13.2) and 290th in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.83).

While this Kentucky team has not been great defensively, they generate steals among the best in the country, averaging 9.2 per game, ranking 24th in the nation.

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That combination should allow for the Wildcats to be aggressive and look to get into passing lanes and get some easy points.

Justin Edwards Consistency

It is no secret that for much of the season, Justin Edwards has not lived up to the high expectations that many had set for him.

Coming to Lexington as the top recruit in Kentucky’s No. 1 2023 recruiting class, Edwards is now playing the fifth most minutes on the team and has played less than 15 minutes in two of the last three games.

For weeks, the staff has talked about the work he is putting in and it being just a matter of time before having his breakout game. Against Louisville, Edwards didn’t have his breakout game but did have one of his best games at Kentucky with 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals.

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Now with Bradshaw and Oyenso back, Edwards has looked more comfortable. If he can find and show some consistency, this Kentucky team’s ceiling can be raised even higher.

Kentucky Wildcats vs. Illinois State Redbirds

  • Date: December 29th, 2023
  • Time: 7:00 pm ET
  • Location: Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center in Lexington, KY
  • TV Channel: SEC Network
  • Announcers: Kevin Fitzgerald and Daymeon Fishback
  • Online Stream: WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
  • Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens have the UK radio call on the UK Sports Radio Network.
  • Replay: WatchESPN and the SEC Network (check local listings).
  • Rosters: UK | ISU
  • Stats to Know: UK | ISU
  • KenPom: UK | ISU
  • Odds: DraftKings Sportsbook has not released odds for the game yet. ESPN’s matchup predictor gives Kentucky a 94.9% chance of victory. Bart Torvik and EvanMiya are at 96% and 96.8%, respectively. KenPom is at 96%. Kentucky has covered the spread seven times in 11 games this season, while Illinois State is 6-5 vs. the spread.
  • PredictionsBart Torvik picks Kentucky to win 85-64. Haslametrics hat it at 84-65 for BBN. EvanMiya projects a 77-57 Cats win. KenPom is going with an 84-64 victory, Kentucky!

Men's Basketball

Kentucky Basketball Players Say They Think About Winning National Championship “Every Second”

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Kentucky basketball players celebrate after their big over Duke.
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The expectations at Kentucky are the highest of any school in the country, and there is good reason why. The winningest college program ever. Eight national titles, under five different coaches. Seventeen Final Four appearances. You get it, a lot of success.

Fans want the players to have those same expectations. Despite not having the elite talent or preseason hype of great Kentucky teams past, this year’s team still has their eyes set on doing something “people will remember forever”, winning a national championship.

Asked on social media, if hanging banner #9 was all the players thought about “every second”, Ansley Almonor had a response.

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“We do.”

It takes a lot to win a national championship, including some luck, but this team is certainly going to be loved for their desire to live out their dream of playing at Kentucky and their unselfishness. Those two things can take them a long way this season .

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Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart Seemingly Takes Shot at John Calipari, “Anybody Can Recruit”

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Mitch Barnhart sitting next to basketball coach John Calipari.
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John Calipari and Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart had their differences over fifteen years, but success can hide a lot of things. Not that they hated each other, but they each had vastly different personalities. As that success weaned towards the end of Calipari’s tenure, those issues started to be noticed publically.

If you need evidence of that, despite their efforts to dispute it, there is the infamous press conference where Barnhart talked about “entitled” coaches, shortly after Calipari publicly called for a new practice facility. Then, there were multiple times when Calipari expressed that the administration was not on the same page and that he was facing “headwinds”.

That said, Calipari is now at Arkansas, but those differences and some disdain remain. During an interview on the Kentucky Football pregame show, Barnhart seemingly took a shot at Calipari when asked about Mark Pope’s recruiting philosophy and prioritizing fit.

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“I tell people all the time, ‘Anybody can recruit, not everybody can evaluate,’” Barnhart said. “You can recruit. You can be phenomenal at bringing people to your program. But if it does not fit you, it’s really not helpful.”

Of course, Calipari is one of the best, if not the best, recruiters in college basketball history. At times, he prioritized talent and athleticism over fit.

Quite the coincidence.

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Men's Basketball

ESPN’s Jay Williams Gives Message to Kentucky Fans, “You’re Not Going to Like It…”

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ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Williams gives a message to Kentucky fans after the Wildcats win over Duke. "You won't like it."
ESPN

Back in April, opposing fanbases like Duke, told Kentucky fans to “cope with Pope” following the hire of Mark Pope and the corresponding initial shock. On Tuesday, those same fanbases had to watch as Mark Pope outcoached Jon Scheyer and Duke in the final minutes of the Champion’s Classic to get his first marque win in just his third game at Kentucky.

Of course, shortly after the game, Duke fans began to rationalize the loss by highlighting their team’s youth. While true, it sounded like an echo chamber of what Kentucky fans said for years under John Calipari. One notable example was former Blue Devil Jay Williams.

At halftime, while Duke was leading 46-37, Williams called this year’s Duke team the most talented since the 2001 team that he was a part of at halftime. To his credit, he complimented Kentucky on the comeback victory, specifically on their offense and maturity, but then 36 hours later he posted a message to Kentucky fans on social media.

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“Let me put you on to something,” Williams started. “Whether you like it or not, networks are going to sell Cooper Flagg. He’s going to be the number one pick in the draft. You’re going to talk about whether he won the or whether he lost the game, regardless of the outcome.”

“You’re not going to like it. There should be more kudos to Mark Pope and Kentucky,” Williams continued. “Regardless of whether you won the game or not, they’re still going to sell Cooper Flagg because he is selling the sport. Sorry.”

William’s statement is true. That said, it comes off as ‘sour grapes’ about losing. Cooper Flagg is a great talent and will likely be the first pick in the NBA Draft, but most Kentucky fans would say they would much rather have the win than the marketing.

Futhermore, Kentucky and its ‘brand’ has raised the level of multiple players and coaches, and will continue to do so. A deeper impact than Cooper Flagg will have on Duke in just one season.

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