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Men's Basketball

Kentucky vs Ole Miss: Postgame Recap

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2 years ago

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© Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

The Kentucky Wildcats looked to bounce back after a loss against Kansas as they traveled to Oxford, Mississippi to take on Ole Miss in another late-night Tuesday matchup. With ten games remaining on the schedule and still on the bubble, the Wildcats couldn’t afford to drop this game.

That task was made harder when prior to the game, it was announced that Cason Wallace was ruled out due to a knee contusion suffered during shootaround. However, Ole Miss was not without their own absences, as their two leading scorers would not be playing.

Plagued by slow starts for much of the season, Kentucky fell victim once again. Nor were they benefitted from a scorching hot start by the Rebels, led by Amaree Abram. By the first media timeout, Ole Miss had captured a 13-8 lead, only missing two of their first seven shots.

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Kentucky responded to take a 25-19 lead and had a chance to pull away. However, shortly after, Sahvir Wheeler went down with an ankle injury and the Wildcats limped into halftime in a tie game, 32-32.

Wheeler was the first player to return to the floor for the second half in a taller pair of shoes, but still not 100 percent. Yet, he battled through and had six of his nine assists in the second half, and was able to lead a much better offensive performance in the second half. With that said, the offense was pretty easy, get Antonio Reeves the ball as he finished with 27 points and helped Kentucky win 75-66.

While not the biggest margin of victory, a win is a win, especially on the road in the SEC. Let’s take a closer look.

Antonio Reeves

Scoring a season-high 27 points and tying a season-high in three-pointers (6), no player was as important in Kentucky’s win as Antonio Reeves. When Kentucky was reeling and was in need of a basket, Reeves seemed to always answer the call.

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After the game, Reeves talked about his performance and compared it to his role at Illinois State. “Coming off ball screens. Getting to pull-up game, floater game. It felt like Illinois State days. I just felt comfortable out there.”

Reeves’ performance was his best of the season, but it comes as no surprise given his recent play. Over the last eight games, Reeves is averaging 17.3 points on 42.9 percent shooting from three, and looks reminiscent of the guy that averaged 20.1 ppg last season at Illinois State.

Playing his best basketball of the season, Reeves looks to have fully adapted to the Power Five level of play and will play an important role if Kentucky wants to make a run.

Ball Screen Defense

Kentucky’s biggest weakness this season has undoubtedly been their pick-and-roll defense, which many opposing head coaches have made a point to attack. On Tuesday night, Kermit Davis and Ole Miss became the latest team to expose this.

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Countless times, the Rebels were able to get in the middle of the lane and either drive straight to the rim or pass it for an easy layup. At one point, Calipari even replaced Oscar Tshiebwe with Damion Collins, hoping length would help, which it did.

Fortunately, this improved as the game went on and they limited Ole Miss to their normal offensive output. However, Kentucky’s schedule only gets tougher and this area No. 1 they have to improve in.

Injuries

Outside of the win, the biggest story for Kentucky is the injuries of Cason Wallace And Sahvir Wheeler. Kentucky’s two point guards are not 100 percent and that is concerning as the team enters February, especially given how much injuries affected the team last season.

With that said, both injuries seem to be relatively minor, and they may not miss any more time.

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Wallace, who suffered a contusion against Kansas, sit out as a precaution Calipari confirmed after the game. As for Wheeler, his ankle was “busted up” but only missed the last three minutes of the first half before coming in and playing all 20 minutes in the second half. After the game, Wheeler said he “sprained it a little” but will begin treatment when they arrive back in Lexington.

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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.
IMAGN

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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