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Men's Basketball

KY Insider Preview: Kentucky vs. Alabama In Nashville

Published

6 years ago

on

Coming into the SEC Tournament Alabama was firmly on the bubble and listed as one of the “first teams out” by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.

Last night, after trailing by as many as 16 points in the second half against Ole Miss, the Crimson Tide fought back to win 62-57. The win placed Alabama as the “first team out”. A win on Friday would certainly lock up a NCAA bid and I expect Alabama to come out with that urgency.

Alabama head coach Avery Johnson is 0-3 against Kentucky in the SEC Tournament, compared to a 6-0 record against the rest of the SEC. However, Kentucky is the King of the SEC tournament and will certainly be motivated to avenge a loss to Alabama back in January.

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Lets take a look at the Cats’ points of emphasis for tonight’s game.

Reid Travis

HE IS BACK.

After missing nearly a month with a sprained right knee, Reid Travis will be in uniform and ready to play against Alabama.

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John Calipari had said earlier in the week that if Travis were to play in the SEC Tournament, he would off the bench and see limited minutes on the court. However, when it was reported Thursday night that Travis was cleared to play, Calipari backed off those comments saying, “I don’t know. We’ll let him see. He’s farther along than I thought.”


Nick Richards and EJ Montgomery may even be more effective against the length and athleticism of Alabama. However, Reid will be another big man that can bang inside with Crimson Tide big Donta Hall. Whether Reid plays significant minutes or not it will be good to see him on the floor and getting his game feet under him.

Perimeter Defense

At the beginning of the season one of the most glaring weaknesses of this Kentucky team was it’s poor perimeter defense, even allowing an 11-21 VMI team to shoot 50% (19-38) from three.

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As the season has gone on, Kentucky has turned perimeter defense from a weakness to a strength and have held opponents to 29.3 in the last three games.

In January’s match-up, the Crimson Tide were able to shoot a 43.5% (10-23) from three, including 6-8 from junior guard Tevin Mack. The performance ranks as Alabama’s third-best three point shooting game of the season.

That game was an outlier as Alabama has not shot great from outside this season, ranking as the 201st in season 3P percentage. However, just like in January they have shown they can get streaky and shoot a high clip from three, the Cats will need to extend out and contest.

Rebounding and Toughness

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Alabama out rebounded Ole Miss 50-30 for 22 second chance points on Thursday. In January, Alabama out-rebounded Kentucky 40-32 just due to effort and scored 32 points in the paint.

Since that game Kentucky has grown up and is a much better team. This team has shown just how physical and gritty they can be on the biggest stage. This season, Kentucky has out-rebounded a North Carolina team that ranks No. 1 in the country in rebounds per game and out-toughed a very physical Tennessee team.

Kentucky has done it all season but they need to dominate the boards and limit Alabama’s second chance opportunities. If the Cats are able to do that, it should be a fun night.

Prediction

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With Reid Travis returning and the Cats having not played for a nearly a week, I think the Cats will come out and assert their dominance from the start. However, if they don’t and the Tide come out with more effort, they are more than capable of making this a ballgame.

Kentucky: 72

Alabama: 59

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Men's Basketball

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

Published

20 hours ago

on

November 22, 2024

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Kentucky players encouraging each other at Rupp Arena.
Chet White | UK Athletics

The Kentucky Wildcats are back in action Friday to face the Jackson State Tigers in the second game of the BBN Invitational.

To put it simply, Jackson State is bad, very bad. Sitting at 0-5 and ranked 321st in KenPom, the Tigers will likely be the worst opponent Kentucky will play all season.

Coached by Mo Williams, one of LeBron James’ old teammates with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Tigers have only finished above .500 twice in the last decade. This season, Jackson State is predicted to finish fourth in the SWAC.

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Mark Pope recently said he wanted to build a standard, regardless of opponent and, and that will be tested on Friday.

Let’s take a look at the matchup.

More 3-Point Attempts

Admittedly nitpicking, one of the things that Mark Pope was not happy with in Kentucky’s win over Lipscomb was the amount of three-point attempts. While they shot nearly 50 percent from deep, going 12-25, Pope wants to see the number of attempts closer to 35.

The Tigers have allowed their opponents to shoot 47.8 percent from deep, the second-worst mark in the country. Pope and the staff will certainly generate a game plan to take advantage of this. Expect to see 30+ attempts.

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Ball Movement

Despite beating Lipscomb by 29 points, the Wildcats had a season-low in assists with just ten. For context, Kentucky had averaged more than 23 assists per game entering the matchup.

“That’s not us. That’s not who we are,” Pope said after the game.

While there wasn’t a lot of selfishness, the ball just wasn’t ‘flying’ as it has been early this season. This is a priority for the staff and this mature group, and they will aim for 25+ assists.

Keep JSU off the Free-Throw Line

Jackson State ranks in the top 100 nationally in one area: Free throws made per game. So, Kentucky, defend without fouling.

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Kentucky’s offense makes headlines, but the defense has played very well to start the season, holding all four opponents to under 73 points. Let’s see if they can get down in a stance and defend well for 40 minutes vs. a team that stresses contact and drawing fouls.

Opposing Players to Watch

C Shannon Grant 6-11, 290 lbs

  • 7.5 PPG
  • 4.8
  • Preseason All-SWAC First Team selection

G Jayme Mitchell Jr 6-5, 190 lbs

  • 15.0 PPG
  • 3.8 RPG
  • 44.4% 3P

F Romelle Mansel 6-9, 220 lbs

  • 10.8 PPG
  • 5.8 RPG
  • 31.7% FG (second most FG attempts on the team)

Kentucky Wildcats Basketball vs. Jackson State Tigers

Time: 7 PM ET on November 22nd
Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY
TV Channel: This game will not be on TV and is streaming only,
Online Stream: SEC Network+, ESPN+, and the ESPN app.
Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens have the radio call on the UK Sports Radio Network.
Replay: WatchESPN and SEC Network (check local listings).
Rosters: UK | JSU
Stats to Know: UK | JSU
KenPom: UK | JSU
Team Sheet: UK | JSU

Odds: FanDuel Sportsbook has yet to release the odds for the game, so check Thursday afternoon for an official spread. Multiple projections give Kentucky a 99% chance of winning: Bart Torvik (99%), EvanMiya (99.9%), and ESPN (99.0%). The exception is KenPom (92%).

Predictions: KenPom (93-63), Haslametrics (96-63), Bart Torvik (95-61), and EvanMiya (96-59) all are going with a 30+ point victory, Kentucky!

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Men's Basketball

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

Published

5 days ago

on

November 18, 2024

By

Kentucky basketball players celebrate after their big over Duke.
IMAGN

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”

Published

7 days ago

on

November 16, 2024

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Mitch Barnhart sitting next to basketball coach John Calipari.
IMAGN

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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