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The Morning After: Kentucky vs. Auburn

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The Cats played their first game without senior Reid Travis on Saturday afternoon and absolutely dominated Auburn from start to finish in an 80-53 win.

Auburn is far from a scrub team, coming into Rupp with a top-15 offense and a top-30 defense they had all the tools to put up a fight. This game came with a lot of unpredictability, and it definitely didn’t go how most people had predicted. Let’s dive deeper and dissect Kentucky’s firm whoopin’ over Auburn.

Three-Point Shooting

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Kentucky hasn’t been a great perimeter shooting team for the majority of the year. Coming into the game the Cats shot 35.4% from three on the season, which was outside the top-100 in the country. This percentage is also off of the 10th least three-point attempts in the country.

Despite this, Kentucky was shooting plenty and making them on Saturday. The Cats shot 11-24 from outside and were 9-17 at halftime. Kentucky gladly benefitted from the shooting of PJ Washington (5-8 3P) and Tyler Herro (3-6 3P), with PJ making three consecutive to start the game. For the second game in a row, Ashton Hagans even made two from outside (and a few more if his foot wasn’t on the line) and is beginning to make teams respect his outside shot.

When the Cats are shooting from outside as efficiently as they did on Saturday, they may be the hardest team in the country to beat because they do so many other things well.

EJ Montgomery and Nick Richards

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With Reid Travis out, I fully anticipated for Kentucky to lose some grit, toughness, and productivity. While EJ Montgomery and Nick Richards can’t make up for Travis’ intangibles, they were able to make up for his production statistically.

Reid Travis season averages: 11.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 0.8 bpg

EJ/Nick vs. Auburn: 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks

If Montgomery and Richards are able to sustain this level of play throughout Reid’s absence, this will do nothing but increase their confidence and their level of play come March and next year if they decided to return.

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Rebounding (Keldon Johnson)

It’s no secret that Kentucky is a very good rebounding team, a staple for most Calipari teams. Saturday was no different as the Cats outrebounded Auburn 43-24.

With Reid’s absence, the Cats knew they had to make up for his rebounding efforts and no one showed that more than Keldon Johnson, who finished the game with a game-high 17 boards and played I believe his best game of the season.

Calipari is expecting a much more consistent effort from Johnson on the boards with his performance today. During the postgame show, Cal said, “Keldon told on himself today. If he thinks he’s getting two rebounds next game, I’m going to be all over him. You’re able to get that many rebounds? He went after the ball. He was screaming going after balls too; grabbing them with two hands. Proud of him.”

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Defense

Auburn’s 53 points, is the lowest scoring output for the Tigers since their exit to Clemson in the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament. Kentucky’s defense, which is now 9th in the country in terms of efficiency, held Auburn to 32.8% FG and 29.6% 3P. The Cats also crashed the defensive glass hard, getting 35 defensive rebounds on 39 misses.

This team’s defense has improved each game since December, and if Kentucky is not making shots they will always have a chance with their stifling defense.

Cal Makes History

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With the win, Calipari passed Joe B. Hall for the 2nd most wins in Kentucky basketball history in humbling fashion at 298. Swaggy Cal was in full effect as he joked that Coach Hall had asked him to vacate some of his wins to keep him at 3rd.

“Coach Hall just asked me to vacate any games that go by him. I said, they’ve already vacated some of my games, maybe they’ll just vacate some more and at the end of the day I’ll be one less than him.”

Calipari accepted the honor in humbling fashion, take a look at Coach Hall congratulating Cal and the accomplishment below

Cal now only trails the great Adolph Rupp, who won 876 games at Kentucky. It took Calipari 366 games to get to 298. Rupp accomplished the feat in 364 games and took Joe B. 397 games.

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It was a great Caturday in Kentucky, as the Cats made another statement win over a quality opponent and showed just again just how dangerous this team can be. This team is now what we thought it could be in the summer and still with room to grow. I like my team!

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BB Recruiting

Kentucky Schedules Zoom Meeting with Transfer Jaron Pierre

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Jacksonville State transfer Jaron Pierre is being pursued by the Kentucky Wildcats.

Jaron Pierre is one of the hottest names on the board on Kentucky’s transfer portal shortlist, and for good reason. The 6-5, 190-pound transfer from Jacksonville State is one of the most prolific scorers in the country, scoring a nation-high 777 points last season.

KY Insider first reported on Tuesday that Kentucky had contacted Pierre, and that Pierre was “definitely” interested in the Cats. Tonight, we can report that a Zoom has been scheduled for Pierre and Kentucky for Friday.

Talking with Pierre and his agent, Kentucky is making a strong push. Mark Pope and associate head coach Alvin Brooks visited Pierre in Dallas immediately following his visit to SMU on Wednesday, before the recruiting dead period hit (April 3rd-10th), selling them on the “Mecca of college basketball.”

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Per the NCAA, a dead period is that period of time when it is not permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts or evaluations on or off the member institution’s campus or to permit official or unofficial visits by prospective student-athletes to the institution’s campus.

The two coaches were fresh off a visit to Minnesota where they visited Pitt transfer Jaland Lowe, and discussed with Pierre about the two potentially playing together, among other players. This is interesting, as some believed that it would be one or the other. It also says that Kentucky is looking to have Pierre play more off the ball if he were to come to Kentucky.

According to Pierre and his agent, April 7th is a date that they are keeping an eye on as the NIL landscape could completely change, and they could make a decision as soon as this weekend. However, they do not want to rush this process.

More updates to come.

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Men's Basketball

Kentucky Basketball Commit Impesses at McDonald’s All-American Game

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Kentucky basketball commit Malachi Moreno is a McDonald's All American
McDonald's All-American Game

Fresh off of winning a Kentucky Basketball State Championship Saturday night, Malachi Moreno had no time to rest. After winning the State Championship, Moreno flew out the morning after to Brooklyn.

Just a few short months ago, Moreno was selected to participate in the McDonald’s All-American game. Being chosen to play in this game is considered the highest honor a high school basketball player can achieve. However, he wasn’t content with just being chosen to play in this game. He wanted to show everyone that he belongs in this crowd with the best of the best.

Playing against the elite of the elite, there was never a moment in which Moreno looked as if he didn’t belong. Although Moreno and Team East didn’t come away with a victory, he looked nothing short of impressive all night long.

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In only 16 minutes of game time, Moreno finished with 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist. He also added 2 blocked shots on the game. Moreno, who is listed at 6’10, moves very well for his size. He has an elite feel around the rim, which is tough to find for a young big man like himself. However, his best attribute may be his shot blocking ability, as shown here.

Moreno is a very gifted shot-blocker who has a knack for timing his jump when blocking shots. This will help him fill a much-needed role next season for a Kentucky team that at times struggled defensively, more specifically with blocking shots.

His night didn’t end there, he also showcased his ability to step outside and shoot the 3 ball.

He only attempted 11 3’s during his Senior High School season, finishing at 3/11 for 27.3%, but he proves here that if left open. He won’t hesitate to let it fly.

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At the practices, On3 named him their second-best performer.

“Malachi Moreno flew to the McDonald’s All-American events this morning straight off winning a Kentucky state championship last night. This scrimmage was his first participation of the week, and he made his presence felt immediately. Moreno has legit size, listed at 7-foot-0, with good length. He also has good hands, which helps his play around the basket. Moreno is a strong rebounder, cleaning up the boards in traffic. He also had a game-clinching block at the rim, putting it off the backboard. Offensively, he plays as a roll man and out of the dunker spots. It found his spots and played within himself, and he had some very loud finishes.

Moreno is one of three exciting freshmen joining the Wildcats next season; alongside him are 4-stars Jasper Johnson and Acaden Lewis. These three highlight an exciting new young core for Mark Pope and company.

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BB Recruiting

Kentucky Has Contacted Nation’s Leading Scorer, Four-Star Transfer Jaron Pierre Who Is “Definitely” Interested in the Cats

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Jacksonville State transfer Jaron Pierre has been contacted by Kentucky.
Jacksonville State Athletics

There are more than a thousand players in the transfer portal, meaning names are flying left and right. As of April 1st, Kentucky has one commitment in Kam Williams (Tulane), and is projected to land top 25 transfer Magoon Gwath (San Diego State).

That said, the Kentucky staff has been in contact with more than a dozen players, and there is another notable player to add to that list.

KY Insider can report that Kentucky has contacted Jaron Pierre from Jacksonville State. Pierre is currently a four-star transfer prospect and ranked as the 34th ranked prospect in 247Sports‘ transfer portal rankings.

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At Jacksonville State last season, Pierre scored more points than anyone else in college basketball (777 points), averaging 21.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists while shooting 38.2% from 3-point range (9.0 attempts per game). He scored 30 points or more in six games, and only had one game where he did not score in double digits. His impressive play earned him Conference USA Player of the Year honors.

Pierre also had prior stops at Southern Miss and Wichita State, where he spent two years at each school, and will be going into his sixth season of college basketball. Pierre has also declared for the NBA Draft, but is not currently projected on any mock drafts.

While still early in his recruitment, Pierre tells KY Insider that he is “definitely” interested in Kentucky, but no Zoom meeting or visit has been scheduled.

“I love it Big Blue Nation,” Pierre said of the Kentucky program. He also really liked what Mark Pope was able to do in his first season in Lexington. “He was able to pick up right where it left off.”

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The level of competition is always a question when evaluating a mid-major talent, but Pierre’s athleticism jumps off the page and a 38.2% clip from three on nine attempts per game is nothing to slight at.

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