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Men's Basketball

The Morning After: Kentucky vs. Houston

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Take a deep breath and check your heart rate.

Tyler Herro and PJ Washington entered Kentucky folklore as the Wildcats survived and advanced with a 62-58 victory over the Houston Cougars.

While the win wasn’t pretty, a win is a win. However, there are plenty of things to look at and learn from as we look forward to Sunday’s game against Auburn.

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Tyler Herro THE Hero

After Herro only scored 9 points on 2-11 shooting, it was a good sight to see Tyler “Bucket” Herro back in full swing as he scored 19 on 7-13 shooting. Including the three to give Kentucky the lead with 25.8 seconds left.

After missing a free throw earlier in the half, Mr. Clutch went on to sink two free throws to give Kentucky a comfortable four-point lead with 15 seconds to go.

Herro took Kentucky fans back to Aaron Harrison’s 2014 run with that shot and with that shot, he will always be remembered.

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PJ Washington, We Don’t Win Without Him

Before the game, there was still speculation on whether PJ Washington would play or not. On Friday, he was back in full form, and that foot didn’t look to bother him one bit.

In two games without PJ, Kentucky definitely missed his offense. In his return, PJ played one of his most efficient games of the year. Coming off the bench and in 26 minutes, PJ recorded 16 points (6-8), 2 rebounds, and 1 assist.

After the game, Calipari noted that PJ didn’t participate in pregame shootaround due to pain and was unsure if he was going to play. PJ wanted to play, played through the pain, and got two of the most critical plays of the game with the and-one and the block leading to Herro three.

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In Calipari’s postgame words, “we don’t win without him [PJ]”.

Great Defense

In three NCAA tournament games, the Wildcats have yet to give up more than sixty points or let a team shoot over 40% FG from the field.

After limiting Flethcer “Oofer” Magee to 0-12 on three point shooting last weekend, the focus shifted to Houston’s Corey Davis Jr. on Friday night.

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Davis came into the game averaging 23.5 points and five made three-pointers in two NCAA Tournament games. Tyler Herro had another great defensive performance limiting Davis Jr. to just 14 points (5-16) and 1-7 from three.

On Sunday, the Cats will face off against the Auburn Tigers for the third time this season and will have to limit their guards, Jared Harper and Bryce Brown who have both played great since SEC play.

Rebounding Battle

Coming into the game, Houston was top-10 in every rebounding category and many had anticipated the Cougars to put up a fight on the boards, but that just wasn’t the case.

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On Thursday, Houston’s Chris Harris, told Kyle Tucker of The Athletic:

“I believe that will be the game. Whoever wins the rebounding battle, that will be the game.”

In the end, it wasn’t too much of a battle and Harris’ comments rang true. Kentucky’s size was too much to handle for the Cougars as the Wildcats outrebounded Houston by 13 (36-23) and escaped with the win.

Offensive Struggles

Kentucky has played one and a half games of good offense in three tournament games and that needs to change in a hurry.

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After putting up 37 points in the first half, Kentucky only scored 12 points in just under 17 minutes which allowed Houston to regain the lead down the stretch. Kentucky went on to score 13 points in the final three minutes to win the game.

Simply. that just can’t happen again if the Cats want to win a national title.

On Sunday, the Cats will take on the Auburn Tigers for the third time this season and are playing their best basketball of the season. Auburn is a great offensive team, as they are ranked 6th in offensive efficiency and has scored 78 or more points in all three of their NCAA Tournament games.

Auburn truly lives and dies by the three. As we have seen in Kentucky’s two games against Auburn this year, they can lose by thirty or win the game, there’s no in between. Kentucky has to be ready for their best shot.

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Survive and advance. The Cats are one step closer to Minneapolis.

Men's Basketball

How a Call with Mark Pope Led Denzel Aberdeen to Kentucky

After winning a national title at Florida, Denzel Aberdeen committed to Kentucky without ever visiting campus—thanks to a revealing three-hour call with head coach Mark Pope.

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Chet White | UK Athletics

As a junior, Denzel Aberdeen was a key part of Florida’s national title run. But a certain phone conversation convinced him to leave his home state and head north to Lexington in hopes of experiencing that feeling once again.

He had never set foot in Lexington before deciding to become a Kentucky Wildcat — and he didn’t need to. All it took was one phone call — three hours long, on Easter Sunday — with head coach Mark Pope to convince him that he belonged in blue and white.

“Our phone call lasted about three hours, to be honest,” Aberdeen said, meeting with the media in Lexington for the first time earlier this week. “A lot of it was just getting to know me and getting to know the school, the university, getting to know him (Pope), how their style was, a lot of film. Once I saw that, I was like this looks like a great guy to play for.”

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The two went on to discuss Aberdeen’s role at Kentucky in more depth, including how Pope envisions him fitting into Kentucky’s new system — a system that, according to Aberdeen, is very similar, if not better than the one he just left.

“We had a lot of great players at Florida, especially the tall bigs. Bigs that love to run there, and we have just as much here; our bigs love to run, they play defense, and they play at a fast pace. So I think the things that we’ve got here are just as good, or even better,” Aberdeen said.

Averaging 7.7 points and nearly 20 minutes per game off the bench for the Gators last year, it’s clear to see what Aberdeen brings to the team: experience, versatility, calmness in the backcourt, and championship pedigree. Pope’s phone conversation with Aberdeen wasn’t just impactful on the court — it also speaks volumes to what he is doing off the court in pursuit of the goal he laid out in his introductory press conference: to hang banners.

This phone call wasn’t just about Denzel Aberdeen. It was a glimpse into Pope’s player-first, transparent coaching approach, which could define his era at Kentucky — and potentially make this season a special one, with Aberdeen playing another key role in a deep NCAA Tournament run.

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“I know the goal is to win No. 9,” he said. “I know the fans want that, we want that, all the staff and coaches want that. That pushes us. We know what we gotta do when we come here and put on that Kentucky jersey. Just playing for the University of Kentucky is a big thing. Being here is a blessing, and I can’t look back.”

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Men's Basketball

La Familia’s Lexington Regional Bracket Revealed

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Israel Schill | KY Insider

Kentucky’s alumni team, La Familia, has officially unveiled the bracket for The Basketball Tournament’s (TBT) Lexington Regional.

The No. 1 seeded alumni will face off against Stroh’s Squad (Bowling Green) in the opening round on Friday, July 18 with a late 9:00 p.m. ET tip time.

The Lexington Regional will take place at Memorial Coliseum from July 18-22, where Kentucky will host a plethora of teams looking to grab some gold.

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Familiar teams, such as Eberlein Drive, who former Wildcat Archie Goodwin used to play for and who have been around since the beginning of TBT, will lead the bottom of the bracket. In the second round, Big Blue Nation may see a way-too-early SEC matchup, technically, with the Auburn Tigers’ alumni team, War Ready.

The name is definitely fitting, obviously a play on Auburn’s “War Eagle” call, but as a whole defines the type of play that the TBT unleashes against every competitor.

When asked about who the “alpha dog” will be on this year’s team, someone who is going to be ready to go to war, general manager Twany Beckham admitted he emphasized finding guys like that during the offseason.

“That was one thing, you know when we lost last year, I feel like that Ohio State team, I’m not gonna say punked us because our guys played extremely hard,” said Beckham before head coach Sean Woods budded in and said “they were more physical.”

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“When I sat down after the season was over last year I sad to myself, ‘I want nine to 10 dogs’, and I think we did that with this roster,” Beckham added.

The winner of the Lexington Regional will play the winner of the Louisville Regional in the quarterfinals on Monday, July 28, at 6 p.m. ET on FS1, the team also announced recently.

Below is the entire bracket for the 2025 tournament:

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Men's Basketball

Top Guard Prospect Taylen Kinney Takes Official Visit to Kentucky

Perhaps the most highly touted guard in the 2026-27 class, Taylen Kinney has begun his visit to Kentucky – Mark Pope is on the clock.

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Taylen Kinney takes his official visit to Kentucky.
USA TODAY NETWORK

Directly following his involvement with Mark Pope and Jasper Johnson at the USA U19 basketball camp, Taylen Kinney has taken an official visit to Kentucky.

One of the top guards in the nation, Kinney is a native of Newport, Kentucky. As a result, naturally, both Louisville and Kentucky are in strong pursuit — among pulls on both sides, one potential advantage Kentucky has over their in-state rivals is Kinney’s extensive past ties to the aforementioned Jasper Johnson.

The two blue bloods manned the backcourt together for the Overtime Elite RWE team during the 2024-25 season. With Johnson being the first to pull the trigger in taking on the blue and white, the onus is on Kinney to potentially rekindle the duo’s dominant guard play in a new setting.

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Given Jasper’s potential for multiple years in Lexington, the likelihood that he could impact Kinney’s recruitment is all the more tangible.

The 6-foot-2 floor general stayed firmly put in the 2026-27 class, despite rumors of a reclassification, ranking atop national lists across the board as arguably the best available at his position. And while a timetable for Kinney’s ultimate decision hasn’t yet shaken out, it’s clear that the blue and red rivals each hold a powerful stake in his recruitment.

Regardless of the rumors, if Mark Pope gets a guy on campus, there’s a solid shot the Cats can capitalize on a commitment. When one battle ends for Kentucky’s staff, the next begins — if nothing else, it’s clear that the team has already started working towards as solid a roster next season as they put together for the one that’s about to begin.

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