Kentucky Basketball

Kentucky Dominating Sec Basketball Again

... players, and I don't think there is any question that we have a great future ahead of us in this league. I have so much respect for the coaches in the league, and there really are a lot of young players.". Calipari defended the SEC on Saturday night, saying, "It's happening all over college basketball. It's hard to be at your best every day.". Inconsistency has been reflected throughout the country, even in the Atlantic Coast Conference, where Duke entered this week 3-3 in league play. North Carolina, in the span of nine days, had a 12-point loss to Georgia Tech and a 51-point win over N. C. State. The notable contrast, however, is that more than half of the ACC is expected to land in the NCAA bracket. "Going forward, I think our league is going to get to the level everybody wants it to be," Barnes said. "Somebody told me that there are 10 projected teams from the ACC, and I think there will be ...

Kansas May Be Kentucky’s Last Chance To Wow Tournament Committee

... defense and its inability to always follow directions. Road signs pointed toward danger. Vanderbilt is hardly a juggernaut this season yet the Commodores pushed the Cats to the final horn before falling 87-81 in Nashville. Ben Howland’s young Mississippi State team stormed back from a large deficit before losing 88-81 to Kentucky in Starkville. Where Vandy and MSU came up just short, Tennessee finished the job. “Maybe we got arrogant,” Calipari said Tuesday night after dropping to 3-4 at Thompson-Boling Arena as the UK coach. The real culprit is a lack of improvement on defense. Back in the preseason, Calipari said his team should stand out on that end of the floor come February. Well, February is less than a week away and the Cats still have trouble stopping opponents’ drives to the rim and take too many unnecessary chances. There was a play Tuesday in which De’Aaron Fox attempted a low-percentage steal and failed, leaving a Vol wide open for a mid-range jumper that swished. Calipari immediately hopped out of his seat, arms raised, and yelled at his ...

Kentucky Calls For Bam Adebayo To Find His Inner Demarcus Cousins

... to get looks.”. Kentucky freshman Wenyen Gabriel said Monday he has no problem with 9 p.m. games, which is the tip time for UK's game at Tennessee on Tuesday. It’s all in the sense of sharing and caring. Seemingly in this vein, Adebayo didn’t warm to the preseason perception that he could be the low-post strong man Kentucky obviously lacked last season. The absence was perhaps never more obvious than at Tennessee. UK fans might recall that the lack of a credible low-post scoring threat hurt Kentucky at Tennessee last season. The Cats roared to a 21-point lead in the first half. Then as Tennessee rallied, UK couldn’t blunt the Vols’ momentum by having a player score or get fouled or both in the post. Payne didn’t object to the notion that Adebayo is too considerate of his teammates’ desire to shoot and score. “I think he’s too nice, too unselfish,” Payne said. “I really do.”. Kentucky center Isaac Humphries says being more aggressive helped him have a productive game last Saturday against South Carolina. Of course, the idea that Adebayo’s personality changes on and off the court ...

Fox Injury ‘discombobulated’ Kentucky; Timing Of Return Unclear

... if Fox would play at Tennessee. “I think he’s day-to-day,” Payne said. Fox is UK’s second-leading scorer (16.2 points per game). He’s also shot the second-most free throws (107), so he gets to the foul line. He leads the Cats in steals (30). But maybe most importantly, he leads the team’s trademark fast-paced style. “De’Aaron kind of controls the game because he’s really a threat with his quickness,” Wenyen Gabriel said. Other point guards like Isaiah Briscoe and Dominique Hawkins make for a slower pace. “It’s just a different style of play, and we have to adjust to it,” Isaac Humphries said. “That’s fine. We adjust on the run, and it’s all good.”. Kentucky center Isaac Humphries says being more aggressive helped him have a productive game last Saturday against South Carolina. Briscoe ‘at peace’. Earlier in the day, the United States Basketball Writers Association said Fox and UK teammate Malik Monk were on its ...

No. 1 Villanova, No. 2 Kansas And No. 4 Kentucky Lose In Night Of College Basketball Upsets

... 98, Auburn 69. As South Carolina's senior leaders were coming off the court in Saturday night's loss at powerhouse Kentucky , Gamecocks coach Frank Martin gave them a message. "It's over," Martin told them, explaining how the pouting, the sluggish practices and lack of attention after last year's defeat to Kentucky lingered far too long. "And it cost us at Missouri.". The leadership core of Duane Notice, Sindarius Thornwell and Justin Mc Kie made sure it didn't Tuesday night, combining for 62 points and 14 3-pointers as the Gamecocks put away Auburn 98-69 in Columbia , S. C. A year ago, South Carolina (16-4, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) followed up its defeat to the Wildcats with a surprising 72-67 loss at struggling Missouri. This time, Notice led the way by tying career highs of 27 points and six 3-pointers, Thornwell had 22 points and five 3-pointers and Mc Kie had 13 points and ...

Tough Tests Ahead For Kansas, Villanova, Kentucky Stars

... But in reality Ball’s defense has been stout. The 6-foot-6 point guard has been the Bruins’ primary defender on 135 possessions, per Synergy Sports Data, and opponents have mustered only 0.73 ppp, placing Ball in the 83 rd percentile nationally. He’s ably handled pick-and-roll ballhandlers, spot-up shooters and players coming off screens. His contribution to the best shooting offense in the history of advanced metrics (dating to 2002) is obvious. Ball’s shots and assists are worth 1.626 points per trip. Malik Monk, Kentucky (21.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.3 apg). With teammate De’Aaron Fox on the bench due to injury, Monk poured in 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting Saturday to lead the Wildcats past South Carolina in a battle of SEC unbeatens. “[Monk’s] been doing unbelievable work the last week,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “Man, he's put in his time. He's mastering his craft. We had a great practice film session. I go up to my ...

Kentucky's Dominance Over Kansas Has Resulted In Record-setting Games

... was there for a dedication ceremony beforehand. He would die almost exactly one year later — Dec. 10, 1977. 8. Dec. 9, 1989: Kansas 150, Kentucky 95. The game set a slew of records for both schools — good ones for Kansas and bad ones for Kentucky. It was the worst loss in program history for the Wildcats. Kansas’ 55-point victory was led by Terry Brown’s 31 points on 7-of-10 shooting from behind the arc. Derrick Miller led Kentucky with 32 points on 19 3-point attempts, but it wasn’t close to being enough. Kansas’ 150 points are the most it’s ever scored in a game and the most lopsided matchup the two programs have ever played. 7. Dec. 14, 1959: Kentucky 77, Kansas 72 (OT). The second meeting between the schools and first in Lawrence, Kan., was a good one. Ned Jennings paced the Cats with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Wayne Hightower had a monster game for the Jayhawks with 33 points, 14 rebounds and a whopping 36 field goal attempts. It was the first of five overtime games between the two programs. 6. Jan. 30, 2016: Kansas 90, Kentucky 84 (OT). No. 20 Kentucky fell just short of pulling off an upset against fourth-ranked Kansas. It was the ...

Calipari Asks Pointed Question About The Many Fouls Called

... forward Derek Willis talks about how he and Wenyen Gabriel played in win at Mississippi State on Tuesday. UK plays host to South Carolina on Saturday. “This is another team that will be scrappy,” Calipari said. “They’re not backing down. They’re coming in with expectations (of winning).”. Derek Willis, one of the heroes of Kentucky’s victory at scrappy Mississippi State on Tuesday, suggested that opponents try to narrow the talent gap against Kentucky through — depending on your viewpoint — fouling or physical effort. South Carolina Coach Frank Martin did not object to the suggestion that physical play through greater effort can be a means of defeating superior talent. “I think that’s a talent in itself,” he said Thursday. “Some people are gifted in how they think. Some people are gifted in how fast they run. Some people are gifted in some other skill. Some people are gifted in a relentless work ethic, and we recruit to that. That’s important to us.”. Martin is a disciple of Bob Huggins, whose West Virginia team is known as “Press Virginia.” As in pressure making the opponent uneasy. Kentucky forward Tai ...

Kentucky Basketball Previews Tennessee

... takes open shots which Coach Cal is on him about and he’s rebounding the ball better. He’s playing excellent defense. He’s helping off the ball. He’s doing everything that we ask him to do.”. On the change from high school play to college play for Gabriel …. “I just think the competition wasn’t the same. What he played against - I just think that in high school you can get away with being a volume shooter because there is no other player on your team besides yourself. Then when you talk about coming to college, it’s important for young people to know you gotta share. To be on a great team and play with other great players, you have to share and Wenyen has done that and embraced that, but it’s an adjustment. It’s a major adjustment from going from a high school player where I can take 30 shots to I’m going to get five, six, eight shots.”. On demanding Bam Adebayo gets more touches in the post …. “No question. I think that is the finished product of what we are trying to do as a team. If we get Bam to be more aggressive without a play being called - meaning he sprints the floor, the ball is on the left side of the floor, he sprints the right side, he sprints over to the post, ...