Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
This guy knows a thing or two about big game.
Andy Katz didn’t mince words in his preview of tonight’s games. ”This is a sentence that seemed unfathomable a year ago: Kentucky needs a marquee win Tuesday night at Ole Miss to be NCAA worthy heading into February.” And Bracketology expert Joe Lunardi? He’s more than familiar with the Cats’ tenuous position.
Yes (for now). “@seabass912: @espnlunardi is Kentucky in the dance?”
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) January 29, 2013
With this Bizarro situation before us, “unfathomable” though it may be, is Ole Miss now the most important game left on our schedule? The only other currently-ranked teams we play are Mizzou at home, and Florida twice. Missouri already has a couple conference losses, like us, and Florida looks, well, Florida looks almost unbeatable in league play. The Ole Miss game is a very winnable game against an opponent who definitely isn’t used to the position they’re in. You talk about “act like you’ve been there before?” Well, they definitely haven’t. Kentucky is used to leading the SEC, and even Florida is no stranger to league success, but Ole Miss? Well, they’re the Cinderella of the conference this year.
The bottom line is, Kentucky doesn’t have a win against a ranked team this year. And no other SEC team is going to be ranked before Kentucky is. I won’t say beating Florida is out of reach, but I’m not gonna put a lot of eggs in that basket. Ole Miss and Mizzou are both ranked almost identically, but Ole Miss has a better standing in the SEC, and it’s more important to knock them out of it while we have the chance.
And what a chance we have, because this is a winnable game. Very winnable. Ole Miss scores a lot of points and grabs a lot of rebounds, but their FG% isn’t that great. Marshall Henderson and Murphy Holloway are the only players averaging double-digit points, and Henderson shoots around 39%. They’re very much a fast-paced, volume team that relies on a couple guys to do the bulk of the scoring. For perspective, they’ve lost to Middle Tennessee State and Indiana State, which hasn’t been the same since Larry Bird left. They have a good win against Missouri, but other than that, their schedule is weaker than the coffee at Phil’s Market.
To boil it down to a single sentence, this might be Kentucky’s best chance for a marquee win against the SEC leader while on the tourney bubble. Regular season games typically don’t get much bigger than that.
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January 29th, 2013 at 9:02 am
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January 29th, 2013 at 9:03 am
64% think Ole Miss is gonna win… how bout some help BBN? http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/poll/conversation/_/id/3487101
January 29th, 2013 at 9:09 am
Jarrod Polson!!!
January 29th, 2013 at 9:09 am
why don’t we just go back to running and passing and scoring 90+ points…that beats the heck out of grinding…
January 29th, 2013 at 9:17 am
i never thought i would say this…but…i actually looked forward to reading the 9:00 am post this morning after having to see that bachelor shit.
January 29th, 2013 at 9:18 am
Henderson is the type of guy that will miss 5 straight 3pt’s then hit one and get in your face about it.
January 29th, 2013 at 9:19 am
@NativeFlash22. Apparently this guy is native-american, which makes him a little cooler in my book.
January 29th, 2013 at 9:21 am
Ole Miss has losses to Indiana STATE and MIDDLE Tennessee!!! They have one quality win over a handicapped Mizzou team. If UK can’t beat this team, they don’t deserve an invite to the Big Dance!., Dang, I wish we were in a REAL basketball conference like the ACC or Big East. The SEC is absolutely EMBARRASSING!
January 29th, 2013 at 9:24 am
I hope that the UK players decide to compete as a team tonight. If they don’t, they better know Ole Miss is going to try and embarrass them on ESPN.
January 29th, 2013 at 9:26 am
#8 over the last 20 years there have been two conferences representing 6 national championships apiece. One is the ACC, and the other is the SEC. The big east is not all the media makes it out to be. And the SEC is not as weak as the media makes it out to be. Now, go troll someplace else.
January 29th, 2013 at 9:29 am
Defensive rebounding will be a huge key to winning this game for UK. Ole Miss relies on offensive rebounds to give them a lot of second and third chance points. There will be a lot of long rebounds that the Cats will need to chase down and out-fight their opponents. This game is basically going to come down to hustle, and who is hungrier. Hope the Cats bring their appetites tonight!
January 29th, 2013 at 9:33 am
#8 sound a bit trollish to me. I’m far from being an SEC apologist, but any team will tell you that in-conference games are tough. These teams know your characteristics and tendencies from years of competing against you, and when you are a leader like UK, they all bring their best game. It is annoying to see many of these SEC teams throwing in absolute clunkers against outside competition, only to become all-stars when they play the Cats. Exhibit A: Elston Turner.
January 29th, 2013 at 9:34 am
It is a sad day when we are not only an underdog to Ole Miss, but are needing to beat them for a shot at the Tourney.
January 29th, 2013 at 9:34 am
ARGGGGGGG Mates. Ole Miss shall lose there minds when the shine gets in there eyes from Wiltjer draining a 3 in there eye. Archie and or Poythress will cost us the game by there play more than likely
January 29th, 2013 at 9:34 am
Some players have had all year to see if they can “get it”. Hood should start getting more time to play through the nerves and break a sweat.
January 29th, 2013 at 9:39 am
Who is Jon Hood??? Is he a walk-on?? Bullitt East Boy take note!! It’s called PINETIME!
January 29th, 2013 at 9:41 am
8- we see you Trollin….. We hatin……
January 29th, 2013 at 9:41 am
Marquee win? This is an Ole Miss team that sucks by past UK standards as an opponent and just shows how bad this UK team has become. This year has taken the sweet taste of last years championship right out of my mouth. I do not expect to win it all every year but to be this bad in this weak SEC is just something I cannot fathom!
January 29th, 2013 at 9:45 am
Get ready for the storming the floor tonight if Uk loses. Biggest game of the year for MIss.
January 29th, 2013 at 9:47 am
It looks like UK will have to settle for maybe a championship every two years. Can’t keep good experienced players long enough to do better.
January 29th, 2013 at 9:48 am
Wow, from Nat Champs to big games vs. Ole Miss, how the tables turn.
January 29th, 2013 at 9:51 am
13. It’s also sad when most UK fans have all but given up on this team, expecting losses to the *ahem* mighty Missouri Tigers and the allegedly unbeatable Gators. My favorite part of UK winning tonight will be that it’ll be a step closer to shutting some of our own pessimistic fans up.
January 29th, 2013 at 9:54 am
Looking forward to a big bench clearing brawl tonight! Haven’t seen a good one in a long time. We probably wont win, but I hope someone jacks the haw of Henderson. The way Calipari is talking, I would fully expect something to go down tonight. “If he (Henderson) talks to you, talk back to him.” Can’t wait.
January 29th, 2013 at 10:09 am
Wasn’t Duke and UL our biggest games of the year? Maybe even Notre Dame on the road? Somehow we keep losing all of our “big games”. I’m not going to fool myself into thinking that somehow we’ve finally turned the corner and will win one, especially since we’ve shown very little signs of improving; however, I agree with the above comment that the game comes down to rebounding. We do a good job, then we’ll have a damn fine chance of pulling the upset.
January 29th, 2013 at 10:25 am
Its embarrasing to be a UK fan with all the bull crap unrealistic expectations every year. I hate having to defend how normal and objective some UK fans. Its difficult when UK fans on a UK site are bashing their own players. I know some are trolls, but a lot of the bitching and complaining is from “real” UK fans
January 29th, 2013 at 11:01 am
You got problem with our coffee??
January 29th, 2013 at 11:03 am
I bet that guy’s wiener grew an inch after going to Africa to shoot that thing.
January 29th, 2013 at 11:44 am
22. Hi Jen. I understand your sentiments. The problem is that this team hasn’t given much for fans to be optimistic about. We still bleed blue but are realistic. While the squad has shown some signs of improvement, they are still too “I” oriented.
Here’s hoping they do pull out a win against a hot opponent tonight. Won’t surprise me if they do…but then again, it won’t surprise me if they don’t.
January 29th, 2013 at 1:38 pm
Amen, Jen and lonnieb. So many people complain that we don’t recruit any 2-, 3-, or 4-year players. Well, maybe that is what we have with this group of Freshmen. Let them grow and play, and don’t be in such a hurry to make them ready to leave for the NBA.