University of Kentucky offensive tackle E.J. Price has withdrawn from school to pursue other opportunities. First reported by Justin Rowland, a UK spokesman confirmed Price’s departure.
A transfer from USC, Price started in 11 out of 13 games in 2018, his first year of eligibility. The former four-star recruit split left tackle duties with Naasir Watkins after Landon Young suffered a season-ending knee injury in the final preseason scrimmage.
In Price’s two years in Lexington, he had a few incidents that attracted unwanted attention. Following a spring practice in 2018, he went on a Twitter outburst and initially quit the team. Once he cooled down, Mark Stoops gave Price another chance. The talented offensive tackle kept a relatively low profile until an altercation at the Citrus Bowl forced him to the sideline for the entire second half of Kentucky’s victory over Penn State. Since then he had one more odd Tweet-storm before he deleted the social media account.
Without Price in the picture, Landon Young will be back with two years of eligibility at left tackle. Along with Watkins and Darian Kinnard, who played a few positions as a true freshman in 2018, the Cats are still in good shape at offensive tackle.
Best of luck to Price in his future endeavors.
Kentucky associate head coach Kenny Payne is about to meet with reporters to preview tomorrow’s game vs. Missouri. Tune in below courtesy of KyWildcatsTV, or check the site shortly after for a recap.
It’s been a rough year for Missouri. After losing Jontay Porter to a torn ACL and MCL in mid-October, the Tigers have struggled to find their footing, going 12-12 so far this season, 3-9 in conference play. Coming off a big win vs. No. 1 Tennessee, John Calipari isn’t about to let his team overlook Mizzou, telling reporters on today’s SEC Teleconference that he knows the Tigers are capable of pulling off an upset in Columbia tomorrow night.
“Whatever their record is, there were two or three other games they had a chance to win,” Cal said. “They played at Tennessee and had their chances and did a great job in a hostile environment. So, we know that they’re good enough to beat us; we know that. Having their best player go down early affected their team but they’ve recovered from that.”
Missouri is led by 6’10” forward Jeremiah Tilmon, who scored 21 points in the Tigers’ win over Arkansas last week. Cal singled him out when asked which players he was concerned about tomorrow night.
“Cuonzo’s coaching his team and playing the way they have to play to win. One, you know his teams are always going to be good defensively, they’re going to lock you down and they’re gonna turn down ball screens and they’re gonna fight you on pick and rolls and fight you on pin downs. Then what he’s doing offensively, they’re playing through Tilmon as much as they can yet they’re taking 25 threes a game. Making eight.”
Tilmon fouled out of Missouri’s loss to Ole Miss on Saturday after only 15 minutes; good thing Kentucky’s got four bigs they can rotate against him.
Kentucky’s loss to LSU on Tuesday dropped them to No. 6 in the NET Rankings on Friday, but the win over No. 1 Tennessee bumped them back into the top five. The latest rankings just came out and Kentucky is fifth behind Duke, Gonzaga, Virginia, and Houston. Tennessee dropped to sixth.
Here’s the NET top ten:
| RANK | PREVIOUS | SCHOOL | CONFERENCE | RECORD | ROAD | NEUTRAL | HOME | NON DIV I |
| 1 | 2 | Duke | ACC | 23-2 | 6-0 | 4-1 | 13-1 | 0-0 |
| 2 | 1 | Gonzaga | WCC | 25-2 | 7-1 | 3-1 | 15-0 | 0-0 |
| 3 | 3 | Virginia | ACC | 22-2 | 7-1 | 3-0 | 12-1 | 0-0 |
| 4 | 5 | Houston | AAC | 25-1 | 8-1 | 0-0 | 17-0 | 0-0 |
| 5 | 6 | Kentucky | SEC | 21-4 | 6-1 | 1-2 | 14-1 | 0-0 |
| 6 | 4 | Tennessee | SEC | 23-2 | 6-1 | 2-1 | 14-0 | 1-0 |
| 7 | 7 | Michigan St. | Big Ten | 21-5 | 7-3 | 2-1 | 12-1 | 0-0 |
| 8 | 8 | Michigan | Big Ten | 23-3 | 5-3 | 2-0 | 16-0 | 0-0 |
| 9 | 9 | North Carolina | ACC | 20-5 | 8-1 | 1-2 | 11-2 | 0-0 |
| 10 | 10 | Texas Tech | Big 12 | 21-5 | 4-3 | 3-1 | 14-1 | 0-0 |
What do the NET rankings mean? They’re merely a sorting tool the Selection Committee uses to compile team sheets. The ranking system factors in game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin (capping at 10 points per game), and net offensive and defensive efficiency.
The Selection Committee will use other criteria to seed teams, so don’t freak out too much about Houston being No. 4.
I’ll have Kentucky’s updated team sheet for you in just a bit.
Did I call it or did I call it? Kentucky’s win over No. 1 Tennessee boosted them to No. 4 in the new AP Poll, which just hit the presses.
Duke is the new No. 1 team in the land, followed by Gonzaga, Virginia, the Cats, and then the Vols.
| Rank | Team | Record | Points |
| 1 | Duke | 23-2 | 1,594 (58) |
| 2 | Gonzaga | 25-2 | 1,502 (6) |
| 3 | Virginia | 22-2 | 1,476 |
| 4 | Kentucky | 21-4 | 1,383 |
| 5 | Tennessee | 23-2 | 1,376 |
| 6 | Nevada | 24-1 | 1,240 |
| 7 | Michigan | 23-3 | 1,150 |
| 8 | North Carolina | 20-5 | 1,129 |
| 9 | Houston | 25-1 | 1,085 |
| 10 | Michigan State | 21-5 | 1,046 |
| 11 | Marquette | 21-4 | 987 |
| 12 | Kansas | 20-6 | 801 |
| 13 | LSU | 21-4 | 773 |
| 14 | Texas Tech | 21-5 | 733 |
| 15 | Purdue | 18-7 | 699 |
| 16 | Florida State | 20-5 | 525 |
| 17 | Villanova | 20-6 | 519 |
| 18 | Louisville | 18-8 | 507 |
| 19 | Iowa State | 19-6 | 426 |
| 20 | Virginia Tech | 20-5 | 408 |
| 21 | Iowa | 20-5 | 389 |
| 22 | Wisconsin | 17-8 | 250 |
| 23 | Kansas State | 19-6 | 249 |
| 24 | Maryland | 19-7 | 211 |
| 25 | Buffalo | 22-3 | 164 |
Others receiving votes: Cincinnati 99, Wofford 32, Auburn 21, Washington 20, St. John’s 2, Mississippi St. 2, Mississippi 1, Yale 1.
It’s Monday, it’s college basketball season and you know what that means: We’ve got ourselves another edition of the Aaron Torres Sports Podcast! Aaron is joined by Nick Coffey to discuss Kentucky’s massive win over Tennessee, mid-majors vs. big schools on the bubble, plus the most important question in the history of the podcast: What is the worst city in America? Highlights:
Tennessee-Kentucky Recap: The guys discuss the game of the weekend in college hoops, Kentucky’s triumphant and dominant win over Tennessee on Saturday at Rupp Arena. Is there any doubt that Kentucky is back amongst the elite of college basketball? Does this change the way the guys think about Tennessee? Plus, is Kentucky still being underrated nationally?
Should Mid-Majors or Power Conference teams get Priority for At-Large Bids? The guys also get into the oldest debate in college basketball. The guys argue make the case for teams like Murray State and Indiana. Aaron explains how the computers have hijacked any chance for mid-majors to get these bids.
Plus, the guys share their thoughts on what the worst city in America is, along with a history lesson.
Get the podcast delivered directly to your phone by subscribing to the Aaron Torres Sports Podcast feed on iTunes or via Android’s Podcast Addict app. You can easily listen on the KSR App, available on iTunes and Google Play. Streaming online is simple through Pod Paradise. Don’t forget to follow the show on Instagram too.
After a dominant performance vs. Tennessee, PJ Washington has been named SEC Player of the Week.
Washington averaged 21.5 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and 1.5 steals against No. 19 LSU and No. 1 Tennessee. Saturday was his ninth 20-point game of the season and his seventh in the last eight games. He’s scored in double figures in ten straight games, the first player to do so since Shai Gilgeous-Alexander last season.
This is PJ’s second SEC Player of the Week honor of the season. Earlier this month, he shared the award with Tennessee’s Jordan Bone, making him Kentucky’s first two-time winner since Tyler Ulis earned the award three times during the 2015-16 season. Anthony Davis and Julius Randle also won the award multiple times during their careers at Kentucky. Pretty good company.
With the conclusion of the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night, in which Team LeBron came back from 20 points to beat Team Giannis by a score of 178-164, it’s time for a few days off before league play kicks back up again on Thursday.
The two former Wildcats who participated in the All-Star Game, Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns, played a combined total of only 15 minutes for Team LeBron, but still made sure to get in on the fun.
The first half of the game was all about dunks and slick passing. Little defense was played – as expected – from either side and Giannis Antetokounmpo had his way in the paint through the first two quarters. But in the third quarter, Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal, and Klay Thompson brought Team LeBron all the way from the trenches with a bevy of triples to eventually take the lead in the fourth quarter before a 10-2 run late in the game sealed the win for Team LeBron.
Davis played only four minutes, all of them coming in the first quarter. There were question marks surrounding whether or not Davis would play in this game in the first place, considering he was limited with a shoulder injury in the four Pelicans games leading into the All-Star break. But he still went out there and got some shots up, scoring five points on 2-2 shooting, including a made three, and pulling in one board.
Anthony Davis says he’s good to go tonight but he admits he’s not going for the MVP award ? pic.twitter.com/yEFh75BnAw
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) February 18, 2019
Davis probably could have played more minutes if he wanted to, but he’s just asking the media/fans to rain down on him with the fury of hell if he went out there and dropped 30 points in 25 minutes looking perfectly healthy. Playing a mere four minutes was likely the right move for his situation.
Towns played 11 minutes and made sure to take full advantage of them, pouring in 11 points on 5-7 shooting (1-3 from three) in addition to three rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
Overall, it was a pretty entertaining All-Star Game. The two teams combined for the most made threes in All-Star Game history with 62 makes on an outstanding 167 attempts. The second half featured some engaged defense and the best shooters in the world going nuts from every area on the court. The third quarter was basically just the two teams exchanging threes from 25-feet out and it was glorious. At least three times during that quarter did I just swing my head back and shoot my arms into the air while screaming “HOW?!”
Kevin Durant took home the MVP honors for the second time in his career after he posted 31 points on 10-15 shooting (6-9 from three) to go along with seven rebounds.
Talk to you all on Thursday! I’ll be hibernating until then.
Follow me on Twitter: @ZackGeoghegan
Kentucky’s win over No. 1 Tennessee was so good The OTT Podcast crew sacrificed their Sunday nights to talk about it. Tune in as Tyler and Fake Barney discuss the thumpin’ of the Vols — which Barney predicted — and what it means moving forward. Highlights include…
— How great it felt to be the show in college basketball again
— Our predictions for the new AP poll
— Why the “overrated” chant is really overrated
— The social media follow that made Tyler fangirl on Sunday
— What happens when you report an iTunes review
…and much, much more. You can easily listen on the KSR App, available on iTunes and Google Play. Streaming online is simple through Pod Paradise. You can also get it directly on your phone by subscribing to The OTT Podcast feed on iTunes or via Android’s Podcast Addict app.
Today’s Episode is brought to you by:
Want to do the SEC Tournament right? KSR is partnering with Bridgestone Arena to offer premium seating at the 2019 SEC Tournament in Nashville. For more information on pricing and availability call (615) 770-7888 or click here.
Good morning, friends, and welcome to the Monday edition of Kentucky Sports Radio. Today, the gang will recap Kentucky’s huge win over Tennessee, which made for an epic weekend in Lexington. Tune in or miss out!
Join in on the fun by calling (502) 571-1080 or send a text to the KSR Texting Machine at (859) 300-3264.
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The KSR Shop and Kentucky Branded are having the final day of their HUGE winter clearance event. Now is the perfect time to stock up on KSR apparel, UK sweatshirts and tees, fun gift ideas, and more. Head to ShopKSR.com to receive up to 60% off your items. Tell your family and friends! Sale ends at midnight.
Does the weekend have to be over? I don’t know about you guys, but I reveled in the win over No. 1 Tennessee all day yesterday, pretty much making up excuses to get out of the house so I could sport my Kentucky blue all over Nashville. It was one of those games I just couldn’t get enough of, eating up each moment through highlights, recaps, and social media like a starving man at a buffet.
For the first time in a while, it felt like Kentucky Basketball was BACK. The Cats didn’t just beat the number one team in the country, they ran them off the court, making even the most casual basketball fan sit up and take notice. For one blissful night, Duke and Zion Williamson were shoved to the side and Kentucky was the show again, a much-needed shot in the arm as we barrel towards March.
In fact, as Mitch Barnhart pointed out, it was a pretty incredible weekend for UK Athletics all around:
Big weekend for the #BBN, to say the least.
–@KentuckyMBB hosts GameDay and takes down No. 1
–@KentuckyWBB wins a big SEC game on a buzzer beater
–@UKBaseball sweeps opening weekend
–@UKsoftball finishes strong for a winning weekend in Clearwater— Mitch Barnhart (@UKMitchBarnhart) February 18, 2019
And if all that's not enough, former Cats are all over NBA All-Star Weekend and @JBHolmesgolf just won the Genesis Open. We're happy for you, J.B.! #WeAreUK
— Mitch Barnhart (@UKMitchBarnhart) February 18, 2019
At some point today, we’ll move on and focus on Missouri but for now, I’m going to savor the win a little longer, sharing my favorite photos by Dr. Mike of a fantastic day in Lexington throughout the morning post (you can see them all on our Facebook page). Let’s go over today’s agenda.
Where will Kentucky land in the polls?
If Kentucky hadn’t lost to LSU, I think they’d crack the top three, but on the flip side, I don’t think they would pummeled Tennessee like they did had they beaten the Tigers. (Anger is a great motivator.) I predict this week’s top five will be 1) Duke, 2) Gonzaga, 3) Virginia, 4) Kentucky, 5) Tennessee. I have a sinking feeling the AP voters will still keep the Vols ahead of the Cats despite Saturday’s win, but if so, even more reason to beat them in Knoxville, right?
More important than the AP and Coaches Polls are the NET rankings, which will also be updated today. The Cats are currently No. 6 behind Gonzaga, Duke, Virginia, Tennessee, and Houston. I’ll bring you the new rankings when they drop and also update Kentucky’s team sheet. Less than a month until Selection Sunday! Speaking of, Seth Davis currently has Kentucky as a No. 1 seed:
This is how my 1 and 2 line looks right now. I see a lot of people still have Kentucky as a 2. They are all wrong. https://t.co/X2Bw9n4v7M
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) February 17, 2019
I’m sure Joe Lunardi and the Bracketheads will release new projections today too, so stay tuned.
Who will win SEC Player/Freshman of the Week?
Earlier this month, PJ Washington shared SEC Player of the Week honors with Tennessee’s Jordan Bone. After a dominant performance vs. the Vols, will PJ bring it home again? He definitely deserves it. We’ll find out in a few hours.
John Calipari in the morning
How is Cal feeling about his squad’s big win after a day of reflection? He’ll tell us on this morning’s SEC Teleconference, a call I’m sure he’ll take while walking into Dunkin’ Donuts, on the elliptical for his morning sweat, or any situation in which there’s a lot of background noise.
Kenny Payne in the afternoon
With Cal doing media in the morning, Kenny Payne will handle this afternoon’s media opportunity. Check the site around 2 p.m. for a live stream and recap of his comments, which are usually more insightful and interesting than Cal-speak.
Recruiting updates, including the latest on Keion Brooks
If you were too busy celebrating the Tennessee win to check the site yesterday, you missed some scoop from young Jack Pilgrim. Sources tell KSR that five-star forward Keion Brooks canceled his visit to Michigan State and is closing in on a decision, possibly in the next week. The timing of this news is particularly interesting because Brooks was in Rupp Saturday night on an unofficial visit. Will a perfect night in Rupp make Brooks a Cat? Check the site later today for the latest from Jack.
A new episode of “The Journey”
First we win, then we wait for a new episode of “The Journey,” KyWildcatsTV’s excellent behind-the-scenes YouTube series. We won’t get the Tennessee episode until tonight, but last night, UK dropped a sneak peek on Twitter:
@MrsTylerKSR Are you having as hard of a time waiting for the Tennessee cut of #TheJourney as we are? The good news is we've got an exclusive peek for you to hold you over until tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/rRO5TMBEKM
— Kentucky Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) February 17, 2019
All-Star Game results
Team LeBron beat Team Giannis in the All-Star Game, which included two former Cats. Anthony Davis only played five minutes in the game due to a shoulder injury, but put up five points, including a three. Karl Towns was 5-7 from the floor for 11 points, 3 rebounds and an assist. This dunk was a nice highlight:
New OTT Podcast is here
Big wins call for emergency podcasts. Fake Barney took time out of his Sunday evening to chat with me about Kentucky’s thumping of the Vols. The episode is already available on The OTT Podcast feed on iTunes, and will drop on the KSR feed in just a bit. Speaking of podcasts, it’s Oscars Week, and the gang at 2 Guys, 1 Girl, Santa invited me on to pick winners. You can find that on iTunes or Soundcloud.
Happy birthday, Erin Calipari
The eldest Calipari daughter celebrates another trip around the world today, hopefully by slaying some more trolls on Twitter. Don’t worry; her dad remembered.
It’s @TheErinCalipari’s birthday! She has grown into a very talented, driven young woman who I’m so proud of. I can still remember her climbing the drawers in the kitchen, running and talking all day, then putting herself to bed. She would be sleeping in two minutes!!! pic.twitter.com/RqyxzICnMd
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) February 18, 2019
ANYWAYS…radio in an hour. Go seize that Monday morning.
John Calipari is pretty good at coaching the No. 1 team in America. Turns out, he’s pretty good at beating the No. 1 team in America, too.
Kentucky helped themselves immensely by beating No. 1 Tennessee inside Rupp Arena Saturday night. But the players and the fans aren’t the only ones who have something to smile about. The victory also pushed John Calipari to a 5-4 record over top-ranked teams, making him the only coach with a winning record over teams ranked No. 1 in the nation (out of coaches who have faced the highest-rated team at least seven times).
Throughout the storied history of college basketball, 87 different coaches have had the pleasure of facing off against the No. 1 team at least seven times. Now, John Calipari is the only one above .500. He’s 2-2 during his time at Kentucky.
And haters will still try and say he can’t coach.
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