GAMEDAY, Presented by Lockbox at 21c: Beat Vanderbilt, Again

by:Nick Roush01/29/19

@RoushKSR

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After three straight wins over ranked opponents, the seventh-ranked Kentucky Wildcats return to the court to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at Memorial Gymnasium, tonight at 9:00 pm on ESPN.

It feels like just yesterday the Cats were playing the Commodores.  That’s because Vanderbilt made the trip to Rupp Arena only 17 days ago.  Kentucky won 56-47, but it was not the prettiest win.  Many would consider it this team’s last poor performance.  The Cats fell behind 16-5 and trailed at half, before awakening in the second half behind 15-point performances from Ashton Hagans and Keldon Johnson.

Vanderbilt is the only team remaining in the SEC without a conference victory, but they hung around long enough at Rupp to bring hope to Memorial Gymnasium.  A venue that has not been kind to Kentucky, will the Cats take a step back or keep the momentum rolling in Nashville?

Not an Ideal Trend

The game after the SEC/Big 12 Challenge has typically been a challenge for Kentucky.  Over the last three years it’s served as a let-down game against very average SEC opponents.

  • 2016: L at Tennessee 77-84
  • 2017: W vs. Georgia 90-81 (OT)
  • 2018: W vs. Vanderbilt 83-81 (OT)

On the flip side, Bryce Drew is 0-5 vs. UK.  Calipari is 6-2 at Memorial Gym, falling in 2016 and 2011.

How to Watch and Listen

Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes and Kris Budden are on the call for ESPN beginning at 9:00 pm.  If you can’t get in front of a TV, there are a few different ways you can listen to the Voice of the Wildcats:

  • AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
  • FM: 98.1 WBUL
  • Satellite: XM-192 and Sirius-146
  • Online: iHeart Radio

Vegas

The line opened at Kentucky -9.5 with a total of 140.5.  I have a feeling that line will only get larger before tip-off

Prepare on the KSR Pregame Show

Before the Cats take the court for a late night tip-off in Nashville, listen to Matt Jones and the KSR crew preview the matchup.  All of the action begins on 630 WLAP or online at 6:30 pm.

Relive The Journey

Before you completely move on to Vanderbilt, take one chance to relive the amazing win over Kansas with UK’s spectacular cinematic production, “The Journey.”

An Incredible Stat

How good is Mark Stoops? From ESPN’s Chris Low: “Only five SEC teams have finished .500 or better vs. SEC foes in each of the last 3 seasons: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU and Texas A&M. Number of 4/5-star prospects signed during that span: Alabama (59), Georgia (58), LSU (50), A&M (42) and Kentucky (14).”

Stoops could add a few more four-star recruits before next Wednesday’s National Signing Day.  You’ll find a few football recruiting updates here.

The NFL is not Smart

Super Bowl media day has turned into quite a clown show, and that’s not hyperbole.  It typically produces a few laughable moments, but not much else.  Last night the NFL created a storyline by giving its harshest critic ammunition.

Once banned and by the NFL (and even thrown in jail for trespassing), Barstool’s Dave Portnoy and PFT Commenter successfully snuck into Super Bowl media day.  For about an hour they posted videos with multiple players from each team.  Just when you thought their night was finished after a few so-so videos, NFL security found each undercover Barstool employee and threw them out of the arena.

The stupidity of that move is incredible.  Instead of letting Barstool post a few one-minute videos, they fed an anti-establishment narrative.  They wanted to get kicked out and the NFL happily obliged.  Idiots.

Whoa

Of all the wild viral videos, this one might be my favorite.

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