KSR Today: Christmas Week, Early NSD Preparations, Basketball Sadness
Good morning, friends, and welcome to a new week — Christmas week, in fact. Presents, food, and maybe even snow await us in the coming days, but it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of cheer in the Big Blue Nation right now. The gold standard that is Kentucky Basketball seems pretty tarnished, and sadly, the routine holiday polishing probably won’t do the trick.
The news isn’t all bad in the Kentucky Sports world right now. Let’s start with the bad and then move on to the good.
Basketball
A new meaning to Big Blue Nation
Unless you completely checked out on Saturday — which, it feels, an increasing number of Kentucky fans are starting to do — you know that the Cats’ trip to New York did not go well. On the surface, a ten-point loss to No. 16 UCLA, which just beat No. 20 Maryland by 27 a few days prior, doesn’t seem that bad. However, even the most casual glance at the box score will prompt a double take. Kentucky totaled only 53 points on 32.8% shooting, both season lows. The Cats’ trio of shooters, Cason Wallace, Antonio Reeves, and CJ Fredrick, were a combined 4-26 from the floor for 13 points, with Fredrick not even attempting a shot in his six minutes of play. Kentucky committed 18 turnovers, made only 5-13 free throws, and, after cutting UCLA’s lead to two points, went scoreless the final 4:31 of the game. That is not a formula for winning basketball.
Saturday’s loss moves Kentucky to 7-3 on the season and takes the Cats’ record in games vs. AP Top 25 teams to 4-13 since the 2019-20 season. With eight games vs. current Top 25 teams remaining this season, the landscape looks bleak. After a day of reflection, I think that’s the most frustrating thing of all about the current state of Kentucky Basketball: given the trajectory in recent years, what makes you think things will change anytime soon? Kentucky will beat a bad Florida A&M team on Wednesday at Rupp and Louisville on Dec. 31 (although I’m even starting to feel oddly nervous about that), but at Missouri on Dec. 28? On the road vs. Alabama on Jan. 7 or really, most of the other SEC games? I just don’t know.
Saturday night’s postgame show was a perfect glimpse into the psyche of Kentucky fans right now. As George Costanza said, the sea was angry that day, my friends. Like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli.
How far will Kentucky drop in the new AP Poll?
New AP and Coaches Polls will be released this afternoon around lunchtime. Kentucky is currently No. 13 in both. How far will the Cats drop? A lot of fans would argue Kentucky doesn’t deserve to be ranked at all right now, but Gary Parrish only dropped the Cats to No. 18 in his daily rankings on Sunday. We’ll find out for sure soon enough.
John Calipari’s call-in show is tonight
John Calipari’s remarks following Kentucky’s 63-53 loss on Saturday were brief; his postgame radio appearance was even cut short due to technical difficulties. Tonight, Calipari is scheduled to sit down with Tom Leach for his call-in show from 6-7 p.m. on 630 WLAP. We’ll be listening to pass along any news.
Calipari visits Ian Jackson
Before heading home from New York, Calipari and Orlando Antigua went to the Bronx to watch five-star guard Ian Jackson. KSR was also in the house to get the highlights, which we’ll share with you later today.
Team hosts holiday party
Once Calipari was back in Lexington, the team hosted some area families at the Wildcat Coal Lodge. Despite the current state of affairs, it was a feel-good moment for the players and fans. Adou Thiero played Santa Claus.
Women’s Basketball loses to Florida Gulf Coast
Furthering the roundball depression, Kentucky WBB dropped its third straight game on Sunday, losing to Florida Gulf Coast 69-63. Looking at the box score feels a little bit like deja vu from the men’s loss to UCLA. The Cats committed 20 turnovers, leading to 32 FGCU points, and shot only 32.8% from the floor, 14.3% from three-point land. Unlike the men, the women handled their free throws, making 23 of 25 attempts from the line (92.0%).
Kentucky WBB is now 7-4 on the season, 5-3 at home. The Cats will be back in action Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. vs. Ohio at Memorial Coliseum.
Football
With basketball dragging us down, football was a welcome distraction on Sunday, with Ohio State defensive back Jantzen Dunn announcing he will transfer to Kentucky. The Bowling Green, Ky. native was a top-200 prospect overall and the No. 2 player in Kentucky in the class of 2021 before choosing the Buckeyes over Kentucky, Louisville, and Tennessee. He is Kentucky’s second high-profile addition to the secondary from the transfer portal, following Cincinnati’s JQ Hardaway‘s commitment on Thursday.
We’re still on commitment watch for former Vanderbilt running back Re’Mahn “Ray” Davis, who visited Kentucky over the weekend and awaiting some clarity on who Kentucky’s next quarterback might be. Graham Mertz was also on Kentucky’s campus this weekend to visit with coaches, while NC State QB Devin Leary visited Auburn. In other portal news, Alabama cornerback Khyree Jackson committed to Oregon on Sunday, picking the Ducks over the Cats.
Today marks the start of the dead period, meaning programs won’t be able to host prospects for visits until January. Getting mid-year transfers on campus this past weekend was paramount for the Kentucky coaching staff. We’ll see in the coming days how successful it was.
Early National Signing Day is Wednesday
The race is even more urgent for high school prospects. Wednesday is Early National Signing Day, and Kentucky is expected to add to its group of 15 commitments. Here’s a brief rundown of where the Cats stand with a few days left until the first of two signing days (the other is in February).
— Cincinnati Winton Woods running back Trey Cornist will announce his decision on Wednesday, with Kentucky considered the frontrunner over East Carolina, Kansas State, Louisville, Michigan State, Tulane, and West Virginia.
— Former Georgia Tech commit Jamarion Wilcox was supposed to visit Auburn this weekend, but it’s unclear if the four-star running back made it. He did post a picture in Kentucky gear with new running backs coach Jay Boulware, which seems like a great sign for the Cats.
— Kentucky is trending for Florida State commitment Tavion Gadson, a three-star defensive lineman from Savannah, Ga. Several members of the coaching staff recently visited Gadson, who is currently planning to wait until February to sign. That could change.
— Other names we’re keeping an eye on ahead of Wednesday: four-star WR Karmello English, four-star WR Demitrius Bell, three-star IOL William “Woo” Spencer, three-star LB Asa Newsom, and Purdue DL commit Kendrick Gilbert.
Bowl Practice continues
Today, the current Cats will convene for another bowl practice, after which, we’ll hear from members of the offense. Check the site this afternoon to see what the coaches and players have to say about preparing to play in the Music City Bowl without Will Levis and Chris Rodriguez. ICYMI, Iowa All-American safety Kaevon Merriweather announced on Saturday he is opting out of the bowl to prepare for the 2023 NFL Draft.
Futbol
If you missed the World Cup final, you missed one of the best sporting events in recent memory. Behind early goals from Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria, Argentina led 2-0 most of the match until Kylian Mbappe brought France back with two goals to force extra time. Messi scored his second goal at the 108-minute mark only for Mbappe to get his hat trick with a penalty kick ten minutes later. Argentina eventually won in penalty kicks, allowing Messi to finally lift the World Cup in victory. It was a match for the ages, and the videos of the Argentinians celebrating are a needed reminder of why we do this.
On my way home from running errands yesterday, I saw some kids playing soccer at the park right in the middle of the early NFL games. Maybe there’s hope for the beautiful game in this country after all.
Bowl Season
There are no Top 25 college basketball games today, but bowl season rolls on. At 2:30 p.m. ET, Marshall plays UConn in the Myrtle Beach Bowl on ESPN. Tonight, the Green Bay Packers host the LA Rams in Monday Night Football if you’d like to tune in to see Liam Coen’s final days with Baker Mayfield and crew.
Yellowstone
Last night was the penultimate episode before Yellowstone’s mid-season finale, “The Dream Is Not Me.” No spoilers here, but if you missed the episode and want to catch up, or simply want to make sure you didn’t miss any of the details, our friends at Outsider have you covered with a recap. The show will take next week off for Christmas before returning on Jan. 1 for what will surely be a dramatic mid-season finale.
That’s it from me for now. Matt Jones and Shannon the Dude are flying solo on today’s KSR starting at 10 a.m., but you can get the group therapy started early with the KSR Preshow, which is airing right now on your radio and streaming devices.
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