KSR Today: The Joy of Winning Returns to Kentucky

Joy to the World! The Wildcats won. BBN is celebrating Kentucky!

We can all be honest with one another. It has not been the most thrilling time to be a Kentucky fan. A football coaching search served as a shot in the arm, but that was preceded by some awful performances on the gridiron. The basketball program had an opportunity to be a lifeline. Instead, it was somehow worse.

The losses to North Carolina and Gonzaga were embarrassing on so many different levels. It’s one thing to have an off night and get beat. Kentucky looked listless, playing without a purpose. BBN was starving for not just a win over a high-major foe, but one where this team showed heart and fight. They did just that against Indiana.

The performance probably will not satisfy every Kentucky basketball fan’s hunger, but there’s a lot to like about the way they had to grind through adversity to reach the finish line. Kentucky suffocated the Hoosiers in the second half, holding Indiana to 21 points on 27.3% shooting from the field, breathing life into a fanbase, and delivering a healthy dose of joy. That feeling… man, it’s good to be back. Let’s keep this train rolling.

Mo Dioubate Battled

When passing early judgment on this team, it always needed to include the caveat, “but they are very injured.” The question nobody knew the answer to: How much will they actually be able to help once they do return? Turns out, a lot.

Jaland Lowe had played in the previous two games, but didn’t look like himself until Saturday, driving to create good looks for himself and others. After missing five games with an ankle sprain, Mo Dioubate returned with a vengeance. Kentucky basketball fans questioned this team’s heart and fight. Mo D is all heart and fight.

Shots weren’t falling, but Mo D scrapped to get hard buckets near the rim. The Wildcats scored 36 points in the paint and had 18 points off 14 offensive rebounds. Dioubate had seven of those offensive rebounds. He was Kentucky’s leading scorer with 14 points and added 12 rebounds for a double-double on his birthday.

“This was a game perfectly suited for Mo,” Mark Pope said postgame. “He was elite on the defensive end. His physicality and doing it legal was elite. He was great on the glass. It was awesome to have him back. He’s such a great competitor; I think it’s been killing him to be out. It was great to have him back.”

Brandon Garrison Responds

The last time we saw Kentucky at Rupp, the story of the night wasn’t what Brandon Garrison did on the floor. It was how the team responded after Mark Pope ripped into the center and sent him to the bench for the rest of the game.

“Brandon did not have a good night. He didn’t have a good minute,” Mark Pope said Saturday. “He kind of broke some cardinal rules about wearing the Kentucky jersey.”

How would BG respond? It was better than anybody could have expected. He didn’t necessarily light up the box score (6 points, 5 boards), but you could feel the effort and energy he brought to the court. It all culminated with this emphatic dunk that served as an exclamation point on the victory.

“I’m so proud of Brandon Garrison. We’re going to have stumbles and setbacks in the future, but he is growing, and it’s really awesome to watch. Man. It’s very cool,” said Pope.

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Float like a butterfly, sting like BG 🤩#GoBigBlue x @brandonGarriso pic.twitter.com/ebHziFe5in
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) December 14, 2025

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More from the Kentucky Win over Indiana

Kentucky lost games with no heart, then finally won one with it
With shots not falling, Kentucky’s defense stepped up
Lowe, Dioubate, Garrison Discuss the Win
Jaland Lowe made a big impact
Mark Pope’s Postgame Presser
Rupp Brought the Energy for Kentucky-Indiana
Dioubate didn’t want presents for his birthday, just a win
Highlights from the Victory
Recap of a Bounce Back Win
KSR Postgame Show Celebrates a Victory

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Kentucky Volleyball in the Final Four

Before Mark Pope’s squad took the court, the Kentucky volleyball team cut down the net. For just the second time in program history, the Wildcats are going to the Final Four.

Kentucky punched its ticket to Kansas City with another dominant performance. The Wildcats swept Creighton (25-19, 25-13, 25-18) in a match that never felt close. UK never trailed the Blue Jays by more than two points at any point and didn’t let them reach 20 points. Eva Hudson hammered home 13 kills, while Brooklyn DeLeye tallied a team-high 18 to earn Most Outstanding Player honors in the Lexington Regional.

The Wildcats are taking a 26-game winning streak to the Final Four, where they will face the winner of No. 1 Texas and No. 3 Wisconsin on Thursday. Kentucky already has two victories over the Longhorns this season, including a reverse-sweep in the SEC Tournament Title Game.

Kentucky WBB in Action

Kenny Brooks’ Cats return to the hardwood on Sunday afternoon. No. 15 Kentucky is hitting the road to the Music City, where they’ll take on Belmont. After a week off, can the 10-1 Wildcats stay hot? That question will get answered at 3 PM ET on ESPN+.

Fernando Mendoza wins the Heisman Trophy

Here’s a sentence that shouldn’t be real: The Indiana quarterback beat out the Vanderbilt quarterback and Notre Dame running back to win the Heisman Trophy. What a time to be alive. The first Hoosier to ever win the Heisman, Fernando Mendoza claimed 2,362 points, including 643 first-place votes. He beat Diego Pavia (1,435 points), running back Jeremiyah Love (719 points), and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (432 points). “It’s really a credit to our team. It’s a team award,” Mendoza said after making history.