KSR Today: Kentucky basketball gets a day off in the Bahamas

Two games down, two more to go in paradise for the Kentucky basketball team. It started with a 52-point win over the Dominican Republic National Select Team on Wednesday, followed by a 102-40 beatdown over Tec de Monterrey on Thursday.

Now, the team gets a day off to enjoy themselves in the Bahamas before returning to the floor on Saturday and Sunday.

What does a day off entail? Fishing, slides and sand castles of course. It’s a team get-together day that will help lead to wins on the basketball court by the time the season rolls around, says assistant coach Chin Coleman.

“This is what it’s all about, the camaraderie,” Coleman said following Kentucky’s 62-point victory on Thursday. “We’ve got guys going fishing tomorrow, we’ve got guys going to the waterpark tomorrow, we’ve got guys making sand castles. That’s how you win basketball games. The game is won before it’s even played. If you win your locker room and your guys are connected — we talk about connectivity, it’s won off the court.”

Kentucky wins in blowout fashion

That connection helped lead to a second consecutive victory for the Wildcats down here in the Bahamas. How did that 102-40 win over Monterrey Tech come together?

It starts with seven players finishing in double figures, including four with double-doubles. Sahvir Wheeler and Chris Livingston led the way with 14 points apiece, with the former finishing with 10 assists and the latter adding 10 rebounds. Jacob Toppin put up 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Oscar Tshiebwe added 10 points and 14 rebounds. Adou Thiero (13), Antonio Reeves (11) and Daimion Collins (10) each reached double figures.

As a team, the Wildcats shot 53.3% from the field, 26.9% from three and 78.9% from three while allowing just 25.8% FG and 26.9% 3PT for Monterrey Tech. That’s to be expected against a team with just one player standing over 6-foot-5, having to launch shots over the size and length of this Kentucky squad.

It’s just the second time UK has won four consecutive foreign summer exhibition games by at least 50 points. The last time? 1974 in Australia.

What’s next for Kentucky? The Wildcats will face Carleton (Canada) University on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the Bahamas National Select Team on Sunday at noon to wrap things up.

Game Highlights

Missed Kentucky’s dominant win over Monterrey Tech? Have no fear, the game highlights are here — and there sure were plenty of them.

Catch up on the action below:

Basketball school vs. Football school

Leading up to Kentucky’s win on the hardwood, a miniature basketball vs. football feud unfolded right before our very eyes throughout the afternoon. John Calipari made a case for new basketball upgrades, specifically a bigger practice facility that would be the “centerpiece of the campus.”

In the process, he pointed out that Kentucky was a basketball school — a take the UK football program took as a jab.

“You’ve got to be intentional. You’ve got to say, ‘We’re doing this.’ And the reason is this is a basketball school; it’s always been that,” Calipari said. “Alabama is a football school. So is Georgia. They are. This is a basketball — no disrespect. Our football team, I hope they win games, ten games, and go to bowls. At the end of the day, that makes my job easier and it makes the job of all of us easier. But, this is a basketball school. And so, we need to keep moving in that direction and doing what we’re doing.”

Mark Stoops quickly responded online, responding on Twitter, “Basketball school? I thought we competed in the SEC?” with a hashtag, “#4straightpostseasonwins.”

“I think we pretty good at football too,” Vince Marrow added. “Love what (Coach Stoops) has done here at (UK). Go Big Blue.”

It’s a back-and-forth that sparked an uproar from the fanbase on both sides. Basketball-first fans felt the program’s rich history of success on the hardwood made it a non-issue, while football-first fans felt it discounted the football team’s progress under Stoops during his time in Lexington.

Personally, I think we should all just get along.

NFL Preseason gets rolling

Speaking of football, NFL preseason played continued on Thursday, with two games taking place to close out the evening. First, Wan’Dale Robinson, Yusuf Corker and the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots 23-21, followed by the Baltimore Ravens taking down the Tennessee Titans by a final score of 23-10.

Robinson didn’t receive any targets in his debut, but Corker made some plays in the win.