KSR Today: Previewing Colgate, beating Queens, updating injuries, losing transfers, and more

Mornin’, Big Blue Nation. I am back at KSQ HQ in Lexington after a looooooong trip to Seattle by car, then a middle seat in the last row of a four-hour flight home last night. My back feels like I was power-bombed through a table, and it’ll take another five showers to get the smell of a cross-country road trip off of me, but excitement is still high from Saturday’s comeback win and for all of the fun ahead. Let’s begin wirh some Tuesday morning notes to start the day and my return to the office. It’s good to see you again.

Injury updates from Mark Pope

Mark Pope provided optimistic injury updates on his third call-in show with Tom Leach last night. Kentucky’s head coach told his coaching show audience that point guard Lamont Butler is day-to-day and trying to get back in time for tomorrow night’s game.

“We’ll see,” Pope said. “I’m hoping to see him on the court some tomorrow. We’ll kind of see how that goes. He got some work done today away from the team. He was at practice kind of — his voice was there, but wasn’t doing anything active with us. We’re going to see how he responds tomorrow morning. Saturday feels — but we’re really feeling sooner rather than later… It’s a matter of days. I would like those days to include a game on Wednesday. We’ll see how that goes.”

Mark Pope provides the latest on Lamont Butler’s injury ahead of Colgate and Louisville

Butler’s backup, Kerr Kriisa, will be out much longer with an injury he suffered in the second half of the Gonzaga game. Kriisa’s broken football will require surgery, but Pope is hopeful that we haven’t seen the last of Kriisa this season.

“We’ll be excited to get him back,” said Pope. “He’s dealing with the best doctors and performance team in the country, and so we’re expecting him back sooner rather than later.”

Mark Pope expects Kerr Kriisa back ‘sooner rather than later’ for Kentucky

Brandon Garrison and Ansley Almonor preview Colgate

Before Kentucky returns to Rupp Arena for the first time in nearly two weeks, two players, Brandon Garrison and Ansley Almonor, will preview the next game with a Tuesday Q&A on campus. Garrison and Almonor will take questions today about hosting Colgate tomorrow night in Lexington and the trip out to Seattle last weekend. Check back here at KentuckySportsRadio.com for a replay of those conversations.

Why is Duke ahead of Kentucky in the Top 25?

We’ve all had time to sleep on it, and the new Top 25 still doesn’t make sense. Two-loss Duke ahead of one-loss Kentucky in the top five? If only there was a head-to-head result on a neutral site to compare the two teams.

Still, Duke took over at No. 4 while the Cats slipped to fifth. Oh well.

Kentucky WBB beat Queens last night

After slipping a couple of spots to No. 16 in Monday’s update, Kentucky Women’s Basketball got back in the win column Monday night, beating Queens University (NC), 87-45, in Historic Memorial Coliseum. The Wildcats’ bounce-back victory saw four players score in double figures, led by Georgia Amoore with 20 points and a season-high 19 from Amelia Hassett, who scored her 1,000th career point in the win.

Hear from head coach Kenny Brooks and Hassett after the game in the video below. Kentucky heads to Purdue (5-4) to play the Boilermakers on Saturday.

Tennessee and Arkansas in the Jimmy V Classic

Need some college basketball to watch tonight? There is a doubleheader in Madison Square Garden featuring two of UK’s SEC rivals. The 2024 Jimmy V Classic begins with No. 1 Tennessee playing Miami at 6:30 p.m., followed by unranked Arkansas versus No. 14 Michigan on the same floor.

#1 Tennessee (-16.5) vs. Miami | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN
#14 Michigan (-3.5) vs. Arkansas | 9:00 p.m. | ESPN

Tim Couch joins the Hall of Fame tonight

Finally, Tim Couch will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, and you can watch the induction ceremony in Las Vegas from home. Watch the celebration of Couch and his classmates at 9 p.m. via ESPN’s live stream. The ceremony will take place at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino, with 19 players and three coaches making up the 2024 class. Along with Couch are notable names like Larry Fitzgerald, Warrick Dunn, Randy Moss, Julius Peppers, and Frank Solich.

More Wildcats to the transfer portal

Kentucky Football is in the midst of an offseason rebuild. On Monday, two more Wildcats, wide receiver Brandon White and quarterback Gavin Wimsatt, left for the transfer portal. They’re the 18th and 19th players to leave the program since the season ended.

• DL Keeshawn Silver
• DB Avery Stuart
• LB Jayvant Brown
• LS Walker Himebauch
• TE Tanner Lemaster
• TE Khamari Anderson
• TE Jordan Dingle
• OL Courtland Ford
• OL Ben Christman
• DL Tommy Ziesmer
• WR Dane Key
• WR Barion Brown
• WR Anthony Brown-Stephens
• WR Brandon White
• EDGE Tyreese Fearbry
• EDGE Noah Matthews
• EDGE Caleb Redd
• RB Chip Trayanum
• QB Gavin Wimsatt

KSR is back at KSBar and Grille

KSR’s cross-country road trip is over. The crew returned to Lexington late Monday night and we’ll be back at KSBar and Grille at 10 a.m. this morning for the first show back. Find KSR at KSBar through Thursday, and then we’re off to New Albany, Indiana, for the annual show at Bearno’s Pizza before Kentucky versus Louisville. Go Cats.