When we get our bigs, and the freshman learn from their mistakes, and they will, I think we can be as good as anybody in the country

Honestly he needs to be the the main focal point of the the UK offense and Reed need needs to play a lot more. Just watch the the Blue/White game and that Backcourt easily beat the other team with the starting Backcourt. I'm not a coach who gets payed 9 million a year so what the hell do I know? Go CATS!

Combined 1-18 from the floor.

Didn’t want to, but that deserves its own thread. No need to go into specifics of what cost UK the game.

The answer is Wagner/Edwards going 1-18 from the field.

No way to not be impressed by everyone else for the most part.

This kid has blown so many coverages all year long....as noted in this Styles cutup...he's playing man and/or bites on a short route while the ball sails right over his spot for a TD. Did it vs. UGA a few times. He's plays safety like he's a LBer....needs to be shown off the field.

That was a 3rd and 12....what a mess he is as a player

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We are now 4-9 in this thing.... good thing it doesn't really meaning anything.

Lost the first three.
Then won 3.
Have lost 6 of last 7

2-2 vs State
1-3 vs Duke
1-4 vs Kansas

But, I'd like to break even at least. Not too much too ask from a self appointed Gold Standard program, IMHO

Rob giveth and taketh away. Can't play in the last 4 in a tight game right now. Rob did not understand risk vs reward in his foul situation and recklessly took himself and his hot streak out of the game. He probably cost us this game in that stretch where his man got two 3's and he shot an air ball. We lost the mo there.
Edwards and DJ got welcomed to college basketball. Gonna have to man up and grow.
Thought we got tired round 10-12 minute mark.
We could use some seven footers or three, couldn't we. Still we rebounded with 'em... they had 3 board edge
AT was a warrior.

Proud of 'em.... we gonna be pretty damn good. Higher ceiling than Kansas....... they can't shoot well from the perimeter, IMHO

Ill say to #15 though one could argue #1 or #2 since our 3 bigs didnt play.

We need to only schedule cupcakes up to conference play. With the way we recruit, we gain nothing from these games.
Better to get experience, confidence, and especially wins while we can.

Have a Bread and Butter play that they execute perfectly 7 out of 10 times for 2-4 yards when needed? The offense has the advantage because they know where they are going ImO. Is this harder than it should be?? Just seems like we do not have a guaranteed go to play.

What do you guys think? What will it take to beat Kansas tomorrow night?

Would love your thoughts, but my quick points below:

1. Double-team Dickinson. The double should come from one place every time- either from whoever is guarding Harris (their PG), or whoever is guarding Adams. Push a hard double team and make Dickinson become a decision-maker and get it out of his hands, or make him force things. But the help every time has to come from whoever is guarding Harris or Adams, and the rest be ready to "scramble" and rotate.

2. RUN! We need to push the pace on every. single. play. Makes, misses, or turnovers, it doesn't matter, RUN! Believe it or not, Kansas may have an even shorter bench than we do without the bigs, and we need to make Dickinson run up and down.

3. Play through the vets early: Draw up plays that go through Mitchell and Reeves early to let the freshman settle in...and then let go of the reigns and let them play!

4. CAL: DON'T MICROMANAGE! Let these guys go! Let Dilly be Dilly! Let Reed pressure, let Wagner play the passing lanes- looking for Cal to show for the first time, in a REAL game, that he is committed to this new style and won't micromanage the game or yank guys at their first mistake.

Just some of my initial thoughts: what do you guys think we need to do to win tomorrow?

Let’s do this!

I’ve been nervous all day

GO CATSSS

How about some positivity?

This dude brings it. Love his energy, hustle, determination, IQ, rebounding, strong takes to the rack, foul shooting, and putback slams.

If he can hit the corner three, he’s going to make a lot of money in the League. I also think we need to utilize him on lob plays in which he cuts from the corner.

Humiliating Loss to Austin Peay who just to Trevecca Nazarene a NCAA division II team.
Hope Barney didn’t give her a lifetime contract.

QUICK TAKES: Champions Classic - Kansas 89, Kentucky 84​

Kentucky freshman guard Rob Dillingham hung in the air for a shot against Kansas on Tuesday in the Champions Classic at the United Center in Chicago. (David Banks/USA Today Sports)

Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor Edit
@JDrumUK

In our regular postgame feature, the Cats Illustrated staff offers its first impressions from Kentucky's 89-84 loss to No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday night in the Champions Classic at the United Center in Chicago.​

JUSTIN ROWLAND:

On the one hand, there was a lot for Kentucky fans to like tonight. There are so many guys in the backcourt who can play, you're pretty much guaranteed to be strong there night in and night out. That's a really good sign. Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard carried them early. Calipari has to find out what buttons to press and it might just be a game-by-game basis all season. Dickinson was just far too much given what Kentucky was missing. You missed an opportunity for a resume-enhancing win because KU will probably be a 1 or 2 seed but given the guys being out, you can't feel bad about this team.

TRAVIS GRAF:

Tough game for Kentucky coming up short in a thriller. The youth showed up a lot throughout the game, and there were stretches of the game where the lineups didn’t make much sense. However, both of those things will get ironed out throughout the season. Kentucky went toe to toe with the number one team in the country without really any contributions from DJ Wagner and Justin Edwards, and there was no size outside of Tre Mitchell to negate Hunter Dickinson, who dominated the game. It was a fun game and a completely new brand of basketball for Calipari. I’m very bullish on this team’s ceiling.

DAVID SISK:

As Jay Bilas said, “Kentucky competed, and then some.” UK fans won’t like the final result, but not many expected them to play as well as they did. The loss of three big men finally reared its head in the second half as Hunter Dickinson ended up with 27 points and 21 rebounds. Rob Dillingham, Antonio Reeves, Adou Thiero, and Reed Sheppard did some good things offensively. D.J. Wagner and Justin Edwards experienced some severe growing pains. It was a learning experience both individually and collectively. If Calipari didn’t already know, he has a point guard in Rob Dillingham. As players begin to fit into their roles this needs to be the big takeaway for them. The youngsters need to learn how to execute late in the shot clock against a dug in offense. That will happen. There is no reason for Kentucky fans not to be bullish on this team.

JEFF DRUMMOND:

Can a game be encouraging and discouraging at the same time? What an incredible effort by the Cats. They really need to be praised for the fight they took to the top-ranked Jayhawks tonight in Chicago. Adou Thiero gave a heroic performance with UK playing without its three 7-footers. I don't think the most optimistic fan in BBN imagined he had that kind of game in him. Crazy-good stuff. Rob Dillingham went nuclear for a stretch that might have been the most fun that Kentucky Basketball has experienced in four years. Antonio Reeves didn't have his Arkansas-level shooting night but still made a ton of plays en route to 24 points. On the flip side, they got only five points on combined 1-for-18 shooting from their top two recruits, DJ Wagner and Justin Edwards. Those guys just didn't respond to the bright lights on the big stage. This game was there to be had. It was a chance for the Cats -- and, really, John Calipari -- to make a statement that they are back. They let it slip away but gave some hope for what this team can become.

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Need them to pull this one out- want them to be top 10 when we kick their ass in Rupp.

Future UK opponent Penn is also beating #21 Villanova right now.

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Perfect comment from GYERO

Insanity is doing the same thing over over and expecting different results. Why would we expect any different from COW

I've given up trying to follow the technicalities of 'amateur' collegiate sports anymore, but does anyone know if Bradshaw is being represented or handled by the same people that rep'd Sharpe?

I’m not trying to be negative but I’m a little puzzled about his draft stock. What am I missing? And I’m not just reacting to this game. I’ve seen several games of his including high school. Btw, I think he’s going to be a good player, very smooth. I just don’t see anything that would make him a top 5 pick.

I've been pissed about our teams last few years but this game I felt was a victory even with a loss. If we had one of our bigs to help with hunter we win. We were up 14 and went cold. This team is going to be very very good and guard play wins tournament games plain n simple. Wagner got no stroke at all hurts to watch. He gotta stay in the gym and host 500 3s a night plain n simple. We need an offensive type of coach to take the reigns off cal though. Too much driving to traffic. . He has a team that can compete and with someone like bielein.. for example as offensive coach this team can win it all. Just sayn.

KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
UNITED CENTER | CHICAGO, ILL.NOV. 14, 2023
ATTENDANCE: 18,780



Final Score: No. 1/1 Kansas 89, No. 17/16 Kentucky 84



Team Records and Series Notes

• In a game that featured eight ties and 10 lead changes, Kansas outlasted Kentucky, 89-84, in the Champions Classic in Chicago.
• Kentucky is 2-1 on the season, Kansas is 3-0.
• Kentucky leads the all-time series 24-12, but trails 3-2 vs. Kansas in the Champions Classic.
• The Wildcats return to action Friday at home against Stonehill in the second game of the Wildcat Challenge. Game time is 7 p.m. ET and it will be televised on SEC Network+.

Team Notes

• Kentucky is 5-8 all-time in the Champions Classic.
• Kentucky is 9-16 all-time against a No. 1-ranked team.
• UK is 23-13 all-time in games played in the metro Chicago area. The last 11 of those games have been played in the United Center, with UK holding a 7-4 mark in that arena.
• Despite a fast-paced game, UK had only eight turnovers, and all three games this season have been single-digit miscues by the Wildcats.
• Kentucky made 12 of 38 3-pointers, marking the most 3-point attempts of the Calipari era. The previous mark was 33 long balls attempted on three occasions.
• Kentucky led by as many as 14 points. The Wildcats are 331-15 (95.7%) in the Calipari era when leading by as many as 10 points at any time during the contest.

Player Notes

• Antonio Reeves led UK with 24 points, giving him back-to-back 20-point outings.
• Rob Dillingham had a season-high 18 points and has hit double-digits in all three games. He also tied for the team lead in assists with three.
• After missing the previous game because of concussion protocol, Adou Thiero posted his first career double-double, and UK’s first double-double of the season, with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
• Reed Sheppard had a season-high 15 points, making 4-of-5 from the field, featuring 3-of-4 on 3-pointers. He also had four steals.

Coach John Calipari

• Calipari has an 834-254 all-time on-court record and a 389-114 mark at Kentucky.
• Calipari is 69-50 at UK against ranked competition.
• Calipari is 6-5 in his career against No. 1-ranked teams, including 3-3 while at UK.
• Calipari is 83-34 at Kentucky in games played at neutral sites.

In the First Half

• Kentucky started D.J. Wagner, Antonio Reeves, Justin Edwards, Adou Thiero and Tre Mitchell.
• Kansas jumped out 9-0 before Thiero rattled home a 3-pointer at the 16:57 mark.
• Jordan Burks and Rob Dillingham were UK’s first substitutions with 15:35 remaining.
• An 8-0 run tied it at 11 and a pair of Reed Sheppard 3-pointers gave UK a 17-16 lead.
• Trailing 25-21, Dillingham hit four straight 3-pointers and Reeves added another long ball as UK went ahead 36-30. A Mitchell free throw extended it to 37-30.
• UK got its largest lead of the half at 48-36 but Kansas got the last five points to narrow the gap to 48-41 at intermission.
• The 48 points represent UK’s most ever in the first half against a No. 1-ranked team.
• Thiero led UK with 13 points and nine rebounds – both career highs – in the first half.

In the Second Half

• Kentucky began the second half with the starting lineup.
• Kentucky lengthened the lead to 58-44, its largest of the game, at the 15:14 mark.
• Kansas rallied with a 21-4 run, retaking the lead at 65-62 with 10:53 to go.
• Trailing 72-71, a putback by Thiero, a fastbreak basket-and-one by Reeves, and a driving layup by Sheppard shoved the Wildcats back on top, 78-72, at 5:43 on the clock.
• With the Wildcats still ahead 83-78 with 3:12 to play, Kansas closed the game on an 11-1 spurt to claim the win.

It is my observation (i.e. IMO) that early in the season Freshmen make mistakes at the end of games out of fatigue. They have never been asked to play forty-minute games before, and in particular to play hard at both ends of the court. And when they tire, they revert to bad habits and reliance on athleticism that is no longer that far superior to the competition. That was fully on display last night.

As the season progresses, they get into "college shape" and their talent advantage comes to the forefront, so the team soars up the bell curve. So, UK's youngest teams sometimes dominate the SEC regular season, and even the conference tourney.

And then they hit a wall. It is not unlike the wall many rookie RBs hit in the NFL after 12-13 games because they have never played more than that, nor been hit so hard, so often by NFL level athletes. In basketball the same happens with freshman who have been banging with older, stronger upperclassmen for 30+ games. And so, they are worn down and start missing shots and getting pushed around on D in ways that weren't seen ten games back when the team was dominating. It is the reason (IMO) that teams full of 22-year-old men are so successful in the tournament. And that is how teams lose in the closing minutes to K State, Auburn and even St Peter's teams whose leaders are physically able to weather the long season better.

Is 5 for 45 from three on the season. That’s good for 11%.

Shep
Dilly
Reeves
Thiero
Mitchell

Bring Wagner and Edwards off the bench from this point forward or until they prove themselves.

We’ve proven we are way under ranked and all while playing short handed.