Did you all hear that F bomb on WLAP? Ugo describing his game against Texas AM and he was describing what Adou said to him to motivate him or something. Then he said kids should cover their ears (paraphrasing). I was cracking up sheesh.

Looks like FD has a bunch of interesting combos.

this season? How far do you think they can go?

Fingers crossed.

I’m so tired of them. They are all the same:

Show science.
Show a black student doing something intellectual.
Show a female athlete.
Show an Asian person in a lab coat.
Show kids with different skin colors interacting.
Show someone playing an instrument.
Show an implied LGBTQ person.
“This college is advancing the future.” “Our students are leading the way.” Generic message about growing as a person. School logo.

Colleges, you do have a lot of bright young minds with different backgrounds on campus. Let them make the commercials. They will inject some variance, some coolness, some weirdness, and some humor. They’ll drop in a beat. I’m well passed college age and wanting the college experience, but a college commercial that made me laugh or made me feel like the school wasn’t exactly the same as every other college would have gone a long way.

Ffs, at least emphasizes what the school is really good at. Ie: UK has solid Engineering, architecture, interior design, and dental programs. Talk about those things instead of a stock footage cliche reel.

KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
RUPP ARENA AT CENTRAL BANK CENTER | LEXINGTON, KY
JAN. 17, 2024
ATTENDANCE: 20,016

Final Score: No. 8/10 Kentucky 90, Mississippi State 77

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is 13-3 on the season, 3-1 in the Southeastern Conference.
• Mississippi State is 12-5 overall, 1-3 in league play.
• UK leads the series 102-21 and has won three in a row vs. MSU.
  • UK leads 52-5 in games played in Lexington and has won the last nine in Rupp.
• Next for Kentucky: UK concludes a two-game homestand Saturday as the Wildcats play host to Georgia. Game time is 6 p.m. and it will be televised on SEC Network.

Team Notes

• UK is 3-0 this season in bounce-back games following losses. The Wildcats are now 18-3 in bounce-back games in the last three seasons.
• UK scored 90 points tonight. The Wildcats entered the game third in the nation at 90.8 per game.
  • This is the first team in UK history that has scored at least 81 points in 15 of its first 16 games.
• Kentucky shot 55.6 percent tonight from the field as the Wildcats missed only eight of their two-point shots (23 of 31, 74.2%).
  • It is UK’s eighth game this season shooting at least 50 percent and the Wildcats have won all eight.
• UK had 20 assists with only 10 turnovers, a plus-2 ratio. UK entered the game third in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at +1.88.
• Kentucky led by as many as 20 points. The Wildcats are 340-15 (95.8%) in the John Calipari era when leading by as many as 10 points during the contest.

Player Notes

• Antonio Reeves had 27 points, his eighth 20-point game of the season.
  • He has landed in double figures in every game but one this season.
• Rob Dillingham had 16 points, his 14th double-figure game of the season.
• Aaron Bradshaw had 11 points, his fifth double-figure game in the nine games he has played. He also tied for the team lead in rebounds with six.
• Reed Sheppard had nine points while leading the team with six assists and a plus/minus of +21.
• Tre Mitchell scored 15 points and enjoyed a perfect shooting night: 5 of 5 from the field, including a 3-pointer, and making all four foul shots.
• Ugonna Onyenso had three points and was a significant defensive presence, with four blocked shots and six rebounds.

Coach John Calipari

• Calipari has an 845-256 (76.7%) all-time on-court record, including 400-116 (77.5%) at Kentucky.
  • It marked Calipari’s 400th win at Kentucky. Among active head coaches, he is the third fastest to 400 wins at a program with 516 games. Only Bill Self (Kansas) and Mark Few (Gonzaga) reached 400 wins faster.
• Calipari is 329-66 (83.3%) at UK against unranked competition.
• Calipari is 19-1 vs. Mississippi State.
• Calipari is now 396-127 (75.7%) all-time in conference games, including 188-61 (75.5%) in the SEC.

In the First Half

• Kentucky started D.J. Wagner, Antonio Reeves, Justin Edwards, Tre Mitchell and Aaron Bradshaw for the seventh game in a row. UK is 6-1 in this lineup.
• Ugonna Onyenso, Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard were UK’s first substitutions at the 15:57 mark.
• After Mississippi State made the first two shots for a 5-2 lead, Kentucky went on a 13-0 run and the Wildcats never trailed again.
• Kentucky stretched the lead to 20 points at 47-27 and took a 47-29 tally into halftime.
  • Reeves led the way with 16 points and Dillingham had 10, while on the defensive end, UK limited MSU to 35.5% shooting.
• UK is now 12-1 this season when leading at halftime.

In the Second Half

• Kentucky began the second half with the starting lineup.
• Mississippi State scored on its first six possessions, needing less than three minutes to cut the margin to 49-43.
• Kentucky called timeout at 17:14 and the Wildcats steadied with a 6-0 spurt. Then, Mitchell added consecutive basket-and-ones to restore the lead to 61-46.
• After that the Bulldogs got no closer than 12 points.

With Miami and St Joes struggling early in conference play, those wins that we expected to count for more are losing some value. However, wins like tonight are really good. Miss St is a tourney team. UK will have numerous opportunities to add more in conference.

This stuff really does matter in seeding bc of Quad 1 and Quad 2 wins!

That win v UNC is the non conference feather in the cap the Cats needed!

Go Big Blue

Bama may have struck out on every one of their top targets. Guys at good but not great programs like Oregon are staying put. Everyone is always so sure when Cal leaves we can lure a guy like Drew or Lloyd, but I really don't think it's as easy as people think. Being at the level of a Oregon football or Baylor basketball has incredible job security and guys like Drew will have the court named after them when they leave. Why leave a great situation to put yourself into a pressure cooker where it takes very little to be on the hot seat? Especially if you've always proven you can win where you are, like Drew has at Baylor.

I don't normally have the chance to do this, because I have a full-time job as teacher/coach. But I'm snowed in, so I had the chance to sit around this morning and look at some stats for tonight. This is a very interesting game of contrasts. Mississippi State is deliberate, physical, and they are defensive minded. Kentucky is more finesse, plays fast, and wants to score.

This game could come down to pace. UK averages 6.5 more possessions per game. That may not sound like much, but if the game is played at UK's style we are talking about 7.6 more points than if it is at State's. The numbers that I have crunched have Kentucky ninth nationally in offensive efficiency, and MSU 12th in defensive efficiency. Kentucky is also seventh in three-point shooting, and Mississippi State is ninth in defending it. MSU is also 3.5% higher in rebound percentage, and they have take 58 more foul shots this year.

Kentucky's big advantage is pace of play, and how much better they are offensively. They average 15.5 points more per game, and over a tenth of a point more per possession which adds up over 77.8 possessions per game. I just don't think Mississippi State can keep up playing at this speed over 40 minutes. I wondered early in the year what would happen when a team could keep the score down on Kentucky, and the Cats had to get stops. But now I don't know if anyone can keep them under 80. We will see, but this is the perfect case study of whether good offense can beat good defense.

The numbers look somewhere in the nine-point range, but throw in the home court advantage, and I'm going to say Kentucky 87 Mississippi State 75.

Reed/Rob/Reeves/Edwards/Bradshaw

Quick on quick

I completely agree with the ESPN2 analysis to that. And not bc I’m a Kentucky fan. They absolutely are. And if they can rebound/play good D, it’s the best team in the country. I believe this young team will get better and better in both areas. I am actually really starting to like Ugo. He’s going to be a big reason for both . Also liked how Bradshaw ended the half

From our 5 spot tonight. I like it !

Y’all don’t leave me a lot of hope for this weekend, not that I had much anyway. Making it look too easy. Think this will be a team that makes a deep run for y’all. What are you liking about this team so far? What do you think the Cats need to work on to make a deep run?

I will add to this more and more. Just a start.

QB:
Will Howard - Kansas State, led KSU to B12 championship last year. Decent season this year as well.
Kyle McCord - Ohio State, starting QB that just led Ohio State to 11-1 record.
Dillon Gabriel - Oklahoma, starting QB with a ton of production over his career.
Grayson McCall - Coastal Carolina, solid QB with plenty of stats, Liberty would be the expected destination unless Chadwell gets hired away or a big NIL offer comes.
DJ U - Oregon State, looked better this year, but statistically about the same. I would pass personally.
Dante Moore - UCLA, decent season considering he was a true freshman
Will Rogers - Mississippi State, definitely never looked the same since the Air Raid left Starkville. Insane amount of yardage in his career though.
Tyler Van Dyke - Miami, such a rocky career. Not consistent enough for SEC
Sam Leavitt - Michigan State, top 100 recruit in 2023
Ken Seals - Vanderbilt, 60%, 28 TDs at Vanderbilt. Hard to gauge how talented he is based off of such little talent around him in such a tough conference.
Riley Leonard - Duke, insiders saying Notre Dame
Nate Johnson - Utah, started some this year, had an okay year for a RSFR, maybe a depth guy if we lose a QB
EJ Warner - Temple, Kurt's kid. Okay last 2 seasons at Temple.
Athan Kaliakmantis - Minnesota, not horrible, but far from SEC starter worthy
Max Brown - Florida. Played last 2 games, didn't look bad vs Missouri.
Noah Kim - Michigan State, unimpressive this year but didnt have any help either, potential depth option.
Katina Houser - Michugan State Got thrown into starting roll as RSFR this year, had flashes, but that's a bad team all around
Mitch Griffis - Wake Forest, unimpressive year. Finished the last several games really bad. 0 TDs in final 5 games.
Zion Turner - UConn, started as true freshman last year, didn't play this year. Maybe a depth option if a QB leaves.
Gerry Bohanan - USF, not a good option. Had the 1 decent season 3 years ago at Baylor

WR:
Will Sheppard - Vanderbilt, 600+ yards this season, solid WR.
Antwane Wells - South Carolina, All-SEC last year. Hurt this year. Really good WR.
Kris Mitchell - FIU 1,100 yds, 6 TDs this year, expected to get plenty of attention.
JaMori Maclin - North Texas 1,000+ yards this season
Justice Ellison - Wake Forest 1,900 yds, 15 TDs in career
Josh Kelly - Washington St, 928 yards, 8 TDs this year, 2,200 career yards. Mizzou likely option considering their OC was his former OC.
Kelly Akharaiyi - UTEP, 1033 yards, 7 TDs this season
Chris Tyree - Notre Dame, 484 yards this season, fast, former RB
Tyrrell Henry - Michigan State, 200 yards, 3 TDs this year. Offer from UK out of HS
Tyrin Smith - UTEP 1,000+ last year, got hurt this year.
Eric McAlister - Boise State 1,100 yards last 2 seasons
Kam Brown - UCLA 846 yards, 6 TDs in career
Raylan Sharpe - Missouri St 991yds 7 TDs as sophmore this year. Slot guy.
Donavan McCulley - Indiana 643 yards, 6 TDs this year
Elijah Matcalf - MTSU 634yds 6 TDs as Sophmore
Caleb Douglas - Florida, got hurt vs us. 321 yards, 3 TDs in 2 years
Christian Moss - VA Tech 6 Catches, 80 yards as RSFR

TE:
Daequan Wright - VA Tech, 550 yards in first 2 years at Tech. True sophmore. Would be a good get.
Kamari Morales - UNC 761 yards, 10 TDs in 3 seasons. Production fell off this year.

RB:
Marcus Carroll - Georgia St, 1350 yards this season, 1st team all SunBelt. BEAST
Treshaun Ward - Kansas St 643 yards, 5 TDs. Good all-around back, didn't finish the season great but I like him.
Darwin Barlow - USC, stuck behind stacked group of RBs this season, but averaged 10 ypc in limited action. Kid looks good, but hard to get carries with a pass heavy offense and being behind Marshawn Lloyd and other starter-worthy RBs.
Deion Hankins - UTEP, 2600 career yards, 23 TDs
Armoni Goodwin - LSU had 270yds and 5 TDs as a sophmore last year but didnt play this year, injured I believe.
Don Chaney - Miami, 478yds, 2 TDs this year
Reggie Love - IIllinois, 567 yards, 4 TDs this year
Patrick Smith - Vanderbilt, 327 yards, 2 TD this year.
CJ Beasley - Coastal Carolina, 1,300 total yards, 9 TDs last 2 seasons. Low YPC this year tho.
Keegan Jones - UCLA, averaged 10.9ypc this year but only on 14 carries. Has decent stats but wasn't utilized much as a senior.
Christian Washington - New Mexico, 386 yards as a true freshman. Then got hurt this year.
Charvis Thornton - La Tech, 734 yards last 2 seasons, likely not a factor.

EDGE:
Kenard Snyder - ULM, 24 TFL, 6.5 sacks, 124 tackles and only a sophmore.
Nano-Osafo - Notre Dame 5.5 TFL, 3 Sacks this year. Had best game of career in final game.
Jahfari Harvey - Miami, has 5 years of PT, but has always been pretty mediocre. Had a pretty disappointing year, but has 21.5 career TFLs and 10 sacks.
Chantz Williams - Miami, former top 100 player, hasnt done much in 4 seasons.

LB:
Teddye Buchanon - UC Davis, absolute stud. Will get some big offers, has games with multiple INTs and sacks this year. Probably west coast school bound though.
Darris Smith - Georgia, Top 100 in 2022
Nikhai Hill-Green - Charlotte, former Wolverine, can play some OLB. Solid season. 9 TFL, 2 sacks.

S:
DeShawn Pace - Cincy, big time playmaker. 12 TFLs, 6 PDs, and an INT this year. More of a LB/S hybrid type.
Phillip Dunnam - Indiana 53 tkls, 3 INTs, 6 PDs in first full season
Jakeen Harris - NC State, 167 tackles, 4 INTs, 11 PDs on career. Got hurt in game 2 this year.
Upton Stout - WKU, 5 INTs, 10 PDs, 2 pick 6s last 2 seasons.
Logan WIlson - North Texas, 112 tckles, 8 PDs, 3 INTs last 2 seasons
Jakob Thomas - MTSU 100 Tackles, 4 INTs, 9 PDs in 2 seasons at MTSU
Ramon Henderson - Notre Dame, reserve duties last few seasons
Christian Ellis - New Mexico, young kid with 59tackles, 4 PDs this season
AJ Williams - Wake Forest, mediocre stats last 2 seasons.

CB:
Dezjhon Malone - SDSU, 4 INTs, 12 PDs last 2 seasons. Big CB, 6-2
Bryquice Brown - Georgia State 23 career PDs, 5 career INTs

Welcome to the Official Kentucky vs Mississippi State SEC Regular Season Prediction Contest!

Follow the rules below and make your prediction. I'll publish the results after the game. You can put any comment you would like below your score prediction (put '***' after your prediction to make it easier to separate the comments) but try not to put anything above as my scripts may not be able to find your prediction. This is the 2nd of three prediction contests this season: the OOC Contest, the SEC Regular Season contest, and the Postseason Contest.

Whoever predicts the score closest to the actual score wins. I take the absolute value of the difference of your guess of the Kentucky score and the actual plus the absolute value of the difference of your guess of the opponent score and the actual. There is a penalty for picking the wrong winner. That penalty is the worst score among those who predicted the correct winner. In case of a tie, the tiebreaker is used. In case of a tie in the tiebreaker, we have more than one winner.

I will be awarding points for the first 10 places, including a 3 point bonus for a perfect prediction. I will track cumulative point totals and the number of games you make the top 10. This contest ends with the end of the SEC Regular Season.

Your post should look something really close to the example below. Remember the ":"s and the word "Tiebreaker:"! Do not!! use a "-" as a separator because some of our tiebreakers will be negative.

This game's tiebreaker is Mississippi State Offensive Rebounds.

Kentucky vs Mississippi State game:

--------------------------
Kentucky: 85
Mississippi State: 77

Tiebreaker: 11
--------------------------

Just cut and paste everything between the lines above into your reply and then modify the scores and tiebreaker as you see fit. If you don't know how to do that, type very carefully. Remember to type in the word "Tiebreaker:" so that I can find it. Anything my scripts can't figure out will not count.

Don't edit your post or try to post a score after the game has started.

BTW I really would prefer exact names for the teams, but will try to be accommodating as long as it doesn't create too much work for me. If we are playing Louisville, just about anything not obscene will be OK.

--------------------------
SEC Regular Season Basketball Prediction Scores - Kentucky @ Texas A&M (tiebreaker was 25 Texas A&M Offensive Rebounds):

10 1 . truckbrandon : 27 points, tiebreaker=16
9 2 . docholiday51 : 31 points, tiebreaker=20
8 3 . UK96GOAT : 33 points, tiebreaker=16
7 4 . howercat : 34 points, tiebreaker=15
6 5 . number8please : 37 points, tiebreaker=12
5 6 . ThreeHogNight : 39 points, tiebreaker=16
4 7 . Jamal Mercer : 40 points, tiebreaker=19
3 8 . JFCats22 : 43 points, tiebreaker=19
2 9 . coolfred : 47 points, tiebreaker=16
1 10 . cat888 : 61 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 11 . WalterTheHippo : 65 points, tiebreaker=17
.. 12 . BlueWorldOrder74 : 65 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 13 . kywildcat41086 : 66 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 14 . RMorris33 : 67 points, tiebreaker=8
.. 15 . _Rooster : 68 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 16 . lyngz : 70 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 17 . cat tat2 : 71 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 18 . MidseasonTweak : 72 points, tiebreaker=17
.. 19 . KY Long Rifle : 72 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 20 . Oldbluefart : 72 points, tiebreaker=14
.. 21 . Jazzycat : 73 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 22 . kywildcatsfannumber1: 73 points, tiebreaker=17
.. 23 . warrior-cat : 73 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 24 . kybloo92 : 73 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 24 . BigBlueFanGA : 73 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 26 . TexKat : 73 points, tiebreaker=14
.. 27 . SWVA WildcatFan : 74 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 28 . AFSTALLION13 : 75 points, tiebreaker=17
.. 29 . Blueisbest : 75 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 30 . M4CAT : 75 points, tiebreaker=14
.. 31 . ORCAT : 75 points, tiebreaker=13
.. 31 . Hargyt13 : 75 points, tiebreaker=13
.. 31 . wfm101981 : 75 points, tiebreaker=13
.. 34 . Bigblueincincy : 76 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 35 . Wildcat_In_Florida: 76 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 36 . blubo : 76 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 37 . rivercatinfl : 77 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 38 . pappy52 : 77 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 39 . maysvilleky : 77 points, tiebreaker=14
.. 40 . Hang_Time_2 : 78 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 40 . North Carolina Blue Wildcat: 78 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 42 . kyfanrob : 78 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 43 . kennyskywalker34 : 79 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 43 . TNCatfanforever : 79 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 45 . Old_Red : 79 points, tiebreaker=17
.. 46 . UKCatWoman : 79 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 46 . $Z71$ : 79 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 48 . LogicalCat : 79 points, tiebreaker=14
.. 48 . *CatinIL* : 79 points, tiebreaker=14
.. 50 . TOMCATS1990 : 81 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 50 . UK Cats1 : 81 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 52 . drew_ukfan : 81 points, tiebreaker=14
.. 53 . GoBIG BLUE : 81 points, tiebreaker=13
.. 54 . BlobUK : 82 points, tiebreaker=14
.. 55 . Roe07 : 82 points, tiebreaker=12
.. 56 . Jperry1987 : 83 points, tiebreaker=14
.. 57 . thedahc : 85 points, tiebreaker=12
.. 58 . ukfan041 : 86 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 59 . the nail at the foul line: 87 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 60 . jrm693 : 88 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 61 . OldEvilleCat : 88 points, tiebreaker=14
.. 62 . yes_takeaside : 89 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 63 . Chad Rock : 90 points, tiebreaker=19
.. 64 . YardCat : 92 points, tiebreaker=12
.. 65 . Rideordiewildcat : 93 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 66 . ukypug : 102 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 66 . onearmedjesus : 102 points, tiebreaker=15

Those who picked the wrong winner: yes_takeaside, BlueWorldOrder74, ORCAT, rivercatinfl, KY Long Rifle, MidseasonTweak, warrior-cat, the nail at the foul line, Hang_Time_2, Rideordiewildcat, UKCatWoman, AFSTALLION13, blubo, kywildcat41086, Roe07, kywildcatsfannumber1, TexKat, cat tat2, kyfanrob, RMorris33, kennyskywalker34, TOMCATS1990, Oldbluefart, WalterTheHippo, $Z71$, GoBIG BLUE, lyngz, M4CAT, kybloo92, SWVA WildcatFan, Chad Rock, UK Cats1, pappy52, Jazzycat, Hargyt13, YardCat, Old_Red, LogicalCat, Blueisbest, OldEvilleCat, thedahc, ukfan041, ukypug, _Rooster, maysvilleky, North Carolina Blue Wildcat, onearmedjesus, Jperry1987, BlobUK, *CatinIL*, drew_ukfan, Bigblueincincy, jrm693, BigBlueFanGA, TNCatfanforever, Wildcat_In_Florida, wfm101981, cat888

SEC Regular Season Basketball Prediction Contest Leader Board:

17 : Hang_Time_2
11 : MidseasonTweak
10 : ORCAT
10 : truckbrandon
10 : UK Cats1
9 : docholiday51
9 : wfm101981
8 : drew_ukfan
8 : UK96GOAT
8 : UKCatWoman
7 : howercat
7 : Wildcat_In_Florida
6 : number8please
6 : TexKat
5 : Oldbluefart
5 : ThreeHogNight
5 : TNCatfanforever
5 : TOMCATS1990
5 : ukypug
4 : BlobUK
4 : Jamal Mercer
3 : JFCats22
2 : *CatinIL*
2 : coolfred
2 : Jazzycat
2 : Kycatspaws
1 : cat888
1 : North Carolina Blue Wildcat


Players Who've Made the Top Ten at Least Once:

2 : Hang_Time_2
2 : MidseasonTweak
1 : *CatinIL*
1 : BlobUK
1 : cat888
1 : coolfred
1 : docholiday51
1 : drew_ukfan
1 : howercat
1 : Jamal Mercer
1 : Jazzycat
1 : JFCats22
1 : Kycatspaws
1 : North Carolina Blue Wildcat
1 : number8please
1 : Oldbluefart
1 : ORCAT
1 : TexKat
1 : ThreeHogNight
1 : TNCatfanforever
1 : TOMCATS1990
1 : truckbrandon
1 : UK Cats1
1 : UK96GOAT
1 : UKCatWoman
1 : ukypug
1 : wfm101981
1 : Wildcat_In_Florida


Total Players:
Kentucky @ Florida : 67
Kentucky vs Missouri : 65
Kentucky @ Texas A&M : 67

Season Average for Players: 66.3


SEC Regular Season Basketball Prediction Champs:
Kentucky @ Florida : ORCAT: 2
Kentucky vs Missouri : UK Cats1: 1
Kentucky @ Texas A&M : truckbrandon: 27

@Deeeefense

Let’s get back to the smiling side of the scoreboard

Anyone else think Purdue being 10 pt favorites in a rocking Assembly Hall is too much? And ESPN giving Purdue an 85% chance to win. We had the Kansas game in the bag for much of it and that was without XJ.

#11 Wisconsin down 4 at unranked PSU with 7+ left

Simple insanity!!!

https://www.nationofblue.com/nate-o...ence-for-making-contact-with-missouri-player/


Not enough but at least the SEC acknowledged it.