4-Point Play: Moving past the Texas A&M loss

The loss in College Station still stings. It was right there for the taking, several opportunities down the stretch to pull off the win. Just wasn’t in the cards for the Cats in their second road matchup of SEC play.

The show goes on, though. No rest for the weary. Next up? A battle against Chris Jans and Mississippi State, scheduled for Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. ET inside Rupp Arena. Ranked No. 35 in the NET, the Bulldogs have wins over Tennessee, Arizona State, Rutgers and Northwestern at 12-4 overall.

Let’s move past A&M and look ahead to MSU tonight on 4-Point Play.

No update on Adou Thiero

Kentucky missed the sophomore forward’s physicality and athleticism in the team’s loss at Texas A&M. Rebounding and defense were issues in the 97-92 overtime defeat, two of Thiero’s strengths. And the Wildcats will need help in those areas again when they host the tough, hard-nosed Bulldogs this week.

Will Thiero be available? Well, that’s not yet confirmed, but it’s not looking good.

“Yeah, it’s still day-to-day,” Calipari said Monday. “He did not practice today, so it’s still day-to-day.”

Ahead of the team’s matchup against the Aggies, Coach Cal said Thiero “still has some testing to do” before he can be cleared to return to game action. Though officially announced as “general soreness,” the Kentucky head coach has said on multiple occasions now that it’s a back issue and his extended absence was “the best course of action,” adding “hopefully he is back soon.”

It doesn’t appear he’ll be ready in time for the mid-week matchup.

A look ahead to Mississippi State

With Kentucky’s next SEC test quickly approaching, Calipari gave a quick preview of the Bulldogs tonight on his call-in radio show.

If you didn’t like the grown-man strength A&M played with in College Station, you’re not going to like MSU, either.

“They’re good! It’s just like I said about Texas A&M — they’re older, were up 15 or 16 and beat Tennessee,” Coach Cal said. “That game was really physical and they took it to Tennessee’s big guys. (Tolu) Smith just went right at him, had 25 points and 12 rebounds, whatever it was. They’re good. They play a little bit of a 2-2-1 press, man-to-man they’re very aggressive. They pressure, they’ll stretch out, they collapse like a lot of teams in our league, which gives you corner threes and some different threes because of how they play.

“They’re good, were 12-0 for a while. The game at South Carolina that they lost was a two-point game, and I’m talking last-minute. They could’ve easily won that one, too.”

The fallout of VJ Edgecombe‘s commitment to Baylor

No, the five-star guard is not a Cat. The good news? He’s not a Blue Devil, either. Instead, Edgecombe picked the Bears, choosing Scott Drew over John Calipari and Jon Scheyer. It’s a letdown considering Kentucky came in late and nearly pulled off the upset — it offered after a top ten had already been announced and managed to make the final three, leading for a brief period down the home stretch before the longer-standing relationships won out. The versatile 3-and-D threat was a perfect complementary fit alongside the team’s five other signees in 2024, a potential home run piece to round out the second-ranked class.

Where does Calipari turn now? Five-star wing Karter Knox will be on campus this weekend for an official visit — that’s a clear priority. Kentucky will also continue to monitor potential reclass options such as Darryn Peterson, Meleek Thomas, Jasper Johnson and Caleb Wilson, along with whatever pops up in the transfer portal this spring.

Never say never on Reed Sheppard returning for a sophomore campaign, either. He’ll be able to name his price with NIL, lottery status likely being the threshold to keep an eye on.

Brad Calipari goes for 48 in the Manager Games

Student managers are evolving. Gone are the days of glorified bottle-sprayers and towel-getters at the end of the bench — these dudes will bust your *** today. Hell, Kentucky’s got a 6-10 manager who could be a DI scholarship player today in Ray Surratt, among other hoopers. The Cats made the Final Four of the 2023 Manager Games and are currently No. 8 nationally in the Manager Games Top Ten.

But they’ll have some competition in the SEC this year, a familiar name and DI player in enemy territory: Brad Calipari.

Coach Cal’s son, the Director of On-Court Player Development at Vanderbilt, is suiting up for the Commodores in this year’s Manager Games. And he’s doing about what you’d expect a player who hit 49 3-pointers at the collegiate level to do.

Taking on the Ole Miss Rebels this weekend, Calipari dropped 48 points in a 117-62 win to move Vanderbilt to 5-0 on the year.

Improve to 5-0 with the 117-62 win at Ole Miss. Brad Calipari led the way with 48 🔥

Appreciate the hospitality @UMbballmanagers @ManagerGames_ pic.twitter.com/t7yRqFib6T

— #16 Vandy MBB GAs (5-0) (@VanderbiltGAs) January 13, 2024

Kentucky travels to Vanderbilt on Feb. 6 before hosting the Commodores inside Rupp Arena on March 6. You better believe the Calipari reunion Manager Games will be must-see TV.