GAMEDAY: Kentucky Travels to Auburn

Bruce Pearl will be sweating up a storm as he tries to scream the Tigers to a victory over visiting Kentucky Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats enter the game off an embarrassing 20-point loss to Alabama, a team that beat Auburn a week ago. John Calipari’s Cats have lost three of their last four trips to Auburn Arena.

The Tigers stumbled out of the gate in SEC play, losing their first four conference games. The outlook of the season changed once Sharife Cooper entered the lineup. The former UK recruit has exceeded expectations at point guard. Through two games Cooper is averaging 27 points, 10.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game.

While Auburn hits its stride, Kentucky took one giant step back against Alabama. It was an unexpected twist. Kentucky was riding high on a three-game win streak, near the top of the SEC standings with Keion Brooks back in the fold. Instead of keeping the momentum rolling, Alabama lit up the scoreboard from behind the three-point line and ran UK out of the gym.

Kentucky basketball had been good to the BBN at the start of 2021. They resorted back to the 2020 team against Alabama. Which team will take the court today? We’ll find out at 2 pm ET on ESPN.

So Many Threes

Tired of watching an opponent jack up threes? Well, you’ll be exhausted after today. Bruce Pearl’s team fires up 28.9 attempts and makes about 9.7 per game. Now that they’ve seen it once, Kentucky should be better prepared for this style. The difference is that Cooper is a much better point guard. His ability to get into the paint, attract double teams and kick to open defenders could be Kentucky’s downfall.

Will Justin Powell play vs. UK?

The Kentucky native has not played for Auburn since he suffered a concussion Jan. 2. Pearl planned on the freshman from Prospect to return to the lineup against UK, but Powell suffered a slight setback.

“He didn’t respond great to moving around and so therefore you have to shut him back down,” Pearl said. “He is still day to day.” Powell averages 11.7 points, 4.7 assists and a team-high 6.1 rebounds per game.

Calipari’s Shoot-Around Message

Kentucky can either run from adversity, or respond to it.

“You either get punched in the mouth … or you know we’ve got to play.” pic.twitter.com/V8OZ2R4kp2

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 16, 2021

Vegas, TV, Radio

The Wildcats are 1-point underdogs at Auburn. The total for over/under bettors is set at 144.5. Auburn has only covered the spread once in their last six games..

Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes are on the call for ESPN at for the 2 pm ET tip-off. If you can’t watch all of the action, you can hear the Voice of the Wildcats, Tom Leach, on a variety of platforms.

• AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
• FM: 98.1 WBUL
• Satellite: XM-191
• Online: iHeart Radio

Listen to the KSR Pregame Show

Matt Jones will be live from Hollywood to prepare you for the Cats and the Tigers. Turn your radio dial to 630 WLAP or stream the hour-long show on iHeart Radio beginning at 11:30 am.

College Basketball on TV

• Noon: #21 Ohio State at #14 Illinois on Fox
• Noon: North Carolina at Florida State on ESPN
• Noon: Marquette at St. John’s on FS1
• Noon: Georgia at Ole Miss on ESPN2
• 1:00: #17 Missouri at Texas A&M on SECN
• 4:00: #2 Baylor at #15 Texas Tech on ESPN
• 4:00: Boston College at Notre Dame on ACCN
• 4:00: Miss. State at Florida on ESPN2
• 6:00: Vanderbilt at #10 Tennessee on SECN
• 6:00: #18 Virginia at #12 Clemson on ESPN
• 6:00: Northern Iowa at Loyola Chicago on ESPN2
• 8:00: #16 Louisville at Miami on ACCN
• 8:30: South Carolina at LSU on SECN
• 10:00: Cal at Utah on ESPNU

Wan’Dale Robinson is a Wildcat

The highly-anticipated decision happened Friday morning, finally putting the dynamic playmaker from Frankfort in Kentucky blue. Once the BBN let out a sigh of relief, excitement quickly followed as fans dreamed about what the Wildcats’ offense could look like with Wan’Dale and Josh Ali running routes alongside experienced tight ends in Liam Coen’s offense.

“We’re grateful to have Wan’Dale come back home to Kentucky,” Mark Stoops said. “He’s a dynamic playmaker and we welcome him into our program.”

How does Wan’Dale’s move from Lincoln to Lexington impact Kentucky? Adam Luckett breaks down what Robinson has to offer UK’s offense, Freddie Maggard wrote his thoughts on the homecoming and shared even more in a new edition of the Depth Chart Podcast.

Win the Hammer’s Money picking NFL Playoffs

We got a pair of great NFL football games today, starting this afternoon when Liam Coen’s Rams travel to Green Bay at 4:25 on Fox. Lamar Jackson will play in primetime as the Ravens try to knock off the Bills in Buffalo at 8:15 on NBC. You can watch all of the action at KSBar and predict the scores of Sunday’s games. Whoever is closest will win $1,000 and if you’re smart enough to pick it exactly right, you’re taking home $5,000 from Daryl Isaacs.