KSR Game Day: Beat the Tar Heels

Good morning from CATlanta, where I and my closest several thousand friends bought a one-game-for-the-price-of-two ticket to watch Kentucky take on the North Carolina Tarheels. The ‘Cats and the ‘Heels have a rich history on the hardwood and today’s game will be the next chapter in an age-old tale that UNC head coach Hubert Davis said could very well return to a home-and-home series. For now, fans will have to be sufficed with a once-every-three years CBS Sports Classic battle, and that day is today.

Atlanta is home to Chick-fil-A, Coca-Cola, and an absurd amount of traffic. Two of those fit together beautifully while the other one is a necessary evil one must endure to obtain said beauty. It is kind of like traveling to watch Kentucky play in another city. Yes, the basketball and vacation are nice, but if your travel day was anything like mine yesterday, it involved sitting between two sweaty strangers on a metal tube in the sky for an uncomfortable number of hours.

It is the price we pay for Kentucky fandom and if you’re in the Cat City (as Quade Green might say) today, come find me at the Wildcat pep rally at Hudson Grille Downtown. I’ll be the guy wearing blue.

How To Watch

No. 14 Kentucky (7-2) vs. No. 9 North Carolina (7-2)
5:30 p.m. ET | Saturday, December 16 | State Farm Arena

• TV: CBS (Brad Nessler, Bill Raftery, Jenny Dell)
• Streaming: Fubo (Try for free) – For a limited time, new subscribers can save $20 on Fubo’s Pro, Elite and Premier plans for the first month
• Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• Online Radio: iHeart
• Satellite Radio: Sirius 158 or 191
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast

What Vegas is saying

Kentucky last played North Carolina in this event in 2016 (the Covid season doesn’t count) in Las Vegas when Malik Monk put on a show to be forever remembered, but De’Aaron Fox hit a clutch free throw in the closing seconds that covered the spread.

For this rendition, oddsmakers over at Fanduel have given the slight edge to the boys in baby blue, as the Tarheels opened as a 1.5-point favorite over the Wildcats. The over-under in points is set at an absurdly high 164.5.

Let’s hope this game goes better than the last time Kentucky played a team from North Carolina.

Tale of the tape

• Kentucky is 4-5 all-time in the CBS Sports Classic, including 3-1 against North Carolina in the event.
• The Wildcats lead the country with a 2.20 assist-to-turnover ratio. Four players have a 2.73 assist-to-turnover ratio or better and they all rank among the top 70 in the country.
• Kentucky is dishing out 19.6 assists per game, which is the seventh-best in the nation. Four players have 30 or more assists (3.8 per game) thus far.
• UK is shooting 41.4% from 3-point range which ranks fifth-best in the country. Reed Sheppard’s 59% from long range is the best in the nation.

Hype Video

Would you just look at this majestic clip:

Top 11 reasons to hate North Carolina

KSR’s editor-in-chief sat down with radio-favorite Fake Barney to go over the 11 things you need to hate about North Carolina. I promise there will be at least four new things you didn’t even know you should be mad about:

Karter Knox and Somto Cyril recruiting visit

I’m writing this from the comfort of a blowup mattress that is a stone’s throw from the OTE facilities, where John Calipari and Orlando Antigua visited future ‘Cat Somto Cyril and potential ‘Cat Karter Knox.

The two were scheduled to battle it out on the hardwood, but unfortunately, Cyril missed this third straight game with an injury. Instead of sticking around and watching Kentucky play, for some reason, Karter Knox is taking his official visit to Louisville this weekend.

Yes, that Louisville. The one who likely won’t have a head coach soon and is undergoing one of the most embarrassing seasons in school history (which is saying a lot). Knox had 22 points and 10 rebounds in front of Cal in his team’s narrow loss on Friday night. Why he’s bolting for Louisville this weekend, of all weekends, is anyone’s guess, but according to him he is “looking forward to exploring Louisville’s campus.”

Cool.

Meanwhile, Somto Cyril will be in attendance to watch his future team battle the ‘Heels.

Orlando Antigua coaching up his future big man, Somto Cyril pic.twitter.com/FZzsmZroko

— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) December 16, 2023

Kentucky football preps for the Gator Bowl against Clemson

Friendly reminder: it is technically still football season. Kentucky will battle traditional powerhouse Clemson in the Gator Bowl in just a few short weeks. Watch Mark Stoops talk about his team’s preparation for the event:

Kentucky hires a wide receiver coach

Minutes after Mark Stoops walked away from the podium following Kentucky’s first Gator Bowl practice, the name of the next Kentucky wide receivers coach was confirmed by FootballScoop.

Former Houston wide receivers coach Daikiel Shorts Jr. is expected to take the same position at the University of Kentucky. The 29-year-old is replacing Scott Woodward who was fired after three seasons in Lexington.

Shorts is in town meeting with the Kentucky coaching staff during a busy recruiting weekend, according to FootballScoop. A deal between Kentucky and Shorts has not been finalized.

Stoops could’ve taken various routes to find his next wide receivers coach. Instead of seeking out an ace recruiter, he found a young talent developer. With Barion Brown, Dane Key, and a slew of other young, prolific players on the UK roster, that’s exactly what this wide receiver room needs. If Shorts is the man for the job, he’ll be tasked to unlock the wide receivers’ potential, the key to a successful 2024 Kentucky football season.

KSR+ Signing Day Sale

If you’re not a KSR+ member, are you even a fan? I mean, the answer to that question is likely yes, but you’re still missing out on lots of scoop and discussion talking about said scoop. Come join the fun.

Take advantage of the KSR+ SIGNING DAY SALE to get bonus coverage of the Cats, including football transfer portal rumblings, basketball game threads, in-depth scouting reports, and the latest recruiting intel. 50% off the annual price or $1 for 1 month.