KSR Gameday: A Kentucky Basketball Doubleheader

Many of you are going over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house today; if you’re driving or flying this evening, you’ll have plenty of Kentucky basketball to listen to, as both the men’s and women’s teams are in action.

At 4:30 p.m., No. 14 Kentucky WBB faces Arizona State in the Music City Classic in Nashville, a multi-team event also featuring Illinois, Dayton, Maryland Eastern Shore, and South Dakota. Kentucky will play Illinois tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET. The games will take place at tiny Trojan Fieldhouse on the campus of Trevecca Nazarene University, an arena with a 1,500-seat capacity. Unless you’re at Trevecca tonight, the only way you’ll be able to see the game is with an event pass on BallerTV. You can also listen via 98.5 FM in Lexington and follow Phoenix Stevens and Katie Hutchison’s updates on the KSR LIVE BLOG.

Two hours later, No. 8 Kentucky MBB will host Western Kentucky in the finale of the BBN Invitational (6:30 p.m., ESPNU). Both teams are undefeated in the multi-team event thus far, beating Lipscomb and Jackson State. While the Cats won their games by an average of 39 points, the Hilltoppers only defeated Lipscomb by five, 66-61, and Jackson State by 17, 79-62. They are 3-2 overall this season, beating Campbellsville and losing to Wichita State and Grand Canyon.

Hank Plona is in his first season as Western Kentucky’s head coach after taking over for Steve Lutz, who resigned to take the job at Oklahoma State. Plona was an assistant on Lutz’s staff and one of many familiar faces from last year’s roster, which won the Conference USA Tournament and lost to Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Western Kentucky returns three of its top five scorers from that team and 65.2% of its scoring. Like Kentucky, they’re a team full of veterans, with five graduate students, two redshirt seniors, and six seniors. One of those seniors is Don McHenry, who leads the Hilltoppers in scoring with 17.2 points per game.

This will be the eighth meeting between the in-state schools, the last taking place in Lexington in December 2021, a 95-60 Kentucky victory (the Cats were originally scheduled to play Louisville, which had to bail due to COVID). Oscar Tshiewbe set a Rupp Arena record with 28 rebounds in that one. I doubt that record will fall tonight, but Kentucky can extend its streak of games with at least ten threes to six, the best to start a season in program history.

Should be a fun day. Let’s get it rolling.

Gameday Schedule

• 4:00 PM: KSR Pregame Show (630 WLAP, iHeart Radio)
• 4:30 PM: No. 14 Kentucky WBB vs. Arizona State
  • Streaming: BallerTV
  • Home Radio: 98.5 FM
• 6:30 PM: No. 8 Kentucky MBB vs. Western Kentucky
  • TV: ESPNU (Roy Philpott, Pat Bradley)
  • Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
  • Online Radio: iHeart
  • Satellite Radio: Sirius 210 or 191

You can also follow the game via our new LIVE BLOG on the website, which will begin an hour before tipoff, or join the conversation on KSBoard.

Kentucky vs. WKU Odds, Stats

Kentucky opened as a 21.5-point favorite on Monday, with the total set at 162.5 points. The line is now -22.5 Kentucky and the total 164.5 points. Kentucky’s team total is 93.5 points. The Cats are 4-0-1 this season against the spread, and the over has hit in four of five games, the exception being vs. Duke.

Here is how the teams match up statistically:

STATISTIC	UK	WKU
Points Per Game	97.0	81.0
Rebounds PG	45.0	41.0
Assists PG	21.8	15.0
Blocks PG	6.6	3.2
Steals PG	8.0	9.6
Turnovers PG	10.2	2.2
FG Pct.	0.521	0.440
3-Pt FG Pct.	0.423	0.374
FT Pct.	0.756	0.699
Assist-to-TO Ratio	2.1	1.2
KenPom Rating	13	125

Koby Brea, Andrew Carr preview Western Kentucky, talk Thanksgiving

On Monday, Koby Brea and Andrew Carr met with the media to preview Western Kentucky. Brea compared Western’s defense to Duke’s, while Carr talked about the Hilltoppers’ fast pace on offense.

“They’re a pretty good defensive team from what we’ve seen. They change up their defenses a lot, they got a lot of aggressive defenders,” Brea said. “So I think it’ll be something new for us. Kinda similar in a way to Duke a little bit. So I think it’ll be a good challenge for us.

“They seem like they like to play super fast, aggressive,” Carr said. “Definitely a talented team. They’re going to come in here and give us their best shot, so we’re excited.”

Quick-hitters from Mark Pope’s first call-in show

Last night was the first Mark Pope call-in show of the 2024-25 season and it did not disappoint. Here are a few of the topics he and Tom Leach touched on in the hour-long conversation:

• Praise for Brandon Garrison: Garrison has an insane 4.25-1 assist-to-turnover ratio right now. Pope credited assistant coach Mikhail McLean for his work with Garrison, calling McLean a rising superstar in the game.
• Walker Horn gives pregame speeches: Everyone has a role on this team, including Walker Horn, a walk-on whom Pope claims gives pregame speeches. I need to see that.
• Tons of great Pope/caller interaction: As you might expect, Pope had some great back-and-forth with callers, including one fan who wrote him a letter several years ago predicting he would be Kentucky’s coach one day. His response? “It would be an honor, just as it was when I wore the uniform.”
• The importance of gratitude: Pope had some great comments about gratitude, which are especially fitting this week. “There are very few things that I will say are 100 percent truths: You cannot be more happy than you are grateful. This is just a true principle of life. It’s so true. Gratitude is something that we have, but it’s something we have to practice. If you are grateful, by definition, you will 100 percent be happy. Grateful people are happy. Ungrateful people have a really tough time being happy.” Preach.
• Ron Mercer called in: The highlight of the night? When “Ron from Tennessee” called in. Ron Mercer congratulated his former teammate on the exciting start to the season and share some of his takes on the squad. His favorite players? Jaxson Robinson and Koby Brea, both of whom remind him of himself a little bit.

When Ron Mercer calls into the 1st Mark Pope Show >>> https://t.co/24DilFbqdn pic.twitter.com/vHUABi0VH9

— UK Sports Network (@UKSportsNetwork) November 26, 2024

College Basketball on TV today

Feast Week got off to a thrilling start on Monday, especially in Maui. Memphis upset No. 2 UConn due in part to a technical foul on Dan Hurley with 40 seconds to go in overtime.

In the first game of the night session in Maui, No. 4 Auburn beat No. 5 Iowa State 83-81 thanks to a buzzer-beater by Johni Broome. In the second, No. 12 North Carolina outlasted Dayton 92-90.

Today’s schedule is packed with good games. Here are the best:

TIME (ET)	AWAY	HOME	TV	TOURNAMENT
2:00 PM	San Diego State	No. 21 Creighton	TBS	Players Era Festival
3:30 PM	No. 2 UConn	Colorado	ESPN2	Maui Invitational
4:00 PM	Penn State	Clemson	CBSSN	Sunshine Slam
4:30 PM	Oregon	No. 20 Texas A&M	TNT	Players Era Festival
6:00 PM	Memphis	Michigan State	ESPN	Maui Invitational
6:30 PM	Western Kentucky	Kentucky	ESPNU	BBN Invitational
8:00 PM	No. 6 Houston	No. 9 Alabama	TBS	Players Era Festival
8:30 PM	No. 5 Iowa State	Dayton	ESPNU	Maui Invitational
9:00 PM	No. 1 Kansas	No. 11 Duke	ESPN	Terry’s Chocolate Vegas Showdown
10:30 PM	Rutgers	Notre Dame	TBS	Players Era Festival
11:00 PM	No. 4 Auburn	No. 12 North Carolina	ESPN	Maui Invitational

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ICYMI, Mark Stoops named Cutter Boley the starting QB vs. Louisville

On the football front, by far the biggest news on Monday was Mark Stoops’ announcement that Cutter Boley will start at quarterback vs. Louisville instead of Brock Vandagriff. Boley played the entire second half at Texas and gave the Cats a spark, even getting some postgame praise and a hug from Matthew McConaughey. Although Stoops went out of his way to thank Vandagriff for his hard work this season, the staff is clearly pushing the chips in on the future ahead of a critical offseason.

“He’s just got that feel. He’s got the moxy,” Stoops said of Boley on Monday. “He’s the type of guy, he gets along with absolutely everybody on the team. He fits in with everybody. He’s just got a very good personality that way. I think they know he’s got that moxy or swagger, or whatever you want to call it, that when he gets in there, he has a strong belief in himself and, and he sees the field well also.”

Coordinators, players talk after practice

Because it’s a holiday week, today will be the final media availability before the Louisville game. After practice, offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan, defensive coordinator Brad White, and select players will speak to reporters. It’s probably safe to assume that we’ll hear from Cutter Boley. Check the site this evening for their remarks and the KSR YouTube Channel for all the videos.

New CFP Rankings

This past weekend was a wild one in college football, with three top teams losing (Indiana, Alabama, and Ole Miss). Alabama and Ole Miss fell to No. 13 and No. 15 in the AP Poll, respectively. What about the College Football Playoff Rankings? We’ll find out tonight when the new rankings are released.

Three-star WR Dejerrian Miller announces his decision

Mark Stoops was a few minutes late to last night’s radio show because he was speaking to a recruit. While we don’t know for certain, signs point to that being three-star wide receiver Dejerrian Miller, a top-500 wideout expected to announce his college decision today. Kentucky and Ole Miss are in the running, with the Cats thought to be the frontrunner. Kentucky’s 2025 class ranks No. 25 in the country right now; with the Early Signing Period starting one week from tomorrow, adding Miller would be some nice momentum heading into the home stretch.

Podcasts to keep you entertained while you travel

Odds are you’ll be on the road sometime in the next few days. We’ve got you covered. Jack Pilgrim and Shawn Smith went live last night on a special Monday edition of Sources Say. Today, the 11 Personnel crew of Nick Roush and Adam Luckett will do the same around 1 p.m. ET. The KSR Football crew also convened on Monday to recap their trip to Austin and react to the news Cutter Boley is starting vs. Louisville. Add in the radio show and there’s lots to keep you entertained.

Each show is available on the KSR YouTube Channel or in audio form wherever you get your podcasts (including the KSR/On3 app!).