KSR Gameday: Kentucky looks to build momentum vs. Georgia

Twelve hours from now, your University of Kentucky Wildcats will be back in action vs. the Georgia Bulldogs at Rupp Arena. That’s right, tonight marks the first of four straight 9 p.m. Tuesday tips, so prepare accordingly.

In addition to a chance to increase our caffeine consumption, tonight’s game is an opportunity for Kentucky to build on Saturday’s huge win at Tennessee. The upset of the Vols gave the Cats’ NCAA Tournament resume the Quad 1 win it desperately needed. Kentucky’s next Quad 1 opportunity is vs. Kansas on Jan. 28. Between now and then, the Cats have one Quad 3 game (Georgia) and two Quad 2 games (Texas A&M, at Vanderbilt). The win over Tennessee doesn’t forgive the preceding loss to South Carolina, but Kentucky has a chance to get some momentum rolling going into the clash with the Jayhawks.

That starts tonight vs. the Bulldogs, who are 13-4 this season under Mike White (formerly of Florida), 3-1 in SEC play, their best start in league play since 2016-17. Georgia has won six of its last seven games, a stretch that includes victories over Notre Dame, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss. Their only SEC loss is at Florida on Jan. 7. Mike White’s squad is just outside the KenPom Top 50 on defense, holding opponents to 63.9 points per game and 40.9% from the floor.

Sahvir Wheeler, Daimion Collins injury updates

Senior guard Terry Roberts leads Georgia in scoring, with 15.6 points per game along with 4.2 assists, followed by junior guard Kario Oquendo at 13.1 points per game. The Bulldogs’ backcourt will test the Cats, who were without Sahvir Wheeler vs. Tennessee. On his radio show last night, John Calipari said both Wheeler (shoulder) and Daimion Collins (ankle) practiced on Monday after missing the Tennessee game, with Wheeler the more likely to play tonight. If Wheeler is unable to go or limited, we could see more of the Cason Wallace, Antonio Reeves, CJ Fredrick, Jacob Toppin, and Oscar Tshiebwe lineup, which excelled in Knoxville — although Calipari made it clear he’s committed to his starting point guard.

“I like that group, but Sahvir, again, he adds to our team,” said Calipari. “He adds speed. Another guy that’s tough. But again, we have different combinations that we can play.”

“Win Every Day” is the new motto

In addition to injury updates, Calipari shared his new motto for the team on last night’s call-in show: “Win every day.” It’s a way to keep the team focused on their positive progress in both practice and games.

“Now you gotta keep stringing wins together daily, not just the games. Every day we walk out of the gym we got to say, that was a win. And then you have the feeling of winning, making plays at the end, including defensive plays.”

Last night’s show also included an interesting note about Oscar Tshiebwe. Calipari said that Oscar’s conditioning might not be at the level it was last year and he’s encouraging him to spend more time in the gym.

“I told Oscar, ‘You’re not spending as much time in the gym as you did a year ago. You got to get back in there and be committed.’”

There’s no doubt that teams have zeroed in on Oscar’s weaknesses this season (hello, pick and roll). We’ll see if that talk with Calipari lights another fire under the reigning national player of the year.

TV, Radio Information

Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes will once again be on the call for ESPN tonight, with Marty Smith doing sideline duties. If you’re unable to watch the game, you can listen in a variety of ways.

• TV: ESPN
• Local Radio: 630 WLAP, UK Sports Network
• Online: iHeart
• Satellite Radio: Sirius 391, SXM app 981

The KSR Pregame Show will begin at 6:30 p.m. live from KSBar and Grille, so stop by on your way to Rupp or listen via 630 WLAP, 840 WHAS, or iHeart Radio. The second half of the show will also air on 98.1 The Bull.

Vegas, Computers

Kentucky opened as a 9.5-point favorite vs. Georgia. The line has since moved to -10.5. The total is 136.5 points. The Cats are only 5-12 against the spread this year. The under has hit in two of the last three games after four straight overs.

KenPom predicts a 72-64 Kentucky win, giving the Cats a 77% chance of victory. ESPN’s Matchup Predictor goes even higher at 85.4% Kentucky.

Statistical Comparison

As mentioned, Terry Roberts is Georgia’s leading scorer (15.6 PPG). He’s also the SEC’s leading scorer in conference action, averaging 20.3 PPG over four games thus far.

CJ Fredrick, Adou Thiero preview Georgia

Yesterday, CJ Fredrick and Adou Thiero met with reporters to close the book on the fun win over Tennessee and preview tonight’s game vs. the Bulldogs. Fredrick, who emerged as a team leader in Knoxville, echoed Calipari’s comments in saying Kentucky’s priority is “stacking days” to build momentum.

“We had a really good two days of practice,” Fredrick said. “Coach is big on winning each day and that starts with practice and stacking days. So, we had a lot of confidence in those two days of practice.”

“We were at our lowest, so it’s only up from here,” Thiero added. “So, I think we’re just going to go out and play like we played against Tennessee and fight.”

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College Basketball on TV today

Lots of Top 25 and SEC action tonight, including No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 13 Kansas State, which precedes Kentucky vs. Georgia on ESPN. The way things have gone this year, just count on that game going long and the Cats vs. the Dawgs starting on the ESPN app.

TIME	AWAY	HOME	TV
6:30 PM	Ole Miss	South Carolina	SECN
7:00 PM	2 Kansas	13 Kansas State	ESPN
7:00 PM	9 Tennessee	Miss. State	ESPN2
7:00 PM	1 Houston	Tulane	ESPN+
8:00 PM	7 Texas	12 Iowa State	ESPN+
8:30 PM	4 Alabama	Vanderbilt	SECN
9:00 PM	Georgia	Kentucky	ESPN
9:00 PM	21 Baylor	Texas Tech	ESPNU
9:00 PM	19 Clemson	Wake Forest	ESPN+

Hopefully one of these games (not Kentucky’s) has a finish like this:

this final sequence was outrageous 🤯@RazorbackWBB x #SECWBB pic.twitter.com/g0vm6AcBMJ

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) January 17, 2023

It’s even better from the angle of the cameraman who fell down:

GUYS HE GOT THE SHOT ‼️

🎥 POV: @noahsouthard056 https://t.co/roLsHOOKQ7 pic.twitter.com/NhD0hzPQK2

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) January 17, 2023

UK Night with the Nashville Predators

If you’re a fan of both the Kentucky Wildcats and the Nashville Predators like me, tonight is your night, bro. The Preds are hosting UK fans and alumni at tonight’s game vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets. As part of the promotion, fans will get a special UK/Preds hat with their ticket. It’s pretty awesome looking.

Unfortunately, the game times overlap, but with the Georgia game tipping late, there’s a chance you can catch parts of both. Maybe the Preds will do Cats fans a solid and check in to Rupp during intermissions.

New KSR coming your way

After a long weekend, Matt Jones, Ryan Lemond, Drew Franklin, and Shannon the Dude are back to recap the win over Tennessee and what lies ahead. The fun starts one hour from now, or right now on the KSR Preshow with Shannon and Billy.