KSR Gameday: Kentucky hosts Georgia State on Black Friday

Good morning, Big Blue Nation! Happy Black Friday — if that’s something you celebrate. Some like battling the crowds in the cold for shopping deals while others do their damage online, whatever it takes to get ready for Christmas (or just scratching that retail therapy itch). Whether you’re shopping today or not, I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving spending time with family and loved ones while also loading up on all of the turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie your stomachs could handle. We sure did in the Pilgrim household — it is my holiday, after all.

You may be spending extra time with relatives or bouncing around to additional Thanksgivings in the coming days — I actually have two more this weekend — but it’s still a game day around here in Lexington. After a couple of days off, the Wildcats are back in action taking on Georgia State inside Rupp Arena with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network.

Let us help you take it easy on this holiday week/weekend here at KSR HQ.

How to Watch, Listen

No. 8 Kentucky (6-0) vs. Georgia State (4-3)
7 p.m. ET | Friday, Nov. 29 | Rupp Arena (Lexington, KY)

• Streaming: SEC Network (John Schriffen, Richard Hendrix)
• Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• Online Radio: iHeart
• Satellite Radio: Sirius 138 or 190
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast

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.

The KSR Pregame Show will start at 4:30 p.m. ET at KSBar and Grille. From there, Zack Geoghegan and I will be joined by Steven Peake for our pregame walk to Rupp Arena where we’ll be sharing our thoughts and chatting with fans LIVE on the KSR YouTube Channel. Subscribe to the channel and turn your notifications on to get an alert when we start our journey.

Odds

Kentucky has opened as a 30-point favorite over Georgia State with the over/under set at 162 total points, according to our friends at Circa Sports Kentucky. The Wildcats covered the spread in their first five games of the season before falling just short of that mark in their 19-point victory over WKU on Tuesday.

KenPom is projecting a 90-66 victory in favor of the home team, giving UK a 98 percent chance to pull off the win outright.

What do you need to know about Georgia State?

With the Thanksgiving holiday taking place on Thursday, Mark Pope did not have his regularly scheduled preview press conference going into the weekend. That’s when he would have shared his detailed scouting report on the Panthers and his keys to a win to move to 7-0 on the season. Instead, let’s learn about the competition a little bit together right now, shall we?

Georgia State is 4-3 on the year with wins over Ball State, Toccoa Falls, NC Central and Tulsa and losses to Mississippi State, Jacksonville State and Austin Peay. As a team, the Panthers are averaging just 75.3 points per contest while shooting 44.4 percent overall, 33.8 percent from three and 68.8 percent at the line.

It’s a very top-heavy group led by Zarique Nutter and Toneari Lane, averaging 17.2 points and 15.3 points apiece, respectively. Cesare Edwards (11.0 PPG) and Nick McMullen (10.0 PPG) round out double-figure scorers.

KenPom has the Panthers ranked No. 219 nationally with the No. 211 overall offense and No. 218 defense.

A third matchup against the Panthers

We’ll call this the Ryan Harrow Bowl, the former Kentucky point guard taking his talents to Georgia State to wrap up his career closer to home from 2013-15. It’s actually the third all-time matchup between the two schools, the Wildcats winning both games in 2004 and 2005.

UK took home a 77-59 victory in the first matchup, led by Kelenna Azubuike and Chuck Hayes with 16 points apiece. Then the following year, Kentucky won 73-46 with Shagari Alleyne leading the way with 16.

Mark Pope has taken on Georgia State one time in his coaching career, an 86-54 win at BYU last season.

Recapping a wild Feast Week

By now you’ve certainly heard about UConn dropping not one, not two, but three games this week, likely to fall from No. 2 in the rankings to out of the top 25 completely — assuming the voters have common sense. No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 5 Iowa State, No. 6 Houston, No. 11 Duke, No. 12 UNC, No. 14 Indiana, No. 20 Texas A&M, No. 21 Creighton and No. 22 Xavier all took losses leading up to Thanksgiving, as well, followed by a matchup BBN undoubtedly kept its eye on Thursday afternoon between No. 19 Arkansas and Illinois.

In the battle of Ivisic twins with John Calipari and the Razorbacks taking on Orlando Antigua’s Fighting Illini, it was the latter taking home a comfortable 90-77 victory that was never really close. Tomislav Ivisic went for 21 points and 10 rebounds while Zvonimir added 13 points and six rebounds on the losing side. Adou Thiero was terrific, going for 26 points and six rebounds in the loss, while Billy Richmond added 12 points and four rebounds off the bench.

Elsewhere? Well, Arkansas just stunk it up. DJ Wagner and Boogie Fland combined to shoot 6-21 while the team finished 5-17 from three.

As expected, Coach Cal played the hits after the loss:

"There's a lot to learn from this… you got to play a certain way, it's winning basketball."

A learning experience on Thanksgiving for #19 Arkansas as they fall in Kansas City to Illinois 90-77. #WPS

Hear more from Coach Cal and Nelly Davis below.https://t.co/CPeA9exMXp pic.twitter.com/5RR9QE2myG

— Pig Trail Nation (@PigTrailNation) November 29, 2024

Don’t forget about Cats vs. Cards

It may be Feast Week, but it’s also Louisville Hate Week, Mark Stoops and the Wildcats looking for their sixth straight win against the Cardinals on Saturday.

Kentucky enters the matchup as a four-point underdog with the over/under set at 50 total points. As Adam Luckett pointed out this morning, unders are 8-3 in Kentucky games while overs are 7-4 in Louisville games. It’s gonna be a battle of tempos, the Cats more likely to pull off the upset in a rock fight at Kroger Field.

That one kicks off at noon ET on Saturday in Lexington. Plenty on the line for both programs — Stoops personally needing this one to get the train back on the track going into the biggest offseason of his career.

“It doesn’t really matter what the records are or anything like that,” Stoops said this week. “I have a lot of respect for Jeff [Brohm] and the way he coaches and their program. It’s important. It is important to our fan base, it’s important for our players, it’s important to me that we go play well.”