KSR Gameday: Kentucky hosts Jackson State inside Rupp Arena

Kentucky fans at Rupp Arena - Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio

Blink and you might’ve missed this one, Kentucky taking on Jackson State just 72 hours after defeating Lipscomb inside Rupp Arena on Tuesday. It’s game two of the BBN Invitational with a third to follow against Western Kentucky on Tuesday. The competition? Well, it’s not the best, to put it lightly. The Tigers are 0-5 on the year and ranked No. 320 overall by KenPom out of 364 Division I programs.

That same service gives the Cats a 99.6 percent chance to win, meaning we have a 99.6 percent chance of having a good time tonight, right? It’s hard to complain about the opportunity to go 5-0 for the first time since the 2016-17 season.

If nothing else, it’s the perfect start to a one-two punch this weekend with Kentucky football traveling to Austin to take on No. 3 Texas in the SEC finale on Saturday.

How to Watch, Listen

No. 9 Kentucky (4-0) vs. Jackson State (0-5)
7 p.m. ET | Friday, Nov. 22 | Rupp Arena (Lexington, KY)

Streaming: SEC Network+/ESPN+ (Andrew Kappes, Cameron Mills)
Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
Online Radio: iHeart
Satellite Radio: Sirius 106 or 191
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 — I’ll be coming out of the bullpen to join Ryan Lemond. From there, I’m making the drive across town to join Zack Geoghegan for our 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 opened as a 34.5-point favorite vs. the Tigers with the point total set at 159.5. That’s up to Kentucky -35.5 in some books with the Wildcats’ team total set at 97.5 points. KenPom believes it will be closer than that, predicting a 92-62 victory for the home team.

Mark Pope previews Jackson State

What do you need to know about the Tigers, who are coached by former NBA standout Mo Williams? Coach Pope believes they’re better than their record suggests.

“This Jackson State team is playing really hard. I mean, they’re competing,” he said. “Last year, they were one of the better teams in the country getting to the free-throw line. They have a 13-rebound advantage on the offensive glass through their first five games. They traditionally have been a really good forcing-turnover team and they’re playing with unbelievable energy. Mo (Williams) has got the guys — like, they’re fighting and competing.

“They have some really terrific size, one of the biggest centers that we’ll face all season long. They had a rookie step up (Wednesday) night and put up huge numbers. They’ve got a roster kind of built like that, where on any given night, somebody can step up and really be great.”

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College Basketball on TV tonight

The holiday events are in full swing, last night giving us some thrillers — did you see No. 13 Baylor vs. No. 22 St. John’s? Rick Pitino had Scott Drew on the ropes until Jeremy Roach came through with the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Bears the win in double overtime.

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ROACH CALLED GAME@Jeremyroach10 #SicEm | #CultureofJOY pic.twitter.com/AqDaRUvDBl
— Baylor Men’s Basketball (@BaylorMBB) November 22, 2024

From there, No. 11 Tennessee took care of business against Virginia in a game that set the sport back a couple of decades, just as Tony Bennett would have wanted — a 64-42 final. It’ll be the Vols vs. Bears tonight in the the Baha Mar Hoops tournament championship, one of nine games featuring ranked teams on Friday.

Check out the full slate:

Away	Home	Time/TV
No. 19 Wisconsin	UCF	5:00 p.m. (CBSSN)
Jackson St.	No. 9 Kentucky	7:00 p.m. SECN+
S. Illinois	No. 21 Florida	7:00 p.m. SECN
No. 22 St. John’s	Virginia	7:00 p.m. CBSSN
Nebraska	No. 14 Creighton	8:00 p.m. FS1
Hofstra	No. 7 Houston	8:00 p.m. ESPN+
Little Rock	No. 20 Arkansas	9:00 p.m. SECN
No. 13 Baylor	No. 11 Tennessee	9:30 p.m. CBSSN
No. 12 Duke	No. 17 Arizona	10:30 p.m. ESPN2

Mark Stoops gets feisty previewing Texas

Switching gears to football and the Cats’ matchup in Austin, how does Stoops feel about his team’s chances against one of the best teams in the country? He made it clear Kentucky is going down there looking for a win — and he got pretty feisty talking about it.

“We haven’t had the consistency, I admit that,” Stoops said. “I don’t like that about the year, the ups and downs, I’d like to be more consistent. I’m working hard on that. Regardless of what anybody is saying about my future, I am busting my ass trying to win out and really play down the stretch.”

Speaking of the future, the head ball coach doubled down that he’s in no rush to leave Lexington.

“Let’s be honest, you have to worry about big picture when you’re sitting in my chair,” he continued. “And that excites me and motivates me, to be honest with you. No time to whine or worry, it’s more like, let’s get some shit done.”

Listen to everything he had to say before the team’s trip to Austin below:

A healthy injury report (finally)

Hey, how about some good injury news for a change? After a long list of absences last week — and essentially every week, for that matter — it appears the Wildcats will be taking on the Longhorns as close to full strength as they could possibly be at this point in the season.

Eight absences, but all expected. Elsewhere, JJ Weaver, Courtland Ford and Kahlil Saunders have a 50 percent chance to play or higher — good news across the board.

Jantzen Dunn | DB | Out
Darrion Henry-Young | DL | Out
Gerald Mincey | OL | Out
Daveren Rayner | LB | Out
Terhyon Nichols | CB | Out
DJ Waller Jr. | DB | Out
D’Eryk Jackson | LB | Out
Tavion Gadson | DL | Out
JJ Weaver | OLB | Probable
Courtland Ford | OL | Questionable
Kahlil Saunders | DL | Questionable

What about Texas?

Things will be relatively clean for the Longhorns on Saturday, as well, with just seven players listed on the injury report at all and only four confirmed absences.