KSR Gameday: Kentucky MBB and WBB competing for Sweet 16 bids

Good morning, folks! It’s Gameday again already? The best time of the year just keeps on giving.

(3) Kentucky will be back in action later today in Milwaukee with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line. The opponent? The 6-seed Illinois Fighting Illini. Brad Underwood‘s squad took care of Xavier in the opening round Friday 86-73. Freshman star Will Riley poured in a team-high 22 points, Tomislav Ivisic posted a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double, and projected top 10 pick Kasparas Jakucionis nearly posted a triple-double (16 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds). A streaky outside shooting team, Illinois went 12-30 from deep and outrebounded the Musketeers by 20.

All this is to say Kentucky and head coach Mark Pope will have their hands full today.

“It’s a really, really good team,” Koby Brea said yesterday. “They’re really physical and aggressive, shooting a lot of threes. Their offensive rebounding is off the charts, as well. They’re really good at that. It’s a top-25 defensive team. We’ve just got to be willing to make them take hard shots and just try to rebound as best as possible, make sure that we box out and get everybody off the glass.”

Here’s the thing about Illinois: it can go terribly just as quickly as it can go smoothly. Remember when Duke smacked them by 43 points just a little over a month ago? Or when Maryland bounced them from the Big Ten Tournament by 23? As much as the Illini like to chuck up threes (31st in the country in three-point rate), they only make them at a 31.4 percent clip. They’re prone to giving up a ton of points. There’s a reason KenPom projects this game to finish in the mid-80s.

Having another day of rest for Lamont Butler is nice. Same goes for Amari Williams and the minor back injury he suffered Thursday. We saw Collin Chandler and Brandon Garrison step up against Troy. Pope could use similar production again today. If Kentucky can outshoot Illinois from deep and stay under 10 turnovers, I’ll feel good about the Wildcats’ chances.

Kentucky and Illinois haven’t met on the hardwood since 1984, which is kinda crazy to think about. That game came in the Elite 8, too. UK owns the all-time series 11-4. These two teams even played against each other all the way back in 1925 (I remember it well), but that hasn’t been the case in over 40 years.

Illinois will come into today’s game a small 1.5-point favorite, per FanDuel. We should be in for a fun couple of hours. The prize for today’s winner is a showdown with (2) Tennessee next week in Indy. Let’s have some fun today, BBN.

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

(3) Kentucky vs. (6) Illinois: How to Watch, Listen

• Date, Time: Sunday, March 23, 5:15 ET
• Television: CBS (Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, Stan Van Gundy, Lauren Shehadi)
• Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• Online Radio: The Varsity App
• Satellite Radio: Sirius 210 or 203

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

Shoutout to our friends at Club Blue

Club Blue is the official collective partner of the University of Kentucky. Club Blue was founded by UK fans strictly to support the NIL efforts at the University of Kentucky. 

Unlike most collectives, 100% of subscriber money and 100% of donor money goes directly to NIL, Club Blue charges no fees. Club Blue subscribers receive some amazing benefits like invitations to special events, meet and greets with UK athletes, signed merchandise, monthly giveaways, ticket giveaways, Club Blue merch and more. 

Subscribe today at www.clubbluenil.com. You get to pick which sport you want to support when you sign up.  Choose Your Sport and Support, with Club Blue!

Two Gamedays in one: Kentucky WBB also fighting for Sweet 16

Before the men’s team gets going in Milwaukee, the Kentucky women’s squad will take the floor in Lexington’s Memorial Coliseum. The (4) Wildcats will host (5) Kansas State at 2:00 p.m. ET on ESPN with a chance to make the program’s first Sweet 16 since 2016. It certainly won’t be easy though.

For those who watched Friday’s first-round game against (13) Liberty, you’ll understand why. Kentucky had the game controlled for most of it until nearly suffering a full-on collapse down the stretch. UK led by 17 early in the fourth quarter before going roughly five minutes without a single point. Liberty was down just one with under 90 seconds to go. But Georgia Amoore, who dropped 34 points, saved the day to lock up a 79-78 win. Not the prettiest of victories, but at this point in the season, it doesn’t really matter how it happens.

“That’s what the beauty of March is,” Head coach Kenny Brooks said yesterday. “You’re not going to go out in one day try to reinvent yourself as a team, but you want to try to make sure you’re playing your best basketball.”

Kansas State, meanwhile, embarrassed (12) Fairfield 85-41 to set up a Round of 32 showdown with Kentucky. Their star player, Ayoka Lee, went for 17 points and 10 rebounds in her first game back since Feb. 22. There’s a reason Kansas State is favored by 2.5 points by FanDuel. Rebounding could be the deciding factor in this game — whichever team wins that battle will likely make the Sweet 16.

[PREVIEW: Kentucky WBB and Kansas State meet for a spot in the Sweet 16]

Today’s Round of 32 MBB schedule

TIME (ET)/TV	MATCHUP | REGION
12:10 PM (CBS)	(8) UConn vs. (1) Florida | West
2:40 PM (CBS)	(9) Baylor vs. (1) Duke | East
5:15 PM (CBS)	(6) Illinois vs. (3) Kentucky | Midwest
6:10 PM (TNT)	(7) Saint Mary’s vs. (2) Alabama | East
7:10 PM (TBS)	(12) Colorado State vs. (4) Maryland | West
7:45 PM (truTV)	(6) Ole Miss vs. (3) Iowa State | South
8:40 PM (TNT)	(10) New Mexico vs. (2) Michigan State | South
9:40 PM (TBS)	(5) Oregon vs. (4) Arizona | East

Early starts for baseball and softball

The diamonds in Lexington will be busy this morning and into the early afternoon. Kentucky baseball is shooting No. 16 Auburn at KPP with the softball team hosting No. 20 Ole Miss at John Cropp right next door. First pitch for both games is set for 11:00 a.m. ET and will be streamed on the SEC Network+.

The Bat Cats (14-7; 1-4 SEC) could desperately use a win today. Nick Mingione’s squad has dropped four straight games, including both games against Auburn already this weekend. Even more annoying is that both losses to the Tigers came by a final score of 8-7, including a blunder in game one on a botched pop-up. The series might already be lost, but any momentum will be welcomed going into next week.

As for Kentucky softball (20-10; 4-4 SEC), they’ve split the series 1-1 against Ole Miss so far. Friday’s win came in nine innings while Saturday’s loss was a tight 6-4 defeat. The Rebels scored six unanswered runs to take game two. The Wildcats need a bounce-back win today.