KSR Today: A win is still a win

ZGeogheganKSR

On3 image — Photo by Chet White | UK Athletics

Good morning, folks! With how road games have gone for Kentucky this season, I’d say the Big Blue Nation is waking up feeling pretty good about how Wednesday night unfolded.

Kentucky survived an ugly contest against the Texas A&M Aggies, which hosted the ‘Cats to a white-out theme and an energetic Reed Arena atmosphere. UK trailed by five at the halftime break before gutting its way to a 64-58 win down in College Station, handing Texas A&M its first SEC loss of the season. Kentucky only saw two players finish in double-figures and played arguably its worst offensive performance of the season, yet still managed to leave with a Quad 1 victory.

Let’s read about it.

Got the job done.

We win, we dance. pic.twitter.com/x2YgFYg8fv
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 20, 2022

Postgame Links!!

The status of Kellan Grady

It was a rough shooting night for the ordinarily efficient Kellan Grady, who finished 2-10 from the field and an uncharacteristic 1-9 from beyond the arc. Coming into Wednesday night, he was connecting on 45 percent from distance on the season and led the SEC in outside shooting.

But the story surrounding Grady once the final buzzer sounded wasn’t his stat line, rather the status of the injury that forced him into a limp down the stretch.

Grady went to the bench around the 5:30 mark in the second half, clearly hobbling on his left leg after an awkward landing saw an A&M player run into his left knee. He would return roughly three minutes of game time later, but was still laboring and eventually taken off the floor 60 seconds after that. John Calipari did not provide an update on Grady’s status following the win, which means we’ll be monitoring that between now and Saturday’s game against Auburn.

Kentucky sure will need him.

WBB looks to bounceback against Florida

After back-to-back demoralizing losses to No. 1 South Carolina and No. 5 Tennessee, Kentucky Women’s Basketball will look to bounce back in a major way later tonight against the Florida Gators.

The No. 23 Wildcats lost by a combined 46 points to the Gamecocks and Lady Volunteers, as both games came on the road. With those games officially in the rearview, Kentucky will return to Memorial Coliseum for a matchup against a good, but not great, Florida squad.

The Gators are riding a three-game win streak that includes a victory over then-No. 25 Texas A&M. However, they did lose to the same Georgia squad that Kentucky managed to beat a couple of weeks ago. COVID-19 health and safety protocols have caused multiple disruptions for the ‘Cats in recent weeks (they’re the only SEC program not to play at least four conference games so far) and taking care of Florida at home would be a great way to establish some much-needed momentum.

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Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EST on the SEC Network. Grant Grubbs will have a full preview of the showdown later this morning.

Memorial donations for Joe B. Hall

For Kentucky Basketball fans curious about a public memorial service for Joe B. Hall, the family decided to hold a private funeral and burial instead. In lieu of flowers, Hall’s fans and supporters can show their love and support by making memorial donations to Crestwood Christian Church in Lexington, the Lexington Humane Society, or Bluegrass Care Navigators.

11 Personnel sits down with Liam Coen

11 Personnel is bringing out the big guns this offseason. Liam Coen joined Nick Roush and Adam Luckett to discuss what went right for UK during his first season before looking ahead to the 2022 campaign. You’ve never heard a candid conversation with Kentucky’s offensive coordinator like this before. Highlights:

Will NFL fourth down aggressiveness trickle down to college football?
Citrus Bowl satisfaction from the final 2-minute drive.
Will Levis‘ development and Coen’s confidence in the QB on third down.
How Coen scripts the starts to drives.
Where Chris Rodriguez can take the next step.
What young pass-catchers must accomplish this spring.

You can easily stream online through Spotify or you can get the podcast sent directly to your phone by subscribing to 11 Personnel on iTunes. You can also catch today’s conversation on the KSR YouTube Channel.

That’s all the news and notes I have for you this morning. Make sure to tune in to KSR in an hour to hear from Matt Jones and the crew on an exciting win in College Station.