KSR Today: Cats prepare to host the Gamecocks

After taking losses in back-to-back games and losing four of the last five, Kentucky is in a must-win situation with South Carolina coming to town this weekend. The Gamecocks are the worst team in the SEC with a 10-12 record overall while sitting at 0-10 in Quad 1 matchups, their best win coming at home against Clemson while also taking a Quad 4 loss to open the regular season and offset that lone Quad 2 win.

USC is terrible because of its offense, entering the matchup ranked No. 131 in adjusted offensive efficiency, No. 275 in scoring, No. 288 in pace and No. 300 in turnover rate. Oh, and they can’t shoot, either, coming in ranked No. 13 in the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage and No. 14 in 2-point field goal percentage.

But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

Needless to say, the Wildcats need this one to get back in the win column and regain some of that momentum they’ve lost here as of late. The good news? Mark Pope isn’t giving away any bulletin board material ahead of the matchup.

Pope believes USC is ‘certainly’ a good team in the SEC

Once again, it’s the biggest game of Kentucky’s lives, just like every game. When asked about the Gamecocks, Mark Pope said the gap between teams in the SEC is so small that even with a 0-9 start, they’ve been competitive against the best of the best and could be on the cusp of a breakthrough in the recent trend of teams at the bottom starting to win as the teams at the top start to stack losses.

That’s why you can’t overlook what Lamont Paris is doing in Columbia — no matter what the record says.

“There’s a lot of good teams in this league, and (South Carolina is) certainly one of them,” Pope said. “They have superstar talent. They’re really well-coached. They got toughness and discipline. They had every good team in this league on the ropes. They had Auburn on the ropes. They had Florida on the ropes. So a good team, well-coached, just like every single team in this league.”

Is Lamont Butler on the cusp of a return?

Amid conversations about not showering since the Ole Miss loss and loving ‘when the story gets murky’ and ‘when you start to doubt,’ Pope dropped a nice little nugget on Kentucky’s point guard situation and clarity that could be on the horizon.

Lamont Butler has been out since the Vanderbilt loss on January 25 dealing with a shoulder injury. Where do things stand entering the South Carolina matchup and the remaining nine games on the schedule? Progress is being made.

“He’s gonna move around on the court, non-contact a little bit today,” Pope said. “And we’ll just kind of see how it is tomorrow. I don’t know exactly when (his return is) gonna be. I really don’t. We’ll kind of vibe it out. … “I would like to get (Butler) back in a position where we have the next chance of not having another setback.”

Speaking of injuries, Pope added he’s hopeful Andrew Carr’s back issues are behind him, ‘the most important thing’ coming out of the loss to the Rebels. He felt just as good the day after as the day before, and now, there’s confidence he’s ‘gonna get back to having a massive, massive impact on our team.’

Mike Woodson is GONE

It will not be Mike Woodson leading the Hoosiers when the UK/IU series returns in the coming years. Now in his fourth season at Indiana, he owns a 77-49 record overall with a 14-9 start this year, 5-7 in Big Ten play.

As boos and chants calling to fire Woodson rain down at Assembly Hall, the two parties have reportedly decided to go their separate ways at the end of the season, Jeff Goodman reporting he will coach the rest of the way before stepping down and retiring.

Of the potential options to replace Woodson? The list starts with Chris Beard, according to Goodman, who was an assistant under Bob Knight at Texas Tech. He belives they should call the likes of Brad Stevens, Scott Drew and Bruce Pearl, but Beard is where things get interesting.

“Chris Beard, to me, is the wild card candidate in this,” Goodman said. “Because I think if Indiana decides to call him, he would accept. I think he’s the No. 1 realistic option out there.”

Mike Hartline is back with UK FB

How about some feel-good football news? The last Kentucky quarterback to throw for 3,000 yards in a season is returning to Lexington as Mike Hartline will join Mark Stoops’ staff as an offensive analyst in 2025.

“When I first got into coaching it was always in the back of my mind how thrilled I would be to return to Kentucky, and if the timing was right I wouldn’t hesitate to come back,” Hartline announced. “My coaches made an incredible impact on me and I hope to return the favor.

“I’ve stayed in touch with Coach Stoops over the years and admire the coaching staffs and teams he has put together to take the program to where it is today.”

“We are excited for Mike Hartline to return to Kentucky,” Stoops added. “It was the right time and opportunity to bring him back and I know he will be an asset to our coaching staff.”