KSR Today: Final game of the Big Blue Bahamas Tour
Good morning, folks! I’m not sure it’s possible right now to put into proper words just how… strange… the last 72 hours have been in the world of Kentucky Athletics. John Calipari sparked the initial drama, Mark Stoops added plenty of fuel to the fire, and then Mitch Barnhart came in and burned down the entire village with one 40-minute press conference. All of this hoopla has been a completely unnecessary distraction from the men’s basketball team’s impressive run down in the Bahamas and the football team’s offseason practices. But hey, at least we in the media finally found something to occupy our time with!
And since this has become such a major story (a national story, even), that’s where we’re going to start today. Not with Kentucky’s 118-56 beatdown of Carleton University on Saturday night or Sunday’s game against the Bahamas National Team, although we’ll make sure to get there. First, we’re going to recap what Barnhart said to the media on Saturday afternoon — which was a lot.
There were several comments made by the UK athletic director that rubbed many people the wrong way. He reaffirmed his stance on not having alcohol at Kroger Field, stating that “we’ve got a great atmosphere where we are”, which is one where the people in fancy suites can drink alcohol and the common fan cannot. Barnhart also implied that he would be more than willing to part ways with Calipari over him asking to build a new practice facility, which there are apparently no current plans to do so. Barnhart even indirectly called Calipari “entitled”. He later blamed the media for attempting to create stories out of nothing, even though it was Calipari who called the initial interview that created this whole mess in the first place.
Cal finally put out a statement following Saturday’s game too, where he said he’s “not real smart”, but he expects that his relationship with Stoops will be fine.
In short, this has all been blown wayyy too far out of proportion, and Barnhart’s press conference didn’t do anything to squash the beef. If anything, he only added to the tension, especially with Calipari. But I’m sure we’ll talk about this more throughout the upcoming week, so let’s dive into some actual sports talk, shall we?
Kentucky prepares for final game in the Bahamas
Through three games on the program’s Big Blue Bahamas Tour, Kentucky is outscoring its opponents by a combined total of 328-152. Seven different Wildcats are averaging double-figures in scoring, led by Jacob Toppin and Antonio Reeves at 15.7 and 15.3 points per game, respectively.
Saturday’s game against Carleton University (Canada) was arguably the most impressive win yet though, as the ‘Cats shot nearly 59 percent overall from the floor and connected on half of its three-point attempts (15-30). Carleton shot just 39.0 percent from the field, including a 1-11 mark from downtown. Outside of the opening two minutes, it was a dominant performance until the final buzzer.
Top 10
- 1New
Dabo Swinney
Clemson coach rips CFP
- 2
Colston Loveland
Michigan TE availability in question
- 3
Heisman 'clinched'
Deion Sanders reacts to Travis Hunter performance
- 4
Memphis shakes up CFP
Tigers upsets changes CFP picture
- 5
Hunter, Sanders
Colorado stars to make NFL Draft history
Kentucky will face one more opponent on the trip before heading back to Lexington. Later today at noon EST, the ‘Cats go up against the Bahamas National Team on the SEC Network. As always, we’ll have a live blog (which I would encourage everyone to join in on) rolling with plenty of postgame coverage coming to the site. While we wait for tipoff, let’s recap what went down last night in the team’s 62-point victory.
- FINAL: Kentucky steamrolls Carleton University 118-56 in third game of Bahamas trip
- The ridiculous numbers behind Kentucky’s 118-56 win over Carleton
- Postgame notes, cumulative stats from Kentucky’s win over Carleton University
- Antonio Reeves making an early case as Kentucky’s go-to shooter
- Sources Say: Jacob Toppin, Antonio Reeves lead Kentucky to blowout win over Carleton
- Takeaways from Kentucky’s Game 3 in the Bahamas vs. Carleton University
KSR’s postgame recap
Highlights
Interviews
Photo gallery
Rhyne Howard fighting for playoff spot
Over in the WNBA, the postseason is just around the corner and Rhyne Howard’s Atlanta Dream squad is fighting for one of two final playoff spots. At 2:00 p.m. EST on the ESPN app, the Dream (14-21) will take on the New York Liberty (15-20) where they’ll need a win and for the Phoenix Mercury to lose in order to make the postseason.
Four teams — Atlanta, New York, Phoenix, and the Minnesota Lynx — will fight for just two playoff spots on Sunday. Let’s hope Howard can lead her squad to the franchise’s first postseason appearance since 2018.
Lynn Bowden, AJ Rose making noise in preseason
The NFL preseason is upon us and a couple of former Wildcats are finding their way onto highlight reels. Lynn Bowden of the Miami Dolphins found his way into the endzone after hauling in a touchdown pass from quarterback Skylar Thompson. Bowden finished his game with three receptions for 55 yards and the score.
Out west, one-time Kentucky running back AJ Rose scampered into the endzone for a one-yard, goal line rushing touchdown for the Los Angeles Rams.
Not a bad start to the year for some one-time ‘Cats.
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard