KSR Today: Jaxson Robinson commits, Bat Cats begin postseason run
This was going to be a post dedicated to the Bat Cats beginning their run to Omaha on Friday, Kentucky set to take on Western Michigan in the NCAA Lexington Regional starting at Noon ET on SEC Network. And don’t get me wrong, it still is — we love our baseball team here at KSR, hence the pep rally show this morning at KSBar & Grille starting at 10 a.m. ET, followed immediately by a watch party throughout the afternoon.
Jaxson Robinson has just thrown a wrench into the order of operations this morning, making a surprise commitment after withdrawing from the draft and returning to college. No visit tour or drawn-out bidding war between a number of schools, just a quick and easy announcement that he’d be suiting up for Mark Pope and the Wildcats.
Jaxson Robinson is a Cat
Waiting for one key piece to round out the core roster, Pope had his eyes on Robinson from day one. He was the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year, exploding in Provo under the new Kentucky head coach alongside assistant coach Cody Fueger, the staff’s No. 1 option and priority since they first made the move to Lexington.
The 6-7 wing out of Ada, Oklahoma strongly considered keeping his name in the draft while BYU and Kansas were hoping to pry him away from the Wildcats with competitive (if not otherworldly) NIL offers, specifically the former. Instead, Robinson decided to quickly make Lexington his next and final college home, committing to Kentucky to make a very good roster a great one.
The former BYU star broke through as a senior in Provo, averaging 14.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game on 42.6% shooting, 35.4% from three and 90.8% at the line in just 26.5 minutes per contest, emerging as one of the top all-around scoring threats in the Big 12. He’s a shot-maker from NBA range with efficiency while also growing as an all-around bucket-getter with two-way potential as a long and athletic wing. Kentucky already had a strong core group, but needed top-end talent to round things out. Not only does Robinson bring that, but he also adds a system fit, familiarity and experience all in one piece.
And his meme game is terrific.
The Road to Omaha begins for Kentucky
Now, back to the top priority going into Friday: Kentucky baseball. The No. 2 national seed Bat Cats will open NCAA Tournament play in Lexington against Western Michigan to get things rolling, first pitch scheduled for Noon ET.
Sitting at 40-14 (22-8) on the year, UK is just five wins away from tying its most in a season (45 in 2012). The Cats clinched a share of their second ever SEC Regular Season Championship and are hosting their second consecutive Lexington Regional. As for Western Michigan (32-21, 19-11), they finished the regular season as runner-ups in the MAC, five games behind champions Bowling Green (33-20, 24-6). The Broncos went on to win the MAC Tournament, clinching their 13th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
What does the Road to Omaha look like? Game one begins Friday afternoon with the winner set to face the winner of Indiana State vs. Illinois on Saturday. The losers of their respective games will play in an eliminator on Saturday, that loser ultimately heading home.
Nick Mingione has not yet named a starter for Friday, but expect right-hander Trey Pooser to get the nod, emerging as Kentucky’s most reliable starter with a 4-1 record and 3.86 ERA in 56 innings pitched. A first win would be huge to open the series and Pooser gives the Bat Cats the best opportunity to avoid a fall into the loser’s bracket.
Looking to attend the game at Kentucky Proud Park? Reserved seating sold out in just 25 minutes, but a limited number of all-session and single-session terrace/berm/standing room GA tickets remain available here. We’ll see you at KPP, BBN.
We know when UK Football will kick off the season
We already knew the Wildcats were set to open the football season on Saturday, August 31 against Southern Miss. What we didn’t know, though, was the kickoff time.
The SEC changed that on Thursday, announcing the home opener is officially scheduled for 7:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network — the first game played in the new primetime slot.
A chance to see Brock Vandagriff take the field in blue and white for the first time, oddsmakers have set an early line at Kentucky -24. The Wildcats are 3-1 all-time against the Golden Eagles, with the one infamous loss occurring in the 2016 season-opener (let’s not let that happen again).
From there, Kentucky will host South Carolina in week two at 3:30 pm ET and Georgia in week three at 7:30 pm ET. Can’t wait.
KAT heads home in the WCF
Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves fought back with a win after going down 3-0 in the Western Conference Finals, but that momentum wouldn’t last long, falling in Game 5 to the Dallas Mavericks 124-103 to lose the series.
Back in Minneapolis, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving exploded for 36 points apiece and a combined 72 on 28-49 shooting and 10-20 from three to pull off the series win. Former Cat PJ Washington was third among scorers with 12 points on 4-9 shooting to go with seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
On the other side, Towns and Anthony Edwards went for 28 points apiece, but no one else finished in double figures on the Wolves.
What’s ahead? The NBA Finals, a head-to-head battle between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks, a chance for Kristaps Porzingis and Kyrie Irving to play their former teams for a world championship. That series begins June 6 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
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