KSR Today: John Calipari, Jon Rothstein, and Kentucky WBB plays Arkansas

Good morning, folks! I feel like my dad whenever I start a conversation by talking about the weather, but it’s another wet one out here in Lexington. We’re currently in between games for the Kentucky men’s basketball team. We won’t see the Wildcats hit the floor until Saturday night when they head down to Fayetteville for a matchup against a bad Arkansas team.

Speaking of that bad Arkansas team, they lost by 26 points, 77-51, to the unranked Ole Miss Rebels last night. That moves the Razorbacks to just 10-9 on the season with an ugly 1-5 mark in conference play. This is a team that was projected to finish among the top four teams in the league — one spot ahead of Kentucky, even!

Which obviously means that Arkansas will play its best game of the season on Saturday and hit double-digit three-pointers. I don’t make the rules, people. College Gameday will be there too. Expect some sort of t-shirt-related event. Kentucky coming off its toughest loss of the season against South Carolina on Tuesday will only make the Big Blue Nation more nervous. This game will border on “must-win” status.

During his weekly radio show last night, head coach John Calipari talked about what it’s going to take to bounce back. Jack Pilgrim has the in-depth report from everything Cal said (which you can read here), but the main takeaway was being more physical moving forward. South Carolina exposed the blueprint for beating UK: beat up the ‘Cats. It worked, and others will likely try to do the same.

“They manhandled us physically. It was like men against boys… So what do you think tomorrow and Friday I will do in practice?” Calipari said, “We’ve got stuff we’ve got to work on, it’s another lesson.”

Hopefully, those practices include Adou Thiero, who hasn’t played since Dec. 21 against Louisville. If Thiero practices today and tomorrow, he’ll suit up on Saturday. Kentucky sure could use him.

Kentucky WBB battles Arkansas on the road

Kyra Elzy’s group will eye a second consecutive win tonight when Kentucky women’s basketball (9-10; 2-3 SEC) hits the road to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks (14-6; 2-3) at 8:00 p.m. EST on the SEC Network+.

Following a rough start to the schedule, Kentucky has already matched its regular-season conference win total from last season. The ‘Cats already beat Arkansas once in the league opener at home, but went on to drop three straight, including a 62-point loss to top-ranked South Carolina. Kentucky bounced right back though, beating Missouri over the weekend. A round two win against Arkansas would lift UK to .500 in conference play.

KSR’s Phoenix Stevens and Katie Hutchison will have a full preview of the matchup hit the website later this morning.

Another Top 25 team lost on the road

This is becoming a daily occurrence now. It is damn near impossible to win a conference game on the road right now. The No. 8 Auburn Tigers were the latest victim, falling on the road to unranked Alabama 79-75 last night. Auburn shot under 42 percent from the field and just 5-25 from deep. Alabama had two guys combine to shoot 9-16 from long range.

Upsets are happening literally all the time. Kentucky is not alone by any means. Even No. 10 Illinois lost on the road to Northwestern. This is college basketball.

Alabama’s upset win also helped the Wildcats in the SEC standings by handing Auburn its first conference loss. With Kentucky now up to two conference losses, the race for the top spot is still fully within grasp.

Reed Sheppard: Top 5 pick?

The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor sure thinks so. In his latest 2024 NBA Mock Draft, he has Reed Sheppard getting picked fourth overall by the Charlotte Hornets. O’Connor also projects Rob Dillingham to land at No. 8 to the Houston Rockets and Justin Edwards at No. 22 to the New York Knicks.

Is Sheppard actually a top-five pick? It’s probably still too early to tell. His play through six SEC games has left plenty to be desired. Even Dick Vitale is advocating for the Bluegrass Boy to take more shots. O’Connor calling him a “menacing defender” doesn’t exactly make me feel confident in his analysis either. Slotting Edwards in the first round is certainly an unexpected move, too.

But these folks are draft experts for a reason. Mock Drafts are also just fun to look at.

South Carolina’s court-storming fine goes to UK

Kentucky didn’t leave Columbia empty-handed following Tuesday night’s disappointing loss to South Carolina. Since the Gamecock fans stormed the court after the win, the school was hit with a first-time penalty of $100,000.

And where does that money go to? According to a new rule incorporated back in the spring, it goes to the opposing university — that would be Kentucky. We all would rather have the win, though.

Jon Rothstein joins Sources Say

Mr. “We Sleep in May” himself, Jon Rothstein, joined the Sources Say crew during last night’s episode.

The college basketball analyst sat down with KSR’s Jack Pilgrim and Go Big Blue Country’s Shawn Smith to talk about Kentucky’s aforementioned loss to South Carolina. What does Rothstein think of the Wildcats a day after? Well, like most national folks, he’s not out on Kentucky by any means.

Listen to the entire episode below.

More Kentucky News and Views on the KSR YouTube Channel

Kentucky Sports Radio has expanded its coverage of the Wildcats in the most ridiculous manner possible on our YouTube Channel. Here you will be able to find interviews with coaches and players, as well as commentary from the KSR crew. From Rapid Reactions following big events to our lengthy lineup of live shows, subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel to stay up to date on everything happening around the Big Blue Nation.