KSR Today: Kentucky MBB continues to struggle, bowl prep rolls on in Nashville

Hello, folks! These morning posts certainly aren’t as much fun to write following a bad loss… Let’s jump right into it then.

On Wednesday night, Kentucky men’s basketball (8-4) was manhandled by the Missouri Tigers (12-1) on the road, falling by a final score of 89-75 in the Wildcats’ 2022-23 Southeastern Conference opener. UK trailed by 12 at the halftime break and went down by as many as 21 (the team’s largest deficit of the season) in the second half, only managing to trim the Tigers’ lead to single digits for one possession.

Cason Wallace and Oscar Tshiebwe were the most productive pieces for the ‘Cats at Mizzou Arena. Wallace finished with 19 points on five made 3-pointers while Tshiebwe posted an impressive 23 points and 19 rebounds. Sahvir Wheeler chipped in 12 points and eight assists before fouling out down the stretch.

Kentucky shot just 8-23 (34.8 percent) from beyond the arc and 15-24 (63 percent) from the free throw line while getting outscored in bench points 33-13.

CJ Fredrick played just four minutes for the ‘Cats as he was ruled out at halftime after suffering an injury to a finger on his right hand early on. Freshman guard Adou Thiero, who had played just 38 total minutes heading into this matchup, was interested in the second-half rotation for head coach John Calipari, adding five points and three rebounds in his 17 minutes.

Next up for Kentucky is an in-state rivalry showdown against the Louisville Cardinals (2-11), which is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 31 at noon EST inside of Rupp Arena. That game might now end up being closer than anyone expected, too.

Check out all of KSR’s postgame content from Wednesday night’s loss.

• Tonight was Kentucky’s second-worst loss ever in an SEC opener
• CJ Fredrick injures finger in loss to Missouri
• John Calipari: “We’ve got good players but some guys aren’t playing great”
• At least Cason Wallace and Oscar Tshiebwe showed up for Kentucky
• If Kentucky’s going to fix its problems, it needs to happen soon
• John Calipari’s early warning signs become reality for regressing Kentucky

Hear from John Calipari, Cason Wallace, and Oscar Tshiebwe

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

KSR’s Rapid Reaction from the loss

More Music City Bowl prep

Kentucky held its second bowl preparation practice in Nashville on Wednesday afternoon. After a week of bitter cold in the Bluegrass, the Wildcats were blessed with some warm weather. Mark Stoops took his team outside to Vanderbilt’s FirstBank Stadium to get in some quality prep for Iowa.

“Things have been going well here. Good practices. It was nice to warm up a bit and get outside today. Guys are in good spirits and things are going well,” said Stoops.

“It was good to get out and see the sun shining to be outside a little bit. I think we’re all over the bitter cold that we had.”

KSR’s Nick Roush and Adam Luckett have already arrived in busy Nashville ahead of Saturday’s Music City Bowl showdown. They were in attendance for Stoops’ Wednesday press conference and the team dinner that night. They’ll have plenty of content coming over the next couple of days, including clips such as this one, where Barion Brown and several of his teammates are signing up on a stage.

I can’t be mad about Kentucky basketball when Barion Brown is dancing on stage telling Iowa to “Come See About It.” pic.twitter.com/Ua5iQBuLMb

— Nick Roush (@RoushKSR) December 29, 2022

One thing we did already learn is that the offensive playcalling will be done by committee, but Stoops did indicate that wide receivers coach Scott Woodward would handle the bulk of the playcalling with associate head coach Vince Marrow also filling in.

“Scott Woodward will have a great deal to do with the play-calling,” Stoops told reporters in Nashville on Wednesday. “Just from a piecing it together from a quarterback and wide receiver point of view. Between Woody and Vince and everybody else, it’ll be a group effort.”

Ahead of Thursday’s practice, we expect to hear from Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White and select players. The Wildcats are practicing at Vanderbilt University to prepare for the postseason bout. Check back here throughout the day for the latest on the ‘Cats.

WBB also plays in Missouri today

The Kentucky women’s basketball team (8-4) will look to do what the men couldn’t down in Columbia, MO: beat the Tigers. The ladies will take on Missouri (11-2) this evening in a late-night, 9:00 p.m. EST tipoff on the SEC Network. This will be the SEC opener for both sides.

Kentucky will look to build some momentum after beating Ohio 95-86 eight days ago. Prior to that, Kyra Elzy’s group had dropped three straight games, two of which came against inferior competition in Murray State and Florida Gulf Coast. Missouri, meanwhile, is coming off just its second loss of the season, a 76-66 defeat to Illinois 11 days ago. Both teams should be incredibly fresh.

KSR’s Grant Grubbs will have a full preview coming to the site shortly.

DeAndre Square out for bowl game

A staple of the Kentucky defense will be on the sideline for the 2022 season finale. Ahead of Saturday’s game, Kentucky linebacker DeAndre Square penned a farewell to Kentucky fans on Wednesday.

“Unfortunately I will not be able to participate in the bowl game due to a lingering injury and some personal reasons,” Square said in a social media post. “But, you better believe I will be cheering my heart out for my brothers. I will now concentrate on preparing for the NFL Draft and chasing my dreams of being a professional football player.”

I Hope I left Kentucky better than I found it 💙 thank you to everyone who helped me along the way. #BBN I’ll never stop loving you pic.twitter.com/iamiH6RYk5

— DeAndre Square (@d_square10) December 28, 2022

DeAndre Square suffered an injury against Tennessee. He missed four games but did return to action for a Senior Day against Louisville. Sophomore Trevin Wallace, a former top 100 recruit from Georgia, will start in his place against Iowa in the Music City Bowl.

“Coming to Kentucky was one of the best decisions of my life. I have loved everything about my experience at UK,” says Square. “Thank you for your love and support.”

Tyler Ulis joining MBB staff

One of the best point guards to come through Lexington is set to join the Kentucky basketball staff.

Tyler Ulis, a former consensus First-Team All-American and Bob Cousy Award winner at UK, is set to begin his coaching career as a student assistant under John Calipari, sources tell KSR.

The move will become official at the start of the spring semester.

Ulis has been in Lexington taking classes at UK and helping out the team in practice since the start of the season. His status as a full-time student allows him to join the staff in an official capacity.

Ulis was one of several Wildcats in attendance at Big Blue Madness in October.

“The other thing is we got Tyler Ulis, who is rehabbing and taking some courses in the gym with us watching and helping there too,” John Calipari said at Kentucky’s Media Day to open the season.

The former point guard standout was previously in town rehabbing a basketball injury for two months last summer while attempting a comeback in the NBA. He was there for Kentucky’s first practice of the summer and hung around the facilities throughout the preseason, doing his best to help the likes of Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington in 2021-22.