KSR Today: Kentucky MBB is 1-0, Kentucky WBB opens season, Alabama Prep
Good morning, friends. The sun is shining and it is going to be a beautiful day in the Bluegrass, in part because your University of Kentucky Wildcats are 1-0 to start the season (which is more than No. 4 Michigan State can say). Last night, the Cats beat New Mexico State 86-46 in a feel-good romp at Rupp. Before we move on to today’s docket, let’s quickly run through the highlights from Kentucky’s 100th season-opening victory.
The Cats got off to a slow start, leading by only eight at halftime, but from there, the game quickly got out of hand, with Kentucky outscoring New Mexico State 49-17 in the second half. Five players finished in double figures, four of them freshmen. Rob Dillingham led the way, scoring 17 points off the bench, 13 after halftime. DJ Wagner scored 11 of his 12 points after halftime as well, also finishing with four assists to one turnover. Reed Sheppard and Justin Edwards also had 12 points, and Antonio Reeves, the leading scorer in the exhibitions, had 11 points.
The Cats shot just under 50% for the game, 58.8% in the second half, while holding the Aggies to 32.1% from the floor. Despite not having a player over 6’9″, Kentucky outscored New Mexico State 46-20 in the paint, while also burning the Aggies in transition 25-7. It remains to be seen how the Cats will fare against an elite opponent like Kansas in the Champions Classic — which is one week from today — but it was fun to watch them last night, and that’s enough for now.
Adou Thiero leaves with injury, updates on 7-footers
A few injury notes: in the second half, Adou Thiero took a hard fall to the court and left the game with what John Calipari described as a “headache.” He is now day-to-day. Zvonimir Ivisic is also dealing with an illness and has lost 10 lbs., missing the last four practices. Even if Big Z is cleared by the NCAA by Friday, John Calipari said he is unsure if he will play. As for Kentucky’s other seven-footers, Cal said Aaron Bradshaw is still a “week or two” from trying to start practicing and Ugonna Onyenso is two weeks behind that, so it’s looking more and more like the Cats will have zero big men vs. No. 1 Kansas next week.
Need more Kentucky vs. New Mexico State? Check out all of our coverage below.
- Game Recap
- Injury Report
- Takeaways: Kentucky flashes brilliance
- How about Reed Sheppard?
- Calipari focusing on developing good team habits
- “They’re an elite, elite transition team”
Special shoutout to Corey Price, the stats guru who works for UK Athletics and the UK Sports Network, for taking his friend Jim Fink, a 90-year-old Kentucky fan, to his first Kentucky Basketball game. Tom Hart made sure the SEC Network cameras found Corey and Jim not once but twice on the broadcast, a very cool moment.
Box Score
Highlights
John Calipari Postgame Press Conference
Player Interviews
Rapid Reaction
Photo Gallery
Kentucky is back in action Friday night vs. Texas A&M Commerce, a 7 p.m. ET tip on SEC Network+/ESPN+. Lots to do before then, so let’s get to today’s rundown.
Kentucky Women’s Basketball opens season vs. ETSU
Tonight, the ladies tip things off vs. ETSU at 7 p.m. ET at Transylvania’s Clive M. Beck Center. A limited number of tickets remain but if you can’t make it in person, you can stream it live on SEC Network+/ESPN+. It’s the first of four Kentucky Women’s Basketball games in Transy’s gym this season as Memorial Coliseum undergoes extensive renovations.
Kentucky WBB won its lone exhibition game, beating Division II Kentucky State 88-71 last week at Rupp. The Cats shot 54.2% from the floor and totaled 56 points in the paint, but committed 15 turnovers and only made three three-pointers. They were led by Ajae Petty, who finished with a team-high 19 points and 13 rebounds.
KSR’s Phoenix Stevens and Katie Hutchison will be courtside to cover tonight’s game, sharing live updates on KSBoard. We’re running a special this week to celebrate the start of basketball and the Alabama game, so if you’re curious about KSR+, now is the time to try it out.
We’ll hear from Mark Stoops and Liam Coen
Over at the Joe Craft Football Training Center, preparations continue for Saturday’s big game vs. No. 8 Alabama. Mark Stoops shared his initial thoughts on the Crimson Tide on Monday, along with an update on Devin Leary — sort of. Leary exited the Mississippi State game after taking a hard hit. He came back in but only played one more drive before Kayia Sheron took over. On Saturday, Stoops said Leary’s vision was affected, preventing him from reading the plays on his wristband. Yesterday, Stoops declined to go into details but said Leary’s vision has improved.
“He was having a hard time reading off the wristband at that moment,” Stoops said. “He can read it now.”
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Mark Stoops’ call-in show was pushed to tonight due to basketball, so maybe we’ll get another update once he settles in alongside Tom Leach at 6 p.m. Offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who described Leary’s vision as “blurry” on Saturday, will speak to the media following this afternoon’s practice. Who knows, Leary himself could come out for interviews and read an eye chart. Check the site tonight to find out.
New episode of Sources Say at 8 p.m.
After taking some time off to welcome his first child, Baby Billy, into the world, Jack Pilgrim is back on the Kentucky Basketball beat. If you haven’t yet, check out his feature on John Welch, John Calipari’s new assistant whom the best in the business believe could bring Kentucky into the modern era of basketball. Jack and Shawn Smith will discuss the feature and Kentucky’s win over New Mexico State in a new episode of Sources Say tonight at 8 p.m. ET on the KSR YouTube Channel.
ICYMI yesterday, the KSR Football Podcast went live early to break down the win over Mississippi State and look ahead to Alabama. If you missed it, catch up below:
Down Goes Sparty!
James Madison provided the first big upset of the college basketball season last night, upsetting No. 4 Michigan State 79-76 in overtime in East Lansing. The Spartans are the first AP Top 5 team to lose their season opener vs. an unranked opponent since…Michigan State lost to Hawaii to start the 2005 season. Hit play and enjoy college basketball being back.
Down the road in Louisville, the Cardinals narrowly avoided another embarrassment, beating UMBC 94-93 at the Yum Center. Ryan Lemond is now free to wear colors other than Kentucky Wesleyan purple. Texas A&M Commerce, Friday’s opponent, lost to No. 15 Texas A&M by 22 and No. 1 Kansas demolished NC Central 99-56.
Here are some other scores in the Top 25 and SEC:
- No. 1 Kansas 99, NC Central 56
- No. 2 Duke 92, Dartmouth 54
- No. 3 Purdue 98, Samford 45
- James Madison 79, No. 4 Michigan State 76
- No. 5 Marquette 92, Northern Illinois 70
- No. 6 UConn 95, Northern Arizona 52
- No. 7 Houston 84, UL Monroe 31
- No. 9 Tennessee 80, Tennessee Tech 42
- No. 13 Miami 101, NJIT 60
- No. 14 Arkansas 93, Alcorn State 59
- No. 15 Texas A&M 78, Texas A&M Commerce 46
- No. 16 Kentucky 86, New Mexico State 46
- No. 17 San Diego State 83, Cal State Fullerton 57
- No. 18 Texas 83, Cal State Fullerton 57
- No. 19 North Carolina 86, Radford 70
- No. 21 USC 82, Kansas State 69
- No. 22 Villanova 90, American University 63
- No. 23 Saint Mary’s 107, Stanislaus State 23
- No. 24 Alabama 105, Morehead State 73
- No. 25 Illinois 80, Eastern Illinois 52
- Oregon 82, Georgia 71
- South Carolina 82, South Carolina Upstate 53
- Ole Miss 69, Alabama State 59
- Missouri 101, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 79
- LSU 106, Mississippi Valley State 60
- Florida 93, Loyola Maryland 73
College Basketball on TV tonight
Tonight’s schedule is much lighter, but two SEC teams are in action, Vanderbilt and Auburn. The Tigers vs. No. 20 Baylor is the best game tonight.
- 6:30 PM (BTN): Florida Gulf Coast vs. Indiana
- 7:00 PM (FS1): Stony Brook vs. St. John’s
- 7:00 PM (ESPN+): UAlbany vs. UMass
- 7:00 PM (FS2): Le Moyne vs. Georgetown
- 8:00 PM (SECN+): Presbyterian vs. Vanderbilt
- 8:30 PM (BTN): UNC Asheville vs. Michigan
- 9:00 PM (FS2): Purdue Fort Wayne vs. DePaul
- 9:00 PM (FS1): Florida A&M vs. No. 8 Creighton
- 9:00 PM (ESPN): Auburn vs. No. 20 Baylor
We’ve also got three football games tonight as MACtion is back. The second CFP Playoff Rankings will be released at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN as well.
- 7:00 PM (CBSSN): Ball State at Northern Illinois
- 7:00 PM (ESPNU): Central Michigan at Western Michigan
- 7:30 PM (ESPN2): Ohio at Buffalo
It’s Election Day
There are seven statewide races in the Commonwealth today, the most notable being Andy Beshear vs. Daniel Cameron for Governor. Also on the ballot: attorney general, treasurer, secretary of state, agriculture commissioner, auditor, and a special election in House District 93.
Get out and do your civic duty, Kentucky.
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