KSR Today: Kentucky outmuscles Vandy; NSD comes and goes

Good morning, folks! For the 12th consecutive time, Kentucky Men’s Basketball beat the Vanderbilt Commodores. Let’s talk about it and everything else you need to know to get your Thursday off to a good start. If you live in the Kentucky area, go ahead and stock up on the essentials now if you haven’t already. The ice storm is a-coming…

Kentucky fends off physical Vandy squad

A win is a win, first and foremost. And no, Shaedon Sharpe did NOT play.

But the rest of the Wildcats who did looked pretty good. Davion Mintz set a new career-high with 21 points on 6-11 shooting, including a 4-7 clip from beyond the arc. This came just a game after he dropped a goose egg in this past weekend’s win over Kansas. Keion Brooks Jr. dropped another 20-point game while Oscar Tshiebwe “struggled” with 11 points and 17 rebounds.

Kentucky’s backcourt wasn’t even in peak form, but once again, just having them available proved to be a major difference. Sahvir Wheeler didn’t score his first points until hitting some free throws late in the second half, but he did dish out nine assists to just two turnovers. TyTy Washington added just seven points in 19 minutes, but head coach John Calipari admitted after the game that the freshman guard wasn’t 100 percent health-wise.

Calipari went with a short rotation against Vandy, only rolling with five guys for the majority of the night. Lance Ware and Jacob Toppin combined for just 11 minutes off the bench while Dontaie Allen and Bryce Hopkins didn’t play for 60 total seconds. But despite the physicality of a game that saw 44 foul calls and 58 free-throw attempts, Kentucky’s starters were able to outlast Vandy’s comeback attempt.

Next up on the schedule is Saturday’s road matchup against Alabama at 8:00 p.m. EST on ESPN. Now let’s dive into some postgame links and videos, shall we?

Postgame Links

• Kentucky Fights Through Lull, Fouls in 77-70 Victory over Vanderbilt
• KSR’s top takeaways from Kentucky’s 77-70 win over Vanderbilt
• Davion Mintz’s career-high inspired by encounter with fan
• Kentucky’s trip to Alabama may be impacted by winter storm
• Explosive runs allow Kentucky to survive physical game against Vanderbilt
• HD REPLAY: Stackhouse tossed his tailored jacket out of frustration with no-call
• Keion Brooks Jr. drops back-to-back 20-point games for first time at Kentucky
• Vanderbilt’s physicality gave Oscar Tshiebwe fits
• Calipari and replay clear the air on quick postgame exit, no handshake with Stackhouse
• Postgame notes from Kentucky’s 77-70 win over Vanderbilt

John Calipari press conference

Keion Brooks Jr. press conference

Davion Mintz press conference

HIGHLIGHTS

National Signing Day 2.0 Recap

The second of two National Signing Days for this recruiting cycle came and went on Wednesday without much surprise for Kentucky Football.

There was the late addition of DL Noah Matthews, the second-best player from the state of Delaware who signed with UK over Illinois. He was recently a commit to FCS program Weber State, but shined during his senior season and wound up showing enough potential to earn a committable offer from the ‘Cats.

You know who else was in a similar situation before coming to UK? Josh Allen. Nick Roush broke down a few other late NSD pickups over previous years who have ultimately made significant contributions for the program.

Kentucky also received a signature from Alabama transfer WR Javon Baker, who expects to make an instant impact under Liam Coen. Then there were the commitments of two high school seniors who will come to Lexington as preferred walk-ons (PWOs): Brady Pierce and Sean O’Horo.

For a full recap of everything that happened (and didn’t happen) on National Signing Day, click the link here.

Liam Coen mentioned for Rams OC job

Liam Coen’s connection to head coach Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams are no secret. Coen came to Lexington with NFL pedigree and expectations that he would bring a new-aged offense to a program typically void of production on that end of the field, particularly through the passing game. He struck immediate success during his first season as offensive coordinator at UK, earning himself a nifty raise in the process heading into 2022.

Now Kentucky fans just have to hope he can make it to the season-opener.

Rams current offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell is expected to soon take the head coaching job with the Minnesota Vikings, per multiple reports, and talking heads on social media have pointed directly to Coen as O’Connell’s potential replacement.

With @ChadGraff reporting Kevin O’Connell as ultimate Minnesota HC, Rams RBs/asst. HC Thomas Brown would be the obvious internal promotion in my opinion. But I would expect Sean McVay to show substantial interest in Liam Coen, his former QBs asst. who OC’d for Kentucky last year.

— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) February 3, 2022

Watch this…I do wonder/worry if Coen becomes a target for the Rams OC job https://t.co/PGEqV4T1wj

— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) February 3, 2022

I've gotten multiple Liam Coen questions. Even though returning to LA is appealing, I think Liam will wait until he can be the play-caller, not second fiddle to the head coach. https://t.co/jyzbrSXKb3

— Nick Roush (@RoushKSR) February 3, 2022

Coen was recently mentioned as a possible candidate for the Miami (FL) Hurricanes OC/QB job, although that would have been considered a step down from his situation at UK. Taking a job to rejoin the Rams as the OC, however? That could be a little bit more tempting…

As always, KSR will keep you up to date on any new developments as they arise. The same goes for the filling of the offensive line coaching gig, which was recently abandoned by Eric Wolford, who accepted the same job at Alabama.

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That’s all the news I’ve got you for this morning. Make sure to tune into the radio show in an hour to hear from Matt, Ryan (who will definitely be made fun of for his Shaedon Sharpe prediction), Drew, and Shannon. We’ll see you there!