KSR Today: Kentucky pulls off gutsy win over Florida

Good morning, folks! Kentucky men’s basketball is now on a three-game winning streak after beating the Colin Castleton-less Florida Gators by a final score of 82-74 on Wednesday night. Much like the last outing against UF, it wasn’t always pretty for Kentucky, but considering the ‘Cats are dealing with their own injuries (Sahvir Wheeler and CJ Fredrick both sat out again), it was a gutsy win on the road. All five of Kentucky’s starters played the entirety of the second half.

Will that be sustainable moving into the postseason? Unlikely, but it proved that head coach John Calipari has a five-man group that he can rely on. Oscar Tshiebwe was the star against a weak Florida frontcourt, pouring in 25 points on 12-13 shooting, becoming the first Wildcat in 25 seasons to score at least 25 points on 92 percent overall shooting. But he oddly only managed four total rebounds throughout the night despite playing 38 minutes. Why? Because Jacob Toppin and Chris Livingston were hawking every loose ball.

The duo of Toppin and Livingston combined to snag 26 of Kentucky’s 40 rebounds as both finished with double-doubles. It was the sixth of the season for Toppin, who has now hit double-figure scoring in 11 straight outings, and the second in a row for Livingston, who continues to look like a completely different player from just three weeks ago. Antonio Reeves didn’t shoot all that great to reach his 16 points (6-15 from the field), but he did dish out a season-high four assists while playing at least 38 minutes for the third time in four outings. Cason Wallace was the man making it all happen once again, finishing with eight points and six assists, even if his shooting touch continues to betray him (2-8 against Florida).

With another Quad 1 win in hand, Kentucky is now 5-7 in that category after being just one 1-7 not all that long ago. Barring a total collapse in the final three regular-season games, the ‘Cats will make the NCAA Tournament. UK is also in sole possession of the third seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament (which would result in a double-bye) and is a whole game ahead of Tennessee and Auburn in the standings, the latter of which Kentucky plays this Saturday at Rupp Arena. Just keep winning, ‘Cats.

But before we get too ahead of ourselves, let’s soak in last night’s win for just a bit longer. Check out all of KSR’s postgame coverage below.

• Oscar Tshiebwe drops 25 as Kentucky sweats out 82-74 win over Florida
• KSR’s takeaways from Kentucky’s crucial win at Florida
• Oscar Tshiebwe scores 1,000th point in Kentucky uniform
• Calipari’s three daggers: “We’re finally starting to throw some”
• Jacob Toppin reaches double-figures in scoring for 11th straight game
• John Calipari on Sahvir Wheeler, CJ Fredrick: “We need them both”
• Chris Livingston’s hot streak continues with game-winning play vs. Florida
• By The Numbers: How Kentucky beat Florida again
• Postgame notes and numbers from Kentucky’s 82-74 win at Florida

KSR Rapidly Reacts

Kentucky Sports Radio did not have boots on the ground in Gainesville for Kentucky’s win (we are resting up for Nashville), but we still got together from three separate places around Lexington for a live stream of Wednesday night’s Rapid Reaction.

To hear the instant takeaways from Drew Franklin, Jack Pilgrim, and myself, hit play on the replay of the live stream below for our conversation about all that went well for the Wildcats.

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

John Calipari’s postgame presser

Following Kentucky’s victory at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, John Calipari sat down at the postgame podium to discuss what he saw from his team in the win over Florida. Calipari spoke for around nine minutes about the highs and lows of the game, including but not limited to the following talking points:

• What went wrong at the end of the first half
• Why he didn’t sub in the second half
• Chris Livingston’s continued success
• Daggers
• Florida without Castleton
• Winning at this time of year
• The latest on Sahvir Wheeler and CJ Fredrick
• A brief comment on the fan incident

Hear it all below in the full conversation with Calipari.

Watch the latest John Calipari press conference on the KSR YouTube Channel.

Check out yesterday’s top plays

To see the best moments from Kentucky’s win, spend a few minutes watching Kentucky Wildcats TV’s highlight reel from the victory. With a game-high 25 points, Oscar Tshiebwe is heavily featured. Jacob Toppin’s dunk made the reel, too.

Kentucky WBB is down in College Station

With just two regular-season games left on the schedule, Kyra Elzy’s group is looking to close out the year strong with the SEC Tournament looming. Things haven’t exactly been going well as of late for Kentucky women’s basketball, which is now 10-16 on the season with a 2-12 mark in the conference and on a five-game losing streak.

Luckily (?) for the ‘Cats, tonight’s opponent is actually worse. Kentucky will face the Texas A&M Aggies in College Station at 7:00 p.m. on the SEC Network. Texas A&M is the only team in the SEC worse than UK, sitting on a 6-18 overall record with a 1-13 record in league play and losers of six straight games. Something has gotta break for one of these squads.

Most recently, Kentucky is coming off a demoralizing 79-57 loss to Vanderbilt (now 3-11 in SEC action) over the weekend which also saw 6-foot-3 junior forward Nyah Leveretter tear her ACL. UK has also been without starting point guard Maddie Scherr as of late, too. There’s currently no word if she’ll return against the Aggies tonight or not.

KSR’s Grant Grubbs will have a full preview of the matchup coming to the site later this morning.

While you’re here, make sure to check out the latest episode of our women’s basketball podcast, Know Her Name, which featured an extra special guest. Reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year, Rhyne Howard, carved out some time during her busy schedule (she’s currently playing professionally over in Italy) to talk about life during and after her time at UK, plus much more.

You can listen to the entire episode on Spotify and iTunes through the KSR podcast feeds, or you can watch the video version below through KSR’s YouTube channel. Enjoy!

Softball doubleheader today

The 2023 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, Calif. gets rolling later today for the No. 18 Kentucky softball program with a doubleheader that begins with a top-10 matchup against No. 8 Washington at 3:00 p.m. EST. Not long after that, the ‘Cats will take on San Diego State at 8:30 p.m. EST to close out day one of the three-day event.

Kentucky (6-1-1) has still yet to play a home game this year as they travel across the country participating in several early-season classics. UK has already played in the 2023 NFCA Lead-Off Classic (Clearwater, Fla.) and the 2023 North Texas Tournament (Celina, Texas). This weekend’s 2023 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic might be the toughest of them all so far though, with matchups against No. 8 Washington tonight, No. 1 UCLA on Friday, and No. 17 Northwestern on Saturday. Kentucky will then head to the Oklahoma Tournament next weekend before finally returning to the Bluegrass for the home opener against Dayton on March 8.