KSR Today: A pair of Kentucky basketball games in Lexington

Good morning, folks! It’s gameday in Lexington, KY. Later tonight, the Kentucky men’s and women’s basketball teams will hit the hardwood in what should be comfortable victories for both programs. The men will take on South Carolina State at 7:00 p.m. EST in Rupp Arena on the SEC Network while the women host Bellarmine at Memorial Coliseum at the same time on the SEC Network+.

Kentucky MBB is coming off a brutal double-overtime loss to Michigan State in Indianapolis on Tuesday and faces another big-time matchup on Sunday against No. 2 Gonzaga. Tonight will be the perfect bounce-back opportunity to help prepare for the Bulldogs up in Spokane later this week. SC State is 0-3 to start the season and ranked No. 347 in the country, per KenPom. UK has a 98.8 percent chance of winning, per ESPN’s Analytics, and is a 38-point betting favorite.

It should be an early night.

And speaking of Gonzaga, they were trounced by No. 11 Texas on Wednesday night, getting blown out by a final score of 93-74. This is the same ‘Zags squad that narrowly bested Michigan State by one point not even a full week ago. College basketball is strange sometimes.

Just down the street, Kentucky WBB will see in-state foe Bellarmine step into the fray. The 3-0 Wildcats are on the cusp of hitting their first challenging stretch of the season, so tune-up games are welcome — sorry Bellarmine. A couple of days from now, UK will head down to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship, where the ‘Cats will face No. 14 Virginia Tech (Nov. 21) and Dayton (Nov. 23) in Nassau.

It’s been a relatively easy ride up until this point in the season for WBB, but the next 10 days will give fans a much better idea of where this team is at with a showdown against No. 6 Louisville on Dec. 11 at Rupp Arena not far ahead.

Now let’s dive into the rest of the news and notes you need to get your Thursday rolling.

More troubles with Kentucky FB offense

The issues with the Kentucky football offense are nothing new at this point in the season, but it does feel like some new, small amount of controversy continues to follow that group with every passing week. This week was no different, either.

During a media opportunity on Tuesday featuring members of the Kentucky offense, redshirt freshman wide receiver Dekel Crowdus said some words he’d probably like to have back about offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello. I don’t genuinely believe that Crowdus was being intentionally malicious or attacking his OC with what he said, but it sure didn’t sound good leaving his mouth.

“Probably — I would have to say the play-caller, because we were down in the red zone and just couldn’t get it,” Crowdus said of Kentucky’s offensive struggles in the red zone. “That’s pretty much all I can say.”

Yikes…

Mark Stoops on the SEC teleconference

Speaking of the football ‘Cats, head coach Mark Stoops participated in his weekly SEC teleconference call on Wednesday to share his thoughts on Saturday’s matchup against No. 1 Georgia, which hasn’t missed a step on defense despite losing several starters to the NFL, and the transfer portal. Those latter comments are much more interesting as Kentucky enters the home stretch of the season and players evaluate their futures.

In August, the NCAA approved new transfer portal windows.  Instead of being able to leave a school at any time, players now have to enter the portal within set dates. The first window opens the day after the championship teams are selected, so Dec. 5, and closes 45 days later on Jan. 18, 2023. There is also a 15-day spring period from May 1-15.

Hear Stoops’ thoughts on Georgia and the portal below. A full transcript is available here.

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Georgia preparing for physical battle

On the opposite end of the gridiron this weekend, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart had some high praise for Coach Stoops and the rest of the Kentucky football program during his weekly pregame press conference. Smart was incredibly generous when discussing how physically tough the ‘Cats have been throughout previous matchups over the years.

“I think there’s a major league respect for Kentucky in our program because the kids that have played against Kentucky, it’s been a bloodbath, man,” Smart said this week. “The game last year was so physical, so tough, rugged and they run a lot of physical runs, we like to run a lot of physical runs, and you end up just clanging against each other. When you come out of the game, you’re really sore. So, that was that way that 14-3, or whatever game it was, maybe up there in 2020. Man, we had guys dropping like flies, it was just really physical. So, our guys respect Kentucky, I respect Coach Stoops and what they did last week has no relevance to what they’ll do this week.”

Volleyball wins 6th straight match

Over in Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday night, the volleyball ‘Cats were winning its sixth straight match after taking down the Tennessee Volunteers in four sets. The victory came on the heels of sophomore setter Emma Grome taking home another weekly honor. KSR’s Ian Alvano has a full recap here. UK is now 17-6 on the year with a 12-2 mark in conference action.

Ranked No. 18 in the country, Kentucky is currently tied with the Florida Gators for the top spot in the Southeastern Conference. And who does UK have a back-to-back against this weekend on the road? You guessed it, the good ole Gators. Saturday and Sunday could very well decide who takes home the SEC regular-season crown, which Kentucky has either won or shared the title of since 2017.