KSR Today: Preparing for College Station

It’s about time to pack up and head to College Station, Kentucky hitting the road to face Texas A&M in the team’s second SEC game away from home in as many weekends.

And like last time around in Gainesville, this one will be another tough test in a Quad 1 matchup.

Bad shooting, great rebounding

What do you need to know about the Aggies? Well, they do some things better than anyone else in college basketball, others worse than anyone else in college basketball.

A&M is shooting an abysmal 26.0% from three, good for No. 346 nationally and dead last among high-majors. Only IUPUI (25.6%), Detroit Mercy (25.6%), Utah Valley (25.2%), Coppin State (24.7%) and Houston Christian (24.5%) are worse. Not a single player on the roster is shooting better than 37.5% individually, just two averaging at least one make from deep per game.

On the flip side, Buzz Williams’ group is pulling down 18.3 offensive rebounds per game, good for No. 1 in the nation. Interestingly enough, they’re only snagging 24.6 per contest on the defensive end, good for No. 251 nationally. That pulls the overall rebounding rate down to No. 8 in the country and No. 15 in total margin, but still very impressive.

Kentucky sits at No. 84 in the country in rebounding at 38.64 per contest, but competed in the team’s last test at Florida — the nation’s No. 1 overall team on the glass. That will decide this matchup again in College Station.

Projections are a mixed bag

What will the opening line be? We’ll find out later today, but there isn’t a clear answer on who will be the favorite in the national projections.

KenPom gives Kentucky the ever-so-slight edge on the road, picking the Cats to win 79-78 with a 51% shot overall. Bart Torvik, however, has the two teams flipped, projecting a 79-78 win for the Aggies and giving the road team a 49% chance to pull it off.

As for ESPN’s Matchup Predictor, that favors A&M the most at 65.6% overall compared to Kentucky’s 34.4%.

Either way, don’t expect either team to be a heavy favorite. It could be a tight one in College Station.

Kentucky drops to a No. 3 seed without playing a game

Was practice so bad Thursday that a Joe Craft Center mole had to relay the message to Joe Lunardi he had no choice but to drop the Cats a seedline? It sure wasn’t a game.

Kentucky was a No. 2 seed on Tuesday. It is now a No. 3 seed on Friday. How? Joey Brackets says Wisconsin beating Ohio State on the road pushes the Badgers ahead for the final spot among the twos, bumping the Cats back a line.

Despite four teams in the top five of the AP Poll going down this week in Purdue, Kansas, Houston and Tennessee, Kentucky not only sits behind that entire group, but also North Carolina — the team it beat in the CBS Sports Classic.

pic.twitter.com/RoVRMCC0Hv

— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) January 11, 2024

The official bracket comes out today (joy), but you can already see Lunardi is blindly throwing darts again.

Five draft picks, Dillingham and Sheppard in the lottery

If I had told you Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard were firm lottery picks entering the season, would you have believed me? Of course not. Even the most optimistic fan would tell you it’s time to quit dreaming. But hey, that’s the reality of the situation today, the former sitting comfortably inside the top 10 and the latter finally hitting lottery status after emerging as a clear first-rounder in recent weeks.

That’s the case in ESPN’s latest ’24 mock draft, followed by DJ Wagner to close out the first round and Justin Edwards and Aaron Bradshaw early in the second.

Take a look:

7. Rob Dillingham – Chicago Bulls
12. Reed Sheppard – San Antonio Spurs
26. DJ Wagner – Minnesota Timberwolves
31. Justin Edwards – Toronto Raptors
40. Aaron Bradshaw – Aaron Bradshaw

Kentucky WBB loses again

The Cats were up 17 in the second quarter, then lost to Tennessee by 18. Then the red-hot Vanderbilt Commodores came to Rupp Arena and beat Kyra Elzy’s group 95-73, pushing Kentucky below .500 at 8-9 (1-2 SEC) on the season.

Senior Ajae Petty was spectacular, recording her 10th double-double of the season (and fourth straight) in a 23-point, 21-rebound effort while adding a pair of steals and blocks. Maddie Scherr also added 20 points to go with three steals. Beyond that, though, it was a whole lot of nothing from the home squad, who shot just 40.3% from the field, 26.3% from three and 63.6% at the line with more turnovers (14) than assists (11).

Next up? No. 1 South Carolina at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia.

Gulp.

UK Cheerleading, Dance head to Nationals

Kentucky is heading to Disney World! Not to ride Space Mountain (is that still open?), but to compete in the UCA and UDA championships, both held in Orlando this weekend.

The cheerleading squad will compete in two different competitions during the event, starting with the Division 1A Game Day competition on Friday, then the traditional Division IA large coed division on Sunday. UK’s 24 UCA national titles are more than all other schools combined.

As for the dance team, it will perform in the game day division on Friday, then in the hip hop portion of the competition on Saturday.

Time to bring home some titles, Cats.