KSR Today: Selection Sunday

ZGeogheganKSR

On3 image — Photo by Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio

Good morning, folks! Saturday’s SEC Tournament semifinal didn’t exactly go as planned, but the time to sulk has already come and gone. Today is Selection Sunday where the Kentucky Wildcats, both the men’s and women’s teams, will learn their fate for the upcoming 2022 NCAA Tournaments. Now let’s dive right into the news and notes you need to start your Sunday.

‘Cats drop SEC semis to Tennessee

Rick Barnes (and by extension, John Fulkerson) sure does have John Calipari’s number, as the Tennessee head coach is now 10-7 against his good friend during his tenure down in Knoxville. Saturday’s 69-62 loss in Tampa was just the latest example.

Kentucky trailed for over 37 of the 40 available minutes and found themselves in a quick hole once Oscar Tshiebwe picked up his second foul around the 11-minute mark of the first half. The National Player of the Year frontrunner would ride the bench until the intermission as the Wildcats produced its worst offensive half of the entire season, scoring just 22 points on 27.6 percent shooting and an 0-8 clip from distance. Kellan Grady and Davion Mintz couldn’t shoot themselves out of ruts as the UK offense had to come by way of TyTy Washington and Keion Brooks Jr.

The ‘Cats trailed by 11 at the break.

But with Thsiebwe back on the floor to begin the second half, it didn’t take long for Kentucky to wiggle back into the game. Washington and Brooks kept Kentucky alive, both dropping 11 second-half points to go along with Thsiebwe’s 10 points and nine rebounds. But Grady and Mintz continued to struggle and poor overall execution down the stretch ultimately cost UK a shot at a comeback that never felt like should have been possible.

Now we move into the real postseason. The 68-team field for the 2022 NCAA Tournament will be announced on Sunday night at 6:00 p.m. EST on CBS. If you ask ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi, he’d tell you Kentucky is in a position to snag the top overall two-seed in spite of Saturday’s loss, finishing ahead of both Auburn and the Volunteers, but behind the Kansas Jayhawks for a one-seed.

We’ll find out Kentucky’s path soon enough. While we wait, read up on everything that happened during Saturday’s game. Also, if you’re interested in watching Tennessee take on Texas A&M in the SEC title, you can check that out at 1:00 p.m. EST on ESPN.

Links galore!

Postgame interviews

Kentucky WBB will also learn NCAAT fate

Two hours after the men’s side figures out its NCAA Tournament path, the Kentucky Women’s Basketball team will do the same.

Starting at 8:00 p.m. EST on ESPN, the WBB Selection Show will air where Kentucky is currently considered a seven-seed, according to ESPN Bracketologist Charlie Creme. Typically the WBB Selection Show takes place on a Monday, the day after the men’s side is announced, but it’s been rightfully moved up for the first time ever this year.

The ‘Cats haven’t played since last Sunday’s miraculous SEC Tournament upset win over No. 1 South Carolina but is widely considered as one of the hottest teams in the country. Not many higher seeds are going to want to potentially see Kentucky in a Round of 32 matchup. A seven-seed is likely, but UK is playing like a four-seed. The biggest question is will the team and staff be ready to play at the same level and intensity with such a long break in between games? First-round outings are scheduled for March 18-19.

Sacred Heart wins back-to-back state titles

The 2022 Girls Sweet Sixteen Tournament came to a close on Saturday night when the Sacred Heart Academy Valkyries were crowned as champions for the second consecutive season.

Sacred Heart, led by head coach Donna Moir, took down the Bullitt East Lady Chargers with relative ease inside of Rupp Arena, part of a stretch that saw the Valkyries win four games in three days including a tough path to return to the title game. The final score came out 64-46 in favor of Sacred Heart as Kentucky Miss Basketball candidate Josie Gilvin dropped 15 points, nine rebounds, and six assists in her final high school game while sophomore Reagan Bender led the Valkyries with 16 points.

Not far behind was the Tournament MVP, freshman ZaKiyah Johnson, who finished with 12 points, three rebounds, and two assists. Johnson is already considered one of the top high school freshmen in the country. You better believe that Kentucky WBB head coach Kyra Elzy has been recruiting her for a while, too. Johnson could have Sacred Heart looking at more than just back-to-back state titles moving forward…

After the game was over, Coach Moir opened up in the postgame press conference about what this group of girls has meant to her. She has been dealing with the recent death of her daughter-in-law. Make sure to check it out.

Top 10

View All

Whatever you’re doing, stop and watch @ValkyriesBBall coach Donna Moir open up about how her team came together to help her over the loss of her daughter this season.

Very powerful stuff. pic.twitter.com/ZaedjgYEoG
— Alex Weber (@alexweberKSR) March 13, 2022

Kentucky Rifle: back-to-back national champs

Not to be outdone by Sacred Heart, Kentucky Rifle decided to one-up the high school hoops team. Led by junior and Olympian Mary Tucker, the ‘Cats won the 2022 National Championship on Saturday, it’s second in a row and fourth in program history under coach Harry Mullins (2011, 2018, 2021, 2022). Only former MBB head coach Adolph Rupp has four national titles as a coach at Kentucky.

The dynasty REIGNS!

Kentucky has claimed the 2022 NCAA Rifle National Championship!

🏆2022 x 🏆2021#BackToBack #GoBigBlue pic.twitter.com/75ofcCzmKZ
— UK Rifle (@UKRifle) March 12, 2022

Kentucky becomes the first program to win back-to-back national titles since West Virginia won five straight from 2013-2017.

The title came as UK scored a 4739 team score, which is the best team score at the NCAA Championships in the 60-shot era. The previous best was UK’s 4731 it scored to win the title in 2021. The Wildcats were in a great position to earn the title after a 2360 smallbore team score Friday. The Wildcats shot a 2379 air rifle Saturday for the win.

TCU finished second with a 4736, while Alaska Fairbanks was third at 4733. Ole Miss finished third with host Air Force finishing fifth, West Virginia sixth, Murray State seventh and Navy eighth.

“I am very proud of the team and so happy to be bringing the national championship trophy back to Lexington,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said, according to the team’s press release. “For them to post that high smallbore score yesterday and follow it up with another great all-around performance today was impressive. Mary, Richard and Will each did their job in the first relay of posting high scores to set the tone. Then Allison was just fearless in the final relay to bring home the high score and secure the win.

“Although five athletes came with us to Colorado Springs, this championship was a team effort that could not have been achieved without all nine athletes on the team, our amazing assistant coach Rena Curvey and some fantastic support staff. Thanks to everyone and can’t wait to show off this trophy to Big Blue Nation.”

Will Wade = GONE

Instantly, this reminds me of that classic Twitter meme of the gentlemen attending his biggest hater’s funeral just to make sure he was gone. Except, in this case, everyone in the college basketball world attended the funeral. Will Wade’s career at LSU came to a fitting ending after it was announced on Saturday that the Tigers would part ways with their head coach.

It shouldn’t come as much of a shock considering the strong ass details that came out *checks notes* roughly five years ago. But once the NCAA leveled a bunch of violations against Wade earlier this week and then the Tigers were knocked out of the SEC Tournament early, the writing was on the wall.

The Tigers, projected to land a high seed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, will be led by interim head coach Kevin Nickelberry in next week’s games following the decision. Wade went 105-51 over five seasons at LSU, taking the job after two successful seasons at VCU. He made two NCAA Tournament appearances and was set to lead the Tigers to a third this season.

Bye bye!