KSR Today: The 2023 SEC Tournament is underway
Good morning, folks! The first day of the 2023 SEC Tournament came to a close on Wednesday night, and it included some surprisingly entertaining basketball. South Carolina and Georgia were the first two teams knocked out of the tournament, but it came in thrilling fashion. Ole Miss beat South Carolina 67-61 before LSU “upset” Georgia 72-67 to close out the night.
The win for LSU will pit them against Vanderbilt this evening, with the winner of that matchup set to face Kentucky in the late game on Friday night. As of this morning, there is still no confirmed word on the injury statuses of Cason Wallace, Sahvir Wheeler, and CJ Fredrick for Friday.
Most of the KSR crew made it to Nashville on Wednesday to settle in, with the rest filling in today. They’ll all be back at Bridgestone Arena throughout Thursday to catch all the action, so make sure you’re glued to the site (and KSBoard!) today for constant updates on everything that happens.
Here is the updated SEC Tournament schedule.
Thursday, March 9
- 8 Florida vs. 9 Mississippi State | SEC Network | 1:00 PM
- 5 Tennessee vs. 13 Ole Miss | SEC Network | 3:00 PM
- 7 Auburn vs. 10 Arkansas | SEC Network | 7:00 PM
- 6 Vanderbilt vs. 14 LSU | SEC Network | 9:00 PM
Friday, March 10
- 1 Alabama vs. Game 3 winner | ESPN | 1:00 PM
- 4 Missouri vs. Game 4 winner | ESPN | 3:00 PM
- 2 Texas A&M vs. Game 5 winner | SEC Network | 7:00 PM
- 3 Kentucky vs. Game 6 winner | SEC Network | 9:00 PM
Saturday, March 11
- SEC Tournament Semifinal | ESPN | 1:00 PM
- SEC Tournament Semifinal | ESPN | 3:00 PM
Sunday, March 12
- Championship Game | ESPN | 1:00 PM
Antonio Reeves, Oscar Tshiebwe preview the SECT
Before the ‘Cats traveled down to Nashville, a pair of players spoke with reporters to preview the start of the postseason. Seniors Antonio Reeves and Oscar Tshiebwe shared some time on Wednesday morning to discuss their thoughts on what’s to come now that the regular season is in the books.
Our biggest takeaway? Reeves loves the floater.
Kentucky contacts Harvard star Chris Ledlum
Kentucky’s 2022-23 season is still going strong, but the coaching staff has already begun to keep tabs on what lies ahead for 2023-24. On Wednesday, it was reported that UK has reached out to Harvard star Chris Ledlum shortly after his decision to put his name in the transfer portal.
Kentucky is one of 16 total schools to initially reach out to the 6-foot-6, 225-pound forward, joining UCLA, Ohio State, Nebraska, Indiana, Maryland, Florida, LSU, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Georgia, Xavier, SMU, Marist, Vanderbilt, and Butler.
Ledlum was a unanimous First-Team All-Ivy League selection this season, averaging 18.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 1.1 blocks per contest while shooting 47.3% from the field. He hit the 20-point mark ten times this season, along with two 30-point efforts. The standout forward recorded a career-high 35 points against Cornell on 12-17 shooting, 2-3 from three, and 9-12 at the line to go with 13 rebounds and six steals.
Day 2 of the Girls’ Sweet 16
Eight teams started Wednesday with dreams of continuing a run in the 2023 KHSAA Girls Sweet 16 Tournament, but only four have earned their path to Friday’s quarterfinals.
Owensboro Catholic was able to sneak out a tight win down the stretch against Bowling Green to get the event rolling before Sacred Heart, ranked No. 12 in the nation by ESPNw, had little trouble dismantling Lawrence County in game two action. The second half of the day was far more entertaining. George Rogers Clark needed a late effort to take down Mercer County while North Laurel’s go-ahead game-winner with under 10 seconds left lifted the Lady Jaguars past Frederick Douglass.
KSR has on the scene to cover it all and will be at Rupp Arena throughout Thursday for day two action, where eight more teams will fight for the final four spots. You can check out our recaps below
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- Byars sisters lead GRC, North Laurel hits last-second shot in Girls’ Sweet 16 1st round
- Owensboro Catholic sneaks out win, Sacred Heart dominates in Girls’ Sweet 16 openers
An updated bracket can be found here.
Thursday, March 9 (Round one)
11:00 AM | Knott County Central vs. Ashland Blazer
1:30 PM | Bethlehem vs. McCracken County
6:00 PM | Mercy vs. Cooper
8:30 PM | Simon Kenton vs. Henderson County
Baseball, softball pick up home wins
It was a perfect Wednesday on the diamond for Kentucky. UK baseball (11-2) took down its northern neighbors, the Ohio Bobcats, in an easy 9-2 win at Kentucky Proud Park while No. 16 UK softball (13-5-1) needed a late rally to beat Dayton 5-4 in the first home game of the season for the Wildcats at John Cropp Stadium.
Both programs will now gear up for series this weekend, with baseball headed to Carbondale, IL for a three-game tilt against Southern Illinois while softball travels to Columbia, MO to open up SEC play for a three-game series against the Missouri Tigers.
Jada Walker hits the portal
Just a few days after freshman guard Kennedy Cambridge announced that she would put her name in the transfer portal, another Kentucky women’s basketball player has followed suit. On Wednesday night, sophomore guard Jada Walker announced through social media that she will also put her name in the transfer portal.
The Richmond, Virginia native was Kentucky’s second-leading scorer this past season at 12.6 points per game. During the Wildcats’ surprise run to the quarterfinals of the 2023 SEC Tournament, Walker averaged 16.1 points per contest, including a 24-point outing against Alabama in the second round.
As a sophomore in 2022-23, Walker was one of the team’s on-court leaders, starting all 29 games she played in. She upped her stats in year two, averaging more points, assists, and steals, leading the entire SEC in steals at 2.6 per game. Alongside Maddie Scherr and Robyn Benton, those three formed a dangerous backcourt trio for head coach Kyra Elzy that was relied upon to carry the bulk of the production this season.
Help send Kentucky Hockey to the National Championships in Boston
The Kentucky Hockey team earned a spot in the ACHA National Championships on March 17-21 in Boston, but they need the Big Blue Nation’s help to get there. Hockey is considered a club sport and therefore not supported by the University, so the team started a GoFundMe to pay for the very expensive trip. Currently, they’ve raised $63K of their $80K goal. You can help them out by donating or buying one of these awesome t-shirts from Shop Local KY. One hundred percent of the proceeds go to the team’s travel fund.
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