UK Fan of the Day wants Mississippi State Pregame Notes

MrsTylerKSR

uk-fan-of-the-day-wants-kentucky-mississippi-state-pregame-notes

Good afternoon, friends. The countdown until tipoff of Kentucky vs. Mississippi State continues, so I thought I’d spend some of it sharing random thoughts with you since it’s too cold to do much else. In fact, did you know that Monticello, Kentucky was the coldest place in the lower 48 states this morning, checking in at -22 degrees?

It's now confirmed…Monticello Kentucky was THE COLDEST place in the lower 48 states this morning!!!! A most unique accomplishment in our little corner of the world. It's amazing what radiational cooling and a decent snow cover will do.#18StormTracker #kywx pic.twitter.com/ib0TkUop22
— Bill Meck (@BillMeck) January 17, 2024

That’s even colder than Mount Titlis, Switzerland, the site of today’s UK Fan of the Day photo. It’s a balmy 30 degrees there. I bet they’re not worried about their pipes freezing.

Thankfully, we’ve got Kentucky Basketball to keep us warm. That’s where we’ll start this edition of Afternoon Notes.

Familiar faces on the Mississippi State sideline

Tonight, one former Kentucky Wildcat and one former Kentucky commit return to Rupp Arena. Scott Padgett, a member of the 1998 national championship squad, is an assistant on Chris Jans’ staff. Kentucky and Mississippi State played each other last year in Starkville, but this will be Padgett’s first time back in Rupp as a maroon-and-white Bulldog. His coaching career also includes stops at Manhattan, New Mexico, and Samford, where he was the head coach from 2014-20. John Calipari gave Padgett his coaching start as a graduate assistant in the 2009-10 season.

A few seats down on the Mississippi State sideline will be DJ Jeffries, now in his graduate season with the Bulldogs. Jeffries was Kentucky’s first commitment in the 2019 class, picking the Cats in March 2018. Four months later, he backed off the pledge, becoming John Calipari’s first decommitment. After a year at Memphis, Jeffries transferred to Mississippi State and ultimately decided to stay after Ben Howland was fired. He’s a starter for the Bulldogs, averaging 6.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

Milestone night for John Calipari?

If Kentucky takes care of business tonight, it will be John Calipari’s 400th win at Kentucky. While that doesn’t get him even halfway to Adolph Rupp’s record of 876 wins, Calipari would be the third-fastest active coach to reach 400 wins (516 games) behind Bill Self (484) and Mark Few (499). I’m sure at some point, Kentucky will commemorate the occasion with a pretty painted game ball for Calipari’s wall.

Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning

By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.

When I think of Mississippi State basketball, I think of…

…Helmet Guy telling us “Missibbi State be tough” outside of the old Corner Pub near Vandy’s campus the day we Occupied Memorial in 2012. Back then, Helmet Guy thought the Cats would beat the Bulldogs by 18 points. I hope that line rings true today.

Kentucky is currently a 6.5-point favorite vs. Mississippi State, but we like Helmet Guy's line better. #MissibbiStateBeTough pic.twitter.com/o019rBvayq
— KSR (@KSRonX) January 17, 2024

Is that Robert Goulet singing about Kentucky?

Tom Hart is calling tonight’s game alongside Jimmy Dykes on ESPN2. This morning, BBN’s favorite play-by-play announcer teased his trip to Lexington with an old ESPN college basketball promo featuring Robert Goulet singing about Rick Pitino’s Kentucky teams in the mid-90s. A little research shows that Goulet did 16 college basketball commercials for the Worldwide Leader, for which he won an Emmy.

“We are Kentucky, and those Cats, those Cats will rock you.”

Defense meets offense tonight as @HailStateMBK heads to Rupp to take on @KentuckyMBB. 7:00 on ESPN2 with me and @CoachJimmyDykes. Dig? pic.twitter.com/G8eQgaUJGW
— Tom Hart (@tom_hart) January 17, 2024

One play from every Kentucky win over Mississippi State since 1995

Kentucky is 17-1 vs. Mississippi State in the John Calipari Era, 101-21 overall. All of those wins mean a lot of good memories. Take a look back at the series with this excellent montage from Daniel Hager, which shows one play from every Kentucky win over Mississippi State since 1995. DeMarcus Cousins’ tip-in at the buzzer to send the SEC Tournament Championship to overtime in 2010 will be hard to top.

Send us your UK Fans of the Day photos

Want to see your face on KentuckySportsRadio.com and our socials? Snap a picture in UK gear at a unique location or setting and tag us on Instagram (@KSR_IG) or Twitter (@KSRonX) and we’ll feature it in upcoming Afternoon Notes.