SUPER BOWL 2012

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Florida (Round 2)….3/4/12
Sunday 12PM (CBS)
Kentucky leads the series 91-33

Location: Gainesville
Enrollment: 52,271
Arena: 12,000

Florida

Head Coach: Billy Donovan

Career Record: 395-167 (70.3%) 17 seasons
At Florida: 360-147 (71.0%) 15 seasons

2010-11 Record: 29-8
2010-11 SEC Record: 13-3
2010-11 Postseason: 3-1 (Lost in NCAA Elite 8)

2011-12 Record: 22-8
2011-12 SEC Record: 10-5

Florida 99 Jackson St. 59
Ohio St. 81 Florida 74
Florida 91 North Florida 55
Florida 78 Wright St. 65
Florida 96 Stetson 70
Syracuse 72 Florida 68
Florida 78 Arizona 72 (OT)
Florida 90 Rider 69
Florida 84 Texas A&M 64
Florida 82 Mississippi Valley St. 54
Florida 82 Florida St. 64
Rutgers 85 Florida 83 (OT)
Florida 90 Yale 70
Florida 79 UAB 61
Tennessee 67 Florida 56
Florida 70 Georgia 48
Florida 79 South Carolina 65
Florida 76 LSU 64
Florida 64 Ole Miss 60
Florida 69 Mississippi St. 57
Florida 74 South Carolina 66
Florida 73 Vanderbilt 65
Kentucky 78 Florida 58
Tennessee 75 Florida 70
Florida 61 Alabama 52
Florida 98 Arkansas 68
Florida 63 Auburn 47
Georgia 76 Florida 62
Vanderbilt 77 Florida 67


Florida Stats

PPG-77.4
FG%-46.5%
3 PT%-39.2% (10.0 PG)
FT%-70.2%
RPG-35.9 (+3.1)
APG-14.9
TO’s-11.3
SPG-6.7
BPG-3.4

UK Stats

PPG-77.8
FG%-48.9%
3 PT%-38.7% (5.9 PG)
FT%-72.4%
RPG-39.2% (+7.4)
APG-13.5
TO’s-11.6
SPG-6.4
BPG-8.9

Probable Starting Lineup

Patric Young-F/C 6’9” Soph……………………….10.1 PPG
Erik Murphy-C 6’10” Jr…………………………….9.9 PPG
Kenny Boynton-G 6’2” Jr…………………………..17.1 PPG
Bradley Beal-G 6’3” Fr……………………………..14.7 PPG
Erving Walker-G 5’8” Sr……………………………12.6 PPG

Other Key Player

Mike Rosario-G 6’3” Jr…………………………….7.4 PPG

Florida has lost 4 of their last 7 SEC games….including their only home loss of the season to Tennessee. Two of Florida’s 8 losses were to top 10 ranked Ohio State and Syracuse early in the season….both on the road. The Gators wins and losses this season have almost always depended on their perimeter shooting. Thus far this season, Florida has taken 767 perimeter shots which is an average of 25 shots per game. In contrast UK averages around 15 perimeter shots per game. When the long range shots are dropping, the Gators are very tough to beat.

Overall, Florida is a good perimeter shooting team hitting 39.2%.....with Boynton hitting 43.9%....Murphy hitting 43.4%......Walker hitting 38.0%. However, Beal who is a terrific freshman only shoots 32.2% from the perimeter. Unfortunately, Florida doesn’t have a great inside game and mostly depends on Patric Young for in the paint points. The Gators have been hurt in the paint with the loss of 6’7” Will Yeguete 4 games ago to a season ending injury. Yeguete came off the bench and averaged 22 minutes to give Florida good interior defense and rebounding.

Erving Walker, Florida’s only senior, is the team leader in assists while Bradley Beal leads in steals. Beal at 6’4” is a terrific athlete and is an amazing rebounder for his size….as he along with Young are the two best Florida rebounders.

Unquestionably, Florida has talent, but they are mostly one demensional with a 3 guard lineup and scoring a huge percentage of their points from the perimeter. However, the Gators are very tough to defeat in Gainesville as they almost always shoot well in their home arena.

Kentucky arrives in Gainesville after soundly defeating Georgia at senior day…. the Cats last home game. UK is playing very well both offensively and defensively….in fact, the Cats are now peaking in on court performance.

Kentucky defeated Florida at Rupp arena by 20 points. In that game, UK held the Gators to 6-27 from long range and out rebounded Florida 38-31. In contrast, UK shot 9-15 from the perimeter. Obviously, the Cats will need to once again play great perimeter defense, but no one expects the Gators to shoot as poorly from long range in their home arena. This game will be much closer….I see a UK win by 9 points. GO CATS!

Kentucky vs Georgia..Round 2 "2012 Senior Night" 3/1/12 Thursday 9PM (ESPN) UK is 93-15 on Senior Night, UK leads series 114-25

Location: Athens,Ga
Enrollment: 34,677
Arena: 10,523

Head Coach: Mark Fox
Career Record: 158-72 (68.7%) 7 seasons
At Georgia: 35-29 (54.7%) 2 seasons

2010-11 Record: 21-12
2010-11 SEC Record: 9-7
2010-11 Postseason: 0-1 NCAA

2011-12 Record: 13-15
2011-12 SEC Record: 4-10

Georgia 62 Wofford 49
Georgia 63 Bowling Green 54
Georgia 72 South Dakota St. 61
California 70 Georgia 46
Georgia 61 Notre Dame 57
Xavier 70 Georgia 56
Colorado 70 Georgia 68
Cincinnati 57 Georgia 51
Georgia Tech 68 Georgia 56
Georgia 63 Southern Cal 59
Georgia 72 Mercer 58
Georgia 64 Furman 50
Georgia 92 Winthrop 86 (OT)
Georgia 58 Delaware St. 51
Alabama 74 Georgia 59
Florida 70 Georgia 48
Vanderbilt 77 Georgia 66
Georgia 57 Tennessee 53 (OT)
Ole Miss 66 Georgia 63
Kentucky 57 Georgia 44
Auburn 59 Georgia 51
Tennessee 73 Georgia 62
Georgia 81 Arkansas 59
Georgia Miss St. 68
South Carolina 57 Georgia 56
Vanderbilt 61 Georgia 52
LSU 61 Georgia 53
Georgia 76 Florida 62

Probable Starting Lineup

Marcus Thornton-F 6’7” Soph……………..…….……3.0 PPG
Donte Williams-F 6’9” Soph…………………..………7.6 PPG
Ken Caldwell-Pope-G 6’4” Fr…………………..……..13.9 PPG
Dustin Ware-G 5’11” Sr……………………………….8.0 PPG
Gerald Robinson-G 6’1” Sr……………………………14.3 PPG

Another Possible Starter

Nemanja Djurisic-F 6’8” Fr…………………………..7.0 PPG
.
Georgia Stats

PPG-62.0
FG%-39.7%
3 PT%-32.0% (6.6 PG)
FT%-69.2%
RPG-33.4 (-1.3)
APG-10.9
TO’s-10.5
SPG-6.4
BPG-3.5

This has been a disappointing year for Georgia who obviously never recovered from the loss Trevis Leslie and Trey Thompkins who opted for the NBA after last season. The Bulldogs have a losing record overall and are only 4-10 in the SEC. However, it would be a mistake to not respect this Georgia team as an opponent as there are some good players on the team…..especially freshman Ken Caldwell-Pope. Ask Florida which just lost by 14 points to the Bulldogs.

Georgia is led in scoring by senior Gerald Robinson and freshman Caldwell-Pope. Donte Williams leads the team in rebounds….Caldwell Pope leads in steals….and Gerald Robinson leads in assists.

A big problem for this Georgia team is overall poor shooting. The Bulldogs are hitting less than 40% of their shots from the field and only 32% from the perimeter. Only freshman Nemanja Djurisic is shooting well from long range hitting 38.8%.

Obviously, Georgia’s only hope for a post season tourney would be to upset UK and make a successful run in the SEC tourney. The Bulldogs lost to UK in Athens 57-44 so they will have a huge task ahead to defeat UK in Rupp arena where they have their last 50 games.

UK has thus far successfully navigated the toughest part of their SEC schedule defeating Florida….then Vandy at Nashville….then Miss.St at Starkville and Vandy again at Rupp arena. The Cats are playing well offensively and defensively….and are shooting a very good 48.8% from the field….and a solid 37.6% from the perimeter. Also importantly, UK has continued to improve their FT shooting hitting 72.4% with all the starters shooting above 71% except for Jones at 65.8%. This UK team has been a very unselfish team with 4 starters scoring in double figures and Teague and Miller scoring at 9.8 and 9.9 respectfully.

The Georgia game will be the last home game at Rupp arena this season and it will be senior day. Darius Miller has had a terrific career at UK and it will be sad to see him leave after 4 years wearing the Blue and White. Eloy Vargus, a transfer from Florida, has given some solid minutes as a backup center for his 2 years at UK. Cat fans wish both of these fine young men a wonderful future!

I look for a great game from the Cats as they add to their nation leading undefeated home game victories. UK wins by 17 points! GO CATS!

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Vanderbilt….2/25/12 Saturday 12 Noon..(CBS)

Vanderbilt Commodores

Location: Nashville
Enrollment: 6,750
Arena: 14,316

Head Coach: Kevin Stallings
Career Record: 359-211 (63.0%) 18 seasons
At Vandy: 236-148 (61.5%) 12 seasons

2010-11 Record: 23-11
2010-11 SEC Record: 9-7
2010-11 Postseason: NCAA 0-1

2011-12 Record: 20-8
2011-12 SEC Record: 9-4

Vandy 78 Oregon 64
Cleveland St. 71 Vandy 58
Vandy 80 Bucknell 68
Vandy 86 N.C. St. 79
Vandy 64 Oregon St. 62
Vandy 95 Monmonth 73
Xavier 82 Vandy 70 (OT)
Louisville 62 Vandy 60 (OT)
Vandy 87 Davidson 83
Indiana St. 61 Vandy 55
Vandy 99 Longwood 71
Vandy 89 Lafayette 58
Vandy 74 Marquette 57
Vandy 69 Miami, OH 62
Vandy 65 Auburn 35
Vandy 67 South Carolina 57
Vandy 77 Georgia 66
Vandy 69 Alabama 59
Mississippi St. 78 Vandy 77 (OT)
Vandy 65 Tennessee 47
Vandy 84 Middle Tennessee St. 77
Arkansas 82 Vandy 74
Florida 73 Vandy 65
Vandy 76 LSU 61
Kentucky 69 Vandy 63
Vandy 102 Ole Miss 76
Vandy 61 Georgia 52
Vandy 59 South Carolina 48

Probable Starting Lineup

Lance Goulbourne-F 6’8” Sr………………….…8.8 PPG
Jeffery Taylor-F 6’7” Sr…………………………17.3 PPG
Festus Ezeli-C 6’11” Sr………………………….10.1 PPG
Brad Tinsley-G 6’3” Sr…………………………..8.9 PPG
John Jenkins-G 6’4” Jr…………………………..20.1 PPG

Vandy Stats

PPG-73.9
FG%-46.6%
3 PT%-39.8% (8.8 PG)
FT%-70.8%
RPG-35.0 (+1.7)
APG-13.3
TO’s-13.9
SPG-6.0
BPG-4.4

UK Stats

PPG-77.6
FG%-48.5%
3 PT%-38.1% (5.8 PG)
FT%-72.1%
RPG-39.3 (+7.3)
APG-13.5
TO’s-11.8
SPG-6.5
BPG-9.1

Vandy arrives in Rupp arena having won 4 of their last 5 SEC games….with their only loss being to UK at home. However, overall this has been a disappointing year for the senior laden Dores. Vandy has talent, experience and great perimeter shooters, but despite all that….they have under achieved this season. A big reason for Vandy’s disappointing year is that this team is not a very good defensive team. Still, this Vandy team is a good and dangerous team because they have terrific perimeter shooters and average 9 perimeter shots PG.

Vandy is led by John Jenkins and Jeffrey Taylor in scoring….both very good players. Jenkins has hit 105-228 for an excellent 46.1% from long range while Taylor has nailed 53-114 for an equal excellent 46.5% Taylor also leads in steals with 35 and is 2nd only to
Lance Goulbourne who leads in rebounds with 8.8 rebounds PG. Brad Tinsley leads the team with 4.4 assists PG while Festus Ezeli gives the Dores a solid defensive presence in the paint with 39 blocks.

Obviously, any team that shoots great from the perimeter is always dangerous and Vandy will come into Rupp arena to try for a big upset.

Kentucky remains undefeated in the SEC, but got a big scare in Starkville when Miss St played a tremendous 1st half while UK had arguably their worst half performance of the season and were behind 13 points at halftime. This is what happens when you couple poor floor decisions with a failure to compete. Fortunately, the Cats came back in the 2nd half and played with great intensity, terrific defense and great heart and won a big game on the road against a good opponent.

Hopefully, UK learned a valuable lesson in the Miss. St. game as they look toward the NCAA tourney….they simply can’t afford to not compete for a half (as coach Cal said about the Cats 1st half performance) and hope to overcome big deficits against the best teams in college basketball.

Coach Cal will be looking for the Cats to come out from the opening tipoff and play with great intensity against Vandy. This is a great UK team and while they may have some less than stellar shooting games….it is imperative that UK play consistent great defense….which they have done in the vast majority of games this season.

I look for UK to play a great game against Vandy and win by 12 points. GO CATS!

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Mississippi St. 2/21/12
Tuesday 9PM (ESPN)
Kentucky leads series 80-18

Mississippi St. Bulldogs

Location: Starkville, Miss
Enrollment: 20,000
Arena: 10,500

Head Coach: Rick Stansbury
Career Record: 272-154 (63.8%) 13 seasons
All at Mississippi St.

2010-11 Record: 17-14
2010-11 SEC Record:9-7
Postseason: None

2011-12 Record: 19-8
2011-12 SEC Record: 6-6

Miss. St. 76 Eastern Ky. 66
Akron 68 Miss St. 58
Miss St. 80 S. Alabama 65
Miss St. 69 Texas A&M 60
Miss St. 67 Arizona 57
Miss St. 78 Louisiana-Monroe 63
Miss St. 76 UT Martin 50
Miss St. 82 N Texas 59
Miss St. 79 West Virginia 62
Miss St. 106 Troy 68
Miss St 75 Florida Atlantic 68
Miss St. 80 Detroit 75
Miss St. 82 Northwestern St. 67
Baylor 54 Miss St. 52
Miss St. 66 Utah St. 64
Arkansas 98 Miss St. 88
Miss St. 62 Tennessee 58
Miss St. 56 Alabama 52
Ole Miss 75 Miss St. 68
Miss St. 78 Vanderbilt 77 (OT)
Miss St. 76 LSU 71
Florida 69 Miss St. 57
Miss St. 91 Auburn 88
Miss St. 70 Ole Miss 60
Georgia 70 Miss St. 68 (OT)
LSU 69 Miss St. 67 (OT)
Auburn 65 Miss St. 55

Miss St. Stats

PPG-72.5
FG%-46.0%
3 PT%-36.0% (7.0 PG)
FT%-69.7%
RPG-36.9 (+3.4)
APG-2.9
TO’s-11.9
SPG-6.1
BPG-3.6

Probable Starting Lineup

Renardo Sydney-F 6’10” Jr……………..…….10.4 PPG
Arnett Moultrie-F 6’11” Jr………………..….…16.5 PPG
Dee Bost-G 6’2” Sr……………………..…….…..15.8 PPG
Rodney Hood-G 6’8” Fr…………………...…….11.1 PPG
Brian Bryant-G 6’3” Sr…………………………...6.7 PPG

Other Key Players

Wendell Lewis-C 6’9” Jr……………………….4.0 PPG
Jalen Steele-G 6’3” So…………………………..7.8 PPG

Miss. St. welcomes #1 ranked UK to Starkville hoping for a big upset and to stop a 3 game losing streak. The Bulldogs have been very tough at home losing only twice and one of those was an overtime loss to Georgia. Miss St. defeated Vandy in Nashville and lost to top ten Baylor by only 2 points. There is talent, good size and experience on this Bulldog team with 5 of the first 7 players being juniors and seniors.

Arnett Moultrie is the leading scorer, although 4 of the starters score in double figures. Moultrie leads in rebounds averaging a terrific 10.8 boards PG. Dee Bost is a close 2nd in scoring and leads in assists with 135 (5.0 PG)….and steals with 55. The Bulldogs depend primarily on three players for the overwhelming majority of their perimeter shots. Dee Bost is hitting 34.1%…..Rodney Hood is hitting 37.6%…..and Jalen Steele is hitting a best 39.2% from the perimeter. The Bulldogs average 7-3’s PG….and with an effective inside game….Miss St. are always a competitive and dangerous team…..especially at home!

UK is on target for a rare undefeated SEC season, but two of their last 4 games are at Miss St. and Florida….both very difficult places to win. In their last game against Ole Miss, the Cats saw Anthony Davis and MKG go to the bench early with 2 fouls. Fortunately, the team stepped up and hit big shots from the perimeter. However, it will be important for UK to avoid foul trouble….especially for Davis who is a huge asset and game changer in the paint.

UK is playing well and their perimeter shooting is excellent…..with Miller, Lamb and Wiltjer making up UK’s 3 gunslingers from long range. The Cats will need to shoot well in Starkville! I see a close game….a 7 point win for the Cats!

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Ole Miss.....A Preview

Kentucky vs Ole Miss 2/18/12
Saturday 4PMEST/3PMCST
(SEC Network)
Kentucky leads the series 98-13

Location: Oxford, Miss
Enrollment: 19,536
Arena: 9,061

Head Coach: Andy Kennedy
Career Record: 126-77 (62.1%) 6 seasons
At Ole Miss: 105-64 (62.1%) 5 seasons

2010-11 Record: 20-14
2010-11 SEC Record 7-9
Postseason: NIT-0-1

2011-12 Record: 15-9
2011-12 SEC Record: 5-5

Ole Miss 60 Louisiana-Monroe 38
Ole Miss 69 Grambling 39
Ole Miss 63 Drake 59
Marquette 96 Ole Miss 66
Ole Miss 80 TCU 69
Ole Miss 64 Miami, FL 61 (OT)
Ole Miss 70 DePaul 68
Ole Miss 72 Penn St. 70
Ole Miss 80 Mississippi Valley 56
Ole Miss 66 Louisiana 54
Southern Miss 86 Ole Miss 82
Middle Tennessee 68 Ole Miss 56
Dayton 62 Ole Miss 50
Ole Miss 50 SMU 48
LSU 81 Ole Miss 55
Ole Miss 71 Arkansas 63
Auburn 69 Ole Miss 68 (OT-2)
Ole Miss 75 Mississippi St. 68
Ole Miss 66 Georgia 63
Florida 64 Ole Miss 60
Ole Miss 66 South Carolina 62
Alabama 69 Ole Miss 67 (OT)
Mississippi St. 70 Ole Miss 60
Ole Miss 61 Auburn 54

Ole Miss Stats

PPG-65.7
FG%-42.9%
3 PT%-29.6%
FT%-59.2%
RPG-39.3 (+4.4)
APG-11.4
TO’s-15.5
SPG-6.7
BPG-5.3

Probable Starting Lineup

Terrance Henry-F 6’10” Sr………………….11.6 PPG
Murphy Holloway-F 6’7” Jr…………………10.7 PPG
Jarvis Summers-G 6’4” Fr…………………..10.0 PPG
Nick Williams-G 6’4” Jr…………………….10.1 PPG
Reginald Buckner-F 6’9” Jr…………………7.1 PPG

Unbelievably, coach Kennedy is the only coach in Ole Miss history to have achieved four 20 win seasons. Still, the Ole Miss basketball program continues to struggle for respectability. Ole Miss fan support is poor as the Rebels have only averaged 5,910 fans at home in an arena that seats 9,061.

Overall, Ole Miss has had a decent season and been competitive in most games… and have defeated Miss. St., Arkansas, South Carolina, Auburn and Georgia while losing to Florida by only 4 points. The Rebels still have a chance of reaching another 20 game season and maybe gaining another NIT invitation.

Ole Miss starts a senior, 3 juniors and a freshman. The Rebels have a productive frontline with good size in 6’10” Terrance Henry who leads in scoring…6’9” Reginald Buckner who averages 8.4 rebounds while leading in blocks with 56…..and 6’7” Murphy Holloway who leads the team in rebounds averaging 9.2 and also leads in assists. Ole Miss has been a poor perimeter shooting team hitting only 29.6%, but guard Jarvis Summers is hitting a very good 41.7% from the perimeter…..Summers also leads in assists with 81.

Two areas that have hurt the Rebels is their dismal free throw shooting hitting 59.2% and also turnovers where they are averaging 15.5 PG. Although the team is struggling from the free throw line, guard Nick Williams has been very good from the charity line hitting 76.8%.

As always, teams that play UK seem to play with great energy and intensity….and often play their best game of the season….and you can bet that coach Kennedy will have the Rebels ready to play the Cats.

UK has been playing their best basketball of the season and coach Cal is driving the Cats to play even better. This week Cal had an open practice and scrimmage that was on ESPNU and it gave UK fans an opportunity to see coach Cal in action with his team.

UK has the opportunity to go undefeated in the SEC, but there are still some tough games left….especially on the road against Mississippi St. and Florida. However, the Cats can’t afford to overlook any SEC games and that certainly includes Saturday’s game with Ole Miss. I see a solid UK win over the Rebels by 15 points. GO CATS!

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Vanderbilt….2/11/12
Saturday 9PM..(ESPN)
Kentucky leads the series 134-44

College Gameday 11:00am at Vandy-
Rece Davis, Hubert Dais, Jay Bilas and Digger Phillips
Game will be called by Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale

Vanderbilt Commodores

Location: Nashville
Enrollment: 6,750
Arena: 14,316

Head Coach: Kevin Stallings
Career Record: 359-211 (63.0%) 18 seasons
At Vandy: 236-148 (61.5%) 12 seasons

2010-11 Record: 23-11
2010-11 SEC Record: 9-7
2010-11 Postseason: NCAA 0-1

2011-12 Record: 17-7
2011-12 SEC Record: 6-3

Vandy 78 Oregon 64
Cleveland St. 71 Vandy 58
Vandy 80 Bucknell 68
Vandy 86 N.C. St. 79
Vandy 64 Oregon St. 62
Vandy 95 Monmonth 73
Xavier 82 Vandy 70 (OT)
Louisville 62 Vandy 60 (OT)
Vandy 87 Davidson 83
Indiana St. 61 Vandy 55
Vandy 99 Longwood 71
Vandy 89 Lafayette 58
Vandy 74 Marquette 57
Vandy 69 Miami, OH 62
Vandy 65 Auburn 35
Vandy 67 South Carolina 57
Vandy 77 Georgia 66
Vandy 69 Alabama 59
Mississippi St. 78 Vandy 77 (OT)
Vandy 65 Tennessee 47
Vandy 84 Middle Tennessee St. 77
Arkansas 82 Vandy 74
Florida 73 Vandy 65
Vandy 76 LSU 61

Probable Starting Lineup

Lance Goulbourne-F 6’8” Sr………………….…9.3 PPG
Jeffery Taylor-F 6’7” Sr…………………………17.8 PPG
Festus Ezeli-C 6’11” Sr………………………….10.0 PPG
Brad Tinsley-G 6’3” Sr…………………………..9.1 PPG
John Jenkins-G 6’4” Jr………………………...…19.7 PPG

Vandy Stats

PPG-74.3
FG%-46.8%
3 PT%-39.3% (8.9 PG)
FT%-68.9%
RPG-35.0 (+1.8)
APG-13.2
TO’s-14.0
SPG-6.3
BPG-4.2

UK Stats

PPG-78.2
FG%-48.8%
3 PT%-37.9% (5.7 PG)
FT%-72.1%
RPG-39.8 (+7.8)
APG-13.5
TO’s-12.2
SPG-6.6
BPG-9.2

Vanderbilt was a preseason top 10 team because they returned a senior laden lineup and a previous NCAA team However, a 17-7 record has dropped them out of the top 25.
In evaluating Vandy this season you must look at the first 10 games when 6’’11”Festus Ezeli wasn’t playing….in those games the Dores went 6-4 with bad losses at home to Cleveland St. and Indiana St. After Ezeli returned to the lineup, Vandy is 10-3. All 3 losses have come in the SEC with only one at home….an OT loss to Mississippi St.
In reviewing the Dores season, you see a solid win at Marquette plus 3 of Vandy’s losses were in overtime.

While Vandy has been a disappointment this season, they are now playing like a top 25 team. Vandy is led in scoring by John Jenkins who has hit 89-201 perimeter shots for an excellent 44.3%. Jeffery Taylor is 2nd in scoring and is also a terrific perimeter shooter hitting an eyepopping 47.8% while leading the team in steals. In addition, Taylor joins Goulbourne and Ezeli in leading the Dores in rebounds. Brad Tinsley also is a solid 3 point shooter and leads the team in assists with 109 for 4.5 PG. There is no question that the return of Ezeli to the Vandy lineup has been a huge plus in the paint both offensively and defensively as Ezeli leads the team in blocks.

Vanderbilt has always been very difficult to defeat in Nashville and with Gameday you can bet the Dores will be more than ready to defend their home court. Any team that shoots a lot of perimeter shots and makes a good percentage as Vandy does is always dangerous….and especially when you are playing in a very different arena that has the teams under the baskets as opposed to being on the sides of the court. It makes it very difficult for coaches to have verbal contact with their team during play. You can bet that Vandy and their fans will be at a fever pitch as the #1 Cats come to Nashville!

UK will arrive in Nashville coming off another great performance in defeating a very good Florida team by 20 points. The Cats played great defense….while Teague ran the offense very effectively and handed out a season high 10 assists. Davis continues to leave fans in awe with his incredible performances….especially defensively where he is the favorite to be defensive player of the year. MKG had another great game with 13 points…13 rebounds….3 assists and only 1 turnover in 39 minutes. Lamb shot very well hitting 4-5 perimeter shots and scoring 18 points. Miller and Wiltjer also played very well.

The game in Nashville is always tough for UK….last season a UK team that made it to the Final Four still lost to the Dores in Nashville 81-77. This is a big test for the Cats and I look for this UK team to pass the test with a 7 point win over Vandy. GO CATS!

Lwcat
Administrator

Kentucky vs Florida….2/7/12 Tuesday 7PMEST/6PMCST (ESPN)
Kentucky leads the series 90-33

Location: Gainsville
Enrollment: 52,271
Arena: 12,000

Florida

Head Coach: Billy Donovan

Career Record: 395-167 (70.3%) 17 seasons
At Florida: 360-147 (71.0%) 15 seasons

2010-11 Record: 29-8
2010-11 SEC Record: 13-3
2010-11 Postseason: 3-1 (Lost in NCAA Elite 8)

2011-12 Record: 19-4
2011-12 SEC Record: 7-1

Florida 99 Jackson St. 59
Ohio St. 81 Florida 74
Florida 91 North Florida 55
Florida 78 Wright St. 65
Florida 96 Stetson 70
Syracuse 72 Florida 68
Florida 78 Arizona 72 (OT)
Florida 90 Rider 69
Florida 84 Texas A&M 64
Florida 82 Mississippi Valley St. 54
Florida 82 Florida St. 64
Rutgers 85 Florida 83 (OT)
Florida 90 Yale 70
Florida 79 UAB 61
Tennessee 67 Florida 56
Florida 70 Georgia 48
Florida 79 South Carolina 65
Florida 76 LSU 64
Florida 64 Ole Miss 60
Florida 69 Mississippi St. 57
Florida 74 South Carolina 66
Florida 73 Vanderbilt 65

Florida Stats

PPG-80.1
FG%-47.2%
3 PT%-40.2% (10.5 PG)
FT%-68.4%
RPG-36.6 (+3.0)
APG-16.3
TO’s-11.0
SPG-7.2
BPG-3.5

UK Stats

PPG-78.2
FG%-48.6%
3 PT%-36.9% (5.5 PG)
FT%-71.6%
RPG-39.9% (+7.8)
APG-13.3
TO’s-12.1
SPG-6.7
BPG-9.4

Probable Starting Lineup

Patric Young-F/C 6’9” Soph……………………….10.7 PPG
Erik Murphy-C 6’10” Jr…………………………….10.2 PPG
Kenny Boynton-G 6’2” Jr…………………………..17.6 PPG
Bradley Beal-G 6’3” Fr……………………………..14.3 PPG
Erving Walker-G 5’8” Sr……………………………12.6 PPG

Other Key Players

Will Yeguete-F 6’7” Soph………………………….4.7 PPG
Mike Rosario-G 6’3” Jr…………………………….8.2 PPG

The Florida Gators arrive in Lexington with a solid 19-4 record overall and 7-1 in the SEC. The Gators have not lost at home all season and two of their 4 losses were to top 5 ranked teams….losing to Ohio St. and Syracuse. Make no mistake, this is a very talented Gator team that shoots the ball very well…..especially from the perimeter….where they are hitting 40.2%. In fact, there is no question that Florida is a perimeter oriented team as they average 26 long range shots PG and averages nearly 11 made 3 point shots PG. The Gators are hard to guard from the perimeter because they have several players who shoot very well from long range….Murphy shoots 46.1%…..Boynton shoots 43.8%…..Walker shoots 39.3%…..Rosario, transfer from Rutgers, shoots 39.0%……and Beal hits 34.5%.

Florida is led in scoring by their three very talented guards….Boynton….Beal….and Walker. However, the Gators also get good scoring from their two starting big men with Young and Murphy averaging in double figures. Patric Young, a 6’9” very athletic sophomore, is a force in the paint and leads in rebounds….but, he gets help from several Gators on the boards….and surprisingly, 6’3” Bradley Beal is a terrific rebounder.
Walker leads in team assists with 118 or 5.1 PG.

The Gators arrive in Lexington after an important win over Vandy and have won 9 out of their last 10 games with only a bad loss to Tennessee at Knoxville.

UK has taken a huge step forward in their last 3 games in their overall play….both offensively and defensively….with very impressive wins over LSU, Tennessee and South Carolina. Unquestionably, Teague has significantly improved his running of the Cats offense by finding open players and shooting less….plus Teague is making less TO’s with better decision making. Also, importantly, Terrence Jones has taken his overall player to a much higher level….both offensively and defensively.

UK’s defense has been solid through most of the year, but has now taken their defense to a higher level. However, Florida will present a challenge to the Cat’s perimeter defense because the Gators have so many good perimeter shooters. The Gators will be among the most talented teams that UK has faced all season.

I see UK’s height and length presenting problems for Florida’s small guards in finding open shots….and Davis and Jones controlling the paint….to give the Cats an important advantage over Florida. Still, this should be a very competitive game, but I see UK prevailing over the Gators by 8 points. GO CATS!

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs South Carolina 2/4/12 Saturday 6PM (ESPN)
Kentucky leads the series 45-10

South Carolina Gamecocks

Location: Columbia, SC
Enrollment: 29,957
Arena: 18,000

Head Coach: Darrin Horn
Career Record: 161-90 (64.1%) 8 seasons
At SC: 50-42 (54.3%) 3 seasons

2010-11 Record: 14-16
2010-11 SEC Record: 5-11
2010-11 Postseason: None

2011-12 Record: 9-11
2011-12 SEC Record: 1-5

SC 75 W. Carolina 50
Elon 58 SC 53
Tenn. St. 64 SC 63
SC 61 Miss. Valley St. 57
North Carolina 87 SC 62
Southern Cal 63 SC 60
Providence 76 SC 67
SC 58 Clemson 55
SC 66 Presbyterian 58
Ohio St. 74 SC 66
SC 62 Southern Louisiana 43
SC 57 Woffard 45
SC 72 USC Upstate 66
SC 79 SC St. 51
Kentucky 79 South Carolina 65
Vanderbilt 67 South Carolina 57
Florida 79 South Carolina 65
Auburn 63 South Carolina 52
South Carolina 54 Alabama 52
Ole Miss 66 South Carolina 62

SC Stats

PPG-62.8
FG%-41.7%
3 PT.%-32.8% (6.5)
FT%-70.6%
RPG-32.5 (+0.5)
APG-10.3
TO’s-13.1
SPG-7.4
BPG-4.9

Probable Starting Lineup

Malik Cooke-F 6’6” Sr……………………..12.7 PPG
Anthony Gill-F 6’8” Fr……………………..8.3 PPG
Damontre Harris-F 6’9” So.…………………6.7 PPG
Bruce Ellington-G 5’9” Soph………..……..10.8 PPG
Damien Leonard-G 6’5” Fr…………………6.4 PPG

South Carolina welcomes #1 ranked UK to Columbia hoping to repeat history where they upset a #1 ranked UK team 2 years ago. It is doubtful that even upsetting UK will save coach Darrin Horn’s job who is in his 4th year as coach of the Gamecocks…..as SC is currently 10-11 overall and 1-5 in the SEC.

The Gamecocks are led by senior Malik Cooke who leads the team in scoring, assists and steals….also, along with Damontre Harris leads in rebounds. Cooke is a very complete player. Harris is the leading shot blocker with 42. Certainly, sophomore Bruce Ellington, provides great quickness and ability at the PG position. SC likes shooting from the perimeter averaging 19 PG….unfortunately, they are only hitting a so so 32.8%

Coach Horn has gone deep in his bench this season with 10 players averaging 12 plus minutes a game. Obviously, Horn is looking for the best combination and is now starting 2 freshmen, 2 sophomores along with senior Cooke.

South Carolina lost at home in December by only 8 points to a highly ranked Ohio State team….and just defeated Alabama at home.

Kentucky arrives in Columbia fresh off two excellent games against LSU and Tennessee.

The Cats are playing their best basketball of the year…..Teague has responded positively to coach Cal’s coaching and is now effectively running the offense. Jones is returning to form and has significantly raised his game with solid play on the frontline. MKG continues to play at the highest level and plays with incredible intensity while Anthony Davis has simply become the best player in America. Miller and Lamb are playing solid basketball and their perimeter shooting remains very important. As coach Cal says…..there is still more improvement needed, but obviously Cal is very pleased with how the Cats are now playing.

There is always danger when playing on the road and especially to any team that tosses up a lot of 3’s, but UK’s defense has remained solid most of the year and their offense is now in high gear…..UK should defeat SC by 15 points. GO CATS!

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Tennessee 1/31/12 Tuesday 7PM-EST/6PPM-CST(ESPNU)
Kentucky leads the series 147-66

Tennessee Vols

Location: Knoxville, Tenn
Enrollment: 27,523
Arena: 21,678

Head Coach: Cuonzo Martin
Career Record: 61-41 (59.8%) 3 seasons
At Tennessee-First season

2010-11 Record: 19-15
2010-11 SEC Record: 8-8
Postseason: 0-1 NCAA

2011-12 Record: 10-11
2011-12 SEC Record: 2-4

Tennessee 92 UNC Greensboro 63
Tennessee 85 Louisiana Monroe 62
Duke 77 Tennessee 67
Memphis 99 Tennessee 97
Tennessee 86 Chaminade 60
Oakland 89 Tennessee 81
Pittsburgh 61 Tennessee 56
Austin Peay 74 Tennessee 70
College of Charleston 71 Tennessee 65
Tennessee 72 UNC Ashville 68
Tennessee 66 ESTU 63
Tennessee 86 Citadel 55
Tennessee 76 Chattanooga 63
Memphis 69 Tennessee 51
Tennessee 67 Florida 56
Mississippi St. 62 Tennessee 58
Kentucky 65 Tennessee 62
Georgia 57 Tennessee 53 (OT)
Tennessee 60 U Conn 57
Vanderbilt 65 Tennessee 47
Tennessee 64 Auburn 49

Tennessee Stats

PPG-69.6
FG%-44.5%
3 PT%-35.3% (7.1PG)
FT%-68.5%
RPG-37.2 (+3.7)
APG-13.1
TO’s-14.1
SPG-5.9
BPG-4.8

Probable Starting Lineup

Trae Golden-G 6’1” Soph………………………….13.1 PPG
Jeronne Maymon-F 6’7” Jr……………………..….11.7 PPG
Josh Richardson-G 6’6” Fr..…………………….…..3.0 PPG
Cameron Tatum-G 6’7” Sr……………………….…8.7 PPG
Jarnell Stokes-F 6’8” Fr…………………………….10.6 PPG

Other Key Players

Sylar McBee-G 6’3” Jr………………………………6.5 PPG
Jordan McRae-F 6’5” Soph………………………….8.7 PPG
Kenny Hall-F 6’9” Jr…………………………………6.6 PPG

Tennessee now has a new coach in Cuonzo Martin after Bruce Pearl was fired. Martin played at Purdue from 91-95 under Gene Keady….Martin was then an assistant under both Keady and Matt Painter from 2000-2008 so he garnered great experience from two very good coaches. For the past 3 years, Martin has been a successful coach at Missouri St where he greatly improved their program.

Coach Martin inherited a Tennessee team that lost 4 solid starters in Scotty Hopson, Tobias Harris, Melvin Goins and John Fields plus 4 other players including Brian Williams. Despite those losses, Martin has the Vols playing much better than anyone expected. While Pearl’s Vols were more upbeat offensively, Martin has focused on playing tough hardnose defense….which was evident in the Vols win over Florida and U Conn.

Unquestionably, the addition of freshman Jarnell Stokes has been a huge plus for the Vols frontline. Stokes is averaging 10.6 PPG shooting 57.9% plus garnering 8 rebounds PG. Stokes is already becoming a force in the SEC despite joining the Vols at mid-season.

McBee, Tatum and Golden are shooting well from the perimeter with Golden leading the team in assists with 101. Maymon and Stokes are both averaging 8 rebounds PG giving the Vols a solid inside game on the boards. Golden remains the leading scorer.

UK welcomes Tennessee to Rupp arena after a great win at LSU where the Cats arguably played their best game of the year. Coach Cal was pleased with all the players and their performance. It was especially great to see Terrence Jones have a tremendous game with 27 points. Anthony Davis, who was mauled during much of the game….including an ugly and totally uncalled for mugging which took Davis to the floor on a breakaway….still maintained his cool and delivered another superb game.

Certainly, UK will remember a tough 65-62 win at Knoxville just a little over 2 weeks ago and should be better prepared to handle the Vols at Rupp arena.

I see a 14 point win over Tennessee! GO CATS!

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs LSU 1/28/12 Saturday 4PM (SEC Network)
Kentucky leads the series 80-24

LSU

Location: Baton Rouge, La.
Enrollment: 27,992
Arena: 13,215

Head Coach: Trent Johnson
Career Record: 208-170 (55.0%) 12 seasons
At LSU: 49-49 (50%) 3 seasons

2010-11 Record: 11-21
2010-11 SEC Record: 3-13
Postseason: None

2011-12 Record: 12-8
2011-12 SEC Record: 2-4

LSU 96 Nicholls 74
Coastal Carolina 71 LSU 63
Northeastern 88 LSU 82
LSU 76 Western Kentucky 57
LSU 59 Georgia Tech 50
South Alabama 79 LSU 75 (OT)
LSU 59 Houston 58
LSU 55 Rutgers 50
LSU 64 Boise St. 45
LSU 66 UC Irvine 59
LSU 67 Marquette 59
LSU 67 N.Texas 58
LSU 69 Grambling 37
Virginia 57 LSU 52
LSU 81 Ole Miss 55
Alabama 69 LSU 53
Arkansas 69 LSU 60
LSU 65 Auburn 58 (OT)
Florida 76 LSU 64
Mississippi St. 76 LSU 71

LSU Stats

PPG-67.0
FG%-40.6%
3 PT.%-33.4% (5.5)
FT%-70.7%
RPG-38.6 (+2.1)
APG-12.6
TO’s-13.2
SPG-7.7
BPG-3.7

Probable Starting Lineup

Justin Hamilton-C 7’0” Jr……………………………..14.1 PPG
Andre Stringer-G 5’9” Soph…………………………...10.4 PPG
Anthony Hickey-G 5’11” Fr……………………………9.6 PPG
Ralston Turner-F 6’6” Soph……………………………8.8 PPG
Storm Warren-F 6’7” Sr………………………………..8.2 PPG

Coach Trent Johnson first year at LSU was highly successful…..as he won 27 games….won the SEC championship….and made the NCAA. However, the past two seasons have been a disaster….LSU is 22-41 and 5-27 in the SEC. As expected, LSU fans are not happy and this season is important to coach Johnson.

LSU added transfer 7’0” Justin Hamilton from Iowa St. along with Anthony Hickey, Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball and they both have been a huge plus for the Tigers. Hamilton is the team’s leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker. In a recent game against Florida, Hamilton scored 27 points against the Gators. Hickey is off to a solid start as a freshman starter leading the team in assists and steals while scoring at nearly 10 points PG. Andre Stringer leads LSU in perimeter shooting hitting 36.6%.

Although LSU stumbled early this season with a bad loss to Coastal Carolina, the Tigers have played much better with wins over Georgia Tech, Rutgers and Marquette. Already, in SEC conference play, LSU has shown to be a much more competitive team than the past two years and have won both home SEC games.

Importantly, LSU has recently opened a new beautiful basketball practice facility revealing the schools determination to be a top level SEC team. This season, LSU will not be the pushover that UK found last season, but still lack the talent to defeat the Cats even in home friendly Pete Maravich arena.

Kentucky arrives in Baton Rouge fresh off a win over Georgia in Athens. The Cats played very well in the 1st half hitting 56% from the field and 60% from the perimeter.
Unfortunately, UK’s offense stumbled in the 2nd half scoring only 19 points….while shooting a pitiful 30% from the field.

Still, there were a number of positives in the Georgia game. It was great to see Miller, Lamb and Wiltjer shooting very well from the perimeter. In fact, kudos to Darius Miller who had a terrific offensive game scoring 19 points. Davis and MKG were both solid on the boards snaring 11 rebounds apiece….as UK dominated the boards. Teague did a nice job running the offense with zero TO’s.

Hopefully, the Cats can get Anthony Davis more involved in the offense…..as Davis played 39 minutes and had only two shots. Also, UK needs Teague to improve his shooting as he continues to struggle from the perimeter. Importantly,Terrence Jones is giving good effort on the defensive end and rebounding well, however, he still has work to do on improving his offense.

All in all, any road win is a positive, but UK still needs improvement on both offense and defense. The Cats should defeat LSU by 12 points.
GO CATS!

Here's a better picture from the Nike web site, I still don't like it with the gray.  Nike should have stuck with the traditional BLUE and WHITE..

Mr.Nezzer
WT Executive Moderator

OK, from the picture I sure as heck hope they are not gray with just blue trim......I know the color is probably called platinum but no matter how shiny it is, it will still look gray. Sorry, UK's uniforms should be Blue and White.....period. They can make the uniforms out of recycled puppies for all I care just as long as the colors are Blue and White, the trademark of UK sports.

Another thing, why do they come out with new uniforms, mid-season, why not the start of the season??? I understand all of the elite PR crap but UK is already an elite team, they don't need super duper uper hyper charged fuel injected uniforms that are gray with just a hint of blue. Below is the release info on the new uniforms. Below is the release info on the new uniforms.

UK is one of nine schools who will get New Nike Hyper Elite Platinum jerseys, according to a release. UK will debut the jerseys at home against Tennessee on Jan. 31.


From the release:

The fabric of the Nike Hyper Elite Platinum shorts are made from 100 percent recycled polyester while the jersey fabric is made from at least 96% recycled polyester. Both short and jersey are tailored for the optimal efficiency of movement and are five percent lighter than the previous Nike Hyper Elite uniform. Featuring laser-cut bonded logos, a sharp platinum design as well as prominent accent colors, the Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms are sure to shine on the court.

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Georgia 1/24/12 Tuesday 9PM (ESPN)
UK leads the series 113-25

Georgia

Location: Athens, Ga
Enrollment: 34,677
Arena: 10,523

Head Coach: Mark Fox
Career Record: 158-72 (68.7%) 7 seasons
At Georgia: 35-29 (54.7%) 2 seasons

2010-11 Record: 21-12
2010-11 SEC Record: 9-7
Postseason: NCAA 0-1

2011-12 Record: 10-9
2011-12 SEC Record: 1-4

Georgia 62 Wofford 49
Georgia 63 Bowling Green 54
Georgia 72 South Dakota St. 61
California 70 Georgia 46
Georgia 61 Notre Dame 57
Xavier 70 Georgia 56
Colorado 70 Georgia 68
Cincinnati 57 Georgia 51
Georgia Tech 68 Georgia 56
Georgia 63 Southern Cal 59
Georgia 72 Mercer 58
Georgia 64 Furman 50
Georgia 92 Winthrop 86 (OT)
Georgia 58 Delaware St. 51
Alabama 74 Georgia 59
Florida 70 Georgia 48
Vandy 77 Georgia 66
Georgia 57 Tennessee 53 (OT)
Ole Miss 66 Georgia 63

Georgia Stats

PPG-61.9
FG%-39.9%
3 PT%-31.9% (6.6 PG)
FT%-69.1%
RPG-33.0 (-2.4)
APG-11.3
TO's-11.1
SPG-6.3
BPG-3.8

Probable Starting Lineup

Ken Caldwell-Pope-G 6'4" Fr................14.7 PPG
Dustin Ware-G 5'11" Sr........................7.7 PPG
Donte' Williams-F 6'9" Soph..................7.7 PPG
Gerald Robinson-G 6'1" Sr....................13.8 PPG
Nemania Djurisic-F 6'8" Fr.....................6.5 PPG

Georgia suffered a huge loss when Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie left early for the NBA. Thompkins and Leslie were 1st and 2nd in both team scoring and rebounds. Coach Mark Fox who has done a good job in rebuilding the Georgia program over the past two years has had to adjust to losing the high flying athletic ability of Thompkins and Leslie...and focus on establishing a solid defense while finding scoring from other players. This season, it's the guards who are doing most of the scoring with highly rated freshman Ken Calwell-Pope leading the Bulldogs in scoring. Also, guard Gerald Robinson has stepped up in his scoring and leads in assists. Dustin Ware leads in perimeter scoring hitting 37.0%

Georgia does have a win over Notre Dame and a recent win over Tennessee, but are struggling in the SEC with a 1-4 record. Certainly, Georgia can be dangerous at home, but this season they simply don't have the athletes in the paint and depend on outside shooting for most of their points.

UK arrives in Athens off a very difficult win over a very tough Alabama team that played very well. The Cats struggled from the charity line, especially in the 1st half and missed 13 FT's for the game. Fortunately, UK made some vital FT's at the end of the game.

The Cats, quite frankly, were lucky to escape an upset as they missed far too many close in basket attempts.....were outmuscled in the paint and out rebounded....and played spotty defense at times. Obviously, UK still has a lot of improving on both offense and defense. Bottom line....as coach Cal has said.....teams are going to challenge UK in the paint with physical play and these young Cats need to meet that challenge with tougher play in the paint. One positive was that UK only had 8 TO's. I see a UK win over a less talented and less physical Georgia team by 14 points. GO CATS!

Kentucky vs Alabama…1/21/12
Saturday 12PMEST/11:00AMCST (CBS)
Kentucky leads the series 101-36

Alabama

Location: Tucaloosa,Ala.
Enrollment: 30,232
Arena: 15,316

Head Coach: Anthony Grant
Career Record: 118-52 (69.4%) 5 Seasons
At Alabama: 42-27 (60.9%) 2 Seasons

2010-11 Record: 25-12
2010-11 SEC Record: 12-4
Postseason: 4-1 NIT (Lost in final)

2011-12 Record: 13-4
2011-12 SEC Record: 2-1

Alabama 64 N. Florida 44
Alabama 74 Oakland 57
Alabama 62 Maryland 42
Alabama 70 Wichita St. 60
Alabama 65 Purdue 56
Alabama 82 Alabama A&M 45
Alabama 72 VCU 64
Georgetown 57 Alabama 55
Dayton 74 Alabama 62
Alabama 62 Detroit 54
Kansas St. 71 Alabama 58
Alabama 69 Oklahoma St. 52
Alabama 72 Jacksonville 55
Alabama 73 Georgia Tech 48
Alabama 74 Georgia 59
Alabama 69 LSU 53
Mississippi St. 56 Alabama 52

Alabama Stats

PPG-66.8
FG%-47.0%
3 PT%-27.1% (3.8PG)
FT%-71.3%
RPG-35.8 (+3.1)
APG-13.6
TO’s-12.5
SPG-7.1
BPG-4.6

Probable Starting Lineup

JaMychal Green-F 6’8” Sr…………………………14.2 PPG
Tony Mitchell-F 6’6” Jr……………………………14.5 PPG
Trevor Lacey-G 6’3” Fr…………………………….7.5 PPG
Trevor Releford-G 6’1” Soph………………………12.5 PPG
Levi Randolph-G 6’5” Fr……………………………6.1 PPG

Other Key Players

Nick Jacobs-F 6’8” Fr……………………………….5.3 PPG
Andrew Steele-G 6’4” Jr…………………………….6.5 PPG

Coach Anthony Grant was very disappointed that Bama didn’t receive an NCAA invitation last season despite finishing with a 12-4 SEC record. The problem was that the Tide had a very weak non-conference schedule. Grant made certain he corrected that this season by scheduling much tougher non conference opponents such as Georgetown, Oklahoma St, Georgia Tech, Dayton, VCU and Kansas St.. In addition, Grant brought in three top 50 rated freshmen.

Alabama returns two of the best players in the SEC in JaMychal Green and Tony Mitchell and both are the leading scorers averaging 14 PPG. Mitchell leads the team in blocks and rebounds. Two highly recruited freshmen, Levi Randolph and Trevor Lacey, have cracked the starting lineup. UK fans will remember Lacey who was recruited by the Cats for his long range accuracy. However, thus far Lacey has struggled from the perimeter hitting only 15-54 for 27.8%. In fact, the entire team is only hitting 27.1% from the 3 point line.

A signature of Anthony Grant teams is hard nose defense and he is rebuilding the Alabama basketball program. This is a good Bama team with improving talent and some key experience on the frontline with Green and Mitchell. The Crimson Tide have some solid wins this season…..defeating Maryland, Purdue, Oklahoma St. and Georgia Tech.

UK is coming off one of their best performances of the season in defeating Arkansas. The Cats saw Anthony Davis break the season record in blocks with much of the season still left. Davis was simply outstanding offensively and defensively. Terrence Jones continues to improve his game with a solid performance against the Razorbacks. Importantly, Teague had perhaps his best overall game as PG at UK by handing out 9 assists while effectively running the offense. Overall, it was a very good team performance and kept UK’s 46 home winning streak alive. Perhaps the only negative is that the Cats need to do a better job of hitting shots from the perimeter.

Alabama will present a tougher challenge than Arkansas as they are bigger and more talented. Coach Cal will be especially looking for Teague and Jones to continue to improve their game. I see a 12 point UK win over Alabama. GO CATS!

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Arkansas 1/17/12 Tuesday 9PM (ESPN)
UK leads the series 24-8

Arkansas Razorbacks

Location: Fayetteville, Ark
Enrollment: 21,406
Arena: 19,200

Head Coach: Mike Anderson
Career Record: 200-97 (67.3%) 9 seasons
1st year at Arkansas

2010-11 Record: 18-13
2010-11 SEC Record: 7-9
Postseason: None

2011-12 Record: 13-4
2011-12 SEC Record: 2-1

Arkansas 83 USC Upstate 63
Arkansas 91 Oakland 68
Houston 87 Arkansas 78
Arkansas 67 Utah Valley 59
Arkansas 86 Grambling St. 44
Arkansas 97 Miss. Valley St. 64
U Conn 75 Arkansas 62
Oklahoma 78 Arkansas 63
Arkansas 62 SE Louisiana 55
Arkansas 71 Eastern Ky. 57
Arkansas 77 Louisiana Tech 63
Arkansas 80 Charlotte 67
Arkansas 77 Texas Southern 49
Arkansas 83 Savannah St. 66
Ole Miss 71 Arkansas 63
Arkansas 98 Miss. St. 88
Arkansas 69 LSU 60

Arkansas Stats

PPG-76.9
FG%-44.0%
3 PT%-34.8%
FT%-69.0%
RPG-37.9 (-0.9)
APG-15.2
TO’s-13.5
SPG-9.3
BPG-6.4

Probable Starting Lineup

Mardracus Wade-G 6’2” Soph………………………..11.0 PPG
Rickey Scott-G 6’3” Soph…………………………….9.8 PPG
Julysses Nobles-G 6’1” Jr……………………………..9.4 PPG
Devonta Aaron-F 6’8” Fr…………………………...…5.9 PPG
Michael Sanchez-F 6’8” Sr……………………………4.6 PPG

Other Key Players

BJ Young-G 6’3” Fr……………………………………15.0 PPG
Hunter Mickelson-F 6’10” Fr…………………………..4.6 PPG
Rashad Madden-G 6’5” Fr………………………...……7.3 PPG
Marvell Waithe-F 6’9” Sr………………………………6.4 PPG

Arkansas fired John Pelphrey after 3 years and a lackluster 25-39 SEC record and zero NCAA appearances. In fairness to Pelphrey, he inherited a bad situation at Arkansas and had a stellar recruiting class coming in…..but, too many empty seats at games along with growing impatience from Razorback fans sealed Pelphrey’s fate.

Not surprisingly, Arkansas turned to one of their own……Mike Anderson who was an assistant under Nolan Richardson from 1985-2002. Anderson then left to coach UAB and did a superb job in coaching UAB to a 89-41 record in 6 years….then has coached Missouri over the past 3 years to a very solid 111-57 record. In 9 years as a head coach
Anderson has taken UAB and Missouri to 6 NCAA’s ….and made it to an Elite 8 once.
Arkansas fans like the uptempo offense and often pressing defense….and the Razorbacks are off to very good start under Anderson.

Arkansas, unfortunately, lost, 6’7 Jr. Marshawn Powell, their best player after just 2 games to a torn ACL. The Razorbacks are led in scoring by freshman BJ Young who often comes off the bench. Young has hit 28-64 perimeter shots for a very solid 43.8%. However, Mardracus Wade has shot even better from the 3 point line hitting 36-73 for a fantastic 49.3%. Julysses Nobles leads the team in assists while rebounding has been done by committee by several players. Hunter Mickelson, 6’10” freshman, comes off the bench and leads the Razorbacks in blocks with 47.

Coach Anderson often goes deep in his bench playing 8-9 players to keep defensive pressure on opponents. The Razorbacks are averaging 9.3 steals PG. There is young talent on Arkansas and coach Anderson has his team playing in a similar manner as his mentor, Nolan Richardson. As Anderson brings in more talented recruits that are very athletic and can press….look for future Razorback teams to be more talented and much better.

UK escaped Knoxville with a hard earned 65-62 win. It was the Cat’s solid defense that kept UK in the game as their offense sputtered. Make no mistake, this was a big win against a solid Tennessee team that played very physical basketball. Once again, MKG and Davis made key plays offensively and defensively. UK’s two best perimeter shooters, Miller and Lamb, were missing in action….in fact, overall team shooting has been disappointing. While UK’s defense is playing well overall, it is exceedingly important for the Cat’s to develop a much more efficient offense and start making more shots….if they want to continue winning on the road. In addition, as coach Cal has pointed out, this UK team must match the physical play of it’s opponents.

Arkansas will be a tough opponent in Rupp arena…..and will force UK to handle the ball against the press. UK should win by 10 points! GO CATS!

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Tennessee 1/14/12 Saturday-12pm-EST/11am-CST (ESPN)
Kentucky leads the series 146-66.

Tennessee Vols

Location: Knoxville, Tenn
Enrollment: 27,523
Arena: 21,678

Head Coach: Cuonzo Martin
Career Record: 61-41 (59.8%) 3 seasons
At Tennessee-First season

2010-11 Record: 19-15
2010-11 SEC Record: 8-8
Postseason: 0-1 NCAA

2011-12 Record: 8-8
2011-12 SEC Record: 1-1

Tennessee 92 UNC Greensboro 63
Tennessee 85 Louisiana Monroe 62
Duke 77 Tennessee 67
Memphis 99 Tennessee 97
Tennessee 86 Chaminade 60
Oakland 89 Tennessee 81
Pittsburgh 61 Tennessee 56
Austin Peay 74 Tennessee 70
College of Charleston 71 Tennessee 65
Tennessee 72 UNC Ashville 68
Tennessee 66 ESTU 63
Tennessee 86 Citadel 55
Tennessee 76 Chattanooga 63
Memphis 69 Tennessee 51
Tennessee 67 Florida 56
Mississippi St. 62 Tennessee 58

Tennessee Stats

PPG-73.4
FG%-46.2%
3 PT%-38.0% (8.1PG)
FT%-69.8%
RPG-36.2 (+3.2)
APG-14.3
TO’s-13.1
SPG-5.9
BPG-4.9

Probable Starting Lineup

Trae Golden-G 6’1” Soph………………………….14.9 PPG
Jeronne Maymon-F 6’7” Jr……………………..….11.3 PPG
Jordan McRae-F 6’5” Soph…………………….….10.4 PPG
Cameron Tatum-GG 6’7” Sr…………………….….8.9 PPG
Kenny Hall-F 6’9” Jr…………………………….....….7.3 PPG

Other Key Players

Sylar McBee-G 6’3” Jr……………………………….....6.3 PPG
Renaldo Woodridge-F 6’9” Sr…………………..….6.1 PPG
Josh Richardson-G 6’6” Fr…………………………...3.0 PPG

Tennessee now has a new coach in Cuonzo Martin after Bruce Pearl was fired. Martin played at Purdue from 91-95 under Gene Keady….Martin was then an assistant under both Keady and Matt Painter from 2000-2008 so he garnered great experience from two very good coaches. For the past 3 years, Martin has been a successful coach at Missouri St where he greatly improved their program.

Coach Martin inherited a Tennessee team that lost 4 solid starters in Scotty Hopson, Tobias Harris, Melvin Goins and John Fields plus 4 other players including Brian Williams. Despite those losses, Martin has the Vols playing much better than anyone expected. While Pearl’s Vols were more upbeat offensively, Martin has focused on playing tough hardnose defense….which was evident in the Vols recent win over Florida.
Frankly, despite losing much of their scoring, this year’s Vols team is playing pretty solid offensively and shooting very well from the perimeter hitting 37.5% and averaging 8 perimeter shots PG.

Cameron Tatum leads the team from the perimeter hitting 41%. Trae Golden runs the point and leads in assists with 81…… Jeronne Maymon leads the team in rebounds while Kenny Hall leads in blocks.

The Vols just had a tough loss at Mississippi St. 62-58. UT had an opportunity to tie or win in the final seconds, but turned the ball over. This Tennessee team will be a very competitive team in the SEC this season.

Kentucky arrives in Knoxville off a hard fought game against Auburn on the road. The Cats found out that coach Cal was right on target when he warned them that opposing SEC teams will fill their arenas and often play their very best against UK….Auburn did just that. Auburn utilized an effective zone defense which many UK opponents will also likely use this SEC season. The Cats pulled away toward the end of the game, but missed shots and poor rebounding kept the Tigers in the game.

Last season, UK lost 6 road SEC games and this season could be as bad if the young Cats don’t come to play for 40 minutes on the road. UK will find a tough Tennessee opponent Saturday in Knoxville and they must play tough defense, rebound better, and make shots.

It’s not rocket science, but winning on the road demands that the Cats bring a high level of energy and match the passion of their opponents. I see a tough game in Knoxville with UK pulling out a 7 point win. GO CATS!

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Auburn 1/11/12 Wednesday 8PM (SEC Network)
UK leads series 85-17

Auburn Tigers

Location: Auburn, Ala
Enrollment: 24,078
Arena: 9,600

Head Coach: Tony Barber
Career Record: 93-72 (56.4%) 5 seasons
At Auburn: 11-20 (35.5%) 1 season

2010-11 Record: 11-20
2010-11 SEC Record: 4-12
Postseason Record: None

2011-12 Record: 10-5
2011-12 SEC Record: 0-1

Auburn 84 McNeese St. 62
Auburn 68 Kennesaw St. 55
Auburn 78 Nicholls St. 57
Auburn 72 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 59
Seton Hall 81 Auburn 59
Auburn 52 S. Florida 40
Auburn 84 N. Florida 71
Auburn 76 Florida A&M 69
Auburn 65 Hawaii 62
Long Beach St. 64 Auburn 43
UTEP 83 Auburn 76
Auburn 78 Georgia Southern 75
Auburn 67 Bethune-Cookman 41
Florida St. 85 Auburn 56
Vandy 65 Auburn 35

Auburn Stats

PPG-66.2
FG%-43.8%
3 PT.%=32.5%(5.2PG)
FT%-64.7%
RPG-35.0 (+0.5)
APG-13.7
TO’s-14.1
SPG-6.9
BPG-5.9

Probable Starting Lineup

Kenny Gabriel-F 6’8” Sr………………………...11.9 PPG
Rob Chubb-C 6’10” Jr…………………………….9.7 PPG
Varez Ward-G 6’2” Soph………………………....9.2 PPG
Chris Denson-G 6’2” Soph………………………10.7 PPG
Frankie Sullivan-G 6’1” Jr……………………….11.5 PPG

Second year coach, Tony Barbee, welcomes back 4 starters plus transfer from Texas, Varez Ward…..and also 2 other transfers and 3 freshmen. Senior Kenny Gabriel does it all….leading scorer….also, leads in rebounds with 7.8 PG….plus he leads the team in blocks with 41 and steals with 22. Frankie Sullivan leads the Tigers from the perimeter hitting 30-81 for 37% along with Kenny Gabriel and Chris Denson who both hit 37%-38%. Transfer Varez Ward leads the Tigers in assists with 4.1 PG, but struggles from the perimeter hitting only 29%.One problem that coach Barbee certainly wants to correct is to improve the Tigers FT shooting which is a dismal 64.7%

There is optimism that coach Barbee will turn the Auburn program around and thus far there is no question that Barbee has the Tigers playing hard. Auburn had a nice win over Seton Hall, but an ugly loss to Vandy to open the SEC season. Coach Barbee knows that for Auburn to step forward he will need to add a lot more talent.

Kentucky played pretty well in their SEC opener against South Carolina. A huge plus was seeing Terrence Jones play his best game after struggling in recent games. Hopefully, this is the start of Jones returning to form….as the Cats need his toughness in the paint and more scoring. In addition, UK saw an improved Teague who did a nice job in directing the offense while making very few mistakes. Obviously, having Teague effectively run the offense as coach wants is a big key to UK’s future success in the NCAA tourney. Seeing positive comments from Teague along with a solid performance makes coach Cal and UK fans very happy. On the negative side, coach Cal wasn’t happy that the Cats got out rebounded and too often beat for 50-50 balls.

As Cal has said on many occasions…..UK is every team’s Super Bowl. You can bet that Auburn will play hard with great energy…..and despite overall poor fan support…..look for a full house when the Cats come to Auburn. Unquestionably, UK has much more talent than Auburn, but road games are seldom easy…..I look for UK to defeat Auburn by 14 points. GO CATS!

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs South Carolina 1/7/12 Saturday 4PM-EST/3PM-CST
(SEC Network)
Kentucky leads the series 44-10

South Carolina Gamecocks

Location: Columbia, SC
Enrollment: 29,957
Arena: 18,000

Head Coach: Darrin Horn
Career Record: 161-90 (64.1%) 8 seasons
At SC: 50-42 (54.3%) 3 seasons

2010-11 Record: 14-16
2010-11 SEC Record: 5-11
2010-11 Postseason: None

2011-12 Record: 8-6

SC 75 W. Carolina 50
Elon 58 SC 53
Tenn. St. 64 SC 63
SC 61 Miss. Valley St. 57
North Carolina 87 SC 62
Southern Cal 63 SC 60
Providence 76 SC 67
SC 58 Clemson 55
SC 66 Presbyterian 58
Ohio St. 74 SC 66
SC 62 Southern Louisiana 43
SC 57 Woffard 45
SC 72 USC Upstate 66
SC 79 SC St. 51

SC Stats

PPG-64.4
FG%-43.0%
3 PT.%-34.5% (6.6)
FT%-68.8%
RPG-33.3 (+1.4)
APG-10.9
TO’s-13.1
SPG-7.0
BPG-5.6

Probable Starting Lineup

Malik Cooke-F 6’6” Sr……………………..13.1 PPG
Anthony Gill-F 6’8” Fr……………………..8.4 PPG
Demontre Harris-F 6’9” So…………………5.7 PPG
Lakeem Jackson-F 6’5” Jr…………………..5.3 PPG
Eric Smith-G 5’11” Sr………………………6.8 PPG

Other Key Players

R.J. Slawson-F 6’8” So………………………6.1 PPG
Bruce Ellington-G 5’9” So…………………...9.4 PPG

It’s no secret that coach Horn is increasingly under the gun in Columbia as his 3 year record is disappointing. Although Horn did lose a very good starter in Muldrow….he has 4 starters returning plus some freshmen….one of which, Anthony Gill, who has cracked the starting lineup and playing well.

Horn was disappointed when Bruce Ellington opted to play football at SC this season and he was missed greatly early this season when SC went 2-5 without Ellington. However, Ellington returned for the Clemson game and the Gamecocks have won 6-7 since his return…..only losing to Ohio State by 8 points.

SC starts 2 seniors and a junior and the Gamecocks have good size. The return of 5’9” dynamo Ellington has significantly improved the team. Ellington is cat quick….runs the offense and shoots 42.9% from the perimeter. Malik Cooke is the leading scorer and is a complete player….leading the team in steals with 28 while leading in rebounds along with Anthony Gill….and leads in assists with Lakeem Jackson. Demontre Harris leads in blocks with 30.

Certainly, the 8-6 record is misleading…..this is a far different and much improved SC team with the return of Ellington. This SC team will be a tougher opponent as they start SEC play against UK in Lexington.

UK followed up it’s big win over UL with an extremely poor and uninspired 1st half against a 5-10 Ark-Little Rock team….actually trailing at the half. Although, the Cats played much better in the 2nd half and won going away…..this game underscored some negative issues that UK needs to straighten out ASAP.

Although no one questions the great individual talent on this UK team, the Cats are too often struggling in their offense. For whatever reason, Teague has simply not run the Cats effectively. While certainly excuses can be made that Teague is a freshman still learning the point at UK…..the worry is that Teague is not showing the kind of improvement that we all expected after 15 games. In addition, there appears to be increasing evidence that Teague is too often ignoring Cal’s instructions. Coach Cal, while not throwing Teague under the bus, has made comments that reveal his frustration with Teague’s overall performance at PG…..even pointing out that UK played better in the last game with Teague on the bench. It may be that Teague needs to take a seat on the bench more often until he starts running the team as Cal has instructed. Certainly, Lamb and Miller would add more firepower to UK’s lineup, but the Cats still need Teague to be effective if they want to make a deep run in the NCAA. Teague has the tools, but it’s his negative attitude that is holding him back. If only Teague would understand that his job as PG is to bring the ball up…..get the Cats in their offense….and get the ball to the open man…..and not just look to score! There are 16 SEC games ahead and we can only hope that we see Teague bring forth a new positive attitude and effectively execute the offense as Cal wants.

While Teague is a major problem, the fault is not all his. This UK team needs to start playing tough hardnose basketball for 40 minutes. They need to significantly improve their ball handling…..there are far too many poor decisions on passes and too many TO’s recently. UK has in MKG a role model on the kind of energy and effort that players wearing the Kentucky jersey should exhibit throughout games.

Fortunately, there is still half the season left to correct these and other issues. If this team pulls together and Teague plays to his potential at PG, this could be a very special year!

It all starts with SC this Saturday at Rupp arena….and let’s hope the Cats come to play with a chip on their shoulder…..play hardnose defense…..and run the offense efficiently.
As Cal has said, the SEC will be tough this season…..there are a number of good solid opponents….and they all will be tough in their home arena where there will almost always be sell out crowds to welcome UK.

I remain confident that Cal will have the Cats playing great basketball and Teague will finally be the PG we all expected.

I see a UK team defeat SC by 12 points at Rupp arena. GO CATS!

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Arkansas- Little Rock 1/3/12 Tuesday 7PM/6PM (Fox South)
First meeting between the two schools.

Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans (Sun Belt Conference)

Location: Little Rock, Ark
Enrollment: 13,167
Arena: 5,600

Head Coach: Steve Shields
Career Record: 132-112 (54.1%) 9 Seasons

2010-11 Record: 19-17
2010-11 Sun Belt: 7-9
2010-11 Postseason: NCAA-0-1

2011-12 Record: 5-10
2011-12 Sun Belt: 2-2

Tulsa 65 ALR 49
ALR 72 Northeastern St. 66
ALR 75 IUPUI 70
E. Michigan 62 ALR 51
Milwaukee 59 ALR 54
Northwestern St. 80 ALR 65
SMU 69 ALR 63 (OT)
ALR 102 Philander Smith 59
Missouri St. 68 ALR 60
Oral Roberts 58 ALR 55
Louisiana Tech 71 ALR 68
Illinois St. 72 ALR 65
ALR 69 North Texas 66
ALR 66 Denver 59

ALR Stats

PPG-64.1
FG%-41.4%
3 PT%-31.5%
FT%-71.5%
RPG-34.3
APG-10.5
TO’s-13.7
SPG-6.2
BPG-2.7

Probable Starting Lineup

Will Neighbour F-6’10” Soph……………………..12.0 PPG
D’Andre Williams G-5”10” Sr……………………..11.7 PPG
Chuck Guy G-5’10” Soph………………………….10.3 PPG
Courtney Jackson F-6’6” Sr……………………….. 6.8 PPG
Taggart Lockhart F-6’5” Fr…………………………4.5PPG

Last season despite losing 4 of their final 5 regular season Sun Belt games, ALR won 4 Sun Belt tourney games to go to the NCAA. Unfortunately, the Trojans lost their two best players from last season, but are hoping that the incoming freshmen along with returning players will make them competitive again in the Sun Belt. Thus far, although losing 10 games this season, ALR has been very competitive in most of the losses….and they have opened the Sun Belt schedule with two wins.

ALR is lead in scoring by Will Neighbour who also leads the team in perimeter shooting hitting 42.2%….in addition, he also leads in rebounds and blocks. Williams leads the Trojans in assists with 4.1 PG while Jackson leads in steals.

ALR is a small team that simply doesn’t match up with Kentucky in talent and is outmatch at every position.

Kentucky is coming off a big win over rival Louisville. The game was marred by a tremendous number of fouls on both teams and coach Cal was forced to use some combinations that had not played together. This was a very physical game with both teams playing tough defense…..the result was poor shooting by both teams.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had a spectacular game with 24 points, 19 rebounds and not a single TO in 39 minutes on the floor. There is no question that MKG is a truly great player who is indeed a coach’s dream….he is a winner who gives 100% on both offense and defense. Anthony Davis made his presence known when on the floor with 10 rebounds, 6 blocks and 3 steals…..this despite sitting out much of the 1st half with 2 fouls. Amazingly, Davis, despite struggling at the foul line this season, hit 12-13 FT’s.

Although, Terrence Jones continued to struggle offensively, it was great to see Jones play hard on defense and grab 11 important rebounds and garner 3 steals.

Unfortunately, there were concerns that came out of the UL win….very poor shooting from Miller, Teague, Jones and Lamb….they were 5-32 together and were a miserable 3-16 from the perimeter. In addition, a fear many UK fans had regarding UK handling the UL press came true….as the Cats had 21 TO’s with Miller contributing 8 TO’s.

The positives for UK were the great FT shooting and the Cats dominance on the boards.
While it was great to see UK defeat a good UL team, this game revealed a number of weaknesses that this UK team must improve on if they are to make a great run in the NCAA tourney. A key concern is Teague’s willingness to listen to coach Cal and run the point as Cal wants. A very revealing comment from coach Cal in his post game comments was that Teague chose to not follow coach Cal’s instructions. This is totally unacceptable behavior from any player, especially a PG. No one questions that Teague is a talented player, but he must run the team as coach Cal demands or sit on the bench. We all understand that Teague is a freshman PG still learning and that mistakes will happen, but mistakes caused by Teague ignoring Cal’s instructions cannot be tolerated!

This game against ALR is UK’s last tuneup before SEC games. Let’s hope that UK improves it’s shooting eye and handles the ball better….and that we see Teague run the point like Cal wants.

UK should defeat ALR by at least 20 points. GO CATS!

Kentucky vs. Louisville edition - Bozich & Crawford: The annual Battle of the Bluegrass is Saturday at noon in Rupp Arena as Kentucky takes on in-state rival Louisville. Who will win? What are the keys to the game? And who has the edge position-by-position? Bozich, Crawford, Brown and Tucker weigh in. Video courtesy of Courier-Journal.com