Random notes: In first post-Evansville stunner, will Kentucky come to play?
Some random notes for Monday:
How will UK basketball respond in first post-Evansville game?
The big question for Kentucky basketball is how the Cats will bounce back Monday night.
It’s been almost a week since John Calipari’s club was stunned 67-64 by Walter McCarty and Evansville at Rupp Arena. The loss still lingers. On the way to Calipari’s media availability at the Craft Center on Sunday, I was listening to the Colts-Jaguars game on WLXG-1300. The color announcer made a reference to Evansville, Indiana, prompting play-by-play man Jason Bennetti to respond, “Don’t say Evansville too loud, Kentucky basketball fans might be listening.”
Thus Calipari said Sunday he wouldn’t be surprised if his team opens tentatively against Utah Valley, UK’s foe for the 7 p.m. tip at Rupp Arena. The Cats will have to regain their confidence after going from the high of the win over then No. 1 Michigan State in the Champions Classic to the home loss to the Purple Aces.
Calipari also brought up something I wrote about last week. Traditionally a top 10 offensive rebounding team, UK is “last among Power Five teams in offensive rebounding,” according to the coach. According to kenpom, UK ranks 227th in offensive rebounding percentage at 26.0 percent.
▪ Tom Hart and Jimmy Dykes comprise the ESPN2 team for Monday night’s broadcast.
▪ UK is fifth in kenpom’s efficiency rankings overall, trailing Michigan State, Louisville, Virginia and Duke.
▪ Jerry Tipton writes that the Evansville loss was a wake-up call for UK’s players and Coach Cal.
▪ Utah Valley’s official basketball page with more info on the Wolverines can be found here.
Louisville hoops off to a 4-0 start
Speaking of Louisville, the Cardinals improved to 4-0 with an 87-58 romp over North Carolina Central on Sunday. Louisville shot 66.7 percent from the floor, including 10-of-21 from three-point range for 47.6 percent. Jordan Nwora scored 17 points to lead the way for Chris Mack’s team.
“We tried to dare them to shoot the basketball,” said NCC Coach LaVelle Moton. “I think they shot it better than they ever have.”
It was Louisville’s best shooting performance since 1993.
The Cardinals next play South Carolina Upstate at the Yum Center on Wednesday.
Huge come-from-behind win for UK volleyball at Florida
Kentucky volleyball picked up a huge win Sunday, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to beat SEC leader Florida in five sets in Gainesville. Coach Craig Skinner’s team won the fourth set 26-24 to force a deciding fifth set, which the Cats took 15-12.
It marked a season sweep of Florida, which fell to UK last month in Lexington. No. 17 Kentucky is now 13-2 in the SEC while No. 11 Florida dropped to 12-2.
“Just really proud of the heart and guts of this team to fight back under pressure,” UK head coach Craig Skinner said. “We’ve gone through a lot this week, and as a staff we are really proud of our team for showing so much resilience. The team performance was great, but the point production from Alli Stumler and Leah Edmond is something that Kentucky may not have ever seen before.”
UK plays host to Missouri at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Memorial Coliseum. The SEC Network will televise the match.
Rough start for the basketball Gators
Florida basketball is off to a rough 2-2 start. After losing 65-51 to Florida State, the Gators fell at Connecticut 62-59 on Sunday.
Offense is the problem for Mike White’s club. Florida scored just 20 points in the first half against the Huskies and were trailing 25-20 at the break. Florida shot 40 percent for the game, but missed 15 of its 20 three-point attempts. Kerry Blackshear scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. But Andrew Nembhard was 4-of-14 form the floor. Scottie Lewis was 2-of-7. Nathan Locke was 2-of-8.
Florida beat Towson by just six points at home earlier in the week. Next up is the Charleston Classic for the Gators, who open play Thursday. UConn is in the same eight-team tournament.
Twitter kudos for Kentucky football
This from ESPN analyst Cole Cubelic:
In a subscriber exclusive column, Mark Story wrote about Lynn Bowden’s place in Kentucky football history.
Ex-Cat star Josh Allen is currently the NFL sacks leader among rookies.
This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 8:36 AM.
