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CatsIllustrated – Cats crash Vols' Senior Day party

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CatsIllustrated  –  Cats crash Vols' Senior Day party


Just as it did last year in the regular-season finale at Arkansas, Kentucky embraced the role of party crasher on Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn.

Antonio Reeves and Reed Sheppard each scored 27 points as the No. 15 Wildcats spoiled Senior Day for No. 4 Tennessee with an 85-81 victory at Food City Center.

Kentucky (23-8, 13-5 SEC) led by as much as 14 and looked to be in complete control with an 11-point lead in the final minute of play, but Tennessee had one last charge to test Big Blue Nation’s nerves.

The Volunteers scratched within three points after three consecutive UK turnovers down the stretch but missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 12 seconds to go, and the Cats’ Rob Dillingham hit one of two free throws with :05.9 remaining to clinch the win.

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“They deserve it,” Kentucky head coach John Calipari said. “They’re a bunch of kids who never think they’re out of a game. I told them at halftime, you understand they’re going to make a run, but did they ever get up on us? No.”

Balance was the key for Kentucky, which also got 16 points from Justin Edwards and 11 points from Dillingham to help offset a 40-point explosion by the Vols’ Dalton Knecht.

“Justin was ridiculous, by far his best game,” Calipari said of Edwards, who had 13 points in the first half to help establish the tone. “I know there were people (saying) don’t play him and don’t do this, but I stuck with him, and now you see why I believed in him.”

The Cats shot 46% from the field against the nation’s third-rated defense, knocked down 15 of 29 from beyond the 3-point arc, sank 16 of 18 free throws, and won the battle on the glass 42-37.

Sheppard, a freshman guard, scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half. He came off the UK bench to go 7-of-10 from the arc. The London, Ky., native also had six rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a key blocked shot down the stretch to help preserve the UK victory.

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It was quite the turnaround from Kentucky’s 103-92 loss to Tennessee (24-7, 14-4 SEC) on Feb. 3 at Rupp Arena when Calipari’s club turned in a decent defensive effort against the Vols’ Knecht — holding the explosive wing to 16 points — but did not lead for a single second of play.

This time, Knecht looked like a serious player of the year contender, but he did not get the kind of help from his surrounding cast that UK featured. The Vols shot 38% from the field and went 12-of-36 from long range.

Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James, who combined for 37 points in the first matchup, had just eight points on 2-for-14 shooting from the field.

*****

In this “Rapid Recap” feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK victory…

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KEY MOMENT:

Leading 42-39 early in the second half and facing a Tennessee crowd that was starting to give its team a boost, Kentucky went on a 26-15 spurt to take its largest lead of the game and put the pressure back on the Volunteers. The Wildcats had eight three-point possessions during the seven-minute run, including: three treys by Reed Sheppard; a trey and three free throws by Antonio Reeves; a 3-pointer and traditional three-point play by Rob Dillinham, and a triple from Justin Edwards to create just enough cushion at the end of the game to escape with a win.

GAME BALL:

Antonio Reeves & Reed Sheppard, Kentucky — We’re gonna have co-MVPs today. The Cats’ backcourt duo combined for 54 points, 27 apiece, to help overcome Dalton Knecht’s dominant performance for Tennessee. They went a combined 10-of-15 from deep and also combined for 13 rebounds.

BY THE NUMBERS:

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3:19 – Time that Tennessee held the lead. The Volunteers led for all but 12 seconds in their Feb. 3 win over Kentucky at Rupp Arena.

5-2 – Kentucky’s record against ranked opponents this season. The Wildcats own four victories over teams ranked in the Top 10 of both the NCAA’s NET rankings and the Ken Pomeroy rankings.

15-0 – UK’s record when winning the rebound column. The Cats outrebounded the Vols 42-37.

40 – Points for Tennesee’s Dalton Knecht were the most by a UK opponent since Elston Turner of Texas A&M had 40 on January 12, 2013, at Rupp Arena.

64 – Points for Antonio Reeves in his last two regular-season finales for Kentucky. He had 37 points last season in a 88-79 win at Arkansas and 27 points today at Tennessee.

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161-78 – Kentucky’s lead in the all-time series against Tennessee. The Cats improved to 59-53 in Knoxville with their fourth win in the last five trips to the Food City Center.

QUOTABLE:

“We just gotta be better at the end of these games.” — Kentucky head coach John Calipari on watching an 11-point lead get trimmed down to three in the final 55 seconds of play.

UP NEXT:

Kentucky returns to action next week in the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. The Wildcats will either be the No. 2 seed or No. 3 seed, playing their first game on Friday.

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Several people hurt in Western Kentucky Parkway multi-car accident, officials say

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Several people hurt in Western Kentucky Parkway multi-car accident, officials say


MUHLENBERG, Ky. (WFIE) – Kentucky officials says there are multiple people injured in a three-car accident on Western Kentucky Parkway.

According to a post made by the Central City Fire Department, three vehicles were involved in a crash between the 64 and 65 mile markers eastbound of the parkway.

They say both the eastbound and westbound lanes are closed at this time. The closure should last around 3 hours.

Two people were extricated from a vehicle. Four adults and three juveniles are being taken to the hospital. No update has been given on their conditions.

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They say a mass casualty incident was declared, and Ohio County Fire and EMS were called to the scene due to the number of patients.

We will update you when we learn more.

Several people hurt in Western Kentucky Parkway multi-car accident, officials say(Central City Fire Department)



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2027 top in-state prospect talks about his Kentucky unofficial visit on Tuesday

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2027 top in-state prospect talks about his Kentucky unofficial visit on Tuesday


Kentucky’s recruiting efforts in the 2026 class have hit a current rough patch, but things are looking promising in the 2027 class, as the staff has already casted a very wide net in the class, with a number of top targets in the fold. As they’re continuing to pursue mostly national targets, a local star is now on the staff’s radar.

2027 in-state guard Braxton Keathley, one of the state’s top prospects even regardless of class, took an unofficial visit to Kentucky on Tuesday for the game against NC Central. Keathley is native of Martin County, KY, and has took the state by storm as he has really stuffed the stat sheet. Just recently, he dropped a triple-double of 34 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds last weekend.

The Kentucky staff has certainly seemed to take notice really quickly. He’s also getting plenty of other interest, too, including having frequent contact with Louisville, LSU, Purdue, South Carolina, and Florida State, plus offers from Eastern Kentucky, UT Martin, Ohio, and Bowling Green, among others. Keathley sat down with Kentucky Wildcats on SI to talk about his recent visit to Kentucky. What were his impressions of the staff? He shared a conversation he had with them before Tuesday’s game. He also had some interactions with others, too.

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“They really talked about how well I scored it and how they’ve been hearing about me for a long time,” Keathley said of his conversation with the Kentucky staff. “One of the (Kentucky) assistants mentioned he had a coaching friend tell them that they better jump on me quick cause I was really good. I had several fans come up to me and take pictures. Jack Givens welcomed me and talked to me for a little bit and said he’s highly impressed with my game and plans on coming to a game soon. A couple of other UK players came up, they were really nice and said they been keeping up with me.”

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Braxton Keathley | Photo via Jessica Adkins

As a Kentucky kid, Keathley says he been a fan of the Wildcats since he was little, even getting to train with Tyrese Maxey this summer, and he also had some great things to say about what he saw from fellow Kentucky natives and current Wildcats Trent Noah, Jasper Johnson, and Malachi Moreno. “I looked up to players like Tyler Herro, SGA, Tyrese Maxey, Devin Booker, Malik Monk and Reed Sheppard. I got lucky that I got to train with Maxey for a week in August,” Keathley said. “I saw Trent Noah last night having great energy and keeping a smile on his face during warmups. You could tell he loved every minute wearing that Kentucky uniform. He cares and it shows. I saw Jasper and Moreno warming up hard. The one thing about it, and my dad always told me, it’s a different place. You got to be special to play there and be willing to accept everything that comes with wearing that jersey.”

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Interestingly enough, Keathley’s dad coached former Kentucky greats Anthony Epps and Wayne Turner after their time at Kentucky, so Keathley has a family history of being around all that comes with the passion of Kentucky basketball. What did Keathley’s dad learn about the two former Wildcats he got the privilege to coach? “He said they carried a chip on their shoulder and were great leaders always humble but tough. and I have to do the same.” Now, for Keathley, it’s about climbing the ranks nationally. “A couple (recruiting services) don’t have me ranked yet and that’s ok. I’m going to walk in the gym every night and know I outworked you and I’m going to outplay you,” he said. “I’m going to compete like every game is a championship. I’m going to to play with the same passion that the fans have. I’m always all in there’s no going back or in-between.”

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Keathley has so much passion for his community in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, and he has plans of doing big things at Martin County. He also shared a message Trent Noah’s dad had for him during their interaction at Tuesday’s Kentucky game. “Something he said that really stuck out. ‘Us mountain people have got to stick together.’ He’s right, Eastern Kentucky has great people and basketball players. Kentucky basketball as whole, we got to stick together through the highs and lows. That’s what we do.”

That’s a great message from a parent of a current Wildcat who was in his shoes before, being a fellow native of that part of the state. The Kentucky staff is certainly going to keep an eye on him as he continues the impressive run he is on so far this season, because he just continues to catch more and more people’s attention with his play.



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Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie introduces legislation for U.S. to leave NATO – UPI.com

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Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie introduces legislation for U.S. to leave NATO – UPI.com


Dec. 10 (UPI) — U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican serving a House district in Kentucky, introduced legislation for the United States to pull out of NATO.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican from Florida, posted on X that she would be a co-sponsor of the Not a Trusted Organization Act, or NATO Act. Utah Republican Mike Lee introduced the same legislation in the Senate earlier this year.

“NATO is a Cold War relic,” Massie said in a statement Tuesday. “We should withdraw from NATO and use that money to defend our own country, not socialist countries.

“NATO was created to counter the Soviet Union, which collapsed over 30 years ago. Since then, U.S. participation has cost taxpayers trillions of dollars and continues to risk U.S. involvement in foreign wars.”

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He added: “Our Constitution did not authorize permanent foreign entanglements, something our Founding Fathers explicitly warned us against. America should not be the world’s security blanket – especially when wealthy countries refuse to pay for their own defense.”

NATO was founded in 1949 by 12 members as a military alliance involving European nations, as well as the U.S. and Canada in North America. There are now 32 members, with Finland joining in 2023 and Sweden in 2024.

The NATO Act would prevent the use of U.S. taxpayer funds for NATO’s common budgets, including its civil budget, military budget and the Security Investment Program.

Article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty allows nations to opt out.

“After the Treaty has been in force for 20 years, any Party may cease to be a Party one year after its notice of denunciation has been given to the Government of the United States of America, which will inform the Governments of the other Parties of the deposit of each notice of denunciation,” the treaty reads.

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During the last NATO summit in The Hague, the Netherlands, President Donald Trump told reporters he agrees with NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense treaty.

“I stand with it. That’s why I’m here,” Trump said. “If I didn’t stand with it, I wouldn’t be here.”

Article 5 was invoked for the first time after the 9/11 attacks in the United States, leading to NATO’s involvement in Afghanistan.

The Kentucky Republican, who calls himself a “fiscal hawk” and a “constitutional conservative,” has been at odds with Trump on several issues, including fiscal spending, foreign policy/war powers, government surveillance and transparency.

Trump has also been critical of NATO.

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During his 2016 election campaign, Trump called the alliance “obsolete.”

He urged nations to spend at least 3.5% of gross domestic product on core defense needs by 2035.

In June, NATO allies agreed to a new defense spending guideline to invest 5% of GDP annually in defense and security by 2035.

Five nations were above 3% in 2024: Poland at 4.12%, Estonia at 3.43%, U.S. at 3.38%, Latvia at 3.15% and Greece at 3.08%. In last is Spain with 1.28% though Iceland has no armed forces and Sweden wasn’t listed.

Some Republican senators want stronger involvement in the alliance, including Joni Ernst of Iowa and Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi. Wicker is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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For passage, a House majority is needed, but 60 of 100 votes in the Senate to break the filibuster and then a majority vote. Trump could also veto the bill.



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