Kentucky
Kentucky embraces first true road environment in trip to Clemson: “We're going to face adversity.”
Duke was the only game worth sweating in the early non-conference schedule for Kentucky with all six other opponents ranked outside the top 100 by KenPom leading to an average margin of victory of 32.5 points in those matchups. The Wildcats aced their test in the Champions Classic while steamrolling through a weak home schedule with minimal pushback — Western Kentucky was the closest margin of victory at 19 points.
That changes this week as Mark Pope takes his squad away from Rupp Arena in back-to-back contests, starting with the first true road game of the season at Clemson on Tuesday. The Tigers received votes in both AP and Coaches Polls while sitting comfortably at No. 25 overall in the latest KenPom update. Brad Brownell’s actually got his group ranked No. 18 overall in the first release of the NET rankings — the NCAA’s primary sorting tool for March Madness — which translates to a solid No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Oh, and then the Cats head to Seattle to take on Gonzaga, ranked No. 3 by KenPom and No. 7 in the AP. No explanation necessary.
Pope and the players have called every game the biggest of their lives since day one, vowing to respect every opponent equally in an effort to avoid slippage. That approached has worked with no Evansvilles or UNC Wilmingtons slowing them down. Now, though, it’s about rising to the occasion beyond the first statement game and all of the emotions that came with it in the Champions Classic. Can this team be consistently great against top-tier competition? How will the Wildcats respond in a hostile road environment with an arena full of fans actively rooting against them?
That’s why you bring in seven seniors and nine total players with prior experience in games like this. You never know until you know with it being the first of the year, but Pope signed the best group possible to respond on the road.
“We’ve got the experience,” Jaxson Robinson said of the opportunity. “This is an old team and it’s our first road game together. I’m excited to go out there and play a tough Clemson team and hopefully come out with a win.”
“Oh yeah, it’s fun. It’s a test,” Lamont Butler added. “It’s hard to win road games. I’ve been in college for, what — this is my fifth year. It’s hard to win road games. We’re gonna go out there and compete, try to win one. I’m excited to see how we respond.”
The Wildcats have been used to impressive Rupp Arena crowds with 98 percent of those in attendance rooting for your success — and we appreciate the opponents’ family and friends making up the other two percent. They had fans rooting against them in State Farm Arena, but it was a split crowd with Blue Devil fans making up the other portion. This will be the first time they’ll have the two percent or so in a sea of orange and purple.
The good news? That’s just the way this group likes it.
“I’ll say the away fans,” Amari Williams said of his favorite part of true road games. “Some places are louder than others, but having that fire to go prove them wrong and go against not only the other team, but the fan base too, is always really fun.”
“The atmosphere, I would say,” Otega Oweh added. “When you’re at home, everybody is showing love, so it’s just easier — everything is smooth-sailing. When you’re away, it gets a little bumpy. You hear some boos and people are rooting against you. I just like doing that. When you come up with a victory, it’s even better.”
The players had their favorite road environments over the years — some against better competition, others against mid-major foes. Hostile fans are hostile fans, though.
“At San Diego State, New Mexico was a fun place to play. They were rowdy,” Butler said. “Boise State, Utah State was hard. Those three were in my conference and they were tough ones. GCU — when we played them, they were loud. I’d say those were the best.”
“Oklahoma State or Kansas,” Oweh continued. “Those two were crazy, those environments.”
Speaking of those pesky Seahawks the Wildcats are all too familiar with following that December disaster last season — did you know that 80-73 loss was exactly one year ago today? — Williams always had trouble with them at Drexel, too.
“I would say UNCW,” he said. “They had a crazy student section, the best in the conference, for sure.”
This is the first true road game, sure, but that Duke matchup was a pretty significant measuring stick of this team’s ability to overcome adversity away from home, too.
What’d the Wildcats learn in that one?
“That we just can’t give up. In the first half, Duke had it going their way — I think they were up 10 at halftime,” Williams said. “We knew we couldn’t give up there and had to fight until the final buzzer. That’s what we ended up doing.”
They plan to take that response with them to Clemson, then again to Seattle when they take on the Bulldogs this weekend. They’re chances to grow together as a group in a new setting as the push for No. 9 continues.
“It’ll still be a business trip at the end of the day, but these road trips are definitely opportunities for us to bond,” Oweh said. “We’re going to face adversity so it’s a chance to grow from that. … These are the types of games all college players live for — top-tier teams competing in a big arena.”
“I can’t wait,” Butler added.
Kentucky
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.
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.
Copyright 2025 WFIE. All rights reserved.
Kentucky
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.
“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.”
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.”
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.”
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.
Kentucky
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
-
Alaska6 days agoHowling Mat-Su winds leave thousands without power
-
Politics1 week agoTrump rips Somali community as federal agents reportedly eye Minnesota enforcement sweep
-
Ohio1 week ago
Who do the Ohio State Buckeyes hire as the next offensive coordinator?
-
Texas6 days agoTexas Tech football vs BYU live updates, start time, TV channel for Big 12 title
-
News1 week agoTrump threatens strikes on any country he claims makes drugs for US
-
World1 week agoHonduras election council member accuses colleague of ‘intimidation’
-
Washington3 days agoLIVE UPDATES: Mudslide, road closures across Western Washington
-
Iowa5 days agoMatt Campbell reportedly bringing longtime Iowa State staffer to Penn State as 1st hire