Kentucky

Kentucky Basketball vs. Florida viewing info, what to watch for, and predictions

Published

4 days ago

March 6, 2026

Kentucky Basketball vs. Florida viewing info, what to watch for, and predictions

What an up-and-down season it has been for Kentucky Basketball, as shown by just the last two games: A dominating win over Vanderbilt, where the Wildcats led for 38+ minutes, followed by a double-digit loss to Texas A&M just 72 hours later, allowing a 27-3 run.

While locked in an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats are playing for seeding, likely a 6-7 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and anywhere from a 4-10 seed in the SEC Tournament. The last game of the regular season to ultimately decide the latter is the SEC regular-season champion, the Florida Gators.

Already having played once this season, Kentucky trailed by as many as 17 points in the first 10 minutes, but fought back to make it a five-point game in the second half.

Can the Wildcats put together a full 40 minutes together, avoid a season sweep for the first time since 2018, and guarantee themselves a bye in the SEC Tournament?

Here’s what to watch for in Kentucky vs. Florida, Part II.

While Florida has one of the best frontcourts in the country, one of the deciding factors in the first game was the backcourt play, as Xavian Lee and Urban Klavzar, who had two of their best performances of the season and combined for 41 points.

At this point of the season, the correlation of Kentucky’s success and the play of Otega Oweh, Collin Chandler, and Denzel Aberdeen is pretty clear. Coming off a game against Texas A&M, where they combined for 36 points, on 11-30 shooting, they need to outplay Florida’s backcourt for Kentucky to have a shot at the upset.

Given their elite frontcourt, Florida looks to give their big men plenty of touches around the basket and attack the basket for offensive rebounding opportunities. As a result, they draw fouls at one of the highest rates in the nation, nearly 20 a game.

In the first matchup, Kentucky had four players with four or more fouls, including Brandon Garrison, who fouled out. This limited Malachi Moreno to just 21 minutes, still having a team-high 11 rebounds. Backing him up, Garrison had as many fouls (5) as points, rebounds, and blocks combined.

Kentucky will likely face foul trouble again, and with a limited frontcourt, Mark Pope has the option of playing Malachi Moreno through foul trouble or hoping for better production from the other bigs. Pope has shown that he would rather go with the latter. Fortunately, Mo Dioubate is coming off his best game of the season, and Garrison had one of his better performances, albeit against a smaller Texas A&M team. They will need to sustain some level of production to give Kentucky a chance against Florida.

Kentucky played well for the final 30 minutes of the first matchup, outscoring Florida 66-60 during that span. It was the first 10 minutes that were the issue, where they turned the ball over 9 times and put themselves into a 17-point deficit.

Whether it be slow starts, as in the Florida game, or tough mid-game stretches like against Texas A&M, too often Kentucky puts itself in a hole with turnovers. Mark Pope has said it, turnovers are a great indicator for this team. When keeping turnovers in the single digits, Kentucky is 11-2; when that number rises to 10 or more, it is just 3-9 against power opponent teams.

Thomas Haugh 6-9, 215 lbs

17.1 PPG
6.0 RPG
17 points and 8 rebounds vs UK on 2/14/26

Reuben Chinyelu 6-10, 265 lbs

11.7 PPG
4.1 APG
22 points, 4-7 3P vs UK on 2/14/26

Time: 4:00 PM ET on March 7th
Location: Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center in Lexington, KY
TV Channel: ESPN
Announcers: Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes, and Dick Vitale will call the action.
Online Stream: WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens have the call on the UK Sports Radio Network.
Replay: WatchESPN and the ESPN network (check local listings)
Rosters: UK | UF
Stats to Know: UK | UF
KenPom: UK | UF
Team Sheet: UK | UF

Odds: FanDuel Sportsbook has yet to release the odds for this game, so please check back later for those. The analytics have Kentucky as the underdog, giving them anywhere between a 1-3 and 1-4 chance. ESPN is the most positive in Kentucky’s chances, at a 37.2% chance to win. EvanMiya (32.3%), KenPom (29%), and BartTorvik (27%) trail behind, all within five percent of each other.
Predictions: The analytics show the most favorable scenario is a five-point loss, with Haslametrics (80-75) and EvanMiya (81-76) projecting that. BartTorvik and KenPom are both in agreement with a seven-point loss, 81-74. Florida is playing like a title contender, riding a 10-game win streak, while Kentucky is struggling to string back-to-back wins. With Florida’s higher level of play, I am taking them to win 85-76.

Sound off in the comments section on how you think this matchup will go.

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Kentucky

Northern Kentucky Norsemen claim Kentucky state hockey championship

Published

7 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Northern Kentucky Norsemen claim Kentucky state hockey championship

Northern Kentucky brought home the Kentucky High School Hockey league state championship once again.

The Northern Kentucky Norsemen defeated Owensboro in dominant 5-0 fashion on March 8 to hoist the trophy. The Norsemen, comprised of players from schools across Northern Kentucky, earned their fourth state title since 2017. The Norsemen previously won in 2017, 2019 and 2023.

After entering the tournament as the top-seeded team, two wins brought the Norsemen to a 27-12-2 final record.

The Norsemen’s defense was in peak performance in the finals. Despite Owensboro getting off over 30 shots, senior goalkeeper Chase Bender kept a clean sheet.

On offense, junior Trevor Bauwens led the Norse, finishing the season with 35 goals and 12 assists. Other key offensive performers were seniors Mitchell Kirby and Samuel Mouser. Kirby ended the year with 19 goals and 22 assists, while Mouser had 16 goals and a team-best 30 assists.

Northern Kentucky is now set to represent the state in the USA Hockey High School National Championships. The tournament be held March 18-22 in Plymouth, Minnesota.

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Kentucky

Data centers, election changes and other bills moving in Kentucky

Published

19 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Data centers, election changes and other bills moving in Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. — If the current legislative session was the Kentucky Derby, we’d be coming around the final turn and entering the stretch.

Feb. 9 marks the 42nd day of the 2026 Kentucky General Assembly, with 18 to go. Lawmakers will continue to meet daily for the next three weeks until the veto period begins in early April, with two more days at the Capitol after that for legislators to vote on overriding potential vetoes.

The filing deadlines for new bills were last week, and many pieces of legislation are moving quickly in Frankfort. Here’s a quick look at bills that advanced last week that will be worth watching:

SB 8 — A reworked PSC

Senate Bill 8 would change the member requirements for the Kentucky Public Service Commission — which regulates more than 1,100 utilities operating statewide — and add two new members who would be appointed by the state auditor, effectively diluting the governor’s power or oversight of PSC membership.

Under the bill, the chair of the commission would be elected amongst the commissioners, not appointed by the governor. The chair’s salary? Also determined by the commissioners.

Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, the bill’s sponsor, said the legislation will help support Kentuckians in reviewing utility rate cases and hopefully hasten the process.

Critics of the bill raised concerns about a section that would make the attorney general the sole representative for customers, requiring advocacy groups to prove a “special and unique” interest in the case — likely cutting advocacy groups out of the picture and preventing them from intervening in cases.

While on the floor, Smith introduced an amendment removing that section and creating a framework to allow advocates and organizations with legitimate interests to intervene.

Although the bill has passed the Senate, it will likely receive pushback from the governor’s office. In a Team Kentucky press conference, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear criticized the bill and the Republican-led legislature’s attempts at moving power from the governor’s office to the state auditor.

“They’ve done these shenanigans for six straight years,” Beshear said. “This is my sixth session as a governor, four as attorney general and a couple of special sessions. I’ve never seen them try to move something from a Republican officeholder to a Democratic officeholder, but I’ve seen them try to move a whole lot in the other direction.”

The bill passed 30-5 through the Senate on March 6. It now heads to the House.

SB 199 — Pesticide warnings

Senate Bill 199, sponsored by Sen. Jason Howell, R-Murray, would make any pesticide registered with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture or the Environmental Protection Agency that has an EPA-approved label automatically fit Kentucky’s warning label requirements. If passed, that would make it much more difficult for Kentuckians to sue pesticide manufacturers for adverse health risks later on.

Although it might not seem controversial at first glance, the bill united both hardline Republicans and Democrats on the Senate floor, with many raising concerns about the health risks of pesticide use. Several Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, Sen. Philip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, and Sen. Shelly Funke Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, spoke against the bill and questioned the lobbying power of chemical companies that manufacture pesticides.

Wheeler brought up previous chemical agents that were found to be major causes of cancer, including DDT and Agent Orange, as well as the $7.25 billion proposed settlement from Bayer to resolve thousands of lawsuit that claim its weedkilling product Roundup caused cancer.

“If we give immunity in these cases, we’re essentially saying, if these claims are later proven to be true, and some of them are in pending litigation, we’re basically saying that these Kentuckians don’t matter, these Kentuckians don’t deserve to collect,” Wheeler said.

The bill passed through the Senate on March 5 with a 23-13 vote and will head to the House.

HB 534 — Elections omnibus

House Bill 534, from Rep. DJ Johnson, R-Owensboro, drew significant scrutiny before passing through the House. The elections legislation with several notable changes to current law moved to the Senate on a 53-40 vote on March 5, with several Republicans joining Democrats in opposition.

Some of the bill’s notable provisions include:

● Monthly reviews of noncitizens on Kentucky voter rolls, with a requirement to remove names of ineligible voters and notification sent to the state’s attorney general, along with authorization for the State Board of Elections to work with the federal government to identify noncitizens who are registered to vote;

● Removing names of individuals convicted of a felony whose cases are currently on appeal from voter rolls;

● Allowing candidates for judicial office to publicly discuss their political party affiliation;

● And allowing Kentucky politicians who currently hold elected federal office to be a candidate for two different federal offices in one election, if one of the offices is decided by the United States Electoral College. The only office that applies to is U.S. president.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican who has not hesitated at times to vote against President Donald Trump’s policies, has not shut the door on speculation he may make a run for the White House in 2028. He would also be up for reelection that year as a U.S. senator, a role he’s held since early 2011. State Rep. Joshua Watkins, D-Louisville, was the only representative to speak out against the provision during the March 5 vote on the House floor.

Other Democrats spoke up with concerns about disenfranchising voters appealing felony convictions, in the event the verdicts against them were to be later overturned. And multiple party members were critical of the provisions pertaining to noncitizens, with Rep. Adrielle Camuel, D-Lexington, calling them “another example of a nonproblem” aimed at riling up voters to be concerned about “a very major situation that isn’t actually happening.”

The bill advanced on a relatively narrow margin and is pending in the Senate.

HB 593 — Data center energy costs

House Bill 593 was filed by Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon, with a group of five co-sponsors that includes House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect. The legislation would take steps to ensure companies hoping to build data centers in Kentucky are legitimate and are able to take on additional energy costs instead of dropping them on consumers.

The bill from Bray, who previously co-chaired the legislature’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force, includes several clauses regulating data centers, which are critical for AI usage but often require huge amounts of energy, a hurdle that frequently draws community criticism.

The legislation requires a nonrefundable application fee of at least $75,000 — Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said the clause could help scare off “cowboy developers” who buy large amounts of land in hopes of building a data center on the property but are unfamiliar with the development process — and requires the company to pay for an electric supplier study, with provisions aimed at ensuring the data center does not drive up service rates for non-data center customers.

The bill is on its way to the Senate after passing in the House on a 90-4 vote on March 4. It has not yet been given a committee assignment.

Reach Keely Doll at kdoll@courier-journal.com. Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com. Reach The Courier Journal’s politics team at cjpolitics@courier-journal.com.

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Kentucky

KHSAA Sweet 16 bracket, field for Kentucky girls basketball championships

Published

1 day ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

KHSAA Sweet 16 bracket, field for Kentucky girls basketball championships

Seventh Region champion Assumption will open play Wednesday against Calloway County.
Sixth Region champion Bullitt East will face Franklin-Simpson in a first-round game Thursday.

The field is nearly set for the 2026 Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Girls Sweet 16.

The tournament is scheduled for Wednesday-Saturday, March 11-14, at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

The field will include at least nine of the 16 teams in the final Kentucky High School Basketball Media Poll — No. 1 George Rogers Clark, No. 2 Assumption, No. 3 Simon Kenton, No. 5 Calloway County, No. 7 North Laurel, No. 9 Taylor County, No. 11 Notre Dame, No. 14 Ashland Blazer and No. 15 Henderson County.

Fifteen regional champions have been decided. The last regional final is set set for Sunday night — Paul Dunbar (25-4) vs. No. 8 Frederick Douglass (23-7) in the 11th.

Here is the Sweet 16 schedule: