Kentucky
College basketball live updates, scores, results: Kentucky vs. Alabama and more
Selection Sunday just two days away, but there’s plenty of college basketball action to keep up with on conference tournament weekend.
Top-ranked Duke returned to action on Friday without Cooper Flagg after the potential NBA Draft No. 1 pick sprained his ankle on Thursday. Without Flagg, the Blue Devils hung on to beat North Carolina 74-71 in the ACC semifinals after nearly coughing up a 24-point lead.
UNC had a chance to take the lead in the final seconds, trailing by one with two free throws. But the first missed and the second was waved off for a lane violation, paving the way for the Duke victory.
Beyond that, there are plenty of other noteworthy games on tap. Auburn, Michigan State, Houston and St. John’s all won Friday as they all vie for a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
[Yahoo Fantasy Bracket Mayhem is back: Enter for a shot to win up to $50K]
Here are all the games we’ll be keeping a close eye on Friday. (Scroll for live updates.)
Friday’s best games:
ACC
No. 1 Duke 74, North Carolina 71
No. 13 Louisville vs. No. 10 Clemson, 9:30 p.m. | ESPN or ESPN 2
Big 12
No. 2 Houston 74, No. 17 BYU 54
No. 9 Texas Tech vs. Arizona, 9:30 p.m. | ESPN/ESPN2
SEC
No. 3 Auburn 62, Ole Miss 57
No. 8 Tennessee 83, Texas 72
No. 4 Florida 95, No. 21 Missouri 81
No. 15 Kentucky vs. No. 5 Alabama, 9:30 p.m. | SECN
Big East
No. 6 St. John’s 79, No. 25 Marquette 63
Creighton vs. UConn, 9 p.m. | Fox
Big Ten
No. 7 Michigan State 74, No. 23 Oregon 64
No. 18 Wisconsin 86, UCLA 70
No. 11 Maryland 88, No. 24 Illinois 65
No. 20 Purdue vs. No. 22 Michigan, 9 p.m. | Big Ten Network
Best of the rest
No. 16 Memphis 83, Wichita State 80
Boise State vs. New Mexico, 9:30 p.m. | CBSSN
Live85 updates
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Arizona-Texas Tech underway in Big 12 semis
The Wildcats are off to a hot start in Kansas City. If this is the first Big 12 game you’ve watched, you may be confused as to what you’re looking at. Here’s Jeff Eisenberg on the curious court choice made by Brett Yormark and Co. for the conference tournament:
Click the photo to read the story. (Scott Winters/Getty Images) -
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FINAL: Duke 74, UNC 71
An off-balance desperation shot clanks wide and Duke will advance by the skin of its teeth, and the sole of Jae’Lyn Withers’ sneaker. What a bizarre ending to a great comeback.
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Kneuppel makes both, but UNC gets the ball into Duke territory and calls a timeout with 2.5 seconds left. Tar Heels aren’t dead yet, but they have to avoid a foul.
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UNC fouls Kon Kneuppel, Duke’s best FT shooter, with 2.8 seconds left.
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Good lord. UNC’s Jae’Lyn Withers gets called for a lane violation and Lubin’s make on the second doesn’t count. UNC has to foul again. That is an emotional crusher.
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Hoo boy, Lubin misses the first one. Shooting for OT now.
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Double-whammy for Duke. Ven-Allen Lubin draws a foul with four seconds left and will get two free throws, and Khaman Maluach fouls out. Here’s UNC shooting for the lead.
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Proctor misses the first of the one-and-one and it’s UNC basketball, 72-71, with 17.6 seconds left. This is March.
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UNC fouls with 21.7 seconds left, Tyrese Proctor to the line.
Lamont Butler spent the first four seasons of his college basketball career with San Diego State.
He finished his fifth year (last season) with the Kentucky Wildcats.
The 22-year-old averaged 11.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals per contest while shooting 49.8% from the field and 39.1% from the three-point range in 27 games.
Via B/R Hoops (on December 14, 2024): “Lamont Butler was PERFECT from the field against Louisville 33 PTS
10-10 FG
6-6 3PT
6 AST”
With the NBA Draft coming up next month, Alberto De Roa of HoopsHype reported that Butler has worked out for several teams (including the Los Angeles Lakers).
Via Bill O’Rear (on May 20): “Former Kentucky & San Diego State PG Lamont Butler is busy chasing his NBA dream. Lamont worked out Tuesday in the Pro Day session at the Lakers facility & did well. Overall, Lamont has 12 workouts with NBA teams with the NBA draft coming up on June 25-26. A busy time for Lamont.”
Over five college seasons, Butler had career averages of 8.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals per contest while shooting 42.8% from the field and 33.3% from the three-point range in 158 games.
O’Rear also wrote: “Currently, Lamont Butler isn’t projected to be chosen in the NBA Draft’s two rounds. However, he’s an NBA level defensive player & a strong athlete with a solid all-around skill set. If he impresses at least one NBA team enough during the workouts, that might change his status.”
The Lakers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
They have the 55th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
(LOUISVILLE, KY) – The Kentucky School for the Blind (KSB) celebrated five graduates during its commencement ceremony on May 21.
The five graduates were:
- Brevin Fanin;
- Cherish Mimms;
- Valerie Alvarez;
- EJ Holden; and
- Allonah Lard.
“Thank you for entrusting your children to our care,” KSB Principal Peggy Sinclair-Morris said during the commencement ceremony. “It’s an honor to have had you as families and students at the Kentucky School for the Blind.”
The ceremony featured scholarship awards, a student-led musical rendition of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by The Rolling Stones, and the annual appreciation ceremony where the graduates hand out roses to people who played an important role in their lives.
Vincent Reese, retired KSB history teacher, gave the commencement address. He stressed three things he wanted to hear when he graduated high school: be an unsung hero, be prepared to fail and remember that “yes, you can.”
“Guys, you may never do something that makes it into the history textbooks, but if you are the person who will courageously stand for what is right because it is right, or you humbly kneel to offer help and encouragement or care to a person in need, then you are an unsung hero,” he said.
The 2025 commencement ceremony was also the first ceremony since the COVID-19 pandemic to feature Scout Troop 10 presenting the colors. Scout Troop 10 is the oldest troop dedicated to students with disabilities and Scoutmaster Ottis Florence said 10 KSB students participated this year.
All photos were taken by Joe Ragusa, information officer supervisor with the Kentucky Department of Education.
Allonah Lard, Cherish Mimms and KSB teacher Becky Spies chat before the graduation ceremony begins.
KSB Principal Peggy Sinclair-Morris speaks with Shannon Sparkman, director of state schools with the Kentucky Department of Education.
Jose Echeverria and Evie Vanderpool, members of Scout Troop 10, hold their hands to their hearts as they salute the flag during the colors presentation.
Keynote speaker Vincent Reese gives the keynote address.
The graduating class performs “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by The Rolling Stones.
Cherish Mimms plays the drums.
Valerie Alvarez hugs her mother, Elvira Alvarez, during the appreciation ceremony.
EJ Holden, center, celebrates with a group of KSB staff members he gave appreciation to: Kyle Sochia, Bo Mullins, Kyrstin Price and Connie Hill.
Allonah Lard hugs her mother and her stepfather on stage during the appreciation ceremony.
Cherish Mimms hugs Candace Bell, one of the people she gave a rose to during the appreciation ceremony.
Brevin Fanin, middle-left, stands on stage with Shawn Hauber, KSB student development assistant, teacher Connie Hill and dorm advisor Neil Brown.
The graduating class moves their tassels to signify the end of the ceremony.
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If you ask almost any Kentucky fan, they’d say that year one of the Mark Pope era was a success. Kentucky tied an NCAA record for most wins against AP Top 15 foes, beat several rivals, and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019; however, Mark Pope was not satisfied. During his interview with Matt Jones on today’s Kentucky Sports Radio, he made it a point to say that his first Kentucky team failed to meet the mark.
“It’s Kentucky. Like, you know what, guys? I’m not going to be the guy who comes to Kentucky as the head coach and somehow lowers the expectations of this place. Man, we’re trying to win this whole thing. Like, we failed at our job last year.”
When Matt asked if he really believed that, Pope doubled down, drawing on his own experiences as a Kentucky fan after leaving the school as the captain of the 1996 national championship team and returning as its coach.
“One hundred percent. Listen, I know myself; for the last 30 years, I’ve been a die-hard Kentucky fan. If we didn’t win, I’m like, ‘What is wrong with that coach? Man, he can’t win at Kentucky!’ That’s what all my guys are saying to me every single day. And so, like, I’m not unrealistic. I understand the reality.”
You might think that after transitioning from fan to coach and learning the weight of the fanbase’s expectations, Pope would give himself some grace for not winning it all in year one. Quite the opposite. Pope said his first year on the job added more fuel to the fire. Since the season ended, Pope has revamped Kentucky’s roster with one of the top NIL budgets in the country, bringing in one of the best transfer portal classes that will join a talented group of incoming freshman and core returners like Brandon Garrison and Otega Oweh (assuming Oweh withdraws his name from the NBA Draft).
“We are blessed,” Pope said. “I’ll tell you the one thing that nobody in the world will deny, okay, that you can’t actually argue: we have the greatest fanbase in all of college basketball. There’s no one, any other fanbase, that would argue that. Nobody can argue that. And so that fanbase deserves the best of everything. And so you go down the list, and we’re trying to be the best at everything. And that’s what Kentucky is supposed to be; that’s what Kentucky has traditionally been.”
Pope feels obligated to the fans but also to his fellow former Kentucky players. He made a quick trip to New York on Tuesday, during which he spent some time with Karl-Anthony Towns, who has the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000. The two talked about legacy, specifically theirs as Kentucky Wildcats.
“I was just with Karl-Anthony Towns yesterday in New York, and that’s what he expects out of this joint. That’s what all our former players and former coaches [expect].”
Including John Calipari, the coach whom he replaced.
“You know what?” Pope said. “That’s what Cal expects. I mean, Cal is like, ‘Don’t you ruin my program. Man, that’s the best program in all of basketball.’”
Pope said at his introductory press conference that he understands the assignment of being Kentucky’s coach; after year one, he’s more motivated than ever to deliver.
Mark Pope’s interview on KSR
We’ll be rolling out highlights from Pope’s interview all day (week?) long, but you can listen to or watch it in its entirety below.
Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.
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