Kentucky

Fight Like Wildcats: No. 4 Kentucky Rallies for Thrilling Victory

Published

2 years ago

May 11, 2024

Fight Like Wildcats: No. 4 Kentucky Rallies for Thrilling Victory

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 4 Kentucky battled valiantly, overcoming significant adversity to rally for a thrilling 12-11, 10-inning victory at Condron Family Ballpark in Friday afternoon’s series opener. The teams return to the field Saturday at noon ET.

The game, which was moved up from a 6:30 p.m. ET to 1 p.m. start, was delayed 92 minutes before first pitch due to storms in the Gainesville area.

Down to its final out in the ninth inning, Nick Lopez and Mitchell Daly calmly drew walks before Ryan Nicholson unloaded on a 2-0 pitch, driving it off the top of the videoboard to give UK (36-10, 19-6 SEC) the lead. Florida tied it in its half of the ninth on three two-out singles before Lopez lined a three-run double into the corner with two out in the 10^th. The Gators pulled with one on two solo home runs and had the tying run on first base with one out before Ryan Hagenow induced a double play to end the wild affair.

Nicholson homered twice and drove in five, as Lopez also did to lead the charge. Ryan Waldschmidt and Devin Burkes also each reached base three times in a return to their home state.

UK scored right out of the gate but Florida answered in its half of the first and took a 4-1 lead on a two-out home run by Colby Shelton in the third. After the Gators added a solo home run in the fourth, the Cats battled for a pair in the fifth to cut the deficit to two.

UK looked poised to tighten the gap even more in the seventh after the first two reached but a bizarre double caught stealing short-circuited the threat and allowed the Gators off the hook. Emilien Pitre broke for second on the play but Waldschmidt did not do the same for third, creating a logjam at second. Florida threw out Waldschmidt at third and then nabbed Pitre trying to scramble back to first.

The unusual lack of sharpness showed again in the bottom of the inning as the Cats dropped a two-out pop-up and failed to catch another in foul territory. A wild pitch then chased home a run after the inning should have been over.

The Cats rallied to tie the game at six in the eighth on Eli Small’s pinch hit double, his first hit since February 20, that chased James McCoy home from first. It took Florida two batters in its half of the inning to reclaim the lead after an infield single and double into the corner.

NOTES

Kentucky now is 36-10 in 2024, 19-6 in Southeastern Conference play.

Kentucky is 22-7 in day games.
Kentucky is 3-1 in May.
Kentucky is 10-3 in SEC road games.
Kentucky’s 15 road wins are the most in program history.
- Its 10 SEC road wins also are the most in program history.

Kentucky is 12-5 vs. ranked teams and 18-5 vs. Quad 1 opponents.
Kentucky owns the most Quad 1 wins in Division I.
UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his eighth season at the helm and now owns a 252-160 career record.
Mingione needs six victories to become the second-winningest coach in school history.
UK is 43-42 in the month of May under Coach Mingione.
Mingione now is 7-13 vs. Florida.

Wildcats from the state of Florida include: Devin Burkes, Ty Crittenberger, Austin Fawley, Colby Frieda, James McCoy and Ryan Waldschmidt.

Kentucky has 19 SEC wins for just the third time in school history.

- - It is the second-most in school history (19, 2017).
  - The school record for SEC wins belongs to the 2006 SEC Championship squad, who finished 20-10.

Kentucky scored three runs each of the eighth, ninth and 10th innings, the 60^th, 61^st and 62nd time this season it has scored three or more in an inning.

Junior INF Emilien Pitre extended his streak of games reaching base safely to 23.

Graduate INF Nick Lopez went 2-for-2 with two runs, five RBI, two doubles and three walks.
It was his 19th multi-hit game and 13^th multi-RBI game of the season.
He had a three-run double in the 10^th
He has 17 doubles on the season.
Junior OF Ryan Waldschmidt went 3-for-6 with a run, a double and stolen base.

- - He has a hit in 16 of his last 17 games.
  - He has 19 steals on the season.

Senior IF Ryan Nicholson went 2-for-5 with two runs, five RBI and two home runs.
- He hit a two-run shot in the eighth and three-run, two-out shot in the ninth.
Junior C Devin Burkes went 0-for-3 with three runs, a walk and two HBP.
Senior RHP Ryan Hagenow earned his second save.

ON DECK

Kentucky will face Florida at noon on Saturday. It will be televised on the SEC Network and radio coverage will be on the UK Sports Network.

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Kentucky

Mark Pope updates injury status of Jayden Quaintance

Published

2 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Mark Pope updates injury status of Jayden Quaintance

The Kentucky Wildcats had to return to the court Saturday night without their star center in Jayden Quaintance.

Coming back to the court from an ACL tear last season, Quaintance shined in his opening game against St. John’s and has eased himself back into game-play after nine months off the court. That is why it came as a surprise on Friday night when he was listed as out on the injury report.

Well, we got some more insight into why he was held out against Mississippi State in the pregame radio show. When asked about the injury, here is what Mark Pope had to say.

“He’s (Quaintance) just had a little bit of swelling, so we’re just kind of monitoring it,” Pope said. “And the most important thing is just his health. So, it’s going to be a little start and stop as we go. That’s just the process.”

So, for now, it doesn’t sound like anything that will keep JQ out for too long, though it’s unknown if he’ll return for either of next week’s games at LSU and at Tennessee.

The Cats have started to piece it together in the front court, but there is no denying the potential Quaintance has. When healthy, he is an NBA lottery pick. Now let’s hope he can get back onto the court soon to help the Cats make a run.

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Kentucky

Kentucky vs Mississippi State score today, UK basketball game updates

Published

14 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Kentucky vs Mississippi State score today, UK basketball game updates

LEXINGTON — Two days after Kentucky basketball gave up a game-ending 15-2 run in a 73-68 loss to Missouri, Mark Pope was asked to explain what went wrong.

In a sense, Pope answered it with another question: What didn’t go wrong for his club in those final 4 ½ minutes?

“It was everything, actually,” Pope said during a news conference Friday. “It was so much misfortune. It was so much stuff in our wheelhouse that we inexplicably didn’t execute the way we normally do. It was some poor communication. It was some poor internalization of the scout. It was some missed shots. It was some coaching error.

“… (All) of those things lead to that terrible, terrible 4 ½ minutes.”

Stream Kentucky vs. Mississippi State

After falling to 0-2 in SEC play for the first time in two decades (2005-06), the Wildcats have no time to feel sorry for themselves. And Pope won’t allow it.

“I think everybody has mental fatigue everywhere right now — if you’re putting your whole heart and soul into it,” he said of his team (9-6). “But that’s our job: to not let that have any impact on today or yesterday or tomorrow. One of the things I love about sports is it teaches you that you have to. It doesn’t matter how bad things get. You can’t go back and rewrite what happened.”

Kentucky only can look forward, which begins with tonight’s matchup with Mississippi State at Rupp Arena. The Bulldogs (10-5, 2-0) enter on a six-game win streak.

Courier Journal sports reporter Ryan Black is at Rupp Arena and will have live updates throughout the game — here and on X, formerly known as Twitter — and complete coverage after. You can follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

Follow along with live updates from today’s game between the Wildcats and Bulldogs below:

TV channel: SEC Network
Livestream: Fubo (free trial)

The game between the Wildcats and Bulldogs will air nationally on SEC Network.

Authenticated subscribers can access SEC Network via TV-connected devices or by going to WatchESPN.com or the WatchESPN app.

Those without cable can access SEC Network via streaming services, with Fubo offering a free trial.

Stream Kentucky vs. Mississippi State on SEC Network

Betting odds: Kentucky is a 10 ⅟₂-point favorite (-112) on DraftKings, which set the over/under at 153 ⅟₂ points (-112/-108).

Tom Leach (play-by-play) and Jack Givens (analyst) will have the UK radio network call on 840 AM in Louisville and both 630 AM and 98.1 FM in Lexington.

You can also listen online via UKAthletics.com.

Oct. 17: Blue-White game (Click here to read takeaways from the intrasquad scrimmage.)
Oct. 24: exhibition vs. Purdue (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 78, Purdue 65
Oct. 30: exhibition vs. Georgetown University (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Georgetown 84, Kentucky 70
Nov. 4: Nicholls (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 77, Nicholls 51
Nov. 7: Valparaiso (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 107, Valparaiso 59
Nov. 11: at Louisville (KFC Yum! Center) | SCORE: Louisville 96, Kentucky 88
Nov. 14: Eastern Illinois (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 99, Eastern Illinois 53
Nov. 18: vs. Michigan State (Champions Classic; Madison Square Garden, New York) | SCORE: Michigan State 83, Kentucky 66
Nov. 21: Loyola University Maryland (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 88, Loyola Maryland 46
Nov. 26: Tennessee Tech (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 104, Tennessee Tech 54
Dec. 2: North Carolina (Rupp Arena; ACC/SEC Challenge) | SCORE: North Carolina 67, Kentucky 64
Dec. 5: vs. Gonzaga (Bridgestone Arena; Nashville) | SCORE: Gonzaga 94, Kentucky 59
Dec. 9: North Carolina Central (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 103, North Carolina Central 67
Dec. 13: Indiana (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 72, Indiana 60
Dec. 20: vs. St. John’s (CBS Sports Classic; State Farm Arena, Atlanta) | SCORE: Kentucky 78, St. John’s 66
Dec. 23: Bellarmine (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 99, Bellarmine 85
Jan. 3: at Alabama | SCORE: Alabama 89, Kentucky 74
Jan. 7: Missouri (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Missouri 73, Kentucky 68
Jan. 10: Mississippi State (Rupp Arena), 8:30 p.m.
Jan. 14: at LSU, 7 p.m.
Jan. 17: at Tennessee, noon
Jan. 21: Texas (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m.
Jan. 24: Ole Miss (Rupp Arena), noon
Jan. 27: at Vanderbilt, 9 p.m.
Jan. 31: at Arkansas, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 4: Oklahoma (Rupp Arena), 9 p.m.
Feb. 7: Tennessee (Rupp Arena), 8:30 p.m.
Feb. 14: at Florida, 3 p.m.
Feb. 17: Georgia (Rupp Arena), 9 p.m.
Feb. 21: at Auburn, 8:30 p.m.
Feb. 24: at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Feb. 28: Vanderbilt (Rupp Arena), 2 p.m.
March 3: at Texas A&M, 7 p.m.
March 7: Florida (Rupp Arena), 4 p.m.

Record: 9-6 (0-2 SEC)

Denzel Aberdeen (guard, senior)
Collin Chandler (guard, sophomore)
Mouhamed Dioubate (forward, junior)
Brandon Garrison (forward, junior)
Braydon Hawthorne (forward, freshman)
Walker Horn (guard, senior)
Andrija Jelavić (forward, sophomore)
Jasper Johnson (guard, freshman)
Jaland Lowe (guard, junior)
Malachi Moreno (center, freshman)
Trent Noah (forward, sophomore)
Otega Oweh (guard, senior)
Reece Potter (forward, junior)
Jayden Quaintance (forward, sophomore)
Zach Tow (forward, senior)
Kam Williams (guard, sophomore)

Click here to view the Bulldogs’ complete schedule.

Want to learn the Bulldogs’ roster?

Click here for player bios and more.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

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Kentucky

UWM gets run off the floor in first half of 18-point loss to Northern Kentucky

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

UWM gets run off the floor in first half of 18-point loss to Northern Kentucky

That was rough.

An ugly first half from the Milwaukee Panthers led way to one of the most disheartening showings at home in recent memory Jan. 9, an 85-67 loss to the Northern Kentucky Norse.

Forward Kael Robinson poured in nine 3-pointers and a game-high 29 points as he and the Norse buried the Panthers with an onslaught of offense, especially early.

“We’ve got to have two things,” Panthers head coach Bart Lundy said. “We’ve got to make less mistakes and have more toughness.”

BOX SCORE: Northern Kentucky 85, UW-Milwaukee 67

No amount of positive moments from true freshmen Josh Dixon and Stevie Elam – they combined for 18 points in the second half and 30 on the night – could wash away the overall feeling of the night.

The Norse led by as many as 20 in the first half, which they ended with a 55-37 lead to ultimately handle the Panthers their worst home loss since coming up 36 points short against Northern Kentucky on Feb. 9, 2022.

Treacherous first half spells doom

The first 20 minutes may have been the worst half of the Lundy era.

Only once in the past four seasons were the Panthers outscored more in a half than the 18-point deficit they faced against the Norse – and that came on the road against the second-place finisher in the Horizon League. Their previous worst home loss under Lundy was a 13-point defeat to Longwood on Dec. 13, 2023.

Northern Kentucky had only four empty possessions in the first 11 minutes of the game, making six threes and grabbing six offensive rebounds. A putback dunk by x Dozier made it a 40-25 game and forced Lundy to use his second timeout of the game.

The Norse lead the nation in fastbreak points, averaging 18 per game and Milwaukee simply could not get back in transition, even after a made basket. The Norse had a whopping 20 points on the fastbreak in the first 20 minutes alone – and that doesn’t even include free throws courtesy of run-outs. Two of those transition trips to the foul line came in succession by Donovan Oday after made baskets for the Panthers, a rather inexcusable effort.

“A complete breakdown in our systems,” Lundy called it.

Oday had 16 points in the half – which wasn’t even a team-high as big man Kael Robinson had 17 and went 4 for 5 from three.

The Panthers went into the break down 18, but the largest lead was 20 on a Robinson triple to cap an 8-0 spurt across 59 seconds, forcing Lundy to take his third timeout.

The Norse finished with 11 offensive rebounds and generated 19 second-chance points. They scored on 23 of 34 possessions, averaging 1.618 points per possession.

“Give them all the credit,” Lundy said. “They were physical and tough and came up with every ball and outran us down the floor.”

Panthers slipping in Horizon

Milwaukee’s defense the rest of the way was solid – perhaps even good; Northern Kentucky shot 38.5% from the field percent as it scored 30 points in the final 20 minutes. It still wasn’t nearly enough to erase the disaster of the first half.

The Panthers now sit tied for sixth in the Horizon League having dropped three in a row after a 3-0 start.

Danilo Jovanovich exits game

Milwaukee’s active leading scorer Danilo Jovanovich played nearly 16 minutes in the first half, scoring only two points while appearing visibly hampered, but came out of the locker room in his warm-ups.

He continues to be bothered by a balky right shoulder, an injury that limited him to no contact in practice this week.

Jovanovich is day-to-day going forward, which could leave the Panthers without four projected senior starters at the beginning of the season: Jovanovich, Faizon Fields, John Lovelace and Seth Hubbard.

“I look down on that bench and I see all them dudes on crutches that are older and wish they were pretty available,” Lundy said. “…If you have Johnny Lovelace or Seth, that’s a whole different story. You’ve got length, athleticism, Faizon corrects a lot of things. What we have now on the floor, they’re talented but most of those guys have never seen Division-I basketball.”

(This story was updated to change or add a photo or video.)

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