Kentucky
Highlights, MVP, and Twitter reactions to Wildcats’ bounce-back win at Arkansas
The Kentucky Wildcats came into Saturday’s matchup with 10-9 Arkansas needing a strong showing against an inferior team.
After laying a complete dud on the road at South Carolina earlier in the week, it would have been ideal for UK to see a quick start against Razorbacks in what we all know is a tough place to play.
Whew. That didn’t happen.
Kentucky had a whopping four points on the board with 11 minutes to play in the first half.
Finally, Antonio Reeves’ buckets broke the drought, but the first half was anything but palatable.
Whatever the Kentucky offense once was seemingly had just vanished.
UK would somehow only trail 26-24 at the break. Both teams would shoot just 9/31 from the field in an ugly contest that lacked any flow.
Antonio Reeves picked up where he left off the last time he was in Bud Walton Arena and went nuclear in the second half. The super senior torched the Razorbacks and finished with 24 points in what turned into a 63-57 victory for the Cats!
It was important to get out of this complete mess without a loss, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience. At least the defense is better, though the Hogs are ranked 119th in KenPom offensive efficiency, so how much better it really is remains to be seen.
Kentucky is now 15-4 on the season and will host Florida on Wednesday night in Lexington.
Highlights
Box Score
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MVP
The MVP race was really never in doubt in this one with Antonio Reeves providing the only real offensive punch the UK had for most of the night.
Reeves would pour in 24 tough points on 9/20 shooting with four boards, two steals, and one assist.
It’s difficult to imagine what this offense would look like at times without Reeves’ ability to get a craft bucket. A week ago, that would have sounded crazy, but unfortunately, things have veered off course offensively.
Antonio owns the Razorbacks.
Twitter Reactions
Least amount of blue that Kentucky will see in the stands this season, as expected.
Bud Walton Arena is fired up, as always. https://t.co/F506BpWi8I
— Ben Roberts (@BenRobertsHL) January 27, 2024
Arkansas guard Devo Davis was kicked off the team like seven minutes before the opening tip. Not sure I’ve seen that before.
— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) January 27, 2024
Kentucky’s defense has looked much better…but we have 3 points in over 5 minutes. Can’t finish inside. That’s becoming a problem.
— Brandon Ramsey (@BRamseyKSR) January 27, 2024
We are playing better defense and would be winning by 15 rn, 1 for 13 shooting is killing us. What is happening?
— Mike Willis (@michael_willis1) January 27, 2024
Remember when Kentucky scored points? That was fun.
— Nick Roush (@RoushKSR) January 27, 2024
I understand SEC road games are hard, but this offensive showing is confusing. Going from a team two games ago that was averaging 92 points to 4 points in 9 minutes against a team coming off a 26-point loss to Ole Miss………………….
— David Sisk (@CoachDavidSisk) January 27, 2024
I’d get thrown out of every game if I was a coach.
If Mitchell’s foul last game was a cylinder foul, so is that.
— Josh Poole (@josh72484) January 27, 2024
The Antonio Reeves, All-American, movement needs to be louder. This dude has been incredible this season. He’s shooting 50-43-89 while averaging 19 points for a top ten team.
— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) January 28, 2024
Always a lot of talk about Antonio Reeves not making big shots when Kentucky needs it in a tight game. #12 is delivering tonight.
— Shawn Smith (@gbbcountry) January 28, 2024
After scoring a career-high 37 at Arkansas last season, Antonio Reeves with 24 more tonight.
— TheCatsPause247 (@TheCatsPause247) January 28, 2024
That was an insane play by Sheppard. To make that steal and pinpoint that outlet was one of the biggest plays of the year for them.
— Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) January 28, 2024
Reed Sheppard dagger. Kentucky leads 61-52 with 1:10 left.
— Ben Roberts (@BenRobertsHL) January 28, 2024
Sheppard with a dagger. Huge to get out of this mess with a win.
— Anthony Wireman (@awireman) January 28, 2024
Reed-Reeves-Mitchell all hit massive Threes down the stretch. Not sure there are many teams that have better outside shooters
Ugo was great tonight. Probably his best game at Kentucky
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) January 28, 2024
Haha, Ugonna Onyenso starts his postgame conversation with Goose Givens by apologizing for saying a bad word in his last postgame radio appearance.
“I really apologize for that. It’s not gonna happen again.”
I think all is forgiven, especially after his performance tonight.
— Tyler Thompson (@MrsTylerKSR) January 28, 2024
Calipari says Edwards got hit during a scrimmage Friday and is a little hobbled.
— Aaron Gershon (@agershon99) January 28, 2024
There are no bad road wins in 2024 college basketball. Overcoming a horrible start and delivering clutch plays to win at Arkansas — even when the Hogs are now 1-6 SEC — has value for Kentucky. Sheppard, Reeves and Mitchell delivered. pic.twitter.com/7tZVvTv20U
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) January 28, 2024
The game changed with this lineup for Kentucky:
DJ Wagner
Reed Sheppard
Antonio Reeves
Tre Mitchell
Ugonna OnyensoI believe the five can change depending on matchup, but the first four are the foundation.
— Tristan Pharis (@TristanUda) January 28, 2024
College basketball games are played in a vacuum. What happened tonight won’t necessarily happen in the next game. Kentucky won on the road. That is a positive result.
I’m not worried about how it looked. We can addressed than between now and Wednesday.
Big week coming up.
— Brandon Ramsey (@BRamseyKSR) January 28, 2024
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Kentucky
Kentucky is poised to land either Donnie Freeman or Sebastian Rancik this weekend, per report
Jones posted on Twitter that “Kentucky will have (absent a major change) either Freeman or Rancik by tomorrow,” while also noting the Wildcats still need to add another shooter and another big to round out the roster.
One of the top targets is Donnie Freeman, a 6-foot-9, 205-pound sophomore forward transferring from Syracuse. Freeman arrived in Lexington on Tuesday night and began his visit on Wednesday before leaving without a commitment. While there was concern he could land at UConn, that visit has since been canceled, leaving Kentucky and St. John’s as the top teams.
Freeman averaged 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game last season, while adding nearly a block and a steal per contest. He shot 47.4% from the field but 30.2% from 3-point range across 23 games.
The other option is Sebastian Rancik, a 6-foot-11, 220-pound sophomore forward transferring from Colorado. Rancik visited Kentucky starting Wednesday through Thursday and brings a versatile skill set, averaging 12.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2 assists per game while shooting 33.1% from 3.
Either Freeman or Rancik would provide a significant boost at the power forward position for head coach Mark Pope. Kentucky has already added guards Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins in the portal.
Kentucky football coach Will Stein reflects on new position
Will Stein was officially introduced to fans and media as the head coach for the Kentucky Wildcats, replacing Mark Stoops.
LEXINGTON — Kentucky football had its first spring game under new coach Will Stein at Kroger Field on Saturday.
The offense, in blue jerseys, had its moments. So too the defense, donning white uniforms.
Ultimately, the blue squad earned a 23-18 victory in a game called just after noon because of inclement weather.
Stein admitted he “got emotional” as he charged onto the field prior to kickoff.
“I know it wasn’t a real game, but when I ran on the field, I definitely — man, I felt it,” he said. “It was like a wave running over me. And very, very, just cool.”
While it doesn’t count in the standings, Stein walked away pleased.
“I think we got a lot of really good work,” he said. “That’s the goal of spring is to improve with fundamentals and technique, learn how to practice, learn what winning edges that we need throughout spring to go into summer and fall and prepare the team for play. And we came out of the scrimmage clean. There (were) no injuries, which to me, that’s the biggest win of the day. I could (not) care less about the score.
“If we come out clean, that’s good. The Wildcats won.”
New starting QB Kenny Minchey looked about as expected, with sharp passes evened out by moments of inconsistency. Martels Carter Jr., a defensive back who is lining up at running back this spring, scored a touchdown and had several nice runs.
And the defense forced multiple three-and-outs and also picked off one Minchey pass on a two-point conversion.
This story will be updated.
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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