Kentucky
John Calipari explains Kentucky's failed last play vs. Gonzaga
Was that lob play really what John Calipari really wanted Kentucky to run down two to Gonzaga with 13 seconds left? In his postgame press conference following the 89-85 loss to the Bulldogs, Calipari explained that if the lob to the basket wasn’t there, he wanted the ball to go to Antonio Reeves at the top of the key. With Reeves tangled up in the lane, Reed Sheppard threw it towards the basket, where Gonzaga’s Ben Gregg snatched it before Adou Thiero could.
“The plan was, Antonio, if that lob wasn’t there and obviously it wasn’t, was to go to the top of the key,” Calipari told reporters. “But that didn’t lose us the game. The 18 offensive rebounds, 50 points in the paint. We thought we could guard them one on one, we probably needed to trap more.”
During his postgame conversation with Tom Leach, Calipari said the play was one Kentucky has run in the past with some success. He also doubled down on how his team had shot itself in the foot long before the failed lob.
“It’s a play that we’ve run in the past years where the top options are the lob or the pop-out and it was Antonio. They stole the lob. They stayed back but that didn’t cost us. I’m still disappointed with how we started the game. Come on. We’re better than that.”
“I told them after, we lost the game in the first half”
That play is just one example of how poor Kentucky’s execution was today. Gonzaga came out of the gates hot, building an 11-4 lead in the first three minutes. The Bulldogs led by ten at halftime, but the Cats whittled that margin to three in the first three and a half minutes of the second half. Calipari said he was proud of his team for responding, but reiterated that poor starts continue to cost them.
“The kids kept fighting. They just kept fighting. They never stopped and so — but it’s just tough. I mean, we’ve lost three games kind of like that where we have a chance and I told them after, we lost the game in the first half. That’s where we lost the game. And then we came back and fought and made it close but the first half was what cost us.”
With under a month left in the regular season, how does Kentucky fix its slow starts?
“You know, we keep on them about their intensity to start a game and the fight you have to have, especially at home. It was just disappointing that we got beat to so many balls. Just disappointing. I think we’re better than that.”
Kentucky
Kentucky State Police
Bear Branch, KY (January 24, 2026) – On Friday, January 23, 2026, at approximately 6:58 p.m., Kentucky State Police Post 13, Hazard, was notified of a structure fire on Turkey Foot Road in the Bear Branch community of Leslie County.
Kentucky State Police, along with Leslie County Fire Services and the Leslie County Sheriff’s Office, responded to the scene. After the fire was extinguished, the body of a deceased individual was discovered inside the residence. Detectives were notified and initiated an investigation. Preliminary findings indicate the deceased is believed to be the resident, Rex Smallwood, 68, of Bear Branch. Mr. Smallwood was pronounced deceased at the scene by the Leslie County Coroner’s Office.
At this time, no foul play is suspected. The remains have been transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. This incident remains under investigation by Detective Darrell Hicks.
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Kentucky
Kentucky Gov Clowns Ted Cruz for Getting Duped By European Pic: ‘Sorry For Missing This… Been Busy Leading My State’
(Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images)
Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) had a laugh at Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) expense over a fake X post accusing the governor of being out of town during the massive winter storm that brought dangerous amounts of snow and ice to many parts of the U.S.
Cruz posted a “thinking” emoji along with a retweet of a post by the Kentucky Freedom Coalition showing Beshear and his wife posing in front of a church in Europe.
The account, that’s also followed by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) posted, “The liberal media went wild when Ted Cruz wasn’t in Texas for the major freeze a few years back. Well, Kentucky is in a declared emergency and @AndyBeshearKYis touring Europe. The media won’t say a word though.”
Beshear responded, “Sorry for missing this earlier, @tedcruz. Been busy leading my state’s emergency response all day. From Kentucky.”
Washington Post reporter Aaron Blake added some additional context, writing, “This photo of Beshear in Europe is a full week old. He gave a briefing in Kentucky today.”
According to WKYT, Beshear spent last week in Europe “with a delegation from Team Kentucky, attending the World Economic Forum and meeting with company leaders in Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland.”
Cruz famously received massive backlash in 2021 after escaping to sunny Cancun as a brutal winter storm left millions of his constituents “stranded in sub-freezing temperatures without electricity and water,” according to The Hill.
The contrite senator returned to Texas within 24-hours of being spotted on his travels. Cruz eventually apologized, saying, “It was obviously a mistake, and in hindsight, I wouldn’t have done it.”
This week, as Texas braced once again for an onslaught of weather, a Texas political strategist posted, “Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was spotted earlier today, January 20, 2026, on a plane heading to Laguna Beach as the state of Texas braces for a rare ice threat and arctic cold front.”
Of the California trip, a Cruz spokesperson told KXAN that the work trip “was scheduled weeks in advance.”
The spokesperson continued, “He will be back in Texas before the storm is projected to hit.”
Cruz posted that he did, in fact, return to Texas the day before the storm hit.
This isn’t the first time Cruz has been called out for retweeting a fake post. In 2023, Cruz shared an image of what looked like a shark swimming on a flooded highway in Los Angeles.
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Kentucky
Sunday Headlines: Big week ahead for Kentucky Basketball
The Kentucky Wildcats have some momentum, which seems like a crazy thing to say after where this team was to begin conference play.
The Cats have been playing well, and actually are tied for second in the league following a wild day of SEC basketball yesterday.
However, the Cats will face a pair of big tests this week. The Cats go on the road Tuesday to take on Vanderbilt, who ended their three-game losing skid yesterday by demolishing Mississippi State in Starkville by a score of 88-56. The Commodores were once 16-0 and ranked in the top 10 nationally. They average 90 points per game, so Tuesday night’s showdown in Nashville will be a tall task for the Cats.
Then Kentucky travels to Fayetteville for a matchup with John Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks next Saturday. The game won’t have quite the same emotion as Calipari’s return to Rupp Arena last year, but it still holds some extra meaning, at least to the fanbase.
The Hogs have one of the best freshmen in the country in Darius Acuff, who averages nearly 20 points and 6 assists per game. Acuff scored 31 in yesterday’s win at LSU.
In a perfect world, Kentucky wins both of these matchups, but they’ll most likely enter as underdogs in both. If they somehow manage to win both, it would be a major boost for this team and open up conversations about what this team’s ceiling actually is.
If Kentucky could manage to split these two games, I think it would be considered a success considering the level these teams have played at and both being on the road.
How are you feeling heading into this week?
All of us jumped out of our seats when he made that shot!
Still a really good crowd at Rupp despite the incoming weather.
Maybe we’ll see them back on the bench soon.
That stretch when he came in was a difference-maker.
There was the airball, and he never really got going.
A big milestone for Rick.
The AFC North will have 3 new coaches next season.
It seems like KAT and the Knicks are heading toward a split.
He’s about to earn a big payday.
One of the wildest things I’ve seen.
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