Kentucky
Kentucky Offense Focused on Eliminating Mistakes
Kentucky is off to a 3-0 begin this season, having received each recreation by double figures. Nonetheless, that doesn’t imply that every little thing has been good by means of the primary 25 % of the schedule.
Most notably, Kentucky has struggled on offense at instances in the course of the season. That reality was evident once more in Saturday’s 31-0 win over Youngstown State. UK offensive coordinator Wealthy Scangarello was not glad after the sport on Saturday and on Tuesday, he nonetheless had some lingering emotions from the sport.
“I used to be disillusioned after the sport as a result of, you coach a very long time and also you sort of know the pitfalls you may stroll your self into,” Scangarello mentioned. “And coach made a message all week and I assumed we had a extremely good week of observe. And I assumed we have been able to play as much as our customary, no matter our opponent. After which, we simply didn’t meet these expectations. And it was a step again not ahead. And once you watch that occur, it will get a bit of upsetting.”
Scangarello and the UK teaching employees didn’t count on the Cats to play poorly on Saturday. In reality, after taking part in nicely at Florida, Scangarello thought the Cats would take one other step ahead.
“Particularly issues we hadn’t performed. Went to Florida, no penalties. We had been actually good in fall camp and all yr, taking good care of the ball. It upset me to the purpose the place, I’ve received to do a greater job, we’ve all received to do a greater job of teaching and we’ve received to do a greater job of executing the play.”
The Cats rank 92nd (out of 131 groups) within the nation in whole offense. UK is 27th within the nation in passing offense (294 yards per recreation) however is 122nd within the nation in dashing offense (74.3 yards per recreation). The struggles within the operating recreation usually are not as a result of one factor. As an alternative, it’s a couple of varied components.
“It’s a mixture,” Scangarello mentioned. “The primary run of the sport most likely would have gone for 15 yards, it went for minus 5 as a result of the receiver didn’t block down. These are little task factor that make it really feel a bit of uneven at instances. You need it to be polished and tight. It should get higher.”
Scangarello does understand that issues usually are not at all times going to go precisely as deliberate. He is aware of what must occur in these instances.
“Nothing’s going to be good. Then, the playmakers should make it up for you,” Scangarello mentioned. “Generally, you must run over a man, generally you’ve received to make somebody miss and handle the ball. If we do these issues, we’ll be high quality and the run recreation shall be nice.”
It’s not all gloom and doom on the offensive aspect of the ball.
“I really feel like there’s been components of the sport which have been tight and sound,” Scangarello mentioned. “Ultimately, for those who don’t take penalties and detrimental performs and also you handle the ball, you’re going to win more often than not.”
The Cats will give attention to ball safety and execution this week as they put together for Northern Illinois on Saturday.
Kentucky
Mark Pope recaps Kentucky vs. Georgia, plus postgame notes
The Kentucky Wildcats took another tough loss on the road and now stand at 0-2 in true road games after falling to the Georgia Bulldogs, 82-69.
The Cats also struggled to score, managing only 69 points and seeing only three players in double figures after putting up 106 against a top-10 Florida team and having six players with 14 or more points. Kentucky also shot just 27% from 3-point range, making it hard to win in any venue for a team that relies so heavily on shooting from deep.
Georgia’s increased physicality added to Kentucky’s troubles, with foul trouble being a constant issue throughout the game for the Cats. They were outrebounded 43-34.
Despite being 3-0 against top-10 teams this season, Kentucky now has three unranked losses. They’ll have a chance to bounce back as they travel to No. 14 Mississippi State, aiming for their first road win of the season.
And here are the postgame notes via UK Athletics.
Team Records and Series Notes
- Kentucky is now 12-3, 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference. Georgia is 13-2 overall, 1-1 in league play.
- Kentucky leads the series 132-29, including 44-20 in Athens.
- Mark Pope is 199-111 as head coach, including 12-3 at Kentucky.
- Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats stay on the road Saturday at Mississippi State. Game time is 8:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. in Starkville) and it will be televised on the SEC Network.
Team Notes
- Kentucky made 15 of 19 free throws (78.9 percent), the fourth straight game the Wildcats have made at least 75 percent at the foul line.
Player Notes
- Lamont Butler led the Wildcats with 20 points, his eighth double-figure game of the season and second game with at least 20.
- He also had a season-high four steals, his third straight game with at least three thefts.
- Playing a season-high 27 minutes, Brandon Garrison had a season-high 13 points and collected five rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
- Otega Oweh had 12 points and has scored in double figures in every game this season. He also led UK in rebounds with seven, the first time this season he has paced the Wildcats in the boardwork.
In the First Half
- Kentucky’s starters were Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson, Otega Oweh, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams. UK has a 10-3 record with this lineup.
- Koby Brea and Travis Perry were the first substitutions at 16:18.
- Kentucky was ahead 23-19 but Georgia closed the half with a 28-11 run and took a 47-34 lead into the locker room. UK is 2-3 this season when trailing at halftime.
In the Second Half
- Kentucky began the second half with the starters.
- The Wildcats chipped away, cutting the margin to 55-50, coaxing a Georgia timeout at 12:02.
- Kentucky got no closer as Georgia held steady for the win.
Kentucky
Winter storm watch in effect for several KY counties. How much snow will we get Friday?
A winter storm watch is in effect south of Louisville as National Weather Service forecasters anticipate more snow for Kentucky Friday, with higher amounts expected in the southern half of the state.
The watch, active until late Friday night, extends as far north as Hardin County and stretches into parts of southeastern and southwestern Kentucky. The weather service stated early Wednesday morning it expects to see 4-5 inches of snowfall Friday for counties in the watch area, with locally higher amounts possible.
In the Louisville metro area, 2-3 inches of new snowfall is possible. Current estimates show a 90% chance for at least inch of snow in Louisville Friday and a 10% chance for at least 4 inches. Evan Webb, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said 4 inches of snow looks like the “worst case scenario” for the city.
At least 4 inches of snow in the forecast is typically needed for the weather service to issue a winter storm watch or warning, Webb said, adding it appears to be “relatively likely” a winter storm warning will eventually be in effect for the area currently under the watch.
“If the trends in the data change, we could expand the winter storm watch a little further north if we need to,” Webb said.
Wednesday night and Thursday morning will be very cold in Louisville and there is a chance wind chills could plummet below zero, Webb said. However, cloud cover could serve as an “insulating blanket,” keeping the air temperature a little higher than it would be if it was a clear night.
If wind chills were to fall to -5 degrees or below, the NWS would issue a cold weather advisory.
“Prepare for round two, unfortunately,” Webb said. “It looks like the snow amounts will be quite a bit less than what we saw with the last storm. Certainly with some additional snow accumulations, it’s always good to be prepared.”
Wednesday
Chance of flurries. Mostly cloudy and cold, with a high near 25. Calm winds from the west around 6 mph in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 4. West winds of 5 mph become calm.
Thursday
Sunny and cold, with a high near 28.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 14 and calm winds.
Friday
A 90% chance of snow showers, mainly after 1 p.m. A high near 29 with south winds of around 5 mph Friday afternoon. New snowfall amounts of between 1-2 inches is possible.
Friday Night
A 70% chance of snow showers, mainly before 1 a.m. Cloudy, with a low around 23.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 31.
Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low near 15.
Sunday
Partly sunny, with a high near 35.
Sunday Night
A 20% chance of snow showers after 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low near 27.
Reporter Marina Johnson contributed.
Reach reporter Leo Bertucci at lbertucci@gannett.com or @leober2chee on X, formerly known as Twitter
Kentucky
Andrew Carr says Kentucky needs to get nastier
Life comes at you fast in the SEC.
One game, you look like a Final Four team. The next game, you look like a team that’s going to go 15 rounds in a second-round game.
Tuesday night, the Kentucky Wildcats went down to Georgia and got stomped, 82-69. This Bulldogs team is good, and they very well could wind up in the NCAA Tournament, but Kentucky was outplayed physically and lacked the toughness to overcome a 13-point halftime deficit.
After the game, senior forward Andrew Carr said Kentucky needs to be more physical, even downright nasty.
Andrew Carr: “We gotta get more tough, more physical, more nasty when we’re playing.”
Says tonight, they were trying to be physical without fouling.
— Wyatt Huff (@Wildcat_wave) January 8, 2025
Georgia out-rebounded Kentucky 41-34, including 13-1 on the offensive glass. Yikes.
Kentucky was held to 37.5% shooting from the field, including 6-25 from three-point range. The Wildcats tried multiple times in the second half to mount a comeback, but they just could not get over the hump Georgia presented.
This is the SEC this year. For every game, you had better be ready to go 15 rounds and physically go toe-to-toe. Otherwise, nights like tonight at Georgia are going to happen more often than you’d like them to.
Kentucky is back in action Saturday night at No. 14 Mississippi State. Tipoff is at 8:30 PM ET on the SEC Network.
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