Kentucky
Kentucky Offense Looking for a Boost This Week
Final week, the Kentucky offense seemed like a group that was taking part in with a first-time starter at quarterback. The Cats have been solely capable of produce 14 factors in Kaiya Sheron’s first profession begin, as he performed instead of incumbent starter Will Levis.
UK offensive coordinator Wealthy Scangarello put the blame for his unit’s efficiency squarely on his personal shoulders.
“We didn’t do a adequate job,” Scangarello stated of the Cats’ offensive efficiency within the 24-14 loss to South Carolina. “And, clearly, that falls on me.”
Scangarello is aware of that, irrespective of who’s behind middle, the Cats must step up and make issues simpler on that sign caller. That features on the offensive line and at ability positions.
“Move safety is at all times going to be a giant a part of it,” Scangarello stated. “And also you’ve acquired to make performs. Final week, we had guys open, we had issues occur and for one cause or one other, we didn’t execute.”
Talking of that go safety, offensive line coach Zach Yenser is aware of that his unit has some issues that it could possibly be doing higher.
“Some good issues, however we’ve acquired to scrub some issues up in go safety,” Yenser stated. “I feel our guys are persevering with to play laborious. We’re working by means of some accidents.”
Yenser is aware of the one specific factor that his linemen should proceed to enhance.
“We’ve acquired to chop down on the getting beat one-on-one,” Yenser stated. “It’s not missed assignments, it’s simply the one-on-one stuff that we’ve acquired to get higher at.”
Nonetheless, with issues not going nice over the previous two video games, Scangarello is aware of that this offense is basically near being actually good.
“I felt like momentum was pushing for this offense and it was about to interrupt out,” Scangarello stated. “Will will get damage, we’re sloppy final week, we in all probability pressured some issues with some concepts as a result of we’re making an attempt to cowl up for the quarterback. However I do know we have been trending the proper manner towards Ole Miss, it simply takes focus, slightly extra effort and element and higher teaching on our half.”
Having somebody like Levis behind middle could make the whole unit higher, which is why it was apparent that the Cats missed him final week.
“Nice quarterbacks increase the extent of play of the folks round them,” Scangarello stated. “All the little issues, that comes from the quarterbacks and that elevates the gamers round you. While you’ve acquired good gamers round you, it’s your job to distribute to them and allow them to make performs and that makes an amazing offense. Clearly, when Will’s in there, it’s quite a bit simpler and it’s much more easy for all of us as a result of he’s an skilled, nice soccer participant who could make that come alive.”
As for Levis’ standing for this weekend, Scangarello provided an replace.
“He’s day-to-day proper now,” the UK offensive coordinator stated. “He was again on the market at the moment and trending the way in which we hoped he would pattern.”
Having Levis again behind middle can be an enormous increase to an offense that’s nonetheless licking its wounds after final week’s loss to South Carolina.
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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