Connect with us

Kentucky

Kentucky puts together first complete game in statement win at Auburn

Published

on

Kentucky puts together first complete game in statement win at Auburn


The stage was set for Auburn dating back to Wednesday night. South Carolina entered Neville Arena and left with a 40-point curb-stomping, Tiger fans immediately leaving to set up their campsites in Pearlville with tents stretching across campus. They brought out food trucks, played Mario Kart on massive projector screens, set up poker tables and portable basketball hoops — a 72-hour celebration for the tailgate of all tailgates. It was time for their Super Bowl, an opportunity to tell the college basketball world the SEC’s king had been dethroned.

College GameDay got the day started with a line wrapped around the building, fans pouring in with goofy “KenSucky” signs to — in their eyes — set the tone. Then they did the same that afternoon, packed in shoulder to shoulder from baseline to baseline, ready to create an all-time atmosphere they’d tell their grandchildren about one day. Three days of preparation leading up to this moment.

And then Kentucky led essentially from the opening tip to the final buzzer — 38:39 with the Cats in front, 1:21 with the game tied. Not a single second with Auburn ahead.

Kentucky silences an all-time environment

Arguably the most hostile environment in college basketball, a venue that held the longest home winning streak in the SEC at 16 straight games was dead silent. Fans hit the exits as quickly as they rushed to fill the seats with a minute and change left on the clock. Disbelief. Frustration. Confusion.

Advertisement

You heard whispers of gripes directed toward the officials, Bruce Pearl doubling down in his presser by saying he’d be sending a few clips to the league in search of answers — hilarious considering Auburn was called for fewer fouls (23-16) and took more free throws (30-24). Some wondered aloud if Jaylin Williams’ knee injury impacted the final result, taking the wind out of the team’s sails with the game still within reach. I mean, maybe, but even that argument seems shallow considering he had racked up three points on 1-5 shooting, one assist, one steal and one turnover in the 24 minutes up to that point. He’s invaluable to that team, but was he closing the gap in a game Kentucky led by as many as 16? Unlikely. The Tigers also missed some open looks that could have swung the momentum as a team. Plenty of finger-pointing there, obviously.

Go down the list, you can find plenty of excuses for the how and why. But that’s basketball. The what isn’t changing, and that’s all that matters.

Championship-level basketball

At the end of the day, Kentucky controlled the game against an opponent that ranked inside the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, undoubtedly one of the hottest teams in the SEC that the analytics loved. It went on the road as a heavy underdog playing without its straw that stirs the drink in Tre Mitchell and held Auburn to 59 points on 30.9% shooting and 18.2% from three. The Cats found themselves in a five-point game twice midway through the second half, only to see Antonio Reeves score 13 in a six-minute stretch to push it back to 16 and ice the win. Only to see Adou Thiero elevate to the rafters and throw down soul-capturing slams to keep the crowd at bay. It was the team’s most complete performance of the year by a mile, putting together 40 minutes of the championship-level basketball this team had shown it was capable of in spurts, but never consistently.

It didn’t take a herculean individual effort — Reeves was brilliant, but still *only* scored 22 on 8-20 shooting — to steal the win. This wasn’t a ‘just not our day’ game for Auburn. Kentucky simply dug in defensively to come up with stops and hit big shots in big moments. They fought and rallied the way you’d hope they would in the middle of a March Madness run. When John Calipari says this team is “built for March,” it’s pretty clear this is the vision.

Finding the blueprint

So much has been made about opposing teams finding the blueprint on how to slow this group down offensively while continuing to expose its defensive flaws. Then Kentucky went and found its own blueprint for beating anybody in college basketball. That is their blueprint for No. 9.

Advertisement

“Kentucky can guard and they can turn it up when they want to. They outplayed us tonight. They played really well,” Bruce Pearl said after the game. “We knew their guards were excellent, and late in the game, when it came down to just getting decent shots and keeping us at bay, they were able to do that.”

The Wildcats opened the game with their best start in recent memory, leading 11-2 over five minutes in. When it got down to four, they responded to push it back to ten a little over a minute later. Back down to five, up to 12 a little over a minute later before closing out the half up 10. Worried about the post-half start? Don’t be. They got it to 14 in a minute yet again. As the waves of momentum kept crashing in, Kentucky rode them all back to shore unscathed. Responses for every jab and haymaker attempt Auburn looked to throw, refusing to let go of the rope. Made free throws, turning bad turnovers into stops on the other end, tough rebounds to limit second-chance opportunities, everything. They played with guts, something you haven’t always been able to say about this team.

“Kentucky disrupted us. Their length at the rim obviously disrupted us. Their ball pressure disrupted us. They had a good scout,” Pearl added. “I really think you just go ‘Alright, Kentucky guards like this, they can beat anybody.’ But we know that. … They played well and we didn’t, that’s why we got beat.”

“Held a top-10 team to 30 percent and 18?” Calipari said. “I don’t know, guess we could do better.”

Confidence, not desperation

Kentucky was desperate for a statement victory, but it’s hard to say the Cats played with desperation. They were confident, ready to prove naysayers wrong. Coach Cal made that abundantly clear after the win, throwing the press room door open looking to take media members out one at a time like a sniper at the podium. Everyone in that locker room walked in with little doubt they’d leave with a win.

Advertisement

The Cats are back on track, building back some trust lost in recent weeks. They went to Auburn and left proving this team is more than its record may show and the ceiling is unlike anyone else in college basketball. They’ve got dudes, and now, they’re slowly starting to prove that’s not just on one end. The offensive firepower has always been there and will continue to be, but if the defense can resemble anything close to this down the home stretch of the regular season and into postseason action?

Look out.



Source link

Kentucky

Several people hurt in Western Kentucky Parkway multi-car accident, officials say

Published

on

Several people hurt in Western Kentucky Parkway multi-car accident, officials say


MUHLENBERG, Ky. (WFIE) – Kentucky officials says there are multiple people injured in a three-car accident on Western Kentucky Parkway.

According to a post made by the Central City Fire Department, three vehicles were involved in a crash between the 64 and 65 mile markers eastbound of the parkway.

They say both the eastbound and westbound lanes are closed at this time. The closure should last around 3 hours.

Two people were extricated from a vehicle. Four adults and three juveniles are being taken to the hospital. No update has been given on their conditions.

Advertisement

They say a mass casualty incident was declared, and Ohio County Fire and EMS were called to the scene due to the number of patients.

We will update you when we learn more.

Several people hurt in Western Kentucky Parkway multi-car accident, officials say(Central City Fire Department)



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Kentucky

2027 top in-state prospect talks about his Kentucky unofficial visit on Tuesday

Published

on

2027 top in-state prospect talks about his Kentucky unofficial visit on Tuesday


Kentucky’s recruiting efforts in the 2026 class have hit a current rough patch, but things are looking promising in the 2027 class, as the staff has already casted a very wide net in the class, with a number of top targets in the fold. As they’re continuing to pursue mostly national targets, a local star is now on the staff’s radar.

2027 in-state guard Braxton Keathley, one of the state’s top prospects even regardless of class, took an unofficial visit to Kentucky on Tuesday for the game against NC Central. Keathley is native of Martin County, KY, and has took the state by storm as he has really stuffed the stat sheet. Just recently, he dropped a triple-double of 34 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds last weekend.

The Kentucky staff has certainly seemed to take notice really quickly. He’s also getting plenty of other interest, too, including having frequent contact with Louisville, LSU, Purdue, South Carolina, and Florida State, plus offers from Eastern Kentucky, UT Martin, Ohio, and Bowling Green, among others. Keathley sat down with Kentucky Wildcats on SI to talk about his recent visit to Kentucky. What were his impressions of the staff? He shared a conversation he had with them before Tuesday’s game. He also had some interactions with others, too.

Advertisement

“They really talked about how well I scored it and how they’ve been hearing about me for a long time,” Keathley said of his conversation with the Kentucky staff. “One of the (Kentucky) assistants mentioned he had a coaching friend tell them that they better jump on me quick cause I was really good. I had several fans come up to me and take pictures. Jack Givens welcomed me and talked to me for a little bit and said he’s highly impressed with my game and plans on coming to a game soon. A couple of other UK players came up, they were really nice and said they been keeping up with me.”

Advertisement

Braxton Keathley | Photo via Jessica Adkins

As a Kentucky kid, Keathley says he been a fan of the Wildcats since he was little, even getting to train with Tyrese Maxey this summer, and he also had some great things to say about what he saw from fellow Kentucky natives and current Wildcats Trent Noah, Jasper Johnson, and Malachi Moreno. “I looked up to players like Tyler Herro, SGA, Tyrese Maxey, Devin Booker, Malik Monk and Reed Sheppard. I got lucky that I got to train with Maxey for a week in August,” Keathley said. “I saw Trent Noah last night having great energy and keeping a smile on his face during warmups. You could tell he loved every minute wearing that Kentucky uniform. He cares and it shows. I saw Jasper and Moreno warming up hard. The one thing about it, and my dad always told me, it’s a different place. You got to be special to play there and be willing to accept everything that comes with wearing that jersey.”

Advertisement

Interestingly enough, Keathley’s dad coached former Kentucky greats Anthony Epps and Wayne Turner after their time at Kentucky, so Keathley has a family history of being around all that comes with the passion of Kentucky basketball. What did Keathley’s dad learn about the two former Wildcats he got the privilege to coach? “He said they carried a chip on their shoulder and were great leaders always humble but tough. and I have to do the same.” Now, for Keathley, it’s about climbing the ranks nationally. “A couple (recruiting services) don’t have me ranked yet and that’s ok. I’m going to walk in the gym every night and know I outworked you and I’m going to outplay you,” he said. “I’m going to compete like every game is a championship. I’m going to to play with the same passion that the fans have. I’m always all in there’s no going back or in-between.”

Advertisement

Keathley has so much passion for his community in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, and he has plans of doing big things at Martin County. He also shared a message Trent Noah’s dad had for him during their interaction at Tuesday’s Kentucky game. “Something he said that really stuck out. ‘Us mountain people have got to stick together.’ He’s right, Eastern Kentucky has great people and basketball players. Kentucky basketball as whole, we got to stick together through the highs and lows. That’s what we do.”

That’s a great message from a parent of a current Wildcat who was in his shoes before, being a fellow native of that part of the state. The Kentucky staff is certainly going to keep an eye on him as he continues the impressive run he is on so far this season, because he just continues to catch more and more people’s attention with his play.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Kentucky

Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie introduces legislation for U.S. to leave NATO – UPI.com

Published

on

Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie introduces legislation for U.S. to leave NATO – UPI.com


Dec. 10 (UPI) — U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican serving a House district in Kentucky, introduced legislation for the United States to pull out of NATO.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican from Florida, posted on X that she would be a co-sponsor of the Not a Trusted Organization Act, or NATO Act. Utah Republican Mike Lee introduced the same legislation in the Senate earlier this year.

“NATO is a Cold War relic,” Massie said in a statement Tuesday. “We should withdraw from NATO and use that money to defend our own country, not socialist countries.

“NATO was created to counter the Soviet Union, which collapsed over 30 years ago. Since then, U.S. participation has cost taxpayers trillions of dollars and continues to risk U.S. involvement in foreign wars.”

Advertisement

He added: “Our Constitution did not authorize permanent foreign entanglements, something our Founding Fathers explicitly warned us against. America should not be the world’s security blanket – especially when wealthy countries refuse to pay for their own defense.”

NATO was founded in 1949 by 12 members as a military alliance involving European nations, as well as the U.S. and Canada in North America. There are now 32 members, with Finland joining in 2023 and Sweden in 2024.

The NATO Act would prevent the use of U.S. taxpayer funds for NATO’s common budgets, including its civil budget, military budget and the Security Investment Program.

Article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty allows nations to opt out.

“After the Treaty has been in force for 20 years, any Party may cease to be a Party one year after its notice of denunciation has been given to the Government of the United States of America, which will inform the Governments of the other Parties of the deposit of each notice of denunciation,” the treaty reads.

Advertisement

During the last NATO summit in The Hague, the Netherlands, President Donald Trump told reporters he agrees with NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense treaty.

“I stand with it. That’s why I’m here,” Trump said. “If I didn’t stand with it, I wouldn’t be here.”

Article 5 was invoked for the first time after the 9/11 attacks in the United States, leading to NATO’s involvement in Afghanistan.

The Kentucky Republican, who calls himself a “fiscal hawk” and a “constitutional conservative,” has been at odds with Trump on several issues, including fiscal spending, foreign policy/war powers, government surveillance and transparency.

Trump has also been critical of NATO.

Advertisement

During his 2016 election campaign, Trump called the alliance “obsolete.”

He urged nations to spend at least 3.5% of gross domestic product on core defense needs by 2035.

In June, NATO allies agreed to a new defense spending guideline to invest 5% of GDP annually in defense and security by 2035.

Five nations were above 3% in 2024: Poland at 4.12%, Estonia at 3.43%, U.S. at 3.38%, Latvia at 3.15% and Greece at 3.08%. In last is Spain with 1.28% though Iceland has no armed forces and Sweden wasn’t listed.

Some Republican senators want stronger involvement in the alliance, including Joni Ernst of Iowa and Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi. Wicker is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Advertisement

For passage, a House majority is needed, but 60 of 100 votes in the Senate to break the filibuster and then a majority vote. Trump could also veto the bill.



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending