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Kentucky was going to have wins over both teams in the national championship — then Duke collapsed

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Kentucky was going to have wins over both teams in the national championship — then Duke collapsed


This was going to be a post talking about how Kentucky beat both teams in the national championship game, starting with Florida to open the night, followed by Duke to close things out. The Gators certainly took care of business, beating Auburn 79-73 to advance to the title game on Monday. Walter Clayton Jr. made history, scoring 34 points with five made 3-pointers to make him the first player since Larry Bird to score 30-plus in back-to-back games this deep in the NCAA Tournament.

Bird did it in the Elite Eight and Final Four with Indiana State in 1979. Now, Clayton has matched that mark, doing it on 11-18 shooting in 35 minutes. His historic performance ended Johni Broome’s career after the fifth-year senior earned SEC Player of the Year honors, going for 15 points and seven rebounds in the loss.

Kentucky defeated Florida to open SEC play on January 4 by a final score of 106-100 — an instant classic inside of Rupp Arena, one of the most memorable performances of Mark Pope’s debut season in Lexington.

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Duke was right there to continue that trend, taking a 14-point lead with 8:17 to go while staying up nine with 3:03 on the clock. Cooper Flagg seemed to be writing his storybook finish, sinking two free throws with 1:26 left to go back up seven and push his total up to 27 points with seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals in what was a dominant all-around effort.

Then Houston would close out the game on a 9-0 run in the final 33 seconds to pull off the 70-67 win and advance to the national championship to face Florida. The Cougars finished on a 15-3 run in the final 2:05 while the Blue Devils scored just one field goal in the final 10:30 — an epic collapse for Jon Scheyer’s group, ending with a missed Flagg go-ahead jumper to win with eight seconds left. That would wrap up the all-time comeback for Kelvin Sampson’s squad.

The Coogs have never won a title. Now, they’ll get that opportunity to bring home the trophy on Monday while Duke goes home very, very sad.

Florida vs. Houston for all of the marbles, folks. Who you got?

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Until then, let me leave you with extended highlights of Cooper Flagg’s clutch moments from his time at Duke:

Anthony Davis remains the only freshman in college basketball history to earn National Player of the Year honors while winning a national championship. Sorry, Cooper.





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Kentucky

Overnight investigation occurs on Kentucky highway

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Overnight investigation occurs on Kentucky highway


CYNTHIANA, Ky. (WKYT) – WKYT is monitoring an overnight investigation on a highway in Kentucky.

Kentucky Highway 36 West was closed at Poindexter Road for a police investigation in the overnight hours.

It reopened around 5:30 a.m. Monday.

We’re told Kentucky State Police is leading the investigation.

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WKYT has reached out to several officials to try to learn more.

This is a developing story.



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‘We gave the crowd a game.’ Indiana All-Stars, Kentucky set girls single-game scoring record in 2OT nail-biter

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‘We gave the crowd a game.’ Indiana All-Stars, Kentucky set girls single-game scoring record in 2OT nail-biter


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  • Indiana Miss Basketball Maya Makalusky lead the All-Stars with 29 points, but Kentucky got finished off the series sweep Saturday night.

INDIANAPOLIS – After the marathon double-overtime battle between the girls Indiana All-Stars and Kentucky ended Saturday night inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Hamilton Southeastern’s Maya Makalusky sat near the scorer’s table to decompress.

Exhausted after Indiana’s 106-103 loss to rival Kentucky in the finale of the two-game series’ 49th running, Makalusky didn’t absorb her team’s sweeping defeat as much as the overall experience.

On Friday night at Lexington Catholic High School, the Indiana All-Stars girls lost 84-73 to Kentucky by the series’ largest single-game margin since 2022.

The next evening back in the Hoosier State, Indiana attempted to stave off Kentucky’s first series sweep since 2012 and 10th all-time since 1977.

Following a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Laila Abdurraqib (Lawrence Central/New Mexico) at the end of regulation to tie the score 76-76, it seemed Indiana had the momentum on its side.

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Indiana’s 11-4 run to deadlock the game countered Kentucky’s 17-5 run that erased an earlier five-point deficit.

However, two five-minute bonus quarters proved enough time for Kentucky Miss Basketball’s ZaKiyah Johnson (Louisville Sacred Heart/Louisiana State) to secure the sweep.

Johnson tied the score in overtime by sinking 3-of-3 free throws in the final seven seconds after drawing contact on a desperation 3-point heave at the top of the key, and she dropped in eight of her game-high 34 points in the double overtime to lock down the win.

Johnson set a new single-game series record for points scored by besting both Kentucky’s Amiya Jenkins (31 in 2022) and Indiana’s Tiffany Gooden (1994) while establishing a two-game record with 62 points to again beat Gooden’s mark of 55.

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Makalusky, the 2025 IndyStar Indiana Miss Basketball honoree, had a team-high 29 points. The Indiana University commit finished with 47 points for both games before fouling out with 27.4 seconds remaining in the final bonus period. She was named the Hoosier Shooting Academy MVP.

“Obviously, we have nothing to hang our heads about,” said Makalusky, who posted a team-high 14 rebounds with two assists and three steals. “I mean, we got double overtime. We played hard, and we should be proud of what we gave.”

What the Indiana and Kentucky All-Stars gave the downtown Indianapolis crowd was a historic show.

Marking the series’ first double-overtime game and third overtime contest in history.

Saturday’s game set a new single-game record for combined points scored at 209, while adding new standards for most combined field goals (72) that broke the record of 68 in 1994. Kentucky’s 106 points were the most scored by the neighboring All-Stars in a single game. The previous high was 101 in 2008 and 2022.

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“We gave the crowd a game, and it’s all you could ask for,” Makalusky said. “It’s super exciting, and it’s great to see girls sports having their moment and the amount of support. Obviously, we want to go out winning, but at the end of the day, we have nothing to hand our heads about. The energy was up, and we were ready.”

Indiana led 16-15 after the first quarter and carried a 35-32 lead into halftime. Indiana took a 45-42 advantage in the third quarter on an and-1 layup by Makalusky and were up 53-48 entering the fourth.

In the game’s final five minutes of regulation Kentucky’s run created a whirlwind 15 minutes of tug-of-war with 13 ties and 13 lead changes.

Peyton Bradley (Meade County/Louisville) had 26 points, eight assists, five steals and seven rebounds for Kentucky as one of four players in double figures.

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Abdurraqib finished with 11 points, four assists and eight rebounds. Indiana had five players with 10 or more points, including Jaylah Lampley (Lawrence Central/Mississippi State) and Addison Baxter (Columbia City/Butler) with 17 each. Monique Mitchell (South Bend Washington/Akron) had 10, while Brooke Winchester (Warsaw/Ball State) had 11 rebounds and eight points.

Kya Hurt (Lawrence North/Illinois State) dished out a team-high seven assists with eight points and three steals.

“I’m just glad I finally got to play on this team with everybody and enjoy this moment,” Hurt said. “We wanted this one really bad, especially because it went to double overtime. I was excited because we got a chance to play again and try to win the game.”

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Belmont Stakes Matches Top Three Kentucky Derby Finishers

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Belmont Stakes Matches Top Three Kentucky Derby Finishers


The Belmont Stakes-G1 is back at Saratoga for the second year in a row, and it looks to be a highly competitive race. With Belmont Park still under construction, the race has shifted north and the distance has been trimmed to 1¼ miles, same as the Kentucky Derby-G1. The change has transformed the traditional “Test of the Champion” into a Travers-G1 preview.

This year’s race includes a rematch of the top three finishers from the Kentucky Derby: Sovereignty, Journalism, and Baeza. Sovereignty, the Derby winner, skipped the Preakness-G1 to rest and is the second favorite on the morning line at 2-1. 

Journalism, who finished second in the Derby and won the Preakness in thrilling fashion, is favored at 8-5, while Baeza, who was third in Louisville has been assigned 4-1 morning line odds. 

The field also includes Hill Road, winner of the Peter Pan Stakes-G3, and Rodriguez, trained by Bob Baffert, at 6-1. 

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Longshots Uncaged and Heart of Honor round out the eight-horse lineup.

The race is set for Saturday, June 7, with a post time of 7:04 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast on FOX and streamed on FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports app. 

Trainer Michael McCarthy expressed confidence in Journalism’s condition and adaptability, pointing out that his charge is the only horse to compete in all three legs of this year’s Triple Crown

“Obviously, he put forth a heck of an effort in the Preakness, and he’s coming back here in three weeks’ time,” McCarthy told the Times Union, adding that the colt’s last — and only — workout since the Preakness was “solid,” with “little to no urging.”

Jockey Umberto Rispoli, who has been in the saddle for six of Journalism’s seven career starts, was also impressed with his mount’s June 1 work, noting afterward that the son of Curlin “looks like he didn’t even run two weeks ago.”

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John Shirreffs, who will saddle Baeza on Saturday, was also optimistic about his chances, telling the New York Post that jockey Flavien Prat said “he didn’t get all the run he could have out of Baeza had he had an opportunity to get out a little sooner.”

Meanwhile, the winner of the Kentucky Derby, Sovereignty, is looking to prove that his 1½-length victory wasn’t a fluke. As it is, his jockey, Junior Alvarado, faced controversy and was fined and suspended for alleged whip overuse during the Derby, a ruling he is currently appealing. 

Here’s a look at the field:

Horse

Trainer

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Jockey

Odds

1- Hill Road

Chad C. Brown

Irad Ortiz Jr.

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10-1

2-Sovereignty

William Mott

Junior Alvarado

2-1

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3-Rodriguez

Bob Baffert

Mike Smith

6-1

4-Uncaged

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Todd A. Pletcher

Luis Saez

30-1

5-Crudo

Todd A. Pletcher

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John R. Velazquez

15-1

6-Baeza

John Shirreffs

Flavien Prat

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4-1

7-Journalism

Michael W. McCarthy

Umberto Rispoli

8-5

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8-Heart of Honor

Jaime Osborne

Saffie Osborne

30-1

Belmont Stakes: Is Journalism Running On Fumes?

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