Kentucky
LSU Wins Game 1 Over Kentucky, 16-6
BATON ROUGE, La. – Shortstop Jordan Thompson and rightfielder Brayden Jobert every launched a grand slam Thursday evening to carry top-ranked LSU to a 16-6 victory over No. 11 Kentucky inside Alex Field Stadium, Skip Bertman Discipline.
LSU improved to 28-5 on the season and 8-4 in convention play, whereas the Wildcats dropped to 27-6 total and 9-4 in SEC motion.
The second sport of the LSU-Kentucky collection is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch on Friday, and will probably be streamed on SEC Community+. The matchup can even be broadcast on the LSU Sports activities Radio Community associates.
Designated hitter Cade Beloso scorched a house run to proper discipline to account for the third dinger from LSU on the evening. He posted a line of 1-for-2 with three RBI and two HBP. Third baseman Tommy White collected the primary two RBI of the competition with a two-RBI double to left discipline within the first inning.
“I’m actually happy with our guys and the at-bats that they took,” stated LSU coach Jay Johnson. “I felt like they confirmed as much as the park tremendous decided right this moment, and you may see it in batting observe. That’s how they present up daily, however I had a extremely good feeling going into the sport tonight that we have been able to play.
“We got here off of sport on Tuesday (at Tulane), and we carried that momentum ahead. We wish to be a kind of groups that when you give us an inch, we’re going to take mile, and we did that within the first three innings.”
LSU starter Paul Skenes (6-1) earned the victory for the Tigers. Skenes, who leads the nation in strikeouts, fanned 13 batters to match his profession excessive. After selecting up his ninth strikeout of the evening, his season whole hit 100, and it at present sits at 104. Skenes pitched 6.0 innings and gave up 5 runs – 4 earned — on seven hits with one stroll.
“Paul has set such a excessive bar and excessive commonplace, and ultimately, he was going to surrender just a few runs,” Johnson stated. “You don’t see that fairly often, so credit score to Kentucky for getting some swings on him. I’m very happy with Paul, and I’m glad we may get this win for him tonight.”
Kentucky starter Zach Hise (1-1) was charged with the loss after tossing 1.2 innings and permitting 11 runs – six earned — on 4 hits. He gave up two residence runs and three extra-base hits.
After a scoreless prime of the primary, the Tigers opened the scoring within the backside half, placing for six runs. The inning started with a hit-by-pitch from second baseman Gavin Dugas and an intentional stroll issued to centerfielder Dylan Crews. White drove in each runs with a double to offer LSU a 2-0 lead.
With an early lead, Beloso reached by way of an HBP, and first baseman Jared Jones hit a double to proper discipline. Thompson got here to the plate and smashed his sixth homer of the season – this one among grand slam selection – to extend the margin to 6-0.
With the dinger – the primary grand slam of his profession – Thompson has now homered in 4 straight video games.
Within the prime of the second, the Wildcats reached two straight singles. Kentucky second baseman Emilien Pitre reached third base by tagging up on a fly ball to proper discipline. The guests scratched throughout their first run with an RBI single from proper fielder Nolan McCarthy and shortened the result in 5.
The Tigers responded within the backside of the second, scratching throughout 5 extra runs, together with the second grand slam of the ballgame – this time from Jobert. Earlier than placing up 4 runs, left fielder Tre’ Morgan reached base with the third HBP thrown by Wildcat pitchers. Following Morgan’s at-bat, White reached on a fielding error and Beloso acquired hit by one other pitch.
Jobert launched his sixth dinger of the yr – and his second profession grand slam — to make the rating 11-1. LSU, which has hit 5 grand slams this season, hit two in a sport for the primary time since Could 13, 2014, when the Tigers blasted two grand slams versus Northwestern State in Alex Field Stadium.
Beloso joined the house run parade, launching a house run to proper discipline within the backside of the third. Crews reached base with the fifth HBP thrown by the Wildcats, and White singled up the center. Beloso’s ensuing three-run dinger was his fifth of the season and gave LSU a 14-1 lead.
Kentucky scored 4 runs throughout the fourth and fifth inning, and the Wildcats added one within the seventh to cut back the margin to 14-6.
LSU tacked on the ultimate two runs of the sport, and catcher Alex Milazzo lined an RBI single by means of the left facet within the backside of the eighth inning to offer the Tigers the run-rule victory.
Kentucky
Where is Kentucky women’s basketball in updated AP Top 25, new USA TODAY Coaches Poll?
Kentucky women’s basketball went 1-1 last week and suffered its first SEC loss this season.
The Wildcats lost to host Texas A&M, 61-55, on Thursday. They shot under 40% for the second time this season. The Cats are now 0-2 when they score fewer than 60 points.
They bounced back with an 89-69 home victory over Arkansas on Sunday. They are 11-0 at home, their best home record to start the season since 2018-2019.
All five Kentucky starters scored in double digits against Arkansas, and the Wildcats held the Razorbacks to a 36.1% field-goal percentage. In 14 of 18 games, the Wildcats have held their opponents to under 40% shooting.
The Wildcats (17-2, 6-1 SEC) dropped one spot to No. 12 in the AP Top 25.
UK will host Alabama at 7 p.m. Thursday at Memorial Coliseum.
This story will be updated with the USA TODAY Coaches Poll on Tuesday.
Reach sports reporter Prince James Story at pstory@gannett.com and follow him on X at @PrinceJStory.
Kentucky
Kentucky 89-69 Arkansas (Jan 26, 2025) Game Recap – ESPN
LEXINGTON, Ky. — — Georgia Amoore scored 19 points, Clara Strack and Teonni Key had double-doubles, and No. 11 Kentucky defeated Arkansas 89-69 on Sunday.
Strack had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Key contributed 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats (17-2, 6-1 SEC). Dazia Lawrence and Amelia Hassett each scored 14 points as all five starters scored in double figures. Amoore had eight assists and Hassett had seven rebounds, four assists and four blocks.
After leading 44-28 at halftime, Strack scored Kentucky’s first nine points of the third quarter to help maintain the 16-point lead. The Wildcats then blew it open when Hassett and Lawrence each went 3 for 3 from deep en route to a 77-53 advantage heading to the fourth period.
Izzy Higginbottom, the nation’s fifth-leading scorer at 22.8 ppg coming in, scored 14 of the Razorbacks’ final 19 points in the third quarter. She opened the fourth quarter with four more, but Arkansas (8-14, 1-6) never got closer than 19 points.
Higginbottom finished with 32 points. Off the bench, Carly Keats scored 14 points and Jenna Lawrence had 13.
Kentucky shot 64% and made eight free throws in the first quarter, building a 29-10 lead. The Wildcats scored the first 11 and the last 12 points of the quarter.
Kentucky stretched the lead to 25 points when Lexi Blue and Lawrence hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 42-17 lead before Arkansas regrouped and finished the half on an 11-2 run.
It was Kentucky’s annual We Back Pat game, promoting research, care and education surrounding Alzheimer’s disease.
Kentucky hosts No. 19 Alabama on Thursday when Arkansas hosts Texas A&M.
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Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
Kentucky
Mark Pope blasts Kentucky for 'debacle' of final 10 minutes of first half vs. Vanderbilt
Kentucky trailed Vanderbilt 41-27 at halftime on Saturday after being outscored 23-11 during the final 10 minutes of the first half.
The Wildcats would waste no time closing that gap in the second half, but the run by the Commodores to close the first 20 minutes proved to be too much for Kentucky to come back against in the end. Head coach Mark Pope explained what went wrong for the Wildcats down the stretch.
“Credit to Vanderbilt for turning up the heat,” Pope said of the first-half stretch. “Kind of in the flow of the game, we were really solid with (Vanderbilt guard Jason Edwards) going early, aside from that we were really solid both ends of the floor. The game had a flow to it, and then we started getting punished a little bit on the offensive glass.
“Disappointing that that happened. And then, their pressure kind of kicked in. The second 10 minutes of the first half was a debacle. But I wasn’t disappointed with how our guys started. I was good focus … I wish we had an answer to (Edwards) earlier, but still the flow of the game was okay.”
Edwards finished the game with 18 points, 11 of which came in the first half. He was complemented by Devin McGlockton‘s 14-point, six-rebound performance, along with a combined 21 points from Tyler Nickel and Jaylen Carey. The duo combined for five of Vanderbilt’s 12-made 3-pointers against the Wildcats.
The loss continues more than one negative trend for Kentucky. Their struggled on the road continue and are now 1-3 in such matchups. Also having totaled 69 points during the matchup — it’s just the fifth time this season that Mark Pope’s squad has scored less than 70 points during the 2024-25 season. With a 14-5 record overall, Kentucky is 0-5 when they fail to reach that 70-point threshold.
Kentucky has now lost its last two matchups and will not have tasted victory in two weeks by the time they travel to Knoxville on Tuesday night to take on a No. 6 Tennessee. The Vols are undefeated at home so far this season.
Regardless of the outcome, the Wildcats will have to get their minds right in short order, and John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks are headed to Rupp Arena for a highly-anticipated reunion between the two parties.
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