Kentucky
Mark Pope details Andrew Carr overcoming back injury to help Kentucky win in Starkville
Andrew Carr’s availability for Saturday’s game against Mississippi State was uncertain until the very last moment. Head coach Mark Pope expressed significant doubt about his starting forward’s ability to play during a pregame interview with Tom Leach.
Despite dealing with back issues, Carr not only started but also logged 21 critical minutes, contributing key plays down the stretch to help secure the Kentucky Wildcats’ 95-90 victory over the No. 14 Bulldogs, their first true road win of the season.
During the broadcast, the SEC Network’s Dave Neal shed light on the severity of Carr’s injury, revealing that he had been dealing with debilitating back pain all week and was unable to practice.
Following the game, Pope provided additional insight into Carr’s situation, praising the graduate forward for his toughness and resilience. Calling him a “warrior,” Pope noted that Carr’s pain was so intense he couldn’t even sit during timeouts, making his performance even more remarkable.
“Andrew Carr, wow. We talked a lot the last couple of days. He hasn’t practiced yet, and he hasn’t done anything,” said Pope during postgame interviews. “A ton of credit to Brandon Wells and Randy Towner, our performance team, for even making it possible that he could play.
“We sat down and had a long talk yesterday. He’s feeling so much stress because he’s like, ‘I don’t want to be out there if I’m not helping the team, but I want to help the team so bad.’ Then, you look at him. It’s the second straight game where he can’t sit down during timeouts. He made it through his shootaround today.
“So, we came and said, ‘Let’s go through warmups before the game and just see.’ Then, he got through warmups. He’s like, ‘I think I’m okay to try.’ Every rotation, I’m making an eye contact with Brandon Wells. I’m like, ‘What are you thinking? Can we do more? Do we need to shut it down? Where are we?’
“And Andrew ended up making huge plays, man. Huge plays, not just because he got a couple of and-1s, but because he got some guys in foul trouble that really helped us. He’s a tough kid, man. He’s a warrior. He’s a really tough kid. He loves our team.”
Carr played a balanced 10 minutes in the first half and 11 in the second, contributing 13 points and six rebounds. With 15:55 left in the game, he grabbed his own missed shot, converting a three-point play that extended Kentucky’s lead to 14.
However, when that lead quickly shrank to just two points, Carr returned to the floor and immediately answered with another three-point play, increasing the lead back to five.
A few minutes later, Carr once again followed up a missed shot with a putback before exiting for the final time at the 7:59 mark. Ansley Almonor stepped in to take over, drilling three triples in just two minutes to help seal the win.
Amari Williams noted that Carr’s decision to play through the pain highlighted the Wildcats’ resilience, proving they’re tougher than many had anticipated before the game.
“That just shows, again, we’re not a soft team,” said Williams. “The fact that he’s got back problems, which is serious, and he was still able to go out there and compete, get on the boards, block shots, play defense, it just shows what kind of character he is.”
Hopefully, Carr receives ample treatment and the most comfortable accommodations on the plane, bus, and anywhere else he travels in the next three days as Kentucky prepares to host No. 10 Texas A&M.
A Sea of Blue comes loaded with the best Kentucky Wildcats links, news, analysis, and some other fun stuff, so like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter. And Go CATS!
Entering the weekend, Vanderbilt baseball had gotten swept in its only SEC series in which it hadn’t won the first game.
So the Commodores had a tough task in a series they badly needed after dropping the opener 5-2 on a walk-off grand slam after Vanderbilt’s best healthy starter, Connor Fennell, pitched well.
But the Commodores (24-17, 9-9 SEC) rebounded to take the series with an 8-7 win in the second game and a 13-6 win in the finale April 19. They did that despite not having any pitcher go more than three innings in either game. Though the pitching was still shaky at times — they issued more free passes than strikeouts in both of the wins — they worked out of enough jams to let the offense go to work.
Here’s what we learned from the series.
Will Hampton proves an unlikely hero for the offense
Vanderbilt got strong performances from a few of its typical top performers, including Braden Holcomb (6-for-13, four doubles) and Brodie Johnston (4-for-12, two home runs, three walks). But one of the biggest hits of the series came from the unlikeliest of sources.
Logan Johnstone was held out of the finale after colliding with Mike Mancini in Game 2, and in his place coach Tim Corbin opted to go with redshirt freshman Will Hampton in left field. Hampton had recorded just six college plate appearances, all of which were in nonconference games.
But Hampton reached in all three of his plate appearances against Kentucky, first on a single, then a walk. In the sixth inning, with the score tied, he came up with the bases loaded and two outs and blasted a grand slam, giving Vanderbilt its first lead.
Tyler Baird learns the ups and downs of being a closer
Freshman Tyler Baird has been Vanderbilt’s closer for the past three weeks, recording his first save April 2 against Texas A&M. But he learned the pitfalls that can come with that role in Game 1 against Kentucky. Summoned for an eight-out save with the Commodores leading 2-1, he retired the first five batters, but loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth. He struck out the next two batters but then gave up the walk-off grand slam.
Baird returned for Game 3, this time attempting a five-out save and coming in with runners on first and second and one out with a three-run lead in the eighth inning. He allowed both inherited runners to score, but kept the lead and then had a scoreless ninth inning after Vanderbilt scored three runs in the top of the inning.
Baird’s emergence has been key for the Commodores, and the Game 3 bounce-back was especially important.
Vanderbilt’s RPI shows improvement
On April 15, Vanderbilt was 95th in RPI, a mark that wasn’t going to cut it for NCAA Tournament selection. But with a road series win against a Kentucky team that started the week in the top 20 of RPI, the Commodores moved all the way up to 75th, according to Warren Nolan.
While Vanderbilt will need to keep moving up — a top-50 mark would be ideal — the series win did a lot. In the next two weeks, it will face two top-five RPI teams in Alabama and Texas, giving more opportunity to improve its standing.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
Power forward has been one of the positions that Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats have to fill with Andrija Jelavic and Mo Dioubate gone. The two players that Pope has had on campus at the power forward position are Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman and Colorado’s Sebastian Rancik. Both are really good players, but Freeman is better by a wide margin.
It has felt that entire time that Kentucky wanted Rancik as the backup to Freeman or a backup plan if they weren’t able to land Freeman. Well, Rancik just picked Florida State, so perhaps this is a sign that the Wildcats will land Freeman.
Big Blue Nation was torn on Rancik, but I do believe he would have been a really solid backup power forward. I personally didn’t want him to be the starting four for this team. It is clear that he wanted to go somewhere where he could be the guy at the four, so he will be heading to the ACC to play for FSU.
Now that Kentucky has missed on Rancik, it is very important that the Wildcats land Freeman soon. The problem with waiting on some of these players is the fact that the portal isn’t slowing down. If Pope targets two power forwards and misses on both of them, most of the good fours in the portal will be gone.
There will be some panic in Lexington if the Wildcats are not able to land Freeman, but I do believe the Wildcats are in a good spot to land the elite power forward. From the beginning, Freeman has been my top player for Kentucky in the portal, as he, plus Malachi Moreno, will give the Wildcats an elite frontcourt.
If Pope is able to land Freeman and Tyran Stokes to pair with Zoom Diallo, Alex Wilkins, Moreno, and Kam Williams, this could be the start of a really good team in Lexington. Hopefully, an announcement for where Freeman will transfer comes soon, and hopefully, this will be to play for Pope at Kentucky.
Fans of rival teams will say Pope “whiffed” on Rancik, but if this whiff was because the Wildcats are set to land Freeman soon, then it was more than worth it for Kentucky. If the Wildcats are able to land Freeman, it will officially be time for Big Blue Nation to start getting excited about the 2026-27 season. I expect a decision from Freeman to come within the next day or two.
Rancik would have been a solid backup four in Lexington but Freeman has been the guy from the beggining for this staff so if Kentucky lands him all is well. If the staff misses on Freeman not landing Rancik will look bad.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
Kentucky
Kentucky is poised to land either Donnie Freeman or Sebastian Rancik this weekend, per report
Jones posted on Twitter that “Kentucky will have (absent a major change) either Freeman or Rancik by tomorrow,” while also noting the Wildcats still need to add another shooter and another big to round out the roster.
One of the top targets is Donnie Freeman, a 6-foot-9, 205-pound sophomore forward transferring from Syracuse. Freeman arrived in Lexington on Tuesday night and began his visit on Wednesday before leaving without a commitment. While there was concern he could land at UConn, that visit has since been canceled, leaving Kentucky and St. John’s as the top teams.
Freeman averaged 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game last season, while adding nearly a block and a steal per contest. He shot 47.4% from the field but 30.2% from 3-point range across 23 games.
The other option is Sebastian Rancik, a 6-foot-11, 220-pound sophomore forward transferring from Colorado. Rancik visited Kentucky starting Wednesday through Thursday and brings a versatile skill set, averaging 12.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2 assists per game while shooting 33.1% from 3.
Either Freeman or Rancik would provide a significant boost at the power forward position for head coach Mark Pope. Kentucky has already added guards Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins in the portal.
-
New York39 minutes agoInside the NYC Power Stations That Keep Trains Moving — or Bring Them to a Halt
-
Detroit, MI1 hour agoDetroit Pistons already facing must-win Game 2 vs Orlando Magic
-
San Francisco, CA1 hour agoGiants Head Home to San Francisco After Shutout Loss
-
Dallas, TX1 hour agoNew video of Lake Dallas explosion draws focus on order decades ago to remove old plastic pipes
-
Miami, FL2 hours ago
Ty Simpson considered staying in college for $6.5 million offer from Miami
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoTools for Your To Do List with Spot and Gemini Robotics | Boston Dynamics
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoDenver beekeeper says swarm season came a month early this year thanks to warm weather
-
Seattle, WA2 hours agoHere, Kitty, Kitty: Scenes from POP Cats Seattle 2026
