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.
Mark Pope began his press conference with congratulations for Louisville, but quickly turned to a brutally honest assessment of his own team, calling the performance “extremely poorly” and an “incredibly disappointing” product for Kentucky basketball.
But the entire game —and Kentucky’s core issue —was summed up by one stat line.
Louisville had 20 assists and 6 turnovers. Kentucky had 14 assists and 14 turnovers.
“The 20 to 6 compared to the 14-14 tells the really the whole story of the game,” Pope said.
The Wildcats were “sticky with the ball,” as Pope put it, and completely abandoned their offensive principles. The result was a 20-point deficit and a final score that wasn’t as close as it looked. The Cats were able to get it to 4, but bad shot selection and bad defense allowed the Cardinals to end on an 8-4 spurt over the last 3 minutes.
How Kentucky got “punished”
Pope was clear that this wasn’t just a bad shooting night; it was a failure of execution that led to a confession you hate to hear, but know it is true:
“We’re going to lose a 20-to-6, 14-to-14 game. We’re just going to lose it,” Pope said. “And… we got punished for not playing it the right way.”
That punishment was clear. Louisville scored 19 points off turnovers and had 11 steals, constantly hounding Kentucky’s primary scorers. Otega Oweh, who finished with 5 turnovers on 4-for-13 shooting, was a primary target of the Cardinals’ defense.
“I thought they were physical with them. I thought they brought a crowd. They did everything we didn’t do,” Pope said of the plan against Oweh. “They were really good at bringing a crowd and… making them play through multiple defenders.”
Kentucky has a tune-up against Wright State on Friday, and it is really needed after the overall display put on tape last night. The good news is they still were in the game after playing so badly for long stretches. So, if you are a silver lining kind of fan, there you go.
The Kentucky Football Coaches Association has named its Players of the Year, Linemen of the Year and Coaches of the Year for all 48 districts, eight in each class.
Players of the Year, Linemen of the Year and Coaches of the Year for all six classes will be named during the state finals Dec. 5-6 at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field in Lexington. The KFCA Mr. Football and statewide Coach Haywood Lineman of the Year and Jimmie Reed Coach of the Year awards will be announced in mid-December.
Louisville-area Player of the Year winners are Christian Academy’s Ja’Hyde Brown, North Oldham’s Colin Daniels, Spencer County’s Keyon Davis, Atherton’s Garyon Hobbs, Bullitt Central’s A.J. Lee, Manual’s Gerian Traynor, Male’s Steron Davidson and Trinity’s Zane Johnson.
Louisville-area Lineman of the Year winners are Kentucky Country Day’s Kris Mandy, Christian Academy’s Kellan Hall, Valley’s Josh Vaughan, Spencer County’s Richard Gilbert, Iroquois’ Jeremiah Jackson, Fairdale’s Chaz Tutt, Male’s Christian White and Trinity’s Nate Shields.
Louisville-area Coach of the Year winners are Christian Academy’s Hunter Cantwell, Butler’s Gary Wheeler, Fairdale’s Louis Dover, St. Xavier’s Kevin Wallace, Male’s Chris Wolfe and Oldham County’s Jamie Reed.
Here are the award winners for each district, with Player of the Year listed first and followed by Lineman of the Year and Coach of the Year.
District One – Zayden Kinney (Fulton County), Drake Thorpe (Fulton County), James Bridges (Fulton County); Two – Kace Eastridge (Campbellsville), Kris Mandy (Kentucky Country Day), Dale Estes (Campbellsville); Three – Eddie Bivens (Newport Central Catholic), Will Sandfoss (Newport Central Catholic), Steve Lickert (Newport Central Catholic); Four – Charles Oglesby (Covington Holy Cross), Beckett Meersman (Bishop Brossart), Curt Spencer (Covington Holy Cross); Five – Caden Jones (Sayre), Wyatt Moore (Sayre), Chad Pennington (Sayre); Six – Landen Stiltner (Raceland), Jacob Litteral (Raceland), Michael Salmons (Raceland); Seven – Deakon Partin (Middlesboro), Christian Davis (Middlesboro), Larry French (Middlesboro); Eight – William Shoptaw (Hazard), Caden Thacker (Pikeville), Brian Melvin (Paintsville).
District One – Caden Howard (Crittenden County), Ashton Rodgers (Mayfield), Cliff Dew (Mayfield); Two – Miles Edge (Owensboro Catholic), Caden Conkright (Owensboro Catholic), Robert Eubanks (Hancock County); Three – Kris Hughes (Somerset), Andrew Houk (Green County), John Petett (Monroe County); Four – Tyler King (Lexington Christian), Sasha Wade (Danville), Lawrence Smith (Washington County); Five – Tyler Fryman (Beechwood), Lucas Tillery (Owen County), Steve Tarter (Bracken County); Six – Waylon Abner (Breathitt County), Waylon Abner (Breathitt County), Mark Easterling (Morgan County); Seven – Devan Maynard (Martin County), Preston Shepherd (Knott County Central), Randall Mullins (Knott County Central); Eight – Jonah Bartley (Shelby Valley), Bo Wolford (Belfry), Matt Varney (Belfry).
District One – Wyatt Robbins (Murray), Ryan Walls (Murray), Melvin Cunningham (Murray); Two – Hudson Gumm (Glasgow), Matt Stephens (LaRue County), Josh Robins (Butler County); Three – Ja’Hyde Brown (Christian Academy), Kellan Hall (Christian Academy), Hunter Cantwell (Christian Academy); Four – R.J. Blair (Garrard County), Mark Hosinski (Lexington Catholic), David Clark (Lexington Catholic); Five – Kaleb Evans (Lloyd Memorial), King Lee (Bourbon County), Kyle Niederman (Lloyd Memorial); Six – Jayden Frasure (Russell), Zach Brown (Russell), T.J. Maynard (Russell); Seven – Blake Burnett (Bell County), Spencer Phipps (Bell County), Dudley Hilton (Bell County); Eight – Luke Fetherolf (Lawrence County), Ty Brooks (Lawrence County), Alan Short (Lawrence County).
District One – Avery Thompson (Paducah Tilghman), Ben Myers (Paducah Tilghman), Coby Lewis (Calloway County); Two – Cavalli Pittman (John Hardin), Bryten Close (Taylor County), Josh Boston (Nelson County); Three – Colin Daniels (North Oldham), Josh Vaughan (Valley), Brock Roberts (North Oldham); Four – Keyon Davis (Spencer County), Richard Gilbert (Spencer County), Eddie James (Franklin County); Five – Tayden Lorenzen (Highlands), Max Merz (Highlands), Bob Sphire (Highlands); Six – Logan Music (Johnson Central), Drew Ferguson (Johnson Central), Jesse Peck (Johnson Central); Seven – Seneca Driver (Boyle County), Trashaun Bryant (Wayne County), Justin Haddix (Boyle County); Eight – Cole Stevens (Corbin), Malachi Brown (Corbin), Jacob Saylor (Harlan County).
District One – Markezz Hightower (Madisonville-North Hopkins), J.W. Muster (Owensboro), John Edge (Apollo); Two – Davis Chaney (Greenwood), Zach Jordan (Bowling Green), William Howard (Greenwood); Three – Garyon Hobbs (Atherton), Jeremiah Jackson (Iroquois), Gary Wheeler (Butler); Four – A.J. Lee (Bullitt Central), Chaz Tutt (Fairdale), Louis Dover (Fairdale); Five – Cam O’Hara (Cooper), Noah Reichel (Cooper), Randy Borchers (Cooper); Six – Timmy Emongo (Scott County), Justyn Perez (Woodford County), Dennis Johnson (Woodford County); Seven – Cooper Swaim (West Jessamine), Isaiah Wilkinson (West Jessamine), Scott Marsh (West Jessamine); Eight – Mason Griffin (South Laurel), Brady Hull (Pulaski County), Steve Nelson (North Laurel).
District One – James Bradley (Hopkinsville), Foster Jackson (Hopkinsville), Tyler Brooks (McCracken County); Two – Kayden York (South Warren), Malik Butler (South Warren), Brandon Smith (South Warren); Three – Gerian Traynor (Manual), Josiah Hope (North Hardin), Kevin Wallace (St. Xavier); Four – Steron Davidson (Male), Christian White (Male), Chris Wolfe (Male); Five – Zane Johnson (Trinity), Nate Shields (Trinity), Jamie Reed (Oldham County); Six – Jacob Savage (Ryle), Bo Gay (Ryle), Mike Engler (Ryle); Seven – Darnell Burnside (Tates Creek), Josiah Hernandez (Paul Dunbar), Jon Lawson (Lafayette); Eight – Dakari Talbert (Frederick Douglass), Camden Burke (Madison Central), William Blair (Madison Central).
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Follow on X @kyhighs.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration is taking steps to classify a form of kratom, a popular legal stimulant known to possess opioid-like qualities in low doses, as a Schedule I narcotic.
According to a press release on Nov. 5 from Beshear’s office, leaders are targeting the 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) byproduct, making it illegal to sell, possess, or distribute in any isolated or concentrated form.
“We have marked three straight years of declines in overdose deaths in Kentucky, and that is progress we’re committed to building on as we work to protect more lives in the fight against addiction,” said Gov. Beshear. “Deadly and addictive drugs like 7-OH have no place in our communities, and this step will help us get these drugs off the streets and provide us more tools to keep Kentuckians safe.”
Officials wrote that while 7-OH is a naturally occurring component in the kratom plant, it’s only found in small amounts. Highly concentrated forms of it are put in shots, powders, and capsules at dosages that make it highly addictive and dangerous.
State leaders said that back in August, Beshear issued an emergency designation of bromazolam, also known as “designer Xanax,” as a Schedule 1 drug. The Cabinet of Health and Family Services is reportedly working to put 7-OH kratom in the same category alongside heroin, LSD, and fentanyl.
More information about the Beshear administration’s work to ban 7-OH in Kentucky can be found here.
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