Kentucky

Mark Pope reflects on skirmish in front of Louisville bench: 'That was probably the most fun part of the game, right?'

Published

1 month ago

December 15, 2024

Mark Pope reflects on skirmish in front of Louisville bench: 'That was probably the most fun part of the game, right?'

The Kentucky–Louisville rivalry delivered on Saturday, with a scuffle breaking out in the second half between UK forward Brandon Garrison and the Cardinals’ bench. After the game, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope reflected on the wild moment.

“Listen, it wouldn’t have been an appropriate game if it wasn’t a tension-filled mosh pit down in front of their bench. That was probably the most fun part of the game, right?” Pope said. “But I think you have two organizations right now that have an insane amount of passion about winning and feel all of the joy and intensity and stress of this rivalry.

“But also are pretty good about being focused about what actually makes you play the best to give yourself the best chance to win. I think both programs are probably in that space somewhere.”

The skirmish broke out when Louisville’s Reyne Smith dove for a ball near the Cardinals’ bench and Garrison went after it, as well. While the two battled for the ball, Garrison stumbled into Louisville’s bench and some shoving ensued.

It didn’t last long with both Pat Kelsey and Mark Pope rushing into the action to keep their players from escalating the situation. Nonetheless, the short-lived incident energized the Rupp Arena crowd, with fans noticeably louder after the scuffle.

Kentucky ultimately responded best to the fracas, running away with a 93-85 win. In the victory, UK shot 32-55 (58.2%) from the field and 11-21 (52.4%) from beyond the arc. Pope’s Wildcats looked like a well-oiled machine, racking up 23 assists, compared to Louisville’s mere eight.

Pope believes his team used the scuffle as a motivating factor instead of allowing it to distract them.

“You have two veteran groups that are pretty focused on the way they compete the best, the way they give themselves the best chance to win,” Pope said. “It is to be laser-focused on the job at hand and be super disciplined about not letting the emotion be a distracting factor, if that makes sense. I was really proud of our guys.”

Kentucky fifth-year senior point guard Lamont Butler responded particularly well to the incident, erupting for a career-high 33 points while shooting 10-10 from the floor, including six 3-pointers.

Butler’s status was questionable leading up to the game due to an ankle injury that he’d suffered in Kentucky’s loss to Clemson on Dec. 3. Kentucky must maintain its focus as it prepares to square off against Ohio State on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET.

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Related Topics:Brandon Garrison (23 - Del City)Featured Mark Pope (91 - Newport Senior)

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Kentucky

Bipartisan bill filed that would target violence committed by minors

Published

8 hours ago

January 20, 2025

Press Room

Bipartisan bill filed that would target violence committed by minors

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) – Kentucky’s general assembly is currently on a break after convening for four days to start 2025 legislative session.

However, hundreds of bills were filed in those four days.

“I feel like too many young people are committing act of violence with guns and we need to get it under control,” said Rep. Kim Banta (R-Ft. Mitchell).

Republican Rep. Banta said House Bill 55 does not just apply to guns.

“My party asked me they said, ‘look why pick on guns, why not any weapon?’,” she said. “And so, I changed it and so if you buy your child a machete and they choose to put it in their backpack and go to school and harm people, you’re going to be held accountable for it.”

The bill would make parents or guardians civilly liable for injury caused by a destructive device, explosive, firearm or other deadly weapon. The bill would apply to legal guardians who allow the minor to have the device, know that the minor has a delinquent history or knows that the intended use is to commit a crime.

“Anything that we can do that may deter a horrific crime would be something I’m all about,” said Rep. Tina Bojanowski (D-Louisville).

Democratic Rep. Bojanowski said she is cosponsoring House Bill 55 because as a teacher, she said it is important for parents or legal guardians to have a pulse on their child.

“You know maybe yeah your son really enjoys hunting and you gave them this knife, but you may want to think twice if he’s been accused and found guilty of a crime already,” said Rep. Bojanowski.

As the session continues, Rep. Banta said she hopes to convey that the bill is not about taking away guns or imposing restrictions.

Kentucky’s House of Representatives and Senate will meet for part II of the 2025 legislative session on Feb. 4.

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Kentucky

Strack scores 25, Amoore has 24, and No. 12 Kentucky women top Georgia 78-64

Published

15 hours ago

January 19, 2025

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Strack scores 25, Amoore has 24, and No. 12 Kentucky women top Georgia 78-64

Associated Press

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Led by Clara Strack with 25 points and Georgia Amoore with 24 points, No. 12 Kentucky defeated Georgia 78-64 on Sunday.

Strack made 9 of 19 shots and 6 of 7 free throws. She had 12 rebounds to complete her fourth double-double this season. Amelia Hassett had 14 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double this season and Amoore had eight assists.

Trinity Turner scored 19 points and De’Mauri Flournoy had 19 of Georgia’s 21 bench points.

Kentucky dominated the first quarter, building a 23-4 lead. All three players who scored for the Wildcats — Amoore (11 points), Strack (6) and Hassett (6) — outscored Georgia. The Bulldogs made one of 16 shots.

Kentucky led 44-31 at halftime before being outscored by nine points in the second half.

After the disastrous first quarter, Georgia battled back and got as close as 69-57 with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. A layup by Asia Avinger had Georgia within 12 points again, 73-61, with a minute to go but Amoore hit a jumper and Cassidy Rowe made 3 of 4 free throws to close it out.

The Wildcats are 16-1 overall and 5-0 in the Southeastern Conference, marking their fourth-best start to a season through 17 games in program history and their best start to league action since 2012-13. That season, the Cats won their first six conference games.

The win for the Wildcats was their 15th by at least 10 points but the 14-point margin ended a streak of six straight wins by 16 points or more.

Kentucky visits Texas A&M on Thursday.

Georgia (9-11, 1-5 SEC) is idle until a road game next Sunday against No. 13 Oklahoma. ___

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

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Kentucky

KSR Today: Recapping Kentucky's first shootout loss

Published

23 hours ago

January 19, 2025

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KSR Today: Recapping Kentucky's first shootout loss

We all knew a shootout was coming when Kentucky hosted Alabama on Saturday. Odds were decent that the first team to triple-digits would leave Rupp Arena victorious. Unfortunately, Kentucky ended up on the wrong side.

The Tide won the three-point attempt (34-27) and free throw attempt battle (34-20). Nate Oats saw his team win the shot volume battle and that was enough to knock off the Cats.

KSR Today is taking a look back at the loss and a look ahead to another Sunday Funday for Kentucky women’s basketball and the NFL playoffs.

KSR recaps Kentucky’s first home loss of the season

KSR has you covered from every angle as we recap what all went wrong for Kentucky against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Smash those links.

Kentucky WBB hits the road to face Georgia

Kenny Brooks has led his first Kentucky team to a 15-1 (4-0) start and is riding eight consecutive victories. But the Wildcats will be playing a road game on Sunday for the first time since the loss to No. 16 North Carolina on Dec. 5.

Georgia (9-10, 1-4) has struggled this season. Before the season, the Lady Bulldogs were picked to finishing 14th in the SEC.

KSR will have live in-game and postgame coverage as UK looks to improve to 5-0 in league play. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET. The game will stream on ESPN+.

NFL Divisional Round wraps up

The football was not boring on Saturday. Kansas City beat Houston in a slugfest as the Texans fall to 0-7 all-time in the divisional round. Then Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders shocked the football world when they took out the best team in football.

That sets the table for Sunday with two championship game participants locked in. The No. 6 seed Commanders could play an NFC East game next weekend and will hit the road for the NFC Championship no matter what happens in Philadelphia today. The Chiefs will host the winner of Baltimore-Buffalo.

Buckle in for some more playoff football.