Kentucky
Nate Sestina picks a side in Kentucky vs. Bucknell
Nate Sestina was on the phone with his agent on Friday when he received a FaceTime call from Mark Pope ahead of Kentucky’s matchup vs. Bucknell on Saturday.
“The first thing he asked me was, ‘Who are you cheering for tomorrow?’”
Sestina started his career as a Bison and graduated from the school in 2019 before finishing as a Wildcat, heading to Lexington as a grad transfer for the 2019-20 season. He was a Second Team All-Patriot League selection as a senior at Bucknell before taking on a crucial bench role at Kentucky to wrap up his time in college, averaging 5.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting 40.7 percent from three — a sniper reserve piece.
It’s a difficult question for a guy like Sestina, who got his start and made a name for himself at Bucknell before creating new blue-blood memories at Kentucky — his new home, living in Lexington with his fiancee Madison Lilley during the offseason when he’s not hooping professionally in Spain.
“I was like, ‘It’s a tough one.’ He’s like, ‘I know you’re a Bucknell guy, but you’re still Kentucky Wildcat.’ … It’s a win-win for me, you know?”
Bucknell head coach John Griffin III was an assistant there when Sestina was a Bison, someone who “changed my perspective and trajectory as a young man,” he said. The former Wildcat reached out to Griffin leading up to the matchup and told him to make the most of the opportunity — he knows from experience you don’t get to play at Rupp Arena every day. Go try to win the game, obviously, but soak up the moment, too.
He remembers being in the players’ shoes going into a matchup like this, also against a blue-blood with all of the bells and whistles.
“When I was at Bucknell and we played high-major schools, part of it is you get to go play in a cool arena. For us, we played North Carolina and they have all the Jordans on the wall when you go through the locker room,” he said. “You soak in the experience. But you also want to compete. These guys, looking at these high-major teams when you’re a mid-major guy, that’s where you want to be. That’s where you want to get to, those are your goals.
“Whoever my matchup was, that’s who I wanted to go after. I wanted to gun, prove that mid-major guys are as good as high-major guys, it’s just a matter of time. The team Coach Griffin has put together the last two years he’s been there, you’re gonna have a bunch of scrappy junkyard dogs — guys diving on the floor and taking charges, guys getting excited and cheering their teammates on. The approach is that you want to enjoy it.
“This is a cool opportunity, you get to play Kentucky. How cool is that?”
It’s why he celebrated the matchup when it was announced. He knew how difficult it’d be to pick a side, but he’s been in both of those locker rooms and remembers what life was like as a mid-major looking for a shot and as a high-major after earning one.
Now he gets to celebrate both parts of his basketball journey.
“When I first saw it, my words were, ‘Oh, hell yeah! Let’s go!’ Bucknell is one of the most special places and a special program, it’s near and dear to my heart,” Sestina told KSR. “It helped shape me into the player that I ended up becoming and being able to become when I came to Kentucky.
“It’s weird that I have to choose a side — maybe I have to split it half by half and go first half Bucknell, second half Kentucky. I’m not sure yet, but I’m really excited. This is an awesome opportunity for Coach Griffin to play against the juggernaut that is the University of Kentucky.
“It’s a good opportunity for Kentucky to play against another good mid-major school and good mid-major programs.”
But there can only be one. Who is it gonna be, Nate?
“It doesn’t hurt me, but it hurts me. I think Kentucky is gonna get ’em, but the score? I don’t know,” Sestina said. “If Kentucky is hitting threes, it could get — I don’t know what Bucknell’s 3-point shooting is like, but I know they’re solid and run great plays. I know Coach Pope is fast-paced with lots of threes, so playing the law of averages, I’m gonna say a 15-point win. I’ll go with 88-73 (Kentucky).
“If I’m right, when I come back to Lexington, you gotta take me to Tony’s.”
Deal.
Kentucky
BY THE NUMBERS: Texas 31, UK 14
Kentucky played Texas competitively during stretches of Saturday’s game in Austin but an ugly stretch in the second quarter gave the Horns a lead they would never relinquish.
Here are some of the key numbers that tell the story of what happened in the game.
209 … More yards for Texas than Kentucky. That’s not surprising but speaks to the challenge. The Horns had 441 yards of offense with a lot of balance (250 on the ground, 191 through the air) while the Cats mustered only 211 yards of offense, almost all of which was passing.
160 … The total passing yards for Cutter Boley. The freshman was 10/18 for 160 yards and an interception. Boley entered the game because Brock Vandagriff was struggling and he did a lot to impress. He saw the field well, made some confident reads and delivered catchable balls down the field.
158 … Rushing yards for Texas’ Quintrevion Wisner. The Longhorns rushed for 250 yards on the game.
25:30 … Time of possession for Kentucky in the game. Any upset bid would have been aided by Kentucky controlling the ball more than Texas. That did not happen.
20 … Carries for Kentucky running backs Jamarion Wilcox (50 yards) and Demie Sumo-Karngbaye (30 yards). Wilcox had a long of 18 while DSK’s long was just six yards. The backs had decent success considering the opponent but Boley was charged with -57 rushing yards.
17 … Second quarter points for the Longhorns. That’s when the game appeared to be decided. First, the Horns went 65 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown. Then after a Vandagriff pick they scored again quickly before adding a field goal as the half ran out.
11 … Fumbles in the game. It was almost comical how often the ball was bouncing at times. Kentucky fumbled five times but didn’t lose one of them, while Texas fumbled six times and lost two.
10 … Tackles for sophomore Texas linebacker Anthony Hill, who we said coming into the game was playing at an All-American level. He had two sacks and three tackles for loss as the most active, productive Texas defender in the game. He was a problem Kentucky couldn’t account for.
6 … Sacks by the Texas defense. That led to UK only being credited with 21 rushing yards on the game, but more important was the impact on UK’s offensive results. The protection issues have been persistent all season.
2/12 ... Kentucky on third down. That’s not going to get it done in a game like this. That’s a big reason why Texas ran 23 more plays than Kentucky, and had the ball for 10 minutes longer. The big problem was that Kentucky averaged 11.1 yards to go on third down today.
0 … The turnover margin in the game. That gave Kentucky a chance to play somewhat competitively. Both teams had seven points off turnovers with UK’s being Jamon Dumas-Johnson’s return.
Kentucky
Quinn Ewers Returns vs. Kentucky Wildcats After Exiting Medical Tent
AUSTIN — Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers went into the medical tent in the second quarter of Saturday’s home finale against the Kentucky Wildcats after the conclusion of a touchdown drive. Ewers appeared to have his ankle rolled up on earlier in the possession but never went off to the sidelines despite having a small limp.
Fortunately for the Longhorns, he was right back on the field for Texas’ next drive after an acrobatic interception from Jelani McDonald. A few plays later, he connected with Gunnar Helm for his second touchdown catch of the day on a 17-yard score.
Ewers has, of course, been no stranger to injuries during his time at Texas. He’s in his third year with Texas but has missed a total of seven games as a Longhorn due to injury, with at least two absences in each season. This included two missed games this season due to an oblique injury he suffered against UTSA.
Naturally, the conversation of him earning the “injury-prone” label is a real one to have, but head coach Steve Sarkisian sees things differently.
“I don’t necessarily think so,” Sarkisian said. “Sometimes injuries happen because they happen, you know? … I mean, when a guy gets pile-drived on his shoulder, there’s a pretty good chance — it doesn’t matter who you are — your shoulder is probably going to be sore to some capacity. Or when you get pile-drived and your clavicle gets, gets popped. I mean, I don’t know many guys that would have withstood that hit from Dallas Turner a couple years ago. That was an odd hit. And I’ve seen that injury, that same injury Quinn had that year, Jalen Hurts had as well. Oddly enough, he has the oblique strain there a few weeks ago, and I’m watching the game the other night. Derek Carr is out of the game, oblique strain.”
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Kentucky
Mark Pope says this Kentucky team loves making plays for each other
This Kentucky basketball team is now 5-0 after a blowout win against Jackson State. A big part of the Wildcats’ success this season has undoubtedly been their unslefishness and the ability to make that extra pass. Their assist numbers prove it. Through five games, Kentucky has an assist rate of 61.6% of all of their made baskets through those games combined.
After the game, Mark Pope talked about how well this team shares the ball, and he describes it as a type of built-in DNA that each player on this Kentucky roster has. It has showed so far this season.
“I thought our guys did an unbelievable job making plays for each other. You know, 29
assists is a good number for us and I would take that any night, especially in a game
like this where it is so easy to think, awe man, in this game I’m just going to get one for myself. We just have a DNA, these guys have built a DNA on this team where they are actually excited to make plays for each other and I’m telling you that bodes well and it’s rare and it is important for the way we play and how this game is made up and our guys are going to continue to believe more and more that the more they give the more they get back, it’s the way this game works when it’s right and certainly they got to feel that tonight. I was really proud of them. …One of the special stories for us tonight is that we had 11 players score, 11 of our 12 guys scored. The only player that didn’t score led us in assists. That’s exactly how a Kentucky basketball team is supposed to function. We had one guy that didn’t score and he led us in assists with seven. And every other guy on the court scored and shared the ball, I think we had four guys with five or more assists in the game.”– Pope on Kentucky’s unselfishness.
Kentucky has been sharing the ball all season, and that is a huge identity for this team. On Friday night, their assist numbers were impressive. The Wildcats had 29 assists on their 41 made shots, which is an outstanding percentage of baskets being off of assists. It’s also worth noting that Kerr Kriisa didn’t score, but he dished out 7 assists in just 12 minutes of action.
The way this Kentucky team passes the ball adds to the excitement when watching them. A fun brand of basketball, especially when the ball moves around as much as they make it happen.
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