Kentucky
Starting 5: Louisville and Kentucky basketball targets to face each other for title, more
Louisville and Kentucky basketball recruiting targets Tyran Stokes, a five-star sophomore from Louisville who plays for Prolific Prep, and Jasper Johnson, a five-star junior from Woodford County who plays for Link Academy, are scheduled to play for a national high school basketball title at the Chipotle Nationals tournament in Brownsburg, Indiana.
Third-seeded Prolific Prep is set to play sixth-seeded Link at 6 p.m. April 4 in a first-round game. The last time the teams played, Prolific Prep escaped with a 77-76 win in December at the Derek Smith Invitational hosted by St. Xavier.
Around the city: Louisville women’s basketball assistant to be inducted into inaugural Hall of Fame class
Louisville women’s basketball assistant coach Stephanie Norman will be part of the inaugural A STEP UP Assistant Coaches Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Norman, who has spent 17 seasons with the Cardinals on Jeff Walz’s staff, will enter the Hall of Fame on May 21 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
This year’s A STEP UP Assistant Coaches Hall of Fame class includes coaches from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-12..
Around the state: Former KHSAA star, Kentucky basketball standout back on coaching carousel
Travis Ford, a former KHSAA star and Kentucky standout, is back on the coaching carousel after Saint Louis fired Ford on Wednesday. Ford went 146-109 during his eight seasons with the Billikens. The Madisonville North Hopkins alum has coached in seven NCAA Tournaments. He led Eastern Kentucky to the Round of 64 in 2005 as its coach.
High school recruiting: North Oldham track star commits to Penn State
North Oldham senior Brendan Ruggles committed to run for Penn State track. Ruggles is the defending Class 2A state champion in the 800 meters. He ran the fastest 3,200 in school history in February. He also ranks 11th in the state in the 1,600. Ruggles is a top-25 400 runner nationally, and he is the sixth-ranked 200 runner in Kentucky.
More: Sacred Heart’s ZaKiyah Johnson named Gatorade Kentucky Girls Basketball Player of Year
Mark your calendars
- Bellarmine baseball is scheduled to visit Louisville at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Knights are set to host Jacksonville in an ASUN series beginning at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
- Louisville softball is set to visit Miami (Ohio) at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The Cardinals are scheduled to host Duke in an ACC series beginning at 6 p.m. Friday.
- Bellarmine softball is set to visit Stetson for a three-game ASUN series beginning at 5 p.m. Friday.
- Louisville men’s golf is scheduled to compete at The General Hackler Invitational beginning Monday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
- Louisville women’s golf is set to compete at the Clemson Invitational beginning Friday.
- Bellarmine women’s golf is scheduled to play at the Nevel Meade Collegiate beginning Monday in Louisville.
- Bellarmine men’s lacrosse is set to visit Mercer at noon Wednesday and Queens University of Charlotte at noon Saturday.
- Louisville women’s lacrosse is scheduled to visit Liberty at noon Thursday and North Carolina at 11 a.m. Saturday.
- Louisville men’s tennis is set to host N.C. State at noon March 24 and Tennessee State at 5 p.m. March 24.
- Bellarmine men’s tennis is scheduled to visit Eastern Kentucky at 2:30 p.m. Monday and host Florida Gulf Coast at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
- Louisville women’s soccer is set to visit Kentucky at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Reach sports reporter Brooks Warren at bwarren@gannett.com and follow him on X at @Broookksss.
The Kentucky Wildcats are back in action Friday to face the Jackson State Tigers in the second game of the BBN Invitational.
To put it simply, Jackson State is bad, very bad. Sitting at 0-5 and ranked 321st in KenPom, the Tigers will likely be the worst opponent Kentucky will play all season.
Coached by Mo Williams, one of LeBron James’ old teammates with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Tigers have only finished above .500 twice in the last decade. This season, Jackson State is predicted to finish fourth in the SWAC.
Mark Pope recently said he wanted to build a standard, regardless of opponent and, and that will be tested on Friday.
Let’s take a look at the matchup.
More 3-Point Attempts
Admittedly nitpicking, one of the things that Mark Pope was not happy with in Kentucky’s win over Lipscomb was the amount of three-point attempts. While they shot nearly 50 percent from deep, going 12-25, Pope wants to see the number of attempts closer to 35.
The Tigers have allowed their opponents to shoot 47.8 percent from deep, the second-worst mark in the country. Pope and the staff will certainly generate a game plan to take advantage of this. Expect to see 30+ attempts.
Ball Movement
Despite beating Lipscomb by 29 points, the Wildcats had a season-low in assists with just ten. For context, Kentucky had averaged more than 23 assists per game entering the matchup.
“That’s not us. That’s not who we are,” Pope said after the game.
While there wasn’t a lot of selfishness, the ball just wasn’t ‘flying’ as it has been early this season. This is a priority for the staff and this mature group, and they will aim for 25+ assists.
Keep JSU off Free-Throw Line
Jackson State ranks in the top 100 nationally in one area: Free throws made per game. So, Kentucky, defend without fouling.
Kentucky’s offense makes headlines, but the defense has played very well to start the season, holding all four opponents to under 73 points. Let’s see if they can get down in a stance and defend well for 40 minutes vs. a team that stresses contact and drawing fouls.
Opposing Players to Watch
C Shannon Grant 6-11, 290 lbs
- 7.5 PPG
- 4.8
- Preseason All-SWAC First Team selection
G Jayme Mitchell Jr 6-5, 190 lbs
- 15.0 PPG
- 3.8 RPG
- 44.4% 3P
F Romelle Mansel 6-9, 220 lbs
- 10.8 PPG
- 5.8 RPG
- 31.7% FG (second most FG attempts on the team)
Time: 7 PM ET on November 22nd
Location: Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY
TV Channel: This game will not be on TV and is streaming only,
Online Stream: SEC Network+, ESPN+, and the ESPN app.
Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens have the radio call on the UK Sports Radio Network.
Replay: WatchESPN and SEC Network (check local listings).
Rosters: UK | JSU
Stats to Know: UK | JSU
KenPom: UK | JSU
Team Sheet: UK | JSU
Odds: FanDuel Sportsbook has yet to release the odds for the game, so check Thursday afternoon for an official spread. Multiple projections give Kentucky a 99% chance of winning: Bart Torvik (99%), EvanMiya (99.9%), and ESPN (99.0%). The exception is KenPom (92%).
Predictions: KenPom (93-63), Haslametrics (96-63), Bart Torvik (95-61), and EvanMiya (96-59) all are going with a 30+ point victory, Kentucky!
Be sure to send us your Kentucky vs. Jackson State score predictions! And Go CATS!!
The Kentucky Wildcats are now getting prepared for one of their hardest games on the schedule as they travel to Austin for a date with the Texas Longhorns.
This disappointing season has also been riddled with injuries across the board for the Cats. Whether it has been offense or defense, Mark Stoops’ squad has not been close to full strength, really, one time this season.
That will be the case again in Austin, as the first injury report of the week has been released.
With D’Eryk Jackson and Gerald Mincey out alongside DJ Waller, it’s Courtland Ford and Kahlil Saunders who carry questionable designations as of Wednesday.
For some good news, however, JJ Weaver seems likely to play, as he is listed as probable.
In addition, Deone Walker, Barion Brown, and Jamon Dumas-Johnson are no longer on the injury report, so they’re set to return this week.
Going to be an interesting afternoon in Austin. Let’s see if any more names pop up on this report as the week continues.
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