Kentucky
Wildcats take down Tigers in 95-64 rout
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Otega Oweh scored 24 points on 9 of 11 shooting to lead No. 19 Kentucky to a 95-64 win over LSU on Tuesday night.
Ansley Almonor and Brandon Garrison scored 15 points each and Collin Chandler finished with 11 for Kentucky (20-10, 9-8 Southeastern Conference).
Robert Miller III led LSU (14-16, 3-14) with 15 points, followed by Cam Carter with 14 and Jordan Sears with 13.
Oweh scored 15 points in the first half as the Wildcats took a 50-23 halftime lead.
Tuesday”s game was Senior Night for Ansley Almonor, Koby Brea, Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr, Jaxson Robinson and Amari Williams. They were on the team for a year, but to hear head coach Mark Pope talk about it, the year was filled with memories as if they had been at UK for four. Pope said, “They built relationships with each other. And to watch them just in that setting where the only focus was just taking them in, was actually really fun last night. Special guys”
Takeaways
LSU: The Tigers have lost four straight games since posting back-to-back wins over Oklahoma and South Carolina. Forward Daimion Collins, who played two seasons at Kentucky (2021-23), scored two points against his former team.
Kentucky: The Wildcats honored senior Almonor and graduate seniors Amari Williams, Andrew Carr, Koby Brea, Jaxson Robinson and Lamont Butler before the game. Kentucky secured its fifth straight 20-win season and coach Mark Pope reached the 20-win plateau for the seventh time in his coaching career.
Key moment
The Wildcats missed their first three field goals but put the game away with a 15-0 run, the team’s longest scoring spree since a 13-0 run propelled the team to an 81-69 win over No. 22 Texas A&M on Jan. 14. The spurt gave the hosts a 15-2 lead.
Pope was asked about what was different with the team, especially following the Auburn loss. Pope said, “We’ve been patch-working so much that we’ve lost a couple of things over the last six weeks. We lost this desperate hunger to get better, because we were just trying to stay afloat, right? By staying afloat in some ways, I think we did get better but there were so many distractions going on. You know we kind of lost the pace of the game because we are just trying to stay afloat. We are trying to get just enough live bodies to function.”
Key stat
Kentucky made 12 3-pointers and limited the Tigers to just two second-chance opportunities. The Wildcats outrebounded LSU, 37-30.
Up next
Kentucky wraps up the regular season on Saturday at No. 15 Missouri. The game will be at noon ET on ESPN.
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.
Kentucky football coach Will Stein reflects on new position
Will Stein was officially introduced to fans and media as the head coach for the Kentucky Wildcats, replacing Mark Stoops.
LEXINGTON — Kentucky football had its first spring game under new coach Will Stein at Kroger Field on Saturday.
The offense, in blue jerseys, had its moments. So too the defense, donning white uniforms.
Ultimately, the blue squad earned a 23-18 victory in a game called just after noon because of inclement weather.
Stein admitted he “got emotional” as he charged onto the field prior to kickoff.
“I know it wasn’t a real game, but when I ran on the field, I definitely — man, I felt it,” he said. “It was like a wave running over me. And very, very, just cool.”
While it doesn’t count in the standings, Stein walked away pleased.
“I think we got a lot of really good work,” he said. “That’s the goal of spring is to improve with fundamentals and technique, learn how to practice, learn what winning edges that we need throughout spring to go into summer and fall and prepare the team for play. And we came out of the scrimmage clean. There (were) no injuries, which to me, that’s the biggest win of the day. I could (not) care less about the score.
“If we come out clean, that’s good. The Wildcats won.”
New starting QB Kenny Minchey looked about as expected, with sharp passes evened out by moments of inconsistency. Martels Carter Jr., a defensive back who is lining up at running back this spring, scored a touchdown and had several nice runs.
And the defense forced multiple three-and-outs and also picked off one Minchey pass on a two-point conversion.
This story will be updated.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
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