KSR Gameday: A Kentucky Basketball Doubleheader

Many of you are going over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house today; if you’re driving or flying this evening, you’ll have plenty of Kentucky basketball to listen to, as both the men’s and women’s teams are in action.

At 4:30 p.m., No. 14 Kentucky WBB faces Arizona State in the Music City Classic in Nashville, a multi-team event also featuring Illinois, Dayton, Maryland Eastern Shore, and South Dakota. Kentucky will play Illinois tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET. The games will take place at tiny Trojan Fieldhouse on the campus of Trevecca Nazarene University, an arena with a 1,500-seat capacity. Unless you’re at Trevecca tonight, the only way you’ll be able to see the game is with an event pass on BallerTV. You can also listen via 98.5 FM in Lexington and follow Phoenix Stevens and Katie Hutchison’s updates on the KSR LIVE BLOG.

Two hours later, No. 8 Kentucky MBB will host Western Kentucky in the finale of the BBN Invitational (6:30 p.m., ESPNU). Both teams are undefeated in the multi-team event thus far, beating Lipscomb and Jackson State. While the Cats won their games by an average of 39 points, the Hilltoppers only defeated Lipscomb by five, 66-61, and Jackson State by 17, 79-62. They are 3-2 overall this season, beating Campbellsville and losing to Wichita State and Grand Canyon.

Hank Plona is in his first season as Western Kentucky’s head coach after taking over for Steve Lutz, who resigned to take the job at Oklahoma State. Plona was an assistant on Lutz’s staff and one of many familiar faces from last year’s roster, which won the Conference USA Tournament and lost to Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Western Kentucky returns three of its top five scorers from that team and 65.2% of its scoring. Like Kentucky, they’re a team full of veterans, with five graduate students, two redshirt seniors, and six seniors. One of those seniors is Don McHenry, who leads the Hilltoppers in scoring with 17.2 points per game.

This will be the eighth meeting between the in-state schools, the last taking place in Lexington in December 2021, a 95-60 Kentucky victory (the Cats were originally scheduled to play Louisville, which had to bail due to COVID). Oscar Tshiewbe set a Rupp Arena record with 28 rebounds in that one. I doubt that record will fall tonight, but Kentucky can extend its streak of games with at least ten threes to six, the best to start a season in program history.

Should be a fun day. Let’s get it rolling.

Gameday Schedule

• 4:00 PM: KSR Pregame Show (630 WLAP, iHeart Radio)
• 4:30 PM: No. 14 Kentucky WBB vs. Arizona State
• 6:30 PM: No. 8 Kentucky MBB vs. Western Kentucky
  • TV: ESPNU (Roy Philpott, Pat Bradley)
  • Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
  • Online Radio: iHeart
  • Satellite Radio: Sirius 210 or 191

You can also follow the game via our new LIVE BLOG on the website, which will begin an hour before tipoff, or join the conversation on KSBoard.

Kentucky vs. WKU Odds, Stats

Kentucky opened as a 21.5-point favorite on Monday, with the total set at 162.5 points. The line is now -22.5 Kentucky and the total 164.5 points. Kentucky’s team total is 93.5 points. The Cats are 4-0-1 this season against the spread, and the over has hit in four of five games, the exception being vs. Duke.

Here is how the teams match up statistically:

Koby Brea, Andrew Carr preview Western Kentucky, talk Thanksgiving

On Monday, Koby Brea and Andrew Carr met with the media to preview Western Kentucky. Brea compared Western’s defense to Duke’s, while Carr talked about the Hilltoppers’ fast pace on offense.

“They’re a pretty good defensive team from what we’ve seen. They change up their defenses a lot, they got a lot of aggressive defenders,” Brea said. “So I think it’ll be something new for us. Kinda similar in a way to Duke a little bit. So I think it’ll be a good challenge for us.

“They seem like they like to play super fast, aggressive,” Carr said. “Definitely a talented team. They’re going to come in here and give us their best shot, so we’re excited.”

Quick-hitters from Mark Pope’s first call-in show

Last night was the first Mark Pope call-in show of the 2024-25 season and it did not disappoint. Here are a few of the topics he and Tom Leach touched on in the hour-long conversation:

• Praise for Brandon Garrison: Garrison has an insane 4.25-1 assist-to-turnover ratio right now. Pope credited assistant coach Mikhail McLean for his work with Garrison, calling McLean a rising superstar in the game.
• Walker Horn gives pregame speeches: Everyone has a role on this team, including Walker Horn, a walk-on whom Pope claims gives pregame speeches. I need to see that.
• Tons of great Pope/caller interaction: As you might expect, Pope had some great back-and-forth with callers, including one fan who wrote him a letter several years ago predicting he would be Kentucky’s coach one day. His response? “It would be an honor, just as it was when I wore the uniform.”
• The importance of gratitude: Pope had some great comments about gratitude, which are especially fitting this week. “There are very few things that I will say are 100 percent truths: You cannot be more happy than you are grateful. This is just a true principle of life. It’s so true. Gratitude is something that we have, but it’s something we have to practice. If you are grateful, by definition, you will 100 percent be happy. Grateful people are happy. Ungrateful people have a really tough time being happy.” Preach.
• Ron Mercer called in: The highlight of the night? When “Ron from Tennessee” called in. Ron Mercer congratulated his former teammate on the exciting start to the season and share some of his takes on the squad. His favorite players? Jaxson Robinson and Koby Brea, both of whom remind him of himself a little bit.