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Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball

How & Where To Watch No. 9 Alabama vs Kentucky: Jan. 26

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No. 9 Alabama will seek to extend its undefeated run in conference play when the Crimson Tide host Kentucky in a Southeastern Conference matchup at Coleman Coliseum on Tuesday night. Tip-off time for this encounter in Tuscaloosa, is slated for 7:00 p.m. ET, with ESPN providing the live television broadcast. Alabama is favored by -6.5 points at William Hill Sportsbook with the Over-Under set at 148.

Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST – Alabama is 10-5-1 Against The Spread. Kentucky is 5-8-1.

Kentucky (5-9, 4-3) vs. No. 9 Alabama (13-3, 8-0) – Fans can also stream the game live on WatchESPN and using the ESPN App via streaming devices, such as Amazon Fire TV, Firestick, Roku, or any other smart device.

Alabama enters this game on a nine-game winning streak and will aim to complete a season series sweep over Kentucky. The two teams met on Jan. 12 with the Crimson Tide earning an 85-65 victory after controlling the entire contest. John Petty Jr. scored 23 points in that win, while Alabama made 14 3-pointers.

Kentucky comes into this contest on the back of an 83-69 win over LSU on Jan. 23 to stop a three-game losing streak, which began with the loss to the Crimson Tide. The Wildcats have lost both of their games against ranked teams this season after falling to the then-No. 7 Kansas and then-No. 22 North Carolina.

Tough Night For Kentucky?

This is expected to be another tough matchup for John Calipari’s team with Alabama coming in with a fruitful run at home, having won its last five games on its turf. According to Automated Insights, the Tide are also scoring an average of 84.8 points and allowing 67.2 on the defensive side at home.

Kentucky has not fared well when scoring less than 65 points – losing all nine of its games when that occurs. However, the SEC powerhouses are 5-0 when scoring at least 65.

With such a young team, it is reasonable to acknowledge that the Wildcats have been relying heavily on its freshmen. They are being led by Brandon Boston Jr., Olivier Sarr, Isaiah Jackson, and Devin Askew who have combined to score 53 percent of the team’s points.

Petty Jr. leads Alabama in scoring this season with 14.1 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 47.8% from the field and 42.2% from 3-pointers.

Kentucky vs. Auburn: Who Is The Favorite? How Can I Watch Live

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After a somewhat revived run in recent fixtures does Kentucky starts as the favorite to beat Auburn on Saturday? Unfortunately, that’s not the case as the latest William Hill Sportsbook odds is listing Auburn as the favorite vs. the Wildcats this weekend.

The Tigers open as the -3.0 point favorite for the contest at Auburn Arena, with the money line at -160 for the home side. Kentucky is at +140, with the over-under for the points total sitting at 147.5.

How To Watch Auburn vs. Kentucky Live Coverage

After losing six straight games to start the season at 1-6, Kentucky (4-7, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) has been slowly finding its way back and has won three of the last four games before falling to Alabama, 85-65 in a blowout loss.

Tuesday night’s defeat to the Crimson Tide snapped a run of three straight wins for the Wildcats, who are beginning to show some sign of confidence.

Three players reached double-digits in scoring for Kentucky against Alabama, with Isaiah Jackson finishing with 14 points off the bench, Devin Askew scoring 12, and Keion Brooks Jr. adding 10.

“We didn’t show up today, we didn’t execute that well,” Askew said after the loss.

Meanwhile, Auburn (7-6, 1-4) picked up its first conference win against the winless Georgia on Wednesday to snap a four-game losing streak and eased off .500 overall this campaign.

Freshman Sharife Cooper was the highlighted player for the Tigers in the win after he finished with 28 points, 12 assists, five rebounds, and two steals.

Cooper who was only cleared to play by the NCAA last week, is averaging 27 points, 4.5 rebounds, 10.5 assists, and 2.5 steals in two games.

Allen Flanigan is averaging 13.8 points with 5.1 rebounds and shooting 50.0% from the field for Kentucky after 13 games, while Justin Powell is putting out 11.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He is also shooting 44.2 percent from 3-point range.

The Wildcats will be hoping to take better care of the ball against Auburn after its offense turned it over 14.9 times per game coming into this contest.

Highlights And Recap: Louisville 62, Kentucky 59, Jones Scores 20

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Coach Cal losing it? Could he be on his way out of Kentucky? These are not the usual questions people asked among themselves, but after another defeat for the Wildcats on Saturday, many are now wondering if time is now running out for coach John Calipari.

His comment after the game “losing stinks.”

How Louisville Defeated Kentucky – Gam Highlights

Carlik Jones made two free throws with 5.1 seconds remaining and Louisville handed rival Kentucky a 62-59 defeat on Saturday.

The loss this weekend means Kentucky registered its first-ever six-game losing streak since 1988-89, which was the last season for then head coach Eddie Sutton. It was just the third time in program history the Wildcats were 1-6 to start a season.

Jones scored 20 points and five rebounds and David Johnson added 17 points with seven rebounds and four assists to lead Louisville.

The Wildcats trailed 28-27 at halftime but started the second half on the front foot to take the lead early after the break.

Louisville fought back to lead 56-49 with 4:50 left in the half but the Wildcats (1-6) rallied again to tie the game at 59-all with 1:05 left on Isaiah Jackson’s free throw.

The Cardinals (6-1) went back ahead 60-59 when Dre Davis made one of two free throws with 18.9 left.

Boston’s Missed 3-Pointer Hands Louisville Win

However, on the next possession, Kentucky’s Olivier Sarr watched his jumper rimmed out, and then his teammate Davion Mintz committed a foul to send Jones to the free-throw line and he made both to seal the win as Brandon Boston Jr. missed a potential game-tying wide-open 3-pointer.

Kentucky John Calipari
Kentucky college basketball head coach John Calipari

Mintz finished with 19 points on 6 of 12 shooting, which included 4 for 6 from 3-pointers, to go along with seven rebounds and two steals to pace Kentucky, which had won 11 of 13 in the series.

Boston added 11 points and seven rebounds, while Jacob Toppin had 10 points with six rebounds for the Wildcats, who shot 34.5% from the field and 29.4% from 3-pointers.

Kentucky had just six assists on 20 made baskets but outrebounded Louisville 40-35.

Louisville, which won two straight since losing to then-No. 12 Wisconsin a week ago, finished with just nine assists on 22 made field goals and made 12 of the 15 attempts from the free-throw line.

For More College Basketball News and Highlights

Digital Box score

KENTUCKY (1-6)

Jackson 2-6 3-4 7, Sarr 0-4 1-2 1, Askew 3-9 0-0 7, Boston 3-11 5-5 11, Mintz 6-12 3-5 19, Toppin 5-7 0-1 10, Clarke 0-4 0-0 0, Ware 1-5 2-5 4. Totals 20-58 14-22 59.

LOUISVILLE (6-1)

Withers 3-3 2-2 8, Johnson 5-10 4-5 17, Jones 7-16 5-6 20, Davis 2-9 1-2 5, Williamson 2-6 0-0 4, Slazinski 2-4 0-0 5, Traynor 0-0 0-0 0, Nickelberry 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 22-52 12-15 62.

Halftime–Louisville 28-27. 3-Point Goals–Kentucky 5-17 (Mintz 4-6, Askew 1-5, Boston 0-3, Clarke 0-3), Louisville 6-20 (Johnson 3-4, Slazinski 1-2, Jones 1-3, Nickelberry 1-4, Williamson 0-2, Davis 0-5). Fouled Out–Jackson. Rebounds–Kentucky 35 (Jackson, Boston, Mintz 7), Louisville 34 (Withers 9). Assists–Kentucky 6 (Askew 3), Louisville 9 (Johnson 4). Total Fouls–Kentucky 15, Louisville 17. A–3,281 (22,090).

How To Watch Louisville vs. Kentucky Live, Stats & Preview

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Kentucky will try to stop a five-game bleed when it takes on rival Louisville in a college basketball game at KFC Yum! Center on Saturday. The Wildcats have been struggling to connect as a team this early season, but know that a win at Louisville could be the spark they need to push on.

ESPN will have live stream of this game, which starts at 4:00 p.m. ET. WatchESPN.com will stream the action live using your Amazon Fire TV and Firestick.

A look at the upcoming week around the Southeastern Conference:

GAME OF THE WEEKEND: Kentucky at Louisville, though there’s scant competition. The Wildcats have dropped five games in a row for the first time since John Calipari took over in 2009. They’re off to their worst start since the 1926-1927 season.

But Kentucky has won 11 of the last 13 meetings with its in-state rival, including a 78-70 overtime victory last Dec. 28. Louisville returned from a lengthy break due to coronavirus problems with a 85-48 humbling by No. 9 Wisconsin while playing without Cardinals leading scorer Carlik Jones. Both teams have tumbled from the Top 25, with the Wildcats having opened at No. 10. The only other weekend game with an SEC team is Vanderbilt against Alcorn State on Sunday.

LOOKING AHEAD: League games start next week with No. 8 Tennessee’s visit to 14th-ranked Missouri on Wednesday night as the headliner. SEC matchups start Tuesday with Texas A&M visiting LSU and Mississippi at Alabama. South Carolina’s game at Kentucky has been called off because of COVID-19 issues within the Gamecocks program. The SEC has scheduled league games through March 3 with a window after that for makeup games Tennessee was the preseason favorite to win the league followed by Kentucky, LSU, Florida and Alabama.

TOUGH LOSSES

The league has taken some hits from non-Power 5 teams, including Auburns loss to UCF, Kentucky to Richmond, LSU to Saint Louis and both Mississippi State and South Carolina falling to Liberty. Richmond also beat Vanderbilt. But SEC teams went 6-1 Tuesday night, a record marred only by Davidson’s 85-65 win over the Commodores.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Georgia’s Toumani Camara, the reigning SEC player of the week, is averaging 17 points and 9.8 rebounds over the last five games. He scored 12 of his 13 points in the second half against Northeastern and collected eight rebounds.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Tennessee and Missouri are the only ranked SEC teams with conference games approaching. Four teams are receiving votes: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and LSU. … LSU has the league’s No. 2 and No. 3 scorer. Cameron Thomas is averaging 21.6 points per game. Trendon Watford is scoring at an 18.8-point clip. Georgia’s 5-foot-10 guard Sahvir Wheeler is averaging 13.7 points and a league-best 7.4 assists. Nobody else in the league is dishing out five assists per game. … Georgia outscored Northeastern 44-13 in the second half to overcome a 15-point deficit.

ON THE WOMENS SIDE: The SEC women’s teams mostly got the week off before with a few tune-up games early next week before league play. All 14 teams will be in action on New Year’s Eve when SEC games tip off. Unlike the men, five SEC women’s teams are ranked: No. 5 South Carolina, No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 11 Arkansas, No. 12 Mississippi State and No. 13 Kentucky. Auburn’s Unique Thompson is leading the nation with an average of 15.3 rebounds per game.

[Free Highlights] Georgia Tech Hands No. 20 Kentucky 3rd Straight Loss

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ATLANTA — Moses Wright scored 21 points and Georgia Tech handed No. 20 Kentucky a third straight defeat of the season with a 79-62 result on Sunday. The Wildcats won their first game of the season, but have now lost for the third straight time.

Wright, who had a balanced outing shot 9 of 14 from the field, grabbed eight rebound, three blocks, three assists and two steals, as Georgia Tech (1-2) recovered from defeats to Georgia State and Mercer to start the season win a marquee win.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFNWQ8b3lWw

Bubba Parham, who made three 3-pointers and shot 7 of 10 overall from the floor had 17 points, and four assists, while Kyle Sturdivant ended with 15 points on 5 of 6 shooting off the bench for the Yellow Jackets.

“We didn’t hang our heads over those losses,” said Parham. “Yeah, those losses sting. At the end of the day we understood the bigger goal. We put that behind us.

“We just wanted to focus on this game and play the way we wanted to play.”

Also reaching double figures in scoring was Jordan Usher, who ended with 12 points before fouling out and Jose Alvarado, who scored 10 for Georgia Tech, which shot 51.7% from the field on 31 of 60 shooting.

Freshman Terrence Clarke paced Kentucky with 22 points on 9 of 14 shots with three 3-pointers.

The Wildcats rolled over Morehead State in their season opener, but slumped to defeats against Richmond and No. 6 Kansas.

Sunday’s loss now means Kentucky is 1-3 to start the campaign, the program’s worst opening stretch to a basketball season since 2000-01.

“There’s a lot of stuff we’re working on and losing games makes it harder,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “Everybody is knocking us around right now.”

B.J. Boston, who scored 11 points, was the Wildcats’ only other scorer in double figures, while Isaiah Jackson grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to go with four assists.

Kentucky led 22-19 with 6:49 remaining in the first before Georgia Tech used a 13-0 run to take the lead and went into the halftime break leading 34-27.

The Yellow Jackets had 15 steals and had a 33-4 advantage of Kentucky in points off turnovers.

The Wildcats will most likely drop out of the Top 25 ranking after suffering their second loss by double figures.

[How To Watch] No. 20 Kentucky (1-1) vs. No. 7 Kansas (1-1) – Preview

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The No. 7 Kansas Jayhawks and the 20th ranked Kentucky Wildcats will battle in the State Farm Champions Classic tournament at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse here in Indianapolis on Tuesday.

Live coverage of this game will be on ESPN, while live streaming is on WatchESPN.com and the ESPN App.

No. 20 Kentucky (1-1) vs. No. 7 Kansas (1-1)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis; Tuesday, 9:30 p.m. EST

Kansas (1-1) rebounded from the defeat to No. 1 Gonzaga in its season opener on Thanksgiving Day, with a 92-72 win against Saint Joseph’s on Sunday in Fort Myers.

However, after cruised past Morehead State 81-45 in the season opener last Wednesday night, Kentucky (1-1) was stunned 76-64 at Rupp Arena by Richmond, a team that didn’t win a single game against AP top-10 teams from 25 attempts on the road.

Heading into this game, Jayhawks’ Christian Braun is averaging 19 points, 5.5 rebounds, and two steals over the last two games, while Ochai Agbaji has put up 17.5 points, Marcus Garrett averaging 13.5 and Jalen Wilson, 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds.

Braun has also connected on 63.6 percent of the 11 3-pointers so far and made 71.4 percent of his foul shots this early term.

For the Wildcats, stand out freshman Brandon Boston Jr. has averaged 17.5 points and 8.5 rebounds across two games thus far to be the leading contributor for his team. Terrence Clarke has put up 13.5 points, five rebounds, and two, while Olivier Sarr is averaging 12.5 points and 7.0 boards for Kentucky.

Boston Jr. has made 44.1% of his field-goal attempts and is shooting 71.4% from the free-throw line for Kentucky.

The Kansas Jayhawks are scoring an average of 92 points per game and making 44.7% of their 3-point attempts

Kentucky Wildcats are scoring 72.5 per game in the young season but making just 23.1% from long-range.

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[Highlights] – No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats Upset By Richmond, 76-64

No. 6 Kansas Rebounds With 94-72 Win Over Saint Joseph’s

[Highlights] – No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats Upset By Richmond, 76-64

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Lexington, KY — No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats were shocked on Sunday by the unranked Richmond Spiders, who had never won a game against an AP ranked team. Richmond came away with a 76-64 victory to hand Kentucky a home defeat at Rupp Arena.

Nathan Cayo and Blake Francis each scored 18 points, as four Spiders players reached double figures in the score column to help setup the road win.

Cayo also had six rebounds, while Francis ended with three rebounds and three steals on the day.

Grant Golden added 13 points, a team-high seven rebounds and five assists and Tyler Burton finished with 11 points and four boards for Richmond (2-0), which secured its first victory against a Top 10 team after previously going 0-10 since the inception of poll in 1948-49.

Kentucky led 32-28 at halftime and came out scoring the first four points in the second half.

However, the Spiders knotted the game at 36-36 early in the second half and then took the lead for good with 14:42 remaining in the game.

The Wildcats (1-1) trailed 51-44 with 10:43 left in the second half after Francis buried a 3-pointer.

Golden then hit another 3-pointer to build the Richmond lead to 12 points with 7:49 remaining as the travelers resisted any possible comeback from the home side.

Talented freshman Brandon Boston Jr. had a double-double with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds for Kentucky, while Olivier Sarr also collected a double-double for himself with 17 points and 11 boards in the defeat.

Terrence Clarke chipped in with 15 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats, who shot 36.1% and missed all 10 of their attempts from 3-point range.

Kentucky dominated the boards on the day, dominating Richmond 54-31, but only had five assists on 22 made baskets.

The Spiders shot 43.3% from the floor.

No. 10 Kentucky Rolls Over Morehead State, 81-45 To Open Season

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — No. 10 Kentucky crushed Morehead State 81-45 in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday night. The Wildcats led 45-26 at the half and kept the victors quiet for most of the second half.

Brandon Boston Jr., one of the top prospects this season, collected 15 points and seven rebounds to lead three other players in double-digit scoring in the Bluegrass Showcase win for Kentucky.

Devin Askew and Terrence Clarke each added 12 points and graduate transfer Davion Mintz contributed 10 points off the bench for the Wildcats (1-0), who shot 55.9% from the field and held Morehead State to just 19 points in the second half.

“what I was encouraged about is we looked like an organized basketball team,” said Kentucky coach John Calipari. “Ten guys, never played together, never played for me….I like this group.”

Clarke was encouraged about the performance.

“I feel like today was a really good game, great team win,” he said. “I think just seeing the things I’ve seen on the court, we are a great team, but everyone has to play the full court and full defense.

“This is our first game and I think everyone was very anxious and ready to play, just getting that first game under our belt and looking forward to Sunday.”

Johni Broome and Julius Dixon each paced the Eagles (0-1) with 11 points – the latter collecting his tally off the bench – while James Baker Jr. added 10 for Morehead State, which shot 34.0% from the floor and missed 18 of its 21 attempts from 3-point range.

“Obviously, it wasn’t the result that we wanted, but certainly we know we can’t down play the fact that we are fortunate to be playing right now,” Morehead State coach Preston Spradlin said.

Spradlin said his team learned a “valuable lesson” against Kentucky and he hopes his players will use it to develop.

“It was a really valuable lesson for our guys tonight,” the coach said after the defeat. “The big takeaway for us tonight was that we did not play the way we want to play. We may have executed our offense better and defended better than we would have, and the score may have been the same, but I can live with that one.

“I think our guys learned a lesson that we weren’t expecting them to win one on one battles with the guys at Kentucky, we weren’t. We needed them to buy into playing team basketball like we’ve been doing in practice.”

The Eagles fell to 0-11 against the Kentucky.

UP NEXT

Morehead State will face Richmond on Friday, with Kentucky hosting Richmond on Sunday.

Box Score: Johnson, Travis Help No. 19 Kentucky Beat No. 9 North Carolina, 80-72

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CHICAGO — Keldon Johnson scored 23 points and Reid Travis added 20 and No. 19 Kentucky beat No. 9 North Carolina 80-72 in the CBS Sports Classic at United Center on Saturday night. Box Score|Play-by-Play|Team Stats|Videos

Johnson, a freshman from South Hill, Virginia, shot 8 of 12 from the floor and connected on four 3-pointers, including three after the interval.

He scored 16 of his points in the second half.

Embed from Getty Images

Meanwhile, Travis added six rebounds, three steals and two blocks to his contribution on the night, while Tyler Herro scored 15 points and PJ Washington added 11 points, nine rebounds and a career-high eight assists for the Wildcats (9-2).

Cameron Johnson led North Carolina with 17 points, with Luke Maye ending with 16 points and six rebounds for the Tar Heels (8-3), who were playing Kentucky for the first time since the 2017 NCAA South Regional final.

Kenny Williams added 11 points, six rebounds and five assists for North Carolina, which beat then-No. 4 Gonzaga last week.

Kentucky was winning back-to-back games since the overtime 84-83 loss to Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 8.

Kentucky led 63-55, with a little over eight minutes remaining before Keldon Johnson nailed 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions and Washington also made another connection from long range later in the game and the Wildcats held on down the stretch.

As a team, Kentucky shot 44.4 percents from the field and scored 28 baskets on 24 assists. The Wildcats also scored 20 points off 17 turnovers. They struggled from 3-point range, though, making just 9 for 26.

North Carolina shot 42.2 percent, while going 7 for 19 from 3-pointers.

Reid Travis Guides No. 10 Kentucky Past UNC Greensboro 78-61

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Reid Travis collected a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds and No. 10 Kentucky rallied to beat UNC Greensboro 78-61 at Rupp Arena on Saturday. Box Score // Play-by-Play // Team Stats // Videos

Travis, a senior forward from Minneapolis, shot 8 of 16 from the field and made 5 of his 6 attempts at the free throw line in his game-high 37 minutes of action.

Tyler Herro added 18 points and five rebounds and Keldon Johnson grabbed a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards for the Wildcats (7-1), who were winning for the seventh consecutive time since losing the season opener to Duke.

Francis Alonso led the way for UNC Greensboro with 22 points but struggled in the second half after scoring just three points after the interval.

Isaiah Miller chipped in with 12 points off the bench for the Spartans (7-2), who had won six straight games entering this clash.

UNC Greensboro led 40-37 at halftime and had a 55-50 with 13:08 remaining.

However, Kentucky used back-to-back 3-point plays to take a 56-55 lead and then dismissed the immediate resistance from the Spartans to pull away for the win.

As a team, Kentucky shot 48.3 percent from the field and dominated the boards 46-30.

The Wildcats will return to action next Saturday against Seton Hall in the Citi Hoops Classic in New York.

Meanwhile, UNC Greensboro will travel to Elon on Friday in its final road non-conference game.