Welcome to A Sea of Blue's open game thread for the Loyola, Md. Greyhounds @ Kentucky Wildcats this afternoon at historic Rupp Arena. Game particulars are as follows:
| Loyola (MD) @ Kentucky |
|---|
| Kentucky vs. Loyola (Md) Thurs., Dec. 22 - 1:00 p.m. ET Lexington, Ky. Rupp Arena Game Notes: UK  | LU |
| Coverage |
| TV: FS South Radio: UK IMG Live video via ESPN3  Live Audio Text Updates Live Postgame Press Conference |
This is the obligatory Christmas week early afternoon game, something we have seen in all three years of John Calipari's tenure as Kentucky head coach. Last year it was the Winthrop Eagles, and the year before the Long Beach St. 49ers. This game also figures to see Terrence Jones riding the pine as he recovers from his injured left pinkie.
Keys to victory:
- Attack Greyhounds off the bounce. Winthrop is tall inside, but they are a step slower than the blazing Wildcats and not particularly good shot blockers;
Defend the three. Despite their pedestrian 3-point percentage, Loyola is better than they have shown, and we don't want that to show up today; - Avoid turnovers. Loyola is an aggressive defensive team and one of the steals% leaders in Division I;
- Press Loyola. The Greyhounds are not a great ballhandling team and will turn it over;
- Get into transition as often as possible. Kentucky's big men can outrun their Greyhound counterparts.
This is actually a much tougher test for UK than the last two, so we might actually learn a lot from this game as we ramp up toward the annual battle with our in-state foes, the Louisville Cardinals. But UK mustn't underestimate the Greyhounds, they are a capable team.