Kentucky Wildcats: Morning Quickies - Hoops Keeps Winning Edition

The women's basketball team continues to earn their ranking as they handle Pepperdine on the road last night.

Tweet of the Morning:

Why are crazy girls always the most attractive ones?

— Dylan Fuller (@dfull10) December 19, 2012

#BurningQuestions

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• John Clay: Barnhart hopes Kentucky football's time has arrived // Kentucky.com
  Despite our longing for facilities improvements, I suspect they are down the road a bit.

• Mitch Barnhart Q&A, Part I // Kyle Tucker – UK Beat
  Long, but worth the time.

• Mitch Barnhart Q&A, Part II // Kyle Tucker – UK Beat

  "Well, you know, no question he’s a good football coach. That was never a question. But looking for the right fit for us and what we wanted to be about, and looking at the whole package for what I thought Kentucky – where we needed to be in this moment in time, Mark was the right fit for us.

  Barnhart talking about Bobby Petrino.

• Kentucky Sports Report // Neal Brown on recruiting
  Interesting and worth your time.

• Kentucky Sports Radio // Barnhart: Less is better?
  Is less, well, more? I'm a bit skeptical...

• Jimmy Brumbaugh Named Defensive Line Coach // UKAthletics.com

Kentucky basketball

• Kings Cousins spreads Holiday cheer as Santa Cuz' // news10.net
  This is yet another example of the disconnect between DeMarcus Cousins on the court and off. He has created a completely different persona for playing basketball. I'd say it works for him, although it will never enamor him to coaches and GM's.

• Kentucky Sports Report // Coach on why Trey Lyles is special player

  "He is really a good kid, good character, very good student — around a 3.8 GPA," said Delaney, the coach at Indianapolis Arsenal Tech. "His basketball IQ is what separates him from a lot of guys. Some guys are more athletic, but he’s got guard skills in a big man body. He has good post moves as well. He has a phenomenal work ethic. The kid stays an hour after practice or will go home and go to the gym. He’s really worked on adding muscle and he’s more aggressive this year. He can take contact and finish."

  Sounds like a future Wildcat to me.

• Kentucky Sports Radio // Cats post almost a 3.1 GPA this semester
  Sweet. That's always good news.

Other UK sports

• Kentucky postgame notes and numbers from win over Pepperdine // vaughtsviews
  Chalk up another strong performance by the Hoops squad.

• Kentucky women turn back Pepperdine 80-62 // Kentucky.com
• Wildcats Finish Season Ranked No. 20 // UKAthletics.com

Links posts

• Wakeup Call: Winthrop coach passionately follows Jim Boeheim's lead // CBSSports.com
• The Morning Mix // Troy Machir, CollegeBasketballTalk
• Tom Leach // Wednesday Links

College football

• USU football: Andersen to become new Wisconsin coach // The Salt Lake Tribune
  Very good hire for Wisconsin.

• Biggest 2012 college football fails // SBNation.com

• College football assistants seeing salaries surge // USA Today
  No mention of Kentucky, but we know that assistants are making a better living here now than in the recent past.

College basketball

• 3-point shot: Izzo keeps breaking mold // ESPN

• From brawl to ball: Crosstown rivals Cincinnati, Xavier hope great game creates distance from infamous game // Sporting News
  I expect the lessons from last year's game will be learned from. Time to move on. Past time, probably.

• Can Miami really be the second best team in the ACC? // CollegeBasketballTalk
  If so, it's a pretty down year for the ACC. Florida Gulf Coast beat Miami? Seriously?

• Arkansas' Powell showing off new outside ability // Yahoo! Sports
  Well, something needs to happen to get Arkansas going.

• SEC: Price hits 3s, Auburn defeats Tennessee Tech // The Times-Herald

  Price was 3 for 3 from behind the arc, making him 11 for 11 in his past three games. Each of his 3-pointers came in the first half, and he committed a technical foul for taunting after the last. The freshman was quickly benched, but he returned shortly.

  That's pretty impressive..
• College basketball power rankings: Indiana, Florida tumble after first losses // SBNation.com

• SEC M5: 12.19.12 Edition // Rush The Court
  Cupcakes good or bad? This year, maybe not so bad...

Other news

• The List: Best 'The Price is Right' pricing games // SBNation.com
  If #5 doesn't leave you in stitches, don't bother to dial the ambulance, call the coroner.