Saturday Quickies: Beat Tennessee Edition

Happy weekend, Big Blue Nation!

It’s another big football Saturday as the Kentucky Wildcats head to Knoxville to take on rivals the Tennessee Volunteers.

The Cats defeated the Vols last season in Lexington as Butch Jones’ team spiraled out of control. While things are a little more stable right now for Jeremy Pruitt, the Vols still aren’t very good. They are 4-5 overall and 1-4 in SEC with the one conference win coming in surprise fashion at Auburn.

Since that victory over the Tigers, they have gone 1-2 with the one win being 14-3 over Charlotte last weekend.

Still, the Cats haven’t won in Knoxville since 1984 so this isn’t a walk in the park. I expect a tough game today but Kentucky will pull away.

Win today and it’s all but guaranteed the Cats go 10-2 for the season.

Tweets of the Day

Quade Green and Keldon Johnson definitely showed the toughness and effort that John Calipari was looking for.

Nick Richards certainly responded positively with 8 points, 19 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

Lynn Bowden has emerged as Kentucky’s most electric and consistent playmaker. Give the man the damn ball.

Quickies

Who’s up, who’s down after win over Salukis | Lexington Herald Leader- Fantastic article here by Mark Story and I agree with everything he says. Keldon Johnson, EJ Montgomery, Immanuel Quickley, Quade Green, and Nick Richards showed some separation last night. I think Reid Travis was hampered with two quick fouls in the first half and never got on track.

SIU coach scolds BBN | Cats Pause- Barry Hinson urged Kentucky fans to take time and scolded them for being too hard on the team after the loss to Duke. What Barry fails to realize is that we were told that this team wouldn’t lack effort and would compete for every rebound, loose ball, and would be staunch defenders. Didn’t happen against Duke. We were stunned and disappointed. So was out coach.

Bold predictions for week 11 | Saturdays Down South- One thing that we are not expecting in Knoxville is a shootout so if one does break out it would be stunning development.

Cal says they need Nick Richards on the floor | Cats Pause- He’s exactly right. Either Nick Richards or EJ Montgomery (or both) need to be on the floor for Kentucky as a rebounder and, more importantly, a rim protector. I don’t like the Reid Travis/PJ Washington starting lineup because essentially they’re the same player with subtle differences.

UK vs. Tennessee matchup and prediction | Lexington Herald Leader- Kentucky is the clearly better team but will they utilize their advantages correctly against the Vols? Mark Story expects a close, nail biting affair today.

Men’s soccer on to CUSA final | UK Athletics- The Cats get it done 2-1 vs. Marshall as they now head to the CUSA conference finals. They will face Charlotte for the championship Sunday at 1:00 PM.

Volleyball continues to roll | UK Athletics- The ladies won their 15th straight match with a sweep over Mississippi State. They’re ranked 11th in the country and continues to pick up steam ahead of the NCAA tournament.

NCAA slams BYU basketball | CBS- Cougar player Nick Emery accepted $12,000 from boosters and now the NCAA they will have to vacate 47 games.

Lamar Leap to Petrino Plunge | WDRB- The Louisville Cardinals fall to 2-8 after another blowout loss, this time at Syracuse. The Cards fall 54-23 and their game was actually booted from ESPN during the fourth quarter and relegated to ESPN News. That rarely happens.

And it’ll be for cause.

Cats show off in NBA contest | Pioneer Press- Karl-Anthony Towns went off for 39 points last night but he wasn’t the only NBA Cat to show off his skills. Willie Cauley-Stein had 25 points and De’Aaron Fox had a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists. The Kings came away with the victory.

Here’s the basketball post game podcast from last night:

After the football game today, don’t forget to check me out on the UK Football Post Game Show on ESPN 680.

Here’s how you listen:

And be sure to check out our latest Kentucky Football shirt.