Kentucky Wildcats Quickies: Victory over Missouri Tigers Edition

After the 87-66 beat down the Kentucky Wildcats put on the Missouri Tigers, John Calipari talked to the media about his team getting better before our eyes and the understanding of roles.

The four game losing streak the Cats slogged through is long gone as they have now won three straight SEC games by double digits, all of them against probable tournament teams. The emergence of Jarred Vanderbilt was slow coming, but now that it’s happened it’s clear to see the difference he makes.

With only two games left in the regular season, it appears that this team has clicked at just the right time.

Tweets of the Day

It helps when Quade Green, Jarred Vanderbilt, and P.J. Washington are coming off the bench. All three of them are playing their best basketball.

That was a lot of fun.

Quickies

Cats are turning into an NCAA threat | SEC Country- I wonder how many of the doomsday articles people wrote are being edited as we speak? It's a wide open field this season and Kentucky is playing as well as anyone right now.

Kentucky emerging after third straight win | WDRB- I respect Eric Crawford as a writer and any synopsis I wrote would pale in comparison to this:

While the rest of college basketball is biting its fingernails, John Calipari appears to be sharpening his weapons.

As in, a dialed-in Kevin Knox. A steadily awakening Jarred Vanderbilt. A fast-focusing Quade Green.

Cats rolling as coaching takes root | CoachCal.com- John Calipari noted that the team’s finally listening to him and he isn’t coaching as hard. He used the word “empowered”. Uh-Oh.

Shareef O’Neal decommits from Arizona | CBS Sports- The son of the NBA legend stuck with Arizona through rumors of a decommitment in the first round of the scandal. But he has had enough and is now looking at his options. Expect Kentucky’s interest in the four star big man to pick up.

No comments from Kevin Knox on alleged meeting with Christian Dawkins | ESPN- While Kevin Knox Sr. was quick to deny any meeting between his son and Dawkins ever occurred, Knox Jr. declined to comment at all after last night’s game.

Knox was asked following Kentucky’s 87-66 win over Missouri whether he ever had a meal with Dawkins or ever spoke to Dawkins.”I’m not here to talk about that,” Knox said in response to both questions.

Knox was cleared by UK, his father said it never happened, what else is he supposed to say? Of course it was Pat Forde asking the questions. I wonder if he will make it to Michigan State, Alabama, or Duke to question Miles Bridges, Colin Sexton, and Wendell Carter, Jr.? I doubt it.

Hamidou Diallo gets a hug after performance | SEC Country- Hamidou Diallo has really struggled as of late but he finally broke through last night going 3-3 from beyond the arch and slamming home one of his signature dunks:

Hami was greeted in the locker room with a standing ovation from his teammates and a hug from John Calipari. Get this dude dialed in for March, look out.

Kentucky looking at that double bye in the SEC tournament:

As Kramer says “Giddy-up”.

UK softball earns double-header sweep | UK Athletics- Bailey Vick went 9-9 collectively in wins over the Bradley Braves and the Harvard Crimson. The Cats are rolling and are now 8-3 on the season.

Baseball bashes Oakland 17-6 | UK Athletics- The Cats will look to sweep Oakland today as the series closes out. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 PM.

Russell Westbrook furious over dirty play | Sporting News- Za Za Pachulia fell directly onto Westbrook’s legs after he was already on the ground. No one was around Pachulia to push him down. He just fell. The Warriors are trash.

Miles Bridges cleared to play | CBS- The Michigan State star is one of the players named in the Yahoo! article. He will play in the Spartans season finale today against Wisconsin.

Arizona falls without Sean Miller or Alonzo Trier | AZ Desert Swarm- DeAndre Ayton had a mammoth 28 point/18 rebound performance amidst the allegations but the Wildcats fell in overtime at Oregon.

Politically charged Olympics come to an end | ESPN- The Winter Games come to a close without any incident as North Korea’s involvement worried many around the world.

Tom Petty’s death caused by accidental overdose | Rolling Stone- The legendary rocker was taking multiple medications to treat a fractured hip and a myriad over other issues. He just took the wrong mix and dosage. Extremely sad news.