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Many of you watched the Vanderbilt-Tennessee game last night, which was quite a game to behold.
Grant Williams became the darling (if he wasn’t already) of much of the college basketball talking heads and Tennessee pulled out a narrow victory on the road in their first game as the #1 team, a ranking they could still hold when they come to Lexington on Feb. 16.
But it wasn’t without some controversy. Specifically, that AWFUL flagrant foul call near the end of regulation that put Tennessee back in the game. I know you can never be certain, but I firmly believe that shouldn’t have been a foul and at the very least a normal foul, and calling it a flagrant robbed Vandy of a major victory.
This is why we are going to OT pic.twitter.com/9ViOm4jvNX
— Barstool SEC (@SECBarstool) January 24, 2019
The Commodores were up six and would’ve taken possession of the ball but instead, Grant Williams goes to the free throw line where he knocks down two shots and then a quick layup off the inbound cuts the lead from six to two in less than 10 seconds. I still can’t believe that was called a flagrant foul.
Granted, Vandy made some big mistakes in crunch time. Bad turnovers, missed free throws, poor shot selection... all contributed to the loss, but that doesn’t negate how poor of a call that was and how poorly the game was officiated.
That game should serve as a caution to Kentucky when they travel to Nashville on Tuesday. We know winning in that gym is difficult, but this Vandy team is better than their record suggests. As for Kentucky’s upcoming game against Tennessee, just go ahead and resign yourself to a lot of talk about Grant Williams and Williams spending a lot of time at the free throw line.
Tweets of the Day
The referees have created this environment in the Tennessee/Vanderbilt game. They lost control. This is on them.
— Rex Chapman (@rex_rexchapman) January 24, 2019
I hope this officiating gets the scrutiny it deserves. What a disaster.
It’s a safe bet the Kentucky-Tennessee game will have at least some of the same crew.
Attention Kentucky frontcourt players: when you play Tennessee, don’t touch, look at, breathe on or think about Grant Williams, or you’ll be called for a foul.
— Not Jerry Tipton (@NotJerryTipton) January 24, 2019
It’ll most likely be an issue when the Cats and Vols take the floor.
Quickies
Kentucky taking an analytics jump - Herald Leader
The Wildcats are on the up and up in the KenPom rankings.
Why Kentucky is on a roll - Herald Leader
Better defense and the emergence of Ashton Hagans are two big reasons.
Kentucky is hitting its stride with Nick Richards and EJ Montgomery thriving - KSR
The two big men have been playing a crucial role.
EJ Montgomery showing signs he is ready for a breakthrough - Vaught’s Views
EJ’s big game could be right around the corner.
PJ Washington’s motor must remain on for Cats to reach their potential - KSR
If that is the PJ we get the rest of the year... look out.
John Calipari visited Sharife Cooper - Cats Pause
Cal seems to have really zeroed in on Cooper in the class of 2020.
From Ontario to the NBA: Jamal Murray - ESPN
A cool feature on the former Wildcat.
Tennessee-Vandy game says a lot about both teams - The Tennesseean
Vandy is a lot better than their record suggests.
Former Arizona assistant pleads guilty in CBB corruption case - Yahoo
Emanuel Richardson told the judge he accepted $20k in 2017 to steer student-athletes to Christian Dawkins.
Anthony Davis gets good news on finger injury - Bleacher Report
This report says Davis could return to the floor next week.
Pacers fear Oladipo will miss rest of the year - ESPN
Tough break for Victor Oladipo.
James Harden lights up Knicks at MSG - ESPN
Harden put on a show again last night with 61 points.
Ways to fix the NFL Overtime system - The Ringer
Many fans want to see changes made to the structure of overtime.
Greg Schiano likely to join the Patriots staff - Yahoo
Will there be mass protests? Probably not.