Sunday Quickies: Beat Auburn Edition

The Kentucky Wildcats are all set to take on the red hot Auburn Tigers today in the Elite Eight for a chance to face the Virginia Cavaliers in Minneapolis.

While the Cats have played two nail-biters in a row, the Tigers have been bludgeoning their way through the Sweet 16. They beat the Kansas Jayhawks 89-75 and they followed that up by crushing the North Carolina Tar Heels 97-80.

Their shooting lights out but they did lose one of their few quality big men for the remainder of the tournament. Chuma Okeke suffered a torn ACL against UNC.

Last night we saw the hot-shooting Purdue Boilermakers cool off a bit (except for Carsen Edwards) and then lost to UVA. Can Kentucky slow Auburn down enough to win?

Tweets of the Day

It was a tough way to lose for Purdue. Carsen Edwards was amazing.

Pearl also said UK is the best team left in the tournament.

Josh Perkins was absolutely crushed at the end of the game.

Quickies

Is Auburn too hot for Kentucky? | Lexington Herald Leader- If Auburn comes out like they did against UNC and hit 17 threes then all you can do is tip your cap and take the loss.

Reid Travis had to lose before he got to UK | WDRB- I’m not talking about losing games, I’m talking about losing weight. In order to play the type of basketball John Calipari expects of him, Travis had to lose 20 pounds. Now Travis is playing for a spot in the Final Four.

Calipari vs. Pearl rivalry takes it up a notch | Cats Pause- The two have been going at it since Cal was at Memphis and Pearl was rocking that gaudy Rocky Top Orange. While the rivalry has cooled over the years, neither guy wants to lose to the other. Especially today.

Experts pick the Elite Eight | CBS- It’s a clean sweep for UK vs. Auburn in favor of the Cats. The Okeke injury is a huge factor. As for the other game, only Matt Norlander believe in Michigan State despite the questions around Cam Reddish and that Duke should have lost the last two games.

Cats destroy #13 Arkansas | UK Athletics- Abbey Cheek was up to her old tricks again as she homered twice in UK’s 16-2 demolition of the Hogs.

Cal’s best coaching job at UK? | WDRB- There’s a big debate here but this season has to be in the conversation with the way Kentucky started out. There was a lot of doubt in this team after the stunning loss to Duke but Calipari figured his guys out and PJ Washington became a beast.

How Auburn can beat Kentucky | USA Today- It’s an easy game plan: hit threes or lose.

Reid Travis not changing approach | UK Athletics- The UK big man is on the doorstep of a big homecoming but he’s not going to change his approach to how he plays the game.

Tune in to the special ESPN 680 UK Pregame show this afternoon as I head to the studio to talk Cats vs. Tigers. And I’ll be back as soon as the Elite Eight game is over to talk about the result. I’ll also have player sound and John Calipari’s postgame press conference.

And of course it will be your first chance to react after the game.