Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: UK Hoops Heart Attack Edition

The Kentucky women’s basketball team won a huge game last night in Memorial Coliseum against the #13 Mississippi St. Bulldogs in double-overtime. Makayla Epps provided the final, winning margin in a very Julius Randle vs. LSU style on her way to a near-historic 42 point game.

This is what it reminded me of:

Tweet of the Morning

UK football signee Therrell Gosier dropped 31 points on the basketball court tonight. All 3 UK WR signees are accomplished b-ball players.

— Ben Roberts (@NextCats) February 13, 2015

Wow, sounds like a playah.

Love argument from UCF assistant who says kids all over world play with 24 seconds, why not NCAA? Uh, which country is playing the best?

— Michael DeCourcy (@tsnmike) February 13, 2015

Tart. Right.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• You might think that after a grand jury declined to indict Lloyd Tubman, he would just re-enroll in school and start over. You might, if you’ve been living under a rock for the last year or two. If so, welcome to the real world.

• Ground has been broken for UK football’s new practice facility.

• There would be a sweet feeling of empowerment if more young men did what Roquan Smith is doing — waiting until he’s good and ready to sign with an NLOI, if he ever does at all.

  We see this all the time in college basketball. Will it begin to happen more and more in football as well? Stay tuned.

  Via Hank.

Kentucky basketball

• In case you missed it, we have a new t-shirt for sale over at Gameday Depot.

• Valentine’s Day cards for your Kentucky fan bride/girlfriend/significant other. Very funny.

• You’ve no doubt wondered about Willie Cauley-Stein’s life as a football wide receiver in Olathe, Kansas. Here is a really good video about that from Campus Insiders that you should watch. They interview his high school quarterback and show some footage. Really good stuff.

• Paul Jordan at Wildcat Blue Nation says Kentucky will be a serious factor for 2016 forward Harry Giles. Kentucky is usually a serious factor for every great high school player.

Other Kentucky sports

• UK Track & Field set for final regular-season tune-ups.

• Bat Cats open their season this weekend in Wilmington, NC against UNC Wilmington and Ball State.

Links posts

• John Clay’s Big Blue Links

• John Clay’s SEC Links

• The Leach Report: Friday Wildcat Links

College football

• More on the proposed college football rule change that would basically outlaw some recent innovations, such as the "Pop pass," a play designed to look like a run where the QB pulls up at the last second and throws a pass.

  I have mixed feelings about this. Part of me says that football, "as it was intended to be played" didn’t include things like a pop pass, and that it’s unfair to defenses. The other part of me chides the first part for being a Luddite. I hate both those b***ards.

• SEC Morning Links

College basketball

• Luke Winn’s power rankings. Look beyond the "UK Defense is Sliding" part — there’s no doubt that’s right, for whatever reason — and check out the Adam Woodbury gifs. They are telling, and disturbing given his history of eye-pokings.

• Indeed. Happy birthday, coach. And on Friday the 13th to boot.

  Happy Birthday, Mike Krzyzewski (sp?)!! pic.twitter.com/pxBzPGN5Zq

  — Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) February 13, 2015

• The story of Deion Sanders and his failed misadventure with Prime Prep Academy.

• Hate to hear this: Desmond Hubert (North Carolina) tears ACL and is out for the season.

• The fascinating weirdness of Tom Crean. Via Hank

Other sports news

• Basketball Luddite (Yes, Precious, we loves that word today. Let us be) Charles Barkley continues his crusade against analytics.

  Charles, the guy in the Cree commercial has it right: If you argue with math, you will lose. Now, you may argue that math is not used correctly, as it often isn’t. But Billy Beene and his ilk have proven that analytics unquestionably do work, whether you think it’s "crap" or not.

  So go ahead, argue with math. Feel free. It’s not like you were hired for your intellectual acumen, anyway. And I still love you — in a non-gay kind of way. :-)

• Josh Harrellson headed back to Puerto Rico.

• Don’t hurt ‘em, Shagari!

• Is George Karl the right coach for DeMarcus Cousins? I don’t know, I really don’t.

• Pro gofer Billy Horschel paid his caddy $1 million after winning FedEx Cup. That was really a stand-up thing to do, and I think it sets the standard that others will feel compelled to follow.

Other news

• Forwarded to me by one of my co-workers over in the UK. Not sure how I missed it, but it’s quite a nice story.

• This is a story you should read in it’s entirety on the New York Times. If you are one of the extremely political who boycott the Times due to perceived … whatever, put it aside just this one time, click the damned link, and read all of it. You will be a better person for having done so, even if it may sting a little in the process.

  Sometimes, the cruelty of humanity, particularly crowds, is a grim reminder of what we really have underneath our veneer of civilization — the gruesome lust for the arena, for blood, guts, and cruel, indifferent vengeance. All our knowledge, our wisdom and philosophical aspirations gained over ages of learning from our mistakes still cannot fully repress the savage élan that strives to assert itself, especially on social media.

  Enlightenment will have to wait, I guess.

• Have we reached Peak Google?

• Are you addicted to your smartphone? Take this quiz and find out.

  I’m happy to say that I only answered yes to two of them, and one of them is a yes only because my smartphone is my business phone.