John Clay's Sidelines

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Some notes from UK’s convincing win over Arkansas:

• John Calipari broke Adolph Rupp’s record of 64 consecutive conference wins, including tournaments.
• UK has now won 10 straight over the Razorbacks.
• C.M. Newton is the only UK grad to beat his alma mater as coach. The other eight ex-Cats are 0-17 against Kentucky. John Pelphrey is now 0-3.
• The attendance of 24,356 is the third-best of the season. and the third-best in Rupp Arena history.
• Darius Miller scored a team-high and career-high 18 points.
• Miller’s previous high was 17 versus Tennessee on Feb. 21, 2009.
• Miller made 4-of-6 threes, most since Dec. 29 vs Hartford, also 4-of-6.
• Kentucky had 22 offensive rebounds to Arkansas 23 defensive rebounds.
• This is only the third time in school history that UK has started a season with 19 straight wins.
• DeMarcus Cousins scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in just 17 minutes.
• Cousins had 10 point and nine rebounds in just nine first-half minutes.
• This was all despite Cousins chipping two teeth in the opening minutes.

Continue reading ‘Notes from Kentucky’s romp over the Razorbacks’

Here John Wall is asked to talk about his missed 360.

Video of John Calipari’s opening remarks after his team’s 101-70 win over Arkansas on Saturday. It was Arkansas’ most lopsided basketball loss in SEC play. Ever.

(H-L photo/Ryan Alessi)

Big Blue Links for Saturday:

• Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader previews today’s UK-Arkansas game: “By beating Arkansas on Saturday, Kentucky will almost assuredly secure its first No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press poll since the final balloting of the 2002-03 season. After prodded by reporters, UK players acknowledged on Friday that they would enjoy scratching that seven-year itch.”

• Tipton leads his notes with Calipari saying players leaving is good news: “Kentucky Coach John Calipari welcomes the thought of a mass exodus of his freshmen to this year’s NBA Draft. The better to show highly regarded recruits that they can punch their tickets to the pros after only a brief stop at UK.”

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  (AP photo)

  Ryan Alessi of the H-L reports that legislators swooned over Calipari: “The state House honored Calipari with a resolution officially welcoming him to Kentucky and praising his work raising money for earthquake relief in Haiti. Calipari praised lawmakers, many dressed in UK sweaters or blue shirts, for challenging UK to become a Top 20 research institution and for funding that effort early on. And he told lawmakers he recognized and appreciated their work in crafting public policy.”

• Brett Dawson of the C-J says UK isn’t looking out for No. 1: “There have been 106 Associated Press college basketball polls since the last one that ranked the University of Kentucky No.1. A win against Arkansas on Saturday at Rupp Arena probably would snap that streak for No.2 UK (18-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) after top-ranked Texas lost to Kansas State on Monday. And the Wildcats admit it would be nice. But it’s not the No.1 the Cats have in mind.”

• Matt May of the Cats Pause has a scouting report on UK-Arkansas: “Bio Buzz: There is an old saying that everything works out for a reason but certainly things may have been much different for Rotnei Clarke had he cast his lot with Kentucky instead of Arkansas during the recruiting process. Clarke ultimately stayed closer to home and inked with the Razorbacks, probably a solid move considering the coaching change that took place at Kentucky last spring.”

Continue reading ‘BBL: Cats-Hogs and Mr. Calipari goes to Frankfort’

SEC links for Saturday:

• David Jones of Florida Today on how the little guards look to put up the big numbers.
• Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun writes that size isn’t everything.
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel on Tim Tebow’s controversial commercial.
• Mark Bradley of the AJC talks to new Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.
• Charles Goldberg of the Birmingham News writes that Auburn has a tough road assignment at Vanderbilt.
• Jeff Lockridge of the Tennessean writes that Vanderbilt won’t look beyond Auburn.
• Doug Segrest of the News breaks down the top football recruiting classes by position.
• Kevin Scarbinsky of the News writes that Saban is Derek Dooley’s mentor, but Chizik could be his role model.
• Joe Biddle of the Tennessean says don’t judge Dooley by his recruits.
• Tim Gayle of the Montgomery Advertiser reports Alabama will try to end losing skid today against Mississippi St.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Little men get after it for Gators-Gamecocks’

Before today’s practice, this is Kentucky guard John Wall talking about Arkansas, about Rotnei Clarke, about losing leads, and about practicing like the team is on a two-game losing streak.

One last John Calipari video from today. Here, the coach talks about the “other level” of Kentucky fans, who stepped up to contribute over $1 million to his Hoops for Haiti cause. The first part of the video refers to someone bidding $100,000 to have dinner with the Caliparis and Ashley Judd.

A couple of more videos from John Calipari’s meeting with the media before today’s practice. In the first, Cal talks some more about Eric Bledsoe and John Wall, and the possibility of losing “a lot of players,” if the team is able to do something “unique” as the coach says. Cal says he’s got no problem with that. If Kentucky loses several players to the draft, then it’s just time to re-load and move on. The second video has Cal talking about guarding Rotnei Clarke, and getting your team to play not to lose.