John Clay's Sidelines

If I were to pick a Final Four right now, Syracuse, would be included. After Saturday’s win at West Virginia, the Orangemen are on the road again tonight at Notre Dame, 7 p.m. on ESPN. Following that, top-ranked Texas could get a test at Kansas State.

(H-L photo/Matt Goins)

Big Blue Links for Monday:

Valarie Honeycutt Spears of the H-L reports that Hoops for Haiti brings in over $1 million: Calipari emceed the show on WKYT-TV while players manned the phones. The coach said he has been telling the young men, whose team is 18-0, to be humble when things are going good. Calipari pulled together the telethon in less than two days, reaching out to several leaders and agencies for help.”

Jennifer Smith of the H-L reports on UK women’s win over Alabama: “Mitchell got the Cats’ attention and they responded with an easy 88-63 win over Alabama on Sunday in front of 6,040 at Memorial Coliseum, where UK remains unbeaten this season. Five different players scored in double figures, led by seniors Watkins and Amani Franklin, who had 15 points apiece. Franklin added 10 rebounds and three steals for her third double-double of the season. Watkins had seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks.”

Bluegrass State Basketball says Calipari is headed to see Brandon Knight.

Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger writes on Knight: “He’s so special that Beckerman said at an open gym a few months ago coaches from Kentucky, Florida, Kansas, Connecticut, Virginia and others were there.”

Jason King of Yahoo Sports talks to Tennessee’s Wayne Chism: “Q: Who is the toughest player you’ve ever guarded? A: Patrick Patterson at Kentucky is the toughest. He’s physical and he’s so athletic. I like guarding him. We get after it every time we play each other. We talk trash the whole game and get mad at each other. But at the end of the game, we shake hands and keep that good sportsmanship going.” (Hat tip to Walter’s Wildcat World.)

The Goo-Goo Dolls:

Continue reading ‘BBL: Hoops for Haiti a hit; UK women beat Bama’

SEC links for Monday:

• Tommy Hicks of the Mobile Press-Register on Vince Dooley’s new favorite team.
• David Climer of the Tennessean writes that Derek Dooley values his Nick Saban connection.
• Austin Ward of the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that Dooley is off to a running start.
• Mark Bradley of the AJC writes that Georgia was lucky it didn’t hire Dallas’ defensive coordinator.
• AP reports that Tim Tebow and mom will be in a Super Bowl commercial.
• In The State, Chris Dearing reports on South Carolina women’s win over Auburn.
• The Advocate has a report on Ole Miss women’s win over No. 12 LSU.
• Dan Fleser of the News-Sentinel on the Lady Vols win over Vanderbilt.
• AP report on Georgia women’s win over Arkansas.
• Edward Aschoff of the Gainesville Sun reports on Florida’s Vernon Macklin.

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Some quick notes and numbers after the Cats’ 72-67 win at Auburn:

• DeMarcus Cousins scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season.

• Cousins played 30 minutes, most since he played 37 against Connecticut on Dec. 9.

• Darnell Dodson’s nine minutes is a season-low.

• Eric Bledsoe has scored double-figures in five straight games. The Birmingham native scored 13 today.

• Darius Miller has scored 17 points in UK’s three SEC games. He is 2-of-8 from three in those games.

• Daniel Orton’s seven minutes is his low since he played three mintues against UConn.

• Patrick Patterson had 12 points, his 13th straight game in double-figures. He took just six shots, lowest total since five in UK’s rout of Cleveland State.

• John Wall tied his season-high in turnovers with seven. Wall had had seven turnovers against North Carolina and Connecticut, as well.

• Auburn record 10 steals, most against UK since Austin Peay had 10.

• Kentucky has now won 11 straight over Auburn.

Here’s video of Patrick Patterson and DeAndre Liggins talking about the win over Auburn:

Because you can’t get enough, two more videos of John Calipari’s remarks after Kentucky staved off Auburn 72-67 on the plains here today. The first is Cal talking about DeAndre Liggins.

This is Cal talking about how every player wants to make his name off doing well against Kentucky.

Here’s video of Auburn coach Jeff Lebo talking to the media after his team’s 72-67 loss to Kentucky.

John Calipari’s opening remarks after Kentucky lost a 19-point lead, saw Auburn tie the game at 60, then pulled out a 72-67 win over the Tigers.

(AP photo)

Big Blue Links for Saturday:

Jerry Tipton of H-L writes about TV deal shrinking Auburn’s prep time for today’s game: “Because Auburn played at Tennessee on Thursday night as part of the league’s ESPN package, Kentucky has the advantage of two extra days to prepare. UK last played on Tuesday, winning at Florida to move Coach John Calipari within one of Adolph Rupp’s national record of 64 straight conference victories.”

Jay G. Tate of the Montgomery Advertiser writes that Auburn faces daunting task: “DeWayne Reed heard about this Kentucky team last month, figured a little time in front of the television might help him prepare. Auburn’s point guard was impressed. John Wall, the Wildcats’ freshman guard, went for 25 points that night. He was fast on the break, willing to challenge bigger defenders near the basket, sharp with his mid-range jumper. The display piqued Reed’s curiosity.”

Kenny Colston of the Kentucky Kernel reports that James Paxton loses injunction: “After a marathon court day on Friday – a two-hour hearing Friday morning followed by a six hour afternoon hearing that lasted close to 10 p.m. – James Paxton and his attorneys could not convince a Fayette County Circuit Court judge to grant a temporary injunction allowing Paxton to play this season without submitting to an NCAA interview one of Paxton’s lawyers said.”

Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal writes that Bledsoe is happy to be home and away: “Eric Bledsoe was pursued by some of the nation’s best basketball programs, but there was a notable school, the University of Kentucky freshman guard said Friday, that never so much as offered a scholarship. Though Bledsoe is a native of Birmingham, Ala., he said on Friday that Auburn – the team that hosts No. 2 UK (17-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) on Saturday – was ‘off and on”‘ in recruiting him.”

Andrew Gribble of the Opelika News writes about Auburn-UK: “Calipari certainly brought a quick fix to Kentucky when he took over for Billy Gillespie, who struggled to fit in with the Wildcats’ diehard fans, especially those who want more out of a coach than just X’s and O’s. Not only did Calipari bring the charisma that makes him a TV favorite, he also brought three of the country’s most highly touted recruits, all of whom he’d been recruiting to Memphis. All three of those players are starting now, and all of them are averaging double figures in scoring.”

Continue reading ‘BBL: Auburn knows Kentucky will be a tough task’