(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)
Big Blue Links for Saturday:
Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader writes that SEC lead is at stake today in Nashville: “Vanderbilt, which has beaten Kentucky in Nashville the past four seasons, certainly qualifies as a team good enough to beat UK. Kentucky showed its good and bad sides in winning at Mississippi State in overtime on Tuesday. The bad Cats trailed 67-60 with three minutes left. Then the good Cats got the score tied by the end of regulation and won 81-75 in overtime.”
Jeff Lockridge of the Tennessean says both teams have to plenty to play for: “Cate isn’t sure where today’s game between the No. 17 Commodores and No. 2 Kentucky ranks in the building’s history, but he knows the opponent makes it pretty high on the list. ‘The Kentucky game is and has always been the measuring stick as to where we are in the basketball world,’ Cate said. ‘The coaches may not look at it that way, but the fans do.’”
Lockridge writes that more physical play is expected: “Vanderbilt’s first encounter with Kentucky freshman forward DeMarcus Cousins wasn’t pretty. Or as Commodores center A.J. Ogilvy put it, ‘Last time we got a little bit punked inside.‘”
Brett Dawson of the C-J writes it’s a big game in a weird gym: “University of Kentucky forward Darius Miller admits that briefly, before his first game at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium, he considered the possibility that he might fall off the floor. Not down onto it, but off it. The Commodores’ court is elevated above the first few rows of stands. Along with the location of its benches underneath the baskets, that makes it among college hoops’ quirkiest venues.”
Metz Camfield of the Kentucky Kernel on the Memorial Gym challenge: “The Commodores are 13-0 at home this season and 59-7 in the last four seasons combined at Memorial Gym. With the benches being on opposite ends of the floor, communication could be an issue. No need to worry however, the joking Calipari said the team has been practicing their mental telepathy but he’s not sure they’ll be able to go to it by Saturday’s game.”
(H-L photo)
Tipton’s notes leads with Calipari telling Cousins to cool it: “Cousins used his right hand to suggest he was speaking on a phone, an obvious reference to the abusive calls he said he received from people in Mississippi earlier in the week. Calipari, who said he did not see the gesture until watching a replay, said he spoke to Cousins on Thursday.”
Kentucky baseball opens with a win: “Pre- season All-American second baseman Chris Bisson went 4-for-5 with a walk, two doubles and a stolen base and right-hander Alex Meyer struck out eight in five innings to help Kentucky post a 15-6 win over Virginia Tech in its season opener Friday.”
Meanwhile, Jennifer Hewlett of the H-L reports on James Paxton saga: “Both UK officials and attorneys for the 21-year-old southpaw agree that Paxton is a model student athlete; that his grades are good – according to him, he has a 3.3 out of a possible 4.0 grade-point average; that there is no proof he fails to meet National Collegiate Athletic Association requirements for playing baseball at UK; and that there are no allegations to that effect pending against him.”
B.W. Jones of the Kentucky Kernel reports on the Paxton case: “Senior pitcher James Paxton’s appeal to the Kentucky Court of Appeals was denied on Friday, the same day as the UK baseball team opened its season with a 15-6 romp over Virginia Tech in Myrtle Beach, S.C.”
Jennifer Smith of H-L says UK women will look for revenge on Sunday: “When Mitchell watched the game live, he thought that maybe the Gamecocks and their 6-foot-5 freshman phenom Kelsey Bone, were just a bad matchup for his Cats. But film doesn’t lie, and the UK coach said it was clear on film that his team was outhustled, including being outrebounded 40-29.”
Rob Gidel of the Cats Pause on the rise of a UK baseball freshman: “Had someone a year and a half ago told a scout within 100 miles of Littleton, Colo., that Chatfield High School left-hander Taylor Rogers would be a weekend starter at one of the top SEC baseball programs in the country, during the first weekend of his freshman campaign, he would have either laughed at you, searched you for drugs or called you a cab. And who could blame them.”
Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches writes that Vandy thrives in quirky gym: “In Memorial Gymnasium, one of the quirkiest, most unique arenas in all of college basketball, the benches sit behind the baskets as opposed to the sidelines. That means for a half, when Kentucky is going the opposite way of its coach, they’ll be on an island of their own. Communication between the coach and players is basically non-existent for that half when the players’ backs are to their coach and the raucous crowd at Memorial starts to roar.”
Vanderbilt Sports Line on Cats-Commodores: “Andy Katz said last night on The Bracket on ESPNU that he thought Patterson might be the key to tomorrow’s game. He might be right. Patterson is a senior who has been to Memorial before. He knows what it’s like and is likely to be the calmest player on the floor in blue at tip-off time. That, plus the fact he is a very good player who can extend defenses given his range, makes him an incredibly dangerous player for Calipari.”
they’ll be on an island of their own. Communication between the coach and players is basically non-existent for that half when the players’ backs are to their coach and the raucous crowd at Memorial starts to roar.