John Clay's Sidelines

SEC news and links:

ON TAP – Two SEC basketball games tonight, one a big one. Ole Miss is at South Carolina, 7 p.m. tipoff on ESPNU. Then Tennessee travels to Vanderbilt for a 9 p.m. tip on ESPN. Tennessee is desperate for a win after its home loss to Georgia. Kentucky would benefit from the Vols knocking off the Commodores, which holds second place in the SEC East. I don’t see it happening, however. I’m going with the host ‘Dores.

Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger says Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy is lamenting his team’s spotty play heading into tonight’s game in Columbia.

Darrin Horn says his South Carolina team just has to grow up, writes Travis Haney of the Post and Courier.

HUGE GAME FOR TENNESSEE – Mike Griffith of the News-Sentinel reports that Bruce Pearl thinks the Vols just have to play better tonight. Mike reports, “Pearl delivered that message to his players in fire-breathing fashion at the conclusion of Monday’s practice before the team boarded a bus for Nashville. The Vols are in dire need of a spark, having lost four of their past five games despite junior shooting guard Scotty Hopson enjoying some of the finest performances of his career.”

Meanwhile, Mike Strange of the Knoxville News-Sentinel columnizes that Vanderbilt has taken a headlining role in the state. He writes, “Pearl is 7-4 against Stallings. That’s counting the 67-64 win this year by Tony Jones when Pearl was suspended. But when the two old rivals meet tonight in Nashville, momentum will be sitting at the Commodores’ end of Memorial Gym. Tennessee has lost four of its past five games. Vanderbilt is riding a five-game winning streak. ‘We feel good about the way we’re playing right now,’ Stallings said Monday.

Continue reading ‘SEC: Vandy-Tennessee tonight shapes up as huge’

Kentucky basketball statistics and SEC basketball results, in Excel files.

• Kentucky basketball game-by-game results in an Excel file, using Google Docs.
• Kentucky basketball game-by-game individual statistics in an Excel file, using Google Docs.
• Kentucky basketball game-by-game team statistics on offense in an Excel file, using Google Docs.
• Kentucky basketball game-by-game team statistics on defense in an Excel file, using Google Docs.
• SEC basketball game-by-game results in an Excel file, using Google Docs.

(Tennessean photo)

Big Blue Links for Monday:

KENTUCKY WOMEN WIN AT VANDY – Travelin’ Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader made the trip from Athens to Nashville and chronicled Kentucky’s rare 80-71 win over Vanderbilt on Sunday. It was the Kentucky women’s first win in Memorial Gym in 13 tries.

Writes Smith, “That wall came crashing down late in the second half on Sunday when the Cats (20-7, 9-5 SEC) turned a 50-50 tie game into a 60-50 advantage in less than two minutes. “We pulled together as a team and we played for each other,” said Dunlap, who scored five of her 10 points in that span. The Nashville native also had eight rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals.”

Greg Sullivan of the Tennessean writes, “While the loss ties Vanderbilt with Kentucky (20-7, 9-5), the Lady Wildcats would be seeded ahead of the Commodores if they finish the season tied because of two head-to-head wins. Much like the first meeting this season, when Kentucky used a full-court press to go on a 30-5 run and beat Vanderbilt, the Lady Wildcats turned on their pressure in the second half to pull out a victory Sunday.”

RECRUITING NEWS – Nation of Blue has a couple of updates, one on Kentucky’s interest in Illinois junior college star Stan Simpson. Simpson sent a tweet saying UK is coming to see him this week. Meanwhile, Trevor Lacey has updated his list after his unofficial visit to Kentucky on Saturday. Lacey does plan to make an official visit to Kentucky and four other schools once his high school season is complete. Anthony Davis was at Saturday’s game, as well. But his name is already on Kentucky’s dotted line.

UK target Shabazz Muhammad will visit Louisville for the Cards’ game with Pittsburgh next Sunday.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Big win for UK Hoops; Recruiting updates’

(AP photo/Patrick Semansky)

SEC news and links for Monday:

FLORIDA KEEPS ON WINNING – Florida’s Gators improved to 10-2 in the league with a 69-61 win at lowly LSU. The Gators were without Chandler Parsons, who missed the game because of a thigh bruise. Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun reports that Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton led the way with 17 points each, while Vernon Macklin added 16.

Scott Hotard of The Advocate reports that LSU did pull within six points of Florida with four minutes left, but could get no closer. “The Tigers, down 40-25 at the half, got within 58-52 when Turner sank a jumper with 4:41 to play. The paid crowd of 7,711 grew loud and lively. But the Gators kept LSU stuck on 52 for two minutes, 55 seconds. A perfect 8-for-8 effort from the free-throw line took care of the rest, allowing Florida to grab a 68-57 edge with 36 seconds left.”

Glenn Guilbeau of the Shreveport Times points out that even without Parsons, Florida outrebounded LSU 41-29.

SEC WOMEN – Alabama won its third consecutive game, beating Ole Miss 61-52, reports Don Kausler of the Birmingham News. Ericka Russell scoring a season-high 21 points for the Lady Tide. Florida whipped Mississippi State 78-63, rallying from a 40-37 deficit with 15 minutes remaining in Gainesville.

South Carolina beat fading Auburn 65-49. Arkansas held off visiting LSU 42-40.

Carroll Rogers of the AJC previews tonight’s Tennessee-Georgia showdown. The Lady Vols are 13-0 in the league. Georgia is 10-3. The game is on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. The game is in Knoxville, but Roger Clarkson of the Athens Banner-Herald writes that Georgia believes it is ready for UT’s raucous arena.

SEC MEN’S TOURNAMENT – Seth Emerson, writing for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, has an excellent blog post looking ahead to the men’s SEC Tournament, and what the brackets would look like if the division standings were not used. Under the current set-up, Kentucky would be the No. 3 seed in the East, playing Auburn in the first-round. If the teams were re-seeded, Kentucky would be the No. 4 overall seed and receive a first-round bye.

Continue reading ‘SEC: What if the men’s tournament was re-seeded?’

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Some numbers from Kentucky’s 90-59 thumping of South Carolina:

• Darius Miller scored a career-high 22 points, topping the 20 he scored last season.
• That was against Wake Forest in last year’s NCAA tournament.
• Miller hit his first six three-pointers, before missing his last two.
• Miller has made nine of 15 threes over his last two games.
• In two games against USC, Miller has made 13 of 22 shots, including 7 of 10 threes.
• He scored 40 points in the two games.
• Miller also had nine rebounds, his highest total since Dec. 22 against Winthrop.
• He also blocked three shots, his most since Mississippi Valley on Dec. 18.
• Kentucky averaged 1.347 points per possession in the win.
• That is UK’s best PPP number since posting a 1.350 against Boston U. on Nov. 30.
• In other words, it’s UK’s best PPP of the conference season.
• The Cats averaged 1.205 points per possession against Mississippi State last game.
• Kentucky made 11 of 20 three-pointers, for 55.0 percent.
• In games it attempted at least 20 three-pointers, its best showing since 1-22-05.
• The Cats were 11-of-20 at home against LSU in that game, as well.

Continue reading ‘Some numbers from Kentucky’s romp over USC’

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Click here for Herald-Leader photo gallery from last night’s game.

Big Blue Links for Sunday:

Kentucky overwhelms South Carolina 90-59, writes Jerry Tipton of the H-L.

If Kentucky wanted to solve the recurring problem of poor play in the final minutes of close games, this was the way to do it.

UK never let it get close, scoring the game’s first 15 points, leading by double digits the final 35:34 and by 20 or much more the final 28:21 en route to the 90-59 victory over South Carolina on Saturday.

The best Kentucky’s played this season?

“By far,” said DeAndre Liggins, the experimental spark off the bench this day.

Darius Miller steps up for the Cats, writes Will Graves of the AP.

Forget the stat sheet. Kentucky coach John Calipari doesn’t need to look at it to know Darius Miller is finally starting to get it.

Sure, the junior forward’s career-high 22 points in the 22nd-ranked Wildcats’ 90-59 romp over South Carolina on Saturday was nice. To Calipari, however, the bigger measuring stick for the talented but inconsistent Miller’s progress is the number of times he tests his coach’s sanity over the course of a game.

Against the Gamecocks, it was tantalizingly close to zero.

“He had one stretch where I wanted to choke him because he had played so well,” said Calipari, who was kidding about the choking, but couldn’t resist poking Miller just a bit for a short stretch in the second half when he “reverted” to his formerly reticent ways.

Joker Phillips looking ahead to 2012 class, writes Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader.

That includes one of the nation’s top quarterbacks in Dixie Heights’ Zeke Pike. UK has offered Pike a scholarship but could be fighting an uphill battle. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Pike has already received more than 30 offers from such schools as Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Penn State, Southern Cal, LSU and Auburn.

Another Northern Kentucky quarterback who will be highly sought after is Patrick Towles, a 6-4, 230-pounder from Highlands. Towles is being tutored by former UK quarterback Jared Lorenzen, who is the quarterbacks coach at Highlands.

Mitchell seeks consistency from Kentucky women, writes Jen Smith of the H-L.

This season there’s no barometer player. Couple that with the team having six freshmen who play with typical freshmen inconsistencies and Mitchell is left scratching his head.

But as the team heads to Vanderbilt – a place it hasn’t won in 25 years against a team that sits ahead of UK in the SEC standings – Mitchell is trying not to let the team get too low despite the fact that it’s lost three of its last four.

“I think it’s very important right now to have some perspective,” Mitchell said on Friday. “The sky is not falling. … We are in fourth place with a chance to finish higher.”

Continue reading ‘BBL: Kentucky men cruise; Women meet Vandy today’

SEC links for Sunday:

• Vandy pulls away to beat Auburn 77-70, writes Charles Bennett of the Star.
• Jenkins and Taylor get Vanderbilt rolling, writes John Zenor of the AP.
• Georgia holds on to beat Tennessee in Knoxville, writes Tim Tucker of the AJC.
• Bulldogs make an NCAA statement, writes Seth Emerson of the Macon Telegraph.
• Tennessee’s resume takes another hit, writes Mike Griffith of News-Sentinel.
• Pearl looks like a coach who has lost focus, says David Climer of the Tennessean.
• Is Pearl the problem, or the ultimate solution? asks Mark Wiedmer of the Free Press.
• Florida can’t afford to overlook LSU, writes Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun.
• Mitchell scores 27 to lead Bama past Arkansas, reports Don Kausler of the News.
• Mitchell was a one-man show, writes Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News.
• Sidney answers his critics as State wins, reports Brandon Marcello of the C-L.
• Rick Cleveland of the C-L writes Stansbury is doing Sidney no favors by coddling him.

Continue reading ‘SEC: Vandy moves forward as Tennessee takes a hit’

Players Darius Miller, DeAndre Liggins, Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight talk about win over USC.

Coaches John Calipari of Kentucky and Darrin Horn of South Carolina in their post-game press conferences: