KSR - 2025-03-13- KSR - Hour 1

Episode Date: March 13, 2025

Live from Nashville for the SEC Tournament. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist, and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after? me listen to kingdom of fraud on the iHeart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts comedy off broadway in lexington welcomes janeh march six through the eighth then catch club favorite

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Let me hear from you guys in Nashville. What an absolutely amazing crowd here at Ten Roof on Broadway. If you're in the city, come and join us. downstairs is full. Downstairs, there's a ton of people. For the first time in five years, I kind of feel like the SEC tournament is back for Kentucky in Nashville. This is exactly what we've been waiting for.

And we are here. We'll be here ready for you. 859-280-2287. Clark's Pump and Shop phone line is 859-280-2287. A-Vision Auto Glass Text Machine is 772-7524 in this edition is sponsored by the T.J. Smith Law Office. Call T. T.J.

he'll make them pay. Tonight. Kentucky opens up its SEC tournament run against Oklahoma, 930 Eastern, 830 Central. But Ryan, you wouldn't know that if you were out and about. There are Kentucky fans everywhere. I know probably dozens on their way here right now. I think tonight this is going to be a literal sea of blue, and it is nice to have this energy and this excitement back in the Kentucky fan base.

I mean, this is why this is our favorite show of the year, man, right here to show up at 8.30 in the morning to get ready to do a show on their packed it already. I agree with you. I think a lot of folks, since they play late tonight, waiting until today to come down, it's about to get crazy on Broadway. Well, there's already a ton of people here.

So let me point some stuff out, Drew. We got some people here that were here at four in the morning. I got some people who've come here all the way from Middlesbril, some of my high school classmates. You got the Mani and Scotty crew. You got my college crew. And you got people from all over who've made the... There you go.

I guess Bartsdown is one of the places that people have come. from. You know, this tournament, we were talking about this yesterday, Drew. It feels like, I think today and tomorrow, if Kentucky makes tomorrow, I think tomorrow might be one of the hardest tickets in a long time because I think Auburn's going to have a ton of people. Tennessee is going to have a ton of people. Then you throw in us. This arena, this city over the next two or three days, I think is going to be awesome. Oh, yeah, and I'm so excited. This is my Christmas. To the people here at 4 a.m., that is truly unbelievable. I've been here at 4 a.m. asking me to leave at that point, but you all start your day that early. It's crazy.

I mean, just yesterday, the Arkansas, South Carolina game, no one in that first session wears blue, but you could just look around and there's blue everywhere just to be at the first game on Wednesday. So I know we'll be excited and in there tonight. You know how I knew there was blue in that arena was when they announced John Calapary and he got booed yesterday during that game. That said to me there's probably blue in the arena and then there was. Yeah, I know we had the debate, do you booed John Calipari? At the SEC tournament, the answer is 100% yes. Yes, and he plays this afternoon.

But Kentucky will open it up against Oklahoma that last night, Oklahoma, after being down in the second half, comes back and takes the win. I don't know, you guys may have all gone to bed, so you may not have gotten to see some of the Oklahoma quotes after the game. But it's a pretty chesty bunch from the Oklahoma players. They all said the same thing. We should have won last time, and then we didn't.

And the one kid, I think his last name is Moore, said, I can tell you this, tomorrow night we're getting the done. He literally, all but guaranteed the win in the locker room. Yeah, I think that's worth a boo. Ryan Lemon, do you think the players will see those quotes and get ready? There was already a lot of, I mean, probably the most tension of any game all year was Oklahoma. I guarantee they see those quotes. And if they don't, Brandon Garrison's going to see it, and he's going to show everybody.

He's the guy, man. He's the wild card. He had maybe the best game of the year. We need to, like, hold him back. I'm going to go ahead and call it. There's going to be a technical foul at some point. It was too chippy last time for it not to be, and I'm sure there's going to be some carryover for this game today. You know, for Oklahoma, I think they're probably in the tournament, but this is a big game for them maybe to avoid the playing game.

But for Kentucky, actually, if I were you and you're watching the games today, here's what I would watch. If Baylor could somehow beat Texas Tech and then we were to win, I think all of a sudden, if you believe Joe Lannardi, and he tends to be pretty good at this, we'd be right on the verge of a two-seat. and we haven't really even talked about at all. I think if you win or lose, you're probably a three, Drew. But I think you could set this up if you were to win today, then beat Alabama. I think a two would really be on the table. But either way, win today, and I think your seat as a two or three is locked in. Yeah, I feel pretty comfortable as a three.

I've thought since getting Missouri two is possible because you're going to have to run into Alabama that was at one time considered a one seed. And really just, I know we want to think about seating, but can we just please win in this damn city? it has been so long since we've had an extended stay here. I do not want to be home by Saturday. Let me give you some stats that are negative stats, but that should also motivate us.

I don't think I would have ever thought this. We've lost five of our last six SEC tournament games. Five of our last six in a city that we own in terms of people, we've lost five or six. We've lost nine of our last 11 postseason games. And it is time after all of that, in my opinion, to see us go back to where we are. It's also important, hey, we want Mark Pope to get some postseason wins.

His career resume has been really good, except not been that great in the postseason, so I think it's big for both entities. Yeah, we've talked about how Kentucky used to own this tournament. We come down, we own this town, we own the tournament, we kick your ass, we go home with our trophy and cut our nets down. They need to get back to that. And then Pope knows that. How many times you heard him say we understand the assignment?

We know we're going to Nashville to win the tournament. What a change that is to hear your coach? say something like that. Yeah, how about that? How about having a coach that says he wants to win a tournament down here? I mean, that's a big deal. Look, that's a big deal to me. I mean, one of the things the old coach used to do is he'd be kind of cute about it.

They'd be like, I don't care if we win, but oh, by the way, we win a lot. So do you care or do you not care? I don't, I want to hear a coach say that he cares. I mean, the money that this fan base brings down here. And the amount for a lot of people, the amount that this cost them, how much they want to do it. Heck for me, I mean, this is a trip I've been doing. This is my 30th year doing it. I want a team and a coach that wants it as much as we do,

and it thinks we have that right now. Yeah, I kind of understand the point about it, not mattering for tournament seating if you make it far, but you can't say that to your fan base who pays outrageous prices to be down here. But there's more to life than tournament seating. Like there's actually the memory of winning these games. I mean, think about how many of these games

over in the SEC tournament you remember. Life is not just about tournament seating. They're also playing for banners, and Shannon is one of them. Yeah, I mean, this has been the most competitive SEC or conference that we've seen in our entire lifetime. I don't know why you wouldn't want to win. Yes. We just won this tournament. I mean, the last, if I told you, the last four SEC tournaments were won by Alabama, Tennessee, Alabama, and Auburn.

There's a name missing there, right? And there's a name that needs to get back into that slot. That's why we used to own this tournament. It was the Kentucky Invitational. It's time to get it back. It's time to, you know, like Drew said, just win a game. We haven't even won a game here since the 2019 in Nashville. You can even leave aside the fans seating.

These players don't have much left in their college career. I'm sure they would like to play several more games. So just saying that out loud, I think it's crazy. All right, so I always like to do, let's see who's here from the farthest away. Who's here from, you know, at least a thousand miles away? Anybody? Where are you from? Where?

Naples, Florida. North Dakota. All right. I like North Dakota. So anybody here farther than North Dakota? We've got California right here with his hand up. Where's California? Right by this post.

Sacramento, California right there. It'll be hard to beat that one. All right, that one's going to be hard to beat. What about you? Wait a minute. You flew in from Jamaica. Sir, I can see you. You don't live in Jamaica.

Nobody that pale lives in Jamaica. But she came from vacation. You don't count. Jamaica Queens. Jamaica Queens. Jamaica Queen. Sacramento, give me a round of applause to right in the beam there and making the trip here. Now, Jamaica's good.

I don't even know. Is Jamaica farther than Sacramento? I don't know the map very well. But either way. Either way, exciting to see people make that distance. We love it here, man. There was a crowd out the door before they even opened the door to get in for the pre-show. These people stay here all day, watch games.

and Shannon did a poll earlier, most of the folks that were here for the pre-show are going to the game. Yeah, I would say so if they come down this far. I would assume so. But the point being, though, there's always a good group of fans that comes down just to party, just to be a part of this atmosphere because it's so exciting. All right, so let's talk a little bit about scheduling. You start, the game start as soon as we're off one hour later, but then we have a – Shannon will be playing right here on this stage.

Is it down here? Upstairs? Right here. Right here. He'll be playing at this stage tonight from 4. 4.30 to 8.30. So do your pregame. He will literally go up to tip of the Kentucky basketball game. And then our pre-show will be at 7 o'clock Eastern, so 6 o'clock Central. We're going to be doing it from an undisclosed location.

But my post-game show may finish at 2.30 in the morning tonight. But let's see. What are we going to be talking about? Drew, are we going to be talking about a victory? How do you like Kentucky against Oklahoma today? Do we know what the spread is? I should look that up. Six and a half. Six and a half. So Kentucky's a six and a half-point favorite. Do you like our chances?

I do like our chances. I mean, winning at Oklahoma took a pretty superhuman effort from Otega O'Way. What do you have, the last 18 points of the game? You know, I think that was kind of unique circumstances. I think it would be a much more well-rounded effort. I do wonder about the emotions how that ended because more, Jalen Moore, you mentioned. They physically had to pull him away from the handshake line. And that wasn't that long ago.

Brandon Garrison probably needs to wear a helmet from that beer being thrown at him. So you can almost get too amped up, but as far as the matchup goes, I think Kentucky should be in a good spot. If you were on Draft King Shannon, would you bet on over a half for a technical or a fight? Over, yeah. That was, I mean, we haven't seen, our guys talk trash, but we really haven't seen them be chippy this year. But that game, that brought out. They couldn't even do the post-game handshake. That brought out a side of this team that I haven't seen.

I always thought watching the games that this team was kind of soft. a little bit, didn't like a whole lot of confrontation. But watching that game, I said, all right, this team's got a little fight to him. Maybe they can get a little chesty if they need to. Bart Williams carried Brandon Garrison the length of the court to get him away from that post-game, whatever he went for. I mean, that was pretty outrageous all the post-game stuff that went on. Hopefully they'd move past that. Well, they were in a battle last night, too.

I mean, Oklahoma played a long game. It was a close game against Georgia throughout. So I think that'll help us as well. I also think the good thing about Oklahoma is you can get shot. off against them. We did. You just have to shut down Jeremiah Fears because he can kill you. He can go for 35 if you're not careful. We do have to make sure. And that's why, by the way, remember if we had Butler against Oklahoma, we only play like 12 minutes or something like that. Fowl trouble. Now you'll have him for a full game. And he's helped pretty close to being 100% healthy. He's a big key to this game tonight because Fiers is good.

And they're not shy about jacking up shots. They're a perimeter guys. They'll shoot a lot of threes today. We just have to match that. And we have to, you know, hope they miss them. I always point to you because you say this, this is definitely a Kobe Bray and needs to hit three or four game because they're going to put up points. I think if we're in the 80s, we're in pretty good shape, but we've got to get there. Yeah, and I've been worried about Kobe when he leaves Rupp Arena, but that game in Missouri would get four threes. I think just knowing his role now with Jackson Robinson being out, he knows he has to do it. He's stepped up.

He's been making shots outside of Rupp, and he's really played better defense. He's rebounded. He's become more of a complete player as the season's gone on. Hopefully that continues. They're going to need a lot of contribution, I think, for the bench. You know, this last game, they basically relied on Otega Owe. He had 28 points. But that was a legendary performance.

It was, it was. But, you know, you can't rely on that again, I think, tonight. It would be kind of awesome if he did it again, though, against this former team. 859-280-2287. One person writes, Matt, you guys are in Nashville for the SEC tournament. Most memorable Kentucky SEC tournament games in Nashville. First one that comes to my head is the Mississippi State. wall cousins the boogie put back and going to overtime and winning i never thought i'd see a

grown man closer to being broken down than rick standsberry was after that game because they ended up not even getting in the tournament i don't think that year because of that that that one to me is the one that sticks out what sticks out to you besides that one uh i go back to 98 where jeff shepherd got hurt freddie's ankle right before the championship was that here it was i think it was here well i may be in Atlanta yeah that's not that's not here so i got a couple Malik Munk versus Arkansas When like an assistant coach was trying to fight Malik Munk. There was bad blood in that one

And I believe it was the game before The Cousins tip in. Tennessee had a good team and Kentucky beat them by like destroyed. Were any of you all at that game I still think best Kentucky crowd that's ever been in an SEC tournament game was that Tennessee game in the semifinals because we

It was kind of like this. To me that crowd we had in that Tennessee game if we win tonight that could be the crowd tomorrow night in terms of people being ready. I agree with you. That crowd was insane in 2010. I remember a few big individual performances.

Tyler Ulyss had 30 in the championship. Winion Gabriel, seven for seven from three. I was in Missouri. Oh, that was insane? Excuse me. How about the Dominique Hawkins game? That was here, wasn't it? That was here, yes.

Yeah, the, I think you, the Tyler Ullis game where they beat Texas A&M in the championship. That was a great one here. There's been a lot of memories here, but as we talked about, Shannon, haven't had them in a while. I'll need to get it back tonight. I was just sitting here trying to rock my brain and think about ones that you all haven't already mentioned. And unfortunately, there's not really a whole lot to talk about from the last few years down here in Nashville. But we can change that today.

We are going to change it. We're going to get to victory today. We're going to take a break and be right back. We are here at Tin Roof. Cats in Oklahoma tonight. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

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Rick's going to have to bring the energy with this music. Rick, it's the SEC tournament. I'm going to need music energy from you, not boom-chicken-boom. Can you do that for me? Yeah, I think I could do that. Yeah, all right. There you go.

There you go. We've got to get some energy, Rick. You can't just hit the random button. You've got to give us some stuff to go. We need to talk about what happened yesterday during the very first game of the tournament with your Arkansas Razorbacks, Drew. I love them.

Well, first of all, a couple things. Let's start with during the game. They were up 20 in the second half, nearly blew it. South Carolina cut it to one and then a guy dribbled it off his foot or they might have actually won the game. When it was over, South Carolina was up two with three seconds left. Or, excuse me, Arkansas was up two with three seconds left. Arkansas makes the first free throw.

They're now up three. South Carolina's got three seconds and one time out. Now, none of y'all are coaches your basketball bennies, but you're up three. You got one more free throw. What should you do? You should make the free throw. John L. Davis, the Arkansas player, looks to the bench,

then shoots and tries to miss it on purpose. Now, he's played so bad this year that even with trying to miss it, he still made it. And it went in. But you could tell you tried to miss it. I was sitting with Mario and Shannon. I was like, I think he tried to miss that. Oh, yeah, 100%.

Throw it hard off the glass. He threw it hard off the glass. It went in. So after the game, Cal has asked, why did you try to miss the free throw? And he goes, that's just my style. If you miss the free throw, it throws them off. Cal did not know there was a timeout. There's no way he could have known that because if they caught it, they could have called timeout.

He said, I'm unconventional in my style, was what he said. That's one way to put it. So, now they won the game, Drew. It ultimately doesn't matter. But doesn't that sort of sum up the Cal experience in a nutshell trying to miss a free throw when you're only up three with three seconds? Yes. And honestly, we got there at about halftime.

They were up 20. I think South Carolina was up 16 the whole time I was there. But not just that last dumb decision that I can't believe he even tried to explain. I'm looking at that bench not that I needed confirmation but that look they had that look that they had against A&M St. Peter's he was doing throwing his hands up they didn't know what was going on they looked so rattled Kenny Payne who was a nice guy if that had been a statue of Kenny Payne I would believe he didn't move I'm not sure he moved his head he didn't speak they just look like a staff that was completely rattled when they were still up 10 and I do not miss that at all congratulations on winning but I mean they almost completely blew that and I'm glad to be way past that I'm not going to say which one it was. But there was a member of that staff.

So I accidentally, we had just gotten there at halftime, right? And I accidentally found myself like the SEC tournament's different than these. Like if you go to Rupp Arena and you're in the media, you can't get near the locker rooms. Right. Like there's really no way to get close to the player. But the SEC tournament, because they have four different locker rooms, you can end up right next to them. So I end up accidentally right next to Arkansas's like locker room. So as they come walking out, all of a sudden, I'm just standing there,

and I look, Shannon, and I'm face-to-face with John Kelly. Oh, no. Oh, that's awkward. Face to face. Now, he is kind of looking down like in a note sheet, so I don't even know if he saw me. So that was no thing. But one of the people on the staff, I'm not going to say which one, but one of them was walking with a big smile

and he saw my face and he just looked at me and he just stared at me right in the eye and walked right by staring at me the whole time and I wanted to be like man what are you staring at? If I wanted to see you, I'd just go to Broadway tonight. You'd be out there.

I know who it is. And the hells it down. But it's clear, man. That was the first time I'd really been around them because I didn't go to the post-game press conference in Ruff and it was interesting to see the swagger with which they That had to be a little bit of an awkward moment for you.

Well, I didn't expect it to come. So you just stared them right back in the eye. Well, I mean, I'm not. Byron West from Middlesbrough was not there to back me up. If you'd been there to back me up, I would have stared hard right back at him. I will say, like, behind the scenes, the security is very relaxed. Behind the scenes. We'll get to another.

Yeah, we'll get to this later. Mario ended up almost getting kicked out last yesterday. But to your point, like Ryan and I, I thought we could have just ran out with the Vanderbilt basketball team and gotten in the layup. blind if we wanted to. Nobody was like there to stop us. It was really bizarre. This is also, by the way, you'll see this after the game tonight. This will be the first time all year that Kentucky reporters can go into the locker room after the game and talk to the players. So, Ryan, you've done this back in the day. This is usually a time where you get a lot of stories and a lot of stuff about the UK players

maybe you didn't get during the year. Postseason is the first time. Yeah, you actually can go into their world, into the locker room, interview guys at their locker. Because in the past at the UK, they always bring guys out to the media talk area. So it is kind of a different feel after the game. I'm excited to not have to the rapid reaction outside, too. I get to be on the court, all kinds of cool rules. Well, so anyway, it was interesting to sort of go face-to-face, and I have to tell you, had they lost Arkansas,

I might have been petty and gone and stared back at the press conference. That would have been fun. Did you see him call out Tyler Thompson in the press conference? He did. He called out Tyler Thompson and said how many of, how many championships have I won and looked right at her? So he was feeling himself yesterday. We'll see if he is when he plays Ole Miss today.

I would have said which decade are we talking about, because not this one. Let's talk about UK guys for a minute. Mark Pope said yesterday that Colin Chandler could play almost twice as many minutes in the postseason as he was playing in the regular season. I think with that phrasing, Ryan, that means you're talking about him basically becoming the sixth man. I mean, if he's going to really play twice as many minutes, towards the end of the year, he was playing 12 or 13, so that would be 25 minutes of action. Do you expect that to happen?

Do you think Colin Chandler is now the sixth man on the team? I do, especially today. Oklahoma, they're so perimeter oriented. Those guys, they jack up a lot of threes. They need just a little glimmer of daylight. So I think that's why Colin will play a lot, especially today, just for defensive purposes. We all love Travis Perry because he's from Kentucky, but would you, Drew, do what I think I would do,

which is make Colin Chandler the backup point guard, at least until he loses it. Oh, you're going to make me say this in front of my Western Kentucky friends. He brings a level of athleticism that a lot of the other bench guys can't have. In the first game against Oklahoma, he kind of got beat off the dribble. But I think he's had a breakthrough, especially offensively in the last couple of week. He just looks like a completely different player. And I agree that he should climb up the rotation and get a lot more minutes.

If I'm sitting there on the post game show and I'm looking at the box score and I'm looking at minutes and I see Chandler, Garrison, Almanor, Perry, Noah. Shannon, I have to tell you, I cannot believe I'm saying this. If I'd said it six weeks ago, I would have thought I was crazy. I think I want Chandler to have the most minutes out of that group, to be honest with you. I think I agree with you as well. Lockdown Defender, and, you know, he doesn't have to offensively go out there and get you 15 or 20 points. Just give you seven or eight off the bench, and I think they're in good shape.

And part of it is because Carr's playing so well. I don't think you need the Almanor minutes as much as you did. I mean, when he was hurt, I thought you needed a bunch of Almanore minutes. I don't know if you need that anymore because he's playing way. Carr played 37 minutes against Missouri, which is crazy. We'll take a break. Be right back. This is Kentucky Sports Radio.

Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio 859-280 2287. A couple open lines. Give us a shout. We're going to go to the phones here this segment. Great crowd here at Tin Roof. If you want to score big on college sports, NBA, Draft Kings is the place to go. Kentucky's a six and a half point favorite tonight if you want to go into it.

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DKNG.c.com slash audio. Nailed it. It nailed it. That's a lot of words. 859, 280, 2287. Let's do a real quick pick here. At the end of the SEC and NCAA tournament, which Kentucky player is going to be our MVP for the postseason?

I think you can make a case for all five starters, depending on how you look at it, who's going to be our MVP in the end of the postseason? I think it's Oway, the guy that they've leaned on so much this year. I mean, he's scored in double digits in every game except for two. so I think if they're going to have a run, it's going to be on him. Oh, way. Last May and throughout the whole summer, you might remember I kept calling Andrew Carr, my most valuable player in the tournament.

I'm going to stick with it. I can't change my opinion. I called my shot a year ago. I'm sticking with him. I'm going to go with somebody different. I'm going to go Lamont Butler. I mean, he's knows what it's like to make a big run. He's your leader.

He's your defensive stopper. He looks like he's getting close to being 100% healthy. I'll go Butler. You stole my answer. I think if Kentucky, there's only one player on this team that has had massive success in the postseason, and it's Lamont Butler. He's the one guy that when he plays, we're different. I watched, you know, on TikTok, they're doing all these, like, biggest March Madness moments. You know, if you didn't pay attention, go watch Lamont Butler hit that shot to send San Diego State to the finals.

He runs down the court. He shakes his guy. He shoots a mid-range jumper and nails it. He was a huge part of their final four bid. I'm going to say, if we're going to have a run, Drew, that I want to have, I think Lamont Butler is going to be what it would do. Yeah, I saw that clip going viral yesterday. It says, like, he looked at the clock because he, like, turns out.

He literally, yeah, he dribbles. He takes the time to look at the clock and then shakes him. I mean, it was a, you talk, it's probably a forgotten clutch shot, but I mean, it's a literal buzzer beater. I mean, it goes off as the buzzer does. And I said, Carr, but in the SEC tournament, I think Butler is going to have to be the guy because there's so many good point guards.

You're going to see Fears today. Going to see Mark Sears tomorrow. You can see Walter Clayton on Saturday. He's the only guard that I think can really defend those guys. We saw it was like when we didn't have him. So I think in this tournament he'll be the key. Since this is the SEC tournament, I know we've got big Kentucky fans here

who appreciate the history of the conference. It is worth noting we should take a second to note the passing of Oliver Miller from Arkansas. The Big O when Arkansas joined the conference, He was him, Todd Day, and Lee Mayberry. He was part of what I think is the best SEC tournament on the court that we've ever had in 1992, when all those guys, LaTrails Prewell, Hollywood Robinson, Robert Ory, Shaq, all those guys, Jamal Mashburn, were all in the same tournament.

He passed away yesterday, a legend of basketball, and when you're a kid and you see a big hefty dude playing in the post, you can't help but like him even though he was our rival. So everybody join me in wishing a round of applause and rest in peace for Oliver. Miller, an Arkansas basketball legend. You know, we all remember him because he was a big guy, one of the first really big guys that could really hoop it up at this level. But he was a hell of a player, man.

He was great. Yes, he was. Played in the NBA for a number of years as well. It was on that Phoenix team that played the Bulls in the finals. If you remember, Oliver Miller was a big part of that Barclay Phoenix team during the years. Who's up first? Stubb is up first. Stubb.

Go ahead, Stubb. Hey, guys. Shout out to my buddy Chris. He's down there and funny else somewhere. All right, where's Chris? Where's Chris in here? How you doing? All right, big shout out to Chris.

Go ahead, sir. By the way, I think when I messed up in my job, I'm just going to say, oh, I'm just unconventional and it'll be okay. That's actually a good answer. I'm unconventional. I don't follow the rules of the, I got it. Man, my question to you, like, there was no question. Like, the LSU team last night, they absolutely, they were done.

They quit. quit. They had quit. And now today in the portal era, I think these guys, even more so than usual when you're on a bad team, they're just going to want to be done so they can get gone. Yeah, but I mean, South Carolina, South Carolina didn't quit yesterday. South Carolina played really well. And, you know, I just thought LSU to me had Drew shown the signs of quitting way before yesterday. I actually think they quit in our game within about 10 minutes. And so to me, that was the easiest pick of the day yesterday because LSU had quit. Yeah, and that was a big spread.

If I hadn't seen him in Rupp Arena, because the moment Kentucky got that lead a few weeks ago in Lexington, you just saw a team that had their eyes on spring break and being done with the season, and that obviously carried into yesterday down here. Appreciate it. I get props to Lamont Perez for being in Calipari's year again, so that was great to be.

He about got him. I almost went to 4-0 against him. Appreciate the call. Porter Moser, the coach at Oklahoma. I don't know if you saw. He was giving his post-game thing yesterday, his post-game, and there was a UK fan behind him going, go-cats, go-cats. Callow Perry, when he was giving his post-game interview,

had a UK fan behind him holding up a hat saying, go-cats, go-cats. And then earlier tonight, the Mississippi State coach, Chris Jans, was giving a post-game interview and had a guy behind him, go-cats, go-cats. Is that going to be our thing in this tournament, Ryan? Is that we just put people behind the coaches screaming, go-cats? That's our job, man. We're down here to support the catch.

We don't want the other guy to win, so that's what we're supposed to do. So I hope that happens again today. Whether it's Chris Beard or John Caliperian in that first game, Shannon, somebody needs to get behind them and hold up the'll go kick. Hey, if it was already happening on day one, I'm 100% confident. It's going to be happening every game going forward. This fan base just continues to grow down here. Drew, how many threes do we need to hit tonight to beat Oklahoma?

How many do we hit Missouri? 12, something like that? Do we need that many? I was actually thinking 12. I'll say 11. I think O'Way might be able to drive on this team again, but they're going to have to hit threes. If they go cold and have a bad shooting day,

I think whatever this tournament or next week, it'll be night night, whoever they're playing. They're going to shoot well for any kind of run. I think Kentucky's only lost one game this year when they hit 11 threes. So you almost wonder if that's the magical number. I think we hit 11 against Alabama the first time and we lost. But otherwise you hit 11 threes, Brian, we end up winning the game. And if you get from everybody, you know,

the other day, Otega hit one, Brea, Carr, Travis, Trent, Colin Chandler, you know, they got three from everybody. They get something like that, man. They are going to be hard to beat today. I agree with Ryan. The bench three is they had four at Missouri. I think the bench, whether it's Chandler, Perry, Noah, Almanor, if those guys can collectively make four or five, that's going to be a big difference maker too.

Let's look at the two Kentucky kids, Perry and Noah. What, what, can they play in this postseason? I mean, like, do it? Yeah. Okay. Spot medits here and there. I'm talking about on defense. I mean, that's where, that's where the issue is.

is on defense. Can they get, because the thing is in March, the defense gets tighter. So if you were struggling in the regular season, the defense even gets tighter in March. I don't think you're going to see 15 or 20 minutes out of them, but just here and there, you know, to give the guys a breather for a few minutes, I think they can hold their own. I don't know if tonight's a game for those two guys. Now, if they're playing Georgia tonight.

I agree with you, actually. That's a Trent and Travis game. Tonight's game may be a tough for them to stay on the floor because they're so quick and good on the perimeter. This is also a big game for the big guys. I mean, this is a game where, in theory, Amari and Andrew Carr should have a huge advantage. You remember, Garrison had maybe his best game of the year against these guys. This is going to be a game. The big guys, their guards are good.

Our big guys need to play well tonight because that's, I think, where our advantage is. If we can keep Garrison's emotions in check, I think he can't have a big game because his beef with Oklahoma goes back to he played two years at Oklahoma State, lost on a buzzer beater once. They waved goodbye to him. So this is a team that he's got bad. blood with even going before he transferred to Kentucky. I think he'll play well.

Here's one thing. Nobody's going to be throwing a $17 beer at them tonight. We don't have to worry about that. The beers are seven. This is the first time, by the way, they've ever sold beer at the SEC tournament unless you were in one of the luxury items. How many of you are going to partake in the $17 beer at the thing? Oh, not many.

Not many. So how many are going to partake before at Tin Roof? They already are. Yeah, some of them already got a start. There we go. That's a more likely scenario. Who's up next? Got Scott up next.

Scott, go ahead, Scott. Yeah, I was just wondering if you all thought the game time tonight would affect our play any. Like if we played better on late games this season or early games. We haven't had a lot of late games. I mean, the amount of, as far as I can remember, we've played three games this year late at night, and it was Duke, Gonzaga, and Missouri, which were three of our better performances of the year. So I think to the extent it matters, it helps us. Where, Drew, this late night thing can matter?

would be if we get to Saturday. You know, if we end up having to play at 9.30 tonight, 9.30 tomorrow night, and then getting up at playing at 3 o'clock on Saturday, that's where I think playing late night hurts you. I don't think it hurts you tonight. No, I hope we get to that problem, meaning we're playing on Saturday. But that's just one of the worst things about being that late team. It's an inconvenience every year.

Also worry, you know, we talk about Carr playing 37 minutes, Butler playing a lot. This back-to-back-to-back, I think you could have some worry and tear on the guys. Yeah, there's only been one team in the history of the SEC tournament win from a 930 starting slot, like win the whole thing. So it is definitely a negative to have to come through this side, but that's why you want to be a one or two seat. Appreciate the call. A5-9-280-2287.

8-587. We are here at Ten Roof, a massive Kentucky crowd. We're going to be here on and off all day. Shannon is here today at 4.30. We will take a break and be right back. Kentucky and Oklahoma tonight. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you, conquer them. On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports

and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going from the WMBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladecki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals.

At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast. For wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports.

Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee. This is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across.

When Jacob met Levan this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. It is Kentucky Sports Radio here live.

For all of you driving, here's what I'd like to do. If you're driving this way, well, if you're driving, don't send a text. But if you're in the car, on your way this way, send a text to the text machine, 772-744. Tell me where you're coming from. I'd like to read. I know there's a lot of people headed down the roads right now. I have a couple of stories I want to tell you that I think are kind of neat. We'll start with probably nobody in here knows the name, Natalie Zito.

But I bet a lot of you over the years have seen the video. You may remember many years ago there was a young woman who was trying to sing the national anthem at a Portland Trailblazers game and she forgot the words. You may remember this. And the coach who at the time was Maurice Cheeks, he walked over. put his arm around her and sang the words with her. Do you remember this video from years ago? It's 22 years ago.

She forgets the word. She gets nervous. She starts to cry. He comes over as the coach puts his arm around her. They sing together. Apparently, after that, she kind of lost her nerve to sing. It made her very nervous, and she never had sung the national anthem again, even though she was a great singer because she was scared of that moment.

Last night in Portland, they brought her back 22 years later. they had Maurice Cheeks come out and she sang the national anthem last night at the game. Nice. That's a very cool story. Maurice Cheeks stood next to her and she sang the national anthem. I think that's a really neat story.

I remember that video well. I mean, it broke your heart just watching. It was like I couldn't get through it. It was painful being in that moment. She was very young. Obviously a big crowd in NBA game and she did not have it in her. I do think she had a good chance to do something really funny

and do it again. Like forget the words again. Forget the words again. Maybe intentionally, but run it back. Like later on when I'm singing Fat Bottom Girls and I forget the lyrics, I hope that one of you will do the same for me. Yeah, by the way, I've heard through the grapevine. Your boy Vince Meryl wants to come up and sing Simple Man again.

Simple Man with you. We'll do it. Absolutely. We would love to have it. All right. He did that the last time you were here. 859-280-2287. Then another video on the internet this morning, John Gruden, who is now working for Barstool,

but the former Raiders Tampa Bay head coach, he's doing this thing where people send him stuff and he unboxes it. And today's unboxing was UK gear sent personally by Mark Pope. And he asked John Gruden to cheer for Kentucky during March Madness, and he said he would. So we picked up a new fan today as well, thanks to Mark Pope. That's really cool. You know, again, Pope just kind of doing things like that that makes him more endearing to everybody, not just our fan base, but everybody.

Yes. One person writes here, Matt, you all talked about this a few weeks ago, but now at the end of the regular season, I'd like this question. What is the final regular season grade you give for Mark Pope for year one? We'll probably have a different grade after the postseason better or worse. But Shannon, what grade are you giving Mark Pope year one? Considering everything that went into it, what's your final grade? Throwing the team together in two weeks.

Injuries that he's dealt with the entire year. The best conference that we've ever seen, I've got to give him a solid A. I think that considering those factors, there's no other grade you can get the guy. So, hey. I'll go second. I think when it came to building a roster, I think he built like a B roster and got close to A performance,

which I think is in even more. I always thought coming in the season, we were one player short. I still think we were kind of one player short, but the way they won games against big teams, I think it's important who you beat. We beat Duke, we beat Gonzaga, we beat Florida, we beat Louisville,

we beat Tennessee twice, right? Like to win all of those games against people that matter, and then you had a roster that in addition was probably a player short, and they were hurt a lot of the years. I think I'm going to give him an A-minus. It's an A-on-performance.

Roster building made it just slight, and I think if you'd have one more player, it'd be an A. So I'm going to give him an A-minus, but a solid A-minus. At Georgetown, they let you do this thing when I teach that's like A-slash-A-minus. I would give him an A-slash-A-minus. What about you?

I'm going with an A-mines, I mean, I agree with everything you just said. Also, it's lost on people. Yes, he built a roster in two weeks. He didn't have a coaching staff. That's true. He had to go out and get these assistants. He didn't have a house.

I mean, he's doing all this on the fly. It all happened so quickly, and we all know the games. You listed them. But one more thing I think we've got to give a lot of credit for is this fan base has been so excited all year long. To anyone here that's been going to Rupp Arena this year, you know what I'm talking about. It's just been different in there. So I also have to give them a bump for just uniting BBN. I mean, we've always been the best fan base.

It's been a different experience this year. You're getting behind him. I want you all, let me ask you a question. If you're honest with yourself, how many of you were more into Kentucky basketball this year than you've been in the last few years? Raise your head. I mean, I certainly am. There's no doubt in my mind.

I really liked last year's team. I really liked Reeves and Shepherd and Dillingham. I don't want to act like I didn't. But I have to tell you, prior to last year, the games had become a grind to watch. Like, I didn't really think they were all that fun. Last year they were fun until Oakland, but this is different. I've had more joy, Ryan, watching this team. You throw away maybe the at Old Miss game and a couple others.

I feel like every game, even when we've lost, has still been fun to watch. We all got that joy back. You know, he brought the joy back in Kentucky basketball again. Now, let's see what you can do this weekend. Win a couple games this weekend. So what's your grade? I'm going to give him an A-minus. I can't give him an A because they didn't beat Arkansas.

That's the one game we thought we were going to win. That's true. Had to win. Arkansas, at home, he didn't get it, so I'm going to give him an A-minus. I had somebody asked me, what do you think would have happened at this school if you had the exact same record if Cal had been here? And I think if we're honest, it would have been worse. It would have been worse. Even if we did the exact same thing, it was just, Drew, it was just time to have a different voice, right?

Absolutely. We would have been told this doesn't matter, that doesn't matter, wait until March, we're built for March, yada, yada, yada. but also with Pope, little things I mentioned bringing the fan base together, but how many times after a game is it an hour and a half later, and he's still out talking to people, FaceTiming someone's grandmother, singing happy birthday to a kid, and I know that'll eventually wear off over time.

I don't think he can do that forever, but there's just so many things outside of basketball that I think he deserves a high grade for. Totally agree. Who's up next? Dave is up next. Dave, go ahead, Dave. How you doing, fellows?

Good, doing good. What's up? I'll just sit there in White House, Tennessee, getting ready to drive down and watch all the spectacle of this UK basketball. Do you think today it's going to be a really close game? Oklahoma are they going to give us their best, which I think they will? How many do you think we're going to win by it? I'll hang up a listen. I think every game from now on Ryan's going to be close.

I do. I mean, I don't think today will be close. I think with eight minutes to go, we'll be up like five or six, and it'll just depend. Do we keep extending that? or does it come down to the final possessions? But outside of maybe the very first game of the NCAA tournament, I think every single, and I'm hoping that one's not close, but I think every single game from now on is going to be close,

and we just have to be ready for that. I think that's right. And we've seen it this year. A lot of our games go down to the final position. We've got a bunch of senior veteran guys. We've got Lamont Butler who knows how to win these close games. So, yeah, especially in this weekend, every game we play is going to be a tight game down in the last position.

And just read you some of these places people are coming from. Bullville, Bardstown, Evansville, Henderson Town, Tennessee, which I didn't even know it was a place. Middlesboro, how about that? Sturgis, Kentucky. Where's that? Webster, or Union. Yeah. Union County, it's right.

Floyd's Knob, Indiana. Owensboro. Millport, Kentucky. Where's Milport? Never heard of that one. Never heard of it. Brandon, Mississippi. Barberville.

Wow. Enterprise Alabama and Versailles, and they just keep coming. I'm expecting Drew a massive, massive crowd tonight. If you don't have tickets, I think it's going to be expensive. And you mentioned it being a close game. What I like is look around. Have you seen one Oklahoma fan in Nashville? No.

No. But look at it. The Oklahoma student section yesterday, zero students in it. Not one. They did not have one student. I bet we'll fill our student section. We will take a break and be right back. This is Kentucky Sports Radio live at Tin Rood.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories,

their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 in the stuff. the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness

from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.