KSR - KSR Postgame UK MBB at South Carolina 2/24/26

Episode Date: February 25, 2026

Drew and Billy recap the Cats' 72-63 win at South Carolina.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome in to the local Toyota Dealer's KSR postgame show. I am Drew Franklin. Filling in for Matt Jones, who, if you heard KSR this morning, does not have a voice. He tried to get through two hours.

Actually made it through two hours of our morning show, but had to hang it up before the pregame show and post-game show, but that's all right. I'm happy to fill in. And as always, Billy R. Sports is here producing this show. Billy, who lives in this studio like a troll. He's just here at all times. I think he sleeps under this table. You've been here all day. Billy, it's good to see you tonight after Kentucky gets a win, snaps out of the little bit of a losing skid, winning 72, 63 in Columbia. Kentucky went in as about a six and a half point favorite. Expectations to beat South Carolina, one of the worst teams in the conference. They had just come

off a seven game losing streak before stealing a win against Mississippi State last Saturday. You know, if we really, really, really wanted to be picky. We wish Kentucky could have gone down there and blown them out. It's just been a fun night from start to finish. But that was not the case. South Carolina started out kind of hot, hit four or three pointers early. It looked kind of like the Georgia and Florida game where you have a team not known for shooting three as well, giving them a little too much cushion, making them pay.

They had four of eight as Kentucky struggled from the field. Kentucky went one of seven from three early on. South Carolina led 12-5, led around 15-13, led for about half of the first half, and then Kentucky went on a big 10-0 run highlighted by Denzel Aberdeen hitting back-to-back three-pointers, forcing South Carolina to call a timeout. It was mostly cats from there. They'd get up seven. South Carolina would crawl back, a little bit of a back-and-forth, but never truly felt threatened,

and they pulled away in the end to win big. Aberdeen with 19 points. He's your star of the game. Not only did he hit those two threes. He had four in the game, but they all seemed timely, had a lot of big buckets. Otega Owe, actually a quiet game. A 30-game streak of double-digit scoring came to an end tonight. Otega with eight points on three of 13 shooting.

Aberdeen was helped out in scoring by Mo Diabate off the bench with 12. Big second half on him. We'll be bragging on Mo D with Aberdeen. Colin Chandler got up to 10 with the late three. That was important. Yellovich, who I predicted as the MVP with 11. Kind of a mixed bag from Yellovich, some highs and lows. But Billy R. Sports, that was my long-winded quick, you know, just, what do they call it?

Like the view from however many feet. That was my quick analysis. How do you feel about just getting out of that three-game losing funk and getting a win? I don't care if it was against a team that's not very good. Well, it's good to see you. Thanks for coming in studio and visiting my troll house here. I met that in a polite, loving way. I'm excited for an evening with Drew Franklin, even though some might.

get that on Thursday night as well in Madisonville. More on that later. But yeah, man, they had to win. It was must win. They snapped the three-game losing streak. I'm going to try to be positive on this post-game show, Drew, because there was a chance this would have been an all-time post-game show if they would have lost that game to a bad South Carolina team. But like I said, I'm going to try to be positive.

This team finds a way to win with Otega O'Way having a rough night. Denzel Aberdeen once again stepping up and being the player that the NILA dollars are paying for with that guy. And then Mo Dee, you mentioned him. I mean, his energy and relentlessness in the second half, I think, is the reason why Kentucky won that game. I also let out a loud

bang when Colin Chandler hit that three. If you know anything about me, Drew. He did it again. You know I'm going to be yelling out a bang, even if we're next to the president of ESPN. But it was just kind of a sigh of relief, honestly, that they won that game. And probably signs of maybe

this team's ceiling being a little bit lower than we Yeah, that was a game. Like I said, if we wanted to get picky, we could have asked for, you know, go out and kill them, but really just get out of there with a win. We just came off Kentucky's first three-game losing skid in five years. The bubble talk was getting very real. It never felt real until today. And if you had lost this game, you were on the bubble.

And people that had that were not making the tournament conversation, that conversation was there to be had with three games left. But I think this game puts an end to that. Honestly, you could lose the next three. Those are all quad-one opponents. I don't think it'll hurt your seed line too much. If anything, you can win the next three or two of them, whatever, and maybe help out. But today was just a big exhale.

Get out of the gutter and get a win in the SEC. I mean, it felt real, though, Drew. I mean, it was a half-empty arena. South Carolina, who's 331st and three-point percentage hits four threes and four minutes, and you're going, what is going on? Like, here we are again, not able to chase somebody off the three-point line. But they stick with it. I mean, somehow win this game.

You mentioned the guy Yellovich. I think at times he passed up some open shots, but did what he needed to do to contribute to the team. You know he didn't pass up on three-pointers. As someone who was rooting for him, my man took a lot of threes tonight, one of six. He was open. He was open. He could have shot maybe double that amount tonight.

He was so open. But he only hit one of them. I mean, what, seven of 25 from three? So they were shucking it up a lot tonight. Yeah, Yelovich, well, really the big storyline is he and Diabate is more so Yellovich early Diabate in the second half but you needed to get something out of that four spot. We kept talking about how you've wasted

career games with Owey lately and that back court has been so good and you need help with them. The combination of Yellovich and Diabate tonight what they did step it up beside Marino who was huge rebounding. He had 8 and 11 that was a big difference maker. The front court, as much as this back court has been the team's

identity lately, the front court did it tonight. Would they end up winning the rebounding battle by like 48 to 28? Good Lord. 18 offensive rebounds. Carolina not known as a good rebounding team. Wasn't really a threat that they could win that, but 48 to 28 is something. As I said, Marino with 11 leading the way. Garrison, I'm confused at how I want to react to Brandon Garrison game.

He had some moments. There was some flashy passes. He had a couple assists. There was a missed dunk. There were a couple times where I think he got caught in the quicksand. But overall, a slight improvement from my frustrations at the end of the Auburn game. I'm still, I still don't know how to react to the Brandon Garrison experience, but in the first half he was a wild ride, but he did provide some off the bench, a little bit

effort. He was a good rebounder tonight. He had seven to back up Marino. So I'm not going to, I'm not going to put down Garrison, even though there were some moments. It was just another wild ride with him. He had an offense rebound and a putback that was pretty big, and Mo Diabate did around the same time. He only played 13 minutes, B.G. So I mean, that's about right with the amount of time he should be playing, don't you think? Just right. And, you know, he's not the only one with a miss dunk. Diabate tried to crank. on someone's face and got blocked and then it hit him and went out of bounds. That was a tough look when everything was going for him.

Oway needs two points to get to double digits, has the breakaway, and just clanks it on the front of the rim on a one-handed dunk there. So that's 0 for three by my count on the dunk. So not just Garrison there that couldn't finish tonight at the rim. Oway was really struggling tonight. Do you think it was just the emphasis was on him, double teams every time he got the ball? Was he pressing tonight? Why do you think he struggled someone?

The scout was on him. I mean, he had to come down a little bit. I mean, three of 13 for eight points is a bad night overall. But we just, what was it, like 10 straight, 20-point games? At some point, he was allowed to cool off a little bit. And, you know, it didn't hurt him, still got the win. And he had five assists, which is big. He stepped up another, or five stills stepped up in other ways.

And that goes back to my first point is that this was big for this team to win without Oway scoring 20 in the game. Now, Chandler hit the first three of the game, and then it didn't feel like he hit it. another shot until the very end. He did end up with 10, I think. So he chipped in as well. But I mean, I think Denzel Aberdeen deserves the praise of Big Blue Nation. Not only this game, but these last few games, even the one where he was sick and still played well in that last game versus Auburn. He is definitely changed into a very different player. And he was

in the first half of the season. Yeah, five assists, no turnovers. That's his sixth game with three or more threes. Whoever called him Denzel Airbaldine earlier in the season, and they should be ashamed of themselves because yes, he had a few air balls early on and he wasn't knocking down shots but since SEC play I mean always been outstanding but Aberdeen's been right next to him putting this team on his back

and another big game tonight from him. Why are you laughing? Is that what you... I didn't say I called him that. People called him that earlier on. You remember he did airball a lot early on the season. That's not me making this up. I'm saying it as a compliment. He's really got it going especially from three which has been a big part of the team turning around a little bit

as the years ago. Yeah, and think I mean he's adjusting to life without Jalen Lowe as well, right? I mean, that was maybe part of the transition that maybe took a little bit longer than people thought with him. So it's good to see him play well. And man, you needed that. Like, just for the good vibes going into Saturday and before the SEC tournament,

now you feel that you're squarely in the NCAA tournament, like you said, Drew. And you can just start to build some momentum that you have left for this season, I guess. Still got to get off that Wednesday's conversation. It feels like a Wednesday team. Missouri, Tennessee. they're playing right now. This

game is kind of how you feel about the cats. If you don't think Kentucky's going to have much of a run and make a run at Friday, then you probably want Tennessee to win this and just help you knock Missouri down. If you're a big dreamer, maybe you want Tennessee to take a loss because you have that tiebreaker, but I

would rather just go ahead and knock Missouri on down a little bit because they have the tiebreaker over Kentucky. Right now 35, 34 Missouri Leats. Oklahoma was beating Auburn by nine or so at halftime. So an interesting result there. And I noticed when I walked in, you had the state of the union. I did.

Watching it on mute. Do you learn a lot on mute? I wanted to tell you how funny it was watching the state of the union on mute. Because just the constantly standing up and clapping and sit it down, standing up and sitting down. And then the people behind Trump, how lovingly gazing that they are towards Trump during it. I thought it was objectively funny with the sound off, Drew. I don't know. Well, I'm glad you switched it to basketball for me.

I had to. Yeah, I figured you wouldn't want to read up dates from the state. of the union. I don't know what's being stated right now, but if you wanted to turn it on, I could provide visuals, give my thoughts on that. Half the room rising up and clapping, the other half just scowling. It's just bizarre to watch it with the sound off. But we have shifted to Tennessee, Missouri, and maybe Peter Burns will give us another KSR reference before. Okay, yeah, good point. I have that in my notes, but let's go and bring it up now. Peter Burns, does Matt owe him money, or does he owe Matt Money and he's trying to make up with shoutout? There was three Matt Jones shoutouts.

tonight. There was three. Okay. I knew the one, which was the state of the union. It started before the game. Okay. It said something about, I guess this includes you. It said Matt Jones and the guys at Kentucky Sports Radio will be tweeting about this. That was pregame. That doesn't include me. Nice. Then midgame, what was the exact line? Hotter than Matt Jones watching the state of the union later tonight. Was that what it was? Peter, unbelievable line there. I can't believe you threw that one out there. Well done. And then I didn't hear this one because I was on my way here to talk to you. But Mario texts to the group that there was a third Peter Burns mentioned after the game that I did not hear, but the count is up to three.

Wow. Well, I mean, I thought it was just Tom Hart doing this. Now, Peter? That's got the whole SEC network. Ron Slay, Alyssa Lange, all of you doing shoutouts. We want your shoutouts here on the local Toyota dealers KSR postgame show 859-280-287. We'll be talking about the cats getting out of that funk and winning a game against South Carolina, 72, 63.

Only three games left, Billy. The season's flying by, but this show's not going to fly by. We got a lot of time left here with the night, here in the night. Three segments to go. We want your calls. Talk about the win. Talk about the state of the union, maybe within reason. Talk about Pope getting fined.

Whatever you want to talk about. We're here for you. We'll be right back. Welcome back to the local Toyota Dealer's KSR post game show after Kentucky handled its business in Columbia beating South Carolina 72 to 63. Drew Franklin here filling in for Matt Jones, who has lost his voice. Going to take a little evening off, rest up for tomorrow, drink some water. I've got Billy Rutledge here with me. Billy's keeping tabs on the Tennessee

Missou game, the State of the Union, and he's taking your calls. And I like that hat you got on the Super Bowl hat. I've been wearing this one a lot. What a trip, man. Still can't believe that happened. No, it's like a fever dream, isn't it? Yeah, still in that dream. You want to go back? Let's go back. Please. Just make an annual thing. Yes, I'd love to. We want to hear from you, 859-280-2-287. Got a full phone bank. But first, a quick shout-out. I got a text. My friend is in the Atlanta airport. If anyone knows, I knew a lot of people stuck in Mexico at a resort in Puerto

Vera. Is that how you saying? I was supposed to be there. I know they made it to the Atlanta airport. So shout out to my friends. Shout out of the country. Got my guy Joffrey married, even though there was not a vendor. I think they had to take photos with phones and make their own drinks and all that.

But they got them married. But the point is, is at the Atlanta airport. And he texted me that he's in the bathroom. And someone in the stall, my voice was coming from the stall. Your voice. Yes, outside gate D35. So whoever is there in Atlanta airport listening to KSR without headphones in while in the bathroom, shout out to you. I appreciate it.

Hope all the people that went in there got to hear a little bit of KSR. Well, you know, when my headphones go dead and I still have to use the stall, it doesn't mean I'm going to stop my episode, Drew. So just play it with the speaker. Gate D35, that's you. Or if there's multiple people at the airport, it could be you too. But I'm glad they're home, too. That's also very important. That was a scary situation.

Oh, yeah, absolutely. But shout out to everybody involved. Did you say Joffrey? Joffrey. Yes, he got married. Unfortunate name with the Game of Thrones stuff and all. Yeah, it probably didn't help. No.

But, yeah, inventful weekend for them. I'm glad they're home. Let's get some calls. Let's start with Randall. Randall, what's up? How bad, Drew? I caught the announcer's comment there about, you know, Matt Jones, hotter than Matt Jones watching the stuff.

state of union. I thought that was hilarious. But yeah, Mark Pope, man, I really would. I give him a pass on, you know, like recruiting these guys out of high school because, I mean, if he's going to go get a high school player, he needs to go after that number one guy,

you know, spend the money on him, but go to the portal, I think that's the smart decision on his part because, you know, it's to have a senior sort of, team, you know, a team and like build around our guys like Jasper, Morano, and Chandler, guys like that, put the money on those guys. I think we can really have some success next year and probably, we'll probably make a run this year.

I got faith that they do. All right. Love that optimism. Appreciate the call. They have been going after the number one player and the number two and four and six and seven. And how many do they have? How many have they gotten?

Zero. Not good. There's no. We can't. fix that up. That is what it is. Maybe Stokes will surprise us. Probably not going to happen. The high school recruiting class, looking like it'll be zero, that's inexcusable, can't happen. But the portal, though, we don't know what'll be in there. We know some guys likely in there, some guys playing well at other schools, some names we hope will go in. But whoever it is,

if there is one of these marquee players, don't get outbid. Don't get too emotional. You have to go get the best of the best if they're out there to get. it's okay if a player's motivation is money and not the name on the front of the shirt. I know how much we want for that to happen, Drew, but I don't know if that's realistic in the Transfer Portal era. And unfortunately, the guys you've kept in Mark Pope's system this year, Colin Chandler, Jasper Johnson, what's the other one I'm thinking of, Trent Noah, two of the three are unplayable right now.

Well, not Jasper. Garrison's back enough of the one. Garrison is the two of the three I'm talking about. You want to talk about Jasper and Trent? I intentionally didn't bring it up the first segment because it's not a fun topic. That was some of Jasper's worst work, I think, there. He went 0 for 3 from 3. Trent went 0 from 3 for 3.

But Jasper had the turnover and then the next trip down the floor, almost another turnover where he got Trapp, lost the ball. Luckily Diabate recovers. I think they even scored. I mean, he looked unplayable out there. So what do we do? I mean, part of it is they're supposed to be further down the bench than they are now.

I mean, you've got guys that probably shouldn't be playing when you're healthy. But Kentucky can't. Everybody wants them to make this run. We just had a caller saying they're optimistic. The bench has to be better than what we got tonight. Outside of Diabate, Garrison, Noah, and Jasper Johnson were one for 11 from the field. Yeah, and Trent, I mean, he hit the side of the backboard. Oh, that corner three was ugly.

And then he got two more looks in the first half that were wide open. You cannot ask for better looks than those two he got and bricked both of those. I mean, he hasn't made a field goal since January. Yeah, it's probably getting mental at this point, right? You're pressing. You're only in the minutes for a few times, and you know if you miss, you're going to be subbed out. I mean, how many minutes are you getting this game? Six minutes.

Yeah, he didn't come back into the second half of them, I'm not mistaken. And Jasper with eight. Noah did this to the last game. He went and rebounded. He did it again tonight, helped out there. But he's on this team, and he gets his minutes to hit the open threes. And once again, 0 for three from both of those guests. Oh, that's tough.

But if we can lift off the bench, Diabate. We never really got fully into how good he was in the second half. He was attacking. He had the breakaway where he gets the steel, finishes the and one, goes into end, made a nice cut to get a two, getting blocked on the dunk. Not the best look, but other than that, he just went to war and was bullying in there when it was clear that Kentucky had an advantage in the front court. What do you have, 10 of his 12 points in the second half, all of his rebounds,

where I mentioned Yellovich did a little bit for you in the first half in the second. they just leaned on Diabate in the muscle. You're exactly right. And it's the perfect time to give our Johnny Rocker personal injury attorney moneymaker of the game. Drew, injured, get small town compassion with big city results when you call the Rocker at 270321-4429. And while Denzel Aberdeen led the team in scoring it, I think it's no doubt Mo Diabate tonight. I mean, also think back earlier in this year, Mo was screaming at the guys while still on the court. You know, like maybe somebody that could derail this team fully.

And, you know, Mark Pope has kept his head. head in it and he was just somebody that I thought played really well in that second half, Drew, gave Kentucky a shot to win that game. Yeah, well, when Kentucky, I mean, right away, they give up the 7.5-half-time lead, 7-0 run South Carolina. Immediately, a tie game. It's like 40 seconds.

And let's be honest, a lot of us thought, oh, here we go again. But Diabate had the big 5-0 run, kind of sparked and got him going. He had the highest plus minus on the team, I believe it was a 16. Yeah, in 20 minutes. Yeah, Kentucky's 5-0 this year when he gets to 12 points. So huge game for him.

He and Aberdeen really, really carried the team where Otego Wade cooled off a little bit, which he earned a night off. We'll give him that one. Who's up next on the phone line? Hannah is up next. Hello, Hannah. Hey, guys. First time, long time.

There you go. Thank you. Hey, I was at the game tonight. I just wanted to say that I thought the crowd was about 45 to 50% Kentucky fans. Yeah, I'm glad you called in. I want to hear about this. It sounded mostly Kentucky. We had lots of Go Big Blues,

and any time they showed the crowd, empty Carolina seats, and then it looked like there was just an entire U.K. wall of people in one section. It looked like a good turnout. Yeah, I was in that wall, but yeah, it was for sure mostly Kentucky fans. The guy I went with is a South Carolina fan,

so I'm very glad that we won. Were they very hospitable? I have always said they can be some of the worst in the conference and it doesn't get talked about enough. Ryan got punched. Yeah, Ryan's been punched there. I've seen things there. Did you have a good time in addition to the win? Were they nice to you?

Yeah, so it's interesting. I've been to South Carolina football game and they were the nastiest people I've been around as far as fans, but the basketball fans, they seem to be a lot nicer. I had some good talks with some older folks around us

and I think they were also outnumbered so they really couldn't say anything. Well, we appreciate you being there and getting us the wind. Do you get to go to many games? Yeah, when I'm home, I do. I go to the Clemson game and the South Carolina game

because I'm in Myrtle Beach. But yeah, they were awesome. I met a lot of the players. I met Pope again. Yeah, I met Mitch. He was nice. But, yeah, it was a great experience. Well, it sounds like a great time.

Thanks for calling in and tell us about it. We appreciate it. Cool that you got to meet Mark Pope. Cool, that you live at the beach. beach. That's pretty awesome. Got to me Mitch. Jealous. I haven't done that yet. That sounds fun. She had a big night. Big night. You haven't met Mitch, huh?

No. One day. Who's up next? Let's go to Justin. Hello, Justin. What do you got for us? Hey, y'all, how's it going? We are excellent. Kentucky just got a win. Couldn't be better. That's right. That's right. I was at the bar tonight. I drove down. I live up in Frankfurt

and drove down to watch the game with some friends over at the bar. This evening. And one thing that I noticed, not only, you know, with the arena there at South Carolina looking half empty, you know, it's a Tuesday night, Kentucky plays at 7 o'clock. That's a good time to play. And I anticipated, you know, the bar being packed and people being excited and, you know, ready to see UK kind of snap this streak that they've been in. And the one thing that I'm realizing with this season is like, the hype just isn't there, you know, watching. this game tonight, there were times when it would have been easy to tune out a little bit

or not really focus in on what's happening. So I'm just curious from you guys, like, what can we do to really get some hype back up in this program? I mean, I think these next few games are a chance to do that. But I'm just curious from y'all, like, what does it look like to bring back some of that good Kentucky hype of, we've got basketball games to play, and there's tournaments coming up, and we should be excited, but it just kind of feels bleh going into. of both the SEC and the NCAA. You're right. I appreciate the call.

Hope you had a good time at the bar. I don't know how you fix it. I mean, this season, if you went three and O these next three games, heading into Nashville, maybe one or a couple there that gets people excited that you turn to corner. But otherwise, they're just going to have to kill it this off season. As we just mentioned with another caller,

they struck out completely on the high school class, or at least it's the bottom of the ninth of two outs, and it's looking like they're about to strike out and get shut out in that one. Transfer portal, we'll see what's there, If it's anything like football, there was kind of a dip in what went into the portal this year is everything's kind of leveling out. We don't know what will be in for basketball, but whatever's in there, you got guys you want to retain, but also you have to go after the biggest fish. You missed those last year, the Yaxels, Wilkerson, Indiana, Demerite, Yukon, even like Pierre at SMU.

You didn't get any of those guys, and they're lightened up to the scoreboard at their new schools. Those are the kind of guys you have to go fine, not a bunch of six men that you hope will hit another level. There's a lot of special freshmen in college basketball this year. And Park Pope has to prove that he can get somebody out of the state of Kentucky when it comes to recruiting and building up that hype that the caller's looking for. You want to bring the hype back. You start winning games. I mean, that's exactly how you do it.

You want to get that bar packed. Let's go on an elite eight run. Let's see the excitement then. People will buy all the way back in. And remember, this is what you're remembered for is how you finish in the postseason. This could all be a moot point if they go on a run. So, I mean, there is still excitement. left to be had, but there was definitely a time in this game where I did not think any of that

would be coming. And we've already shown this year, we'll believe. Think about, I was in Nashville for the Gonzaga game where they were getting booed out of gym. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I couldn't believe what I was watching. I couldn't believe life in that moment. Then month and a half later, they went eight of nine in the SEC play Florida close. I think you get a lot of hype back and then you have the Georgia Auburn games. It's like the team wants to believe. When they had that run, get the Arkansas win. I think a lot of people thought, nope, I'm going to tip-tow back onto his boat and pretend I didn't tweet some of that stuff. But then we're kind of all right back.

Yeah, online, it's like the firemark poke crowd's quiet this week. And then it flips the next week. I mean, it's fans are fickle. But this year has just been extreme, hasn't it? You go and beat Arkansas on the road like that. Two wins against Tennessee. You know, you beat St. John. They haven't lost a game since. So, I mean, like, that's going to be a good win on your resume, but ultimately it's just one of those years up and down. Tennessee down five to Missouri right now. So are we rooting for Missouri here or Tennessee?

I was kind of rooting for Tennessee to, you know, just push Missouri down a little bit more. But you're never going to see me mad about the Vols losing. Not one time of I've been mad when the Vols lost. So kind of indifferent, I would say. Let's think one more. Yeah, so one more call. Yeah, one more call. Jack.

Hello, Jack. What's going on? Hey, Drew. Me and my brother are currently driving back from the game. We both go to the University of Georgia and drove up to South Carolina to watch the game. And, you know, we were kind of wondering, we're like, I feel like all these Kentucky kids who go to different schools and they go to different places in the world, they all stay Kentucky fans.

One person we took a picture for, she said she went to South Carolina and her husband went to South Carolina. It's from South Carolina, but she's still a Kentucky fan. So despite all these other schools and all these other places that people go, why is it that all of us from Kentucky just stay Kentucky fans like that? What is it about UK that is so special to us? I can kind of tell you, but I'm just curious what your thoughts are. Thank you.

Appreciate the call. One, we're just better people. We're better human beings. We're loyal. We're not turning on our team. You know, we start at birth like in Kentucky, and we will die like in Kentucky, and all the in-between, we'll just, we're along for the ride. And I don't know.

I think like most people in this state are from wherever you're from. Your parents liked it. Your grandparents liked it. It's passed down to you. It's not a choice. Like my grandparents, their living room, had like framed Sports Illustrated. It's in it. A few K stuff.

You grow up with it. I mean, there were a few photos of me and the other grandkids, but there was also like, there's Mike Phillips and there's a picture of Antoine Walker. You know, it's like Kyle Macy was said at prayer at the dinner table most nights. Absolutely. He was at the dinner table one time. And I'm not saying that doesn't happen everywhere else. True.

But at Kentucky, there's just not other distractions. It's like, it is Kentucky basketball. You were born. Here it is. You're going to like it. And you're expected to pass it on to. That's right. Wherever you move in life, whoever you marry, whatever school you go to, you might get a job that flies you out to San Francisco.

Whatever. You're sticking with cats. It's born in you. It's in your blood. That's what connects the Commonwealth, man. When there's no pro sports team, people rally around things like that. I'm originally from Florida and have made Kentucky my home when I was 13 years old. and have been here ever since.

And every time I leave, I want to come back to Kentucky. There is a yearning to be back in the Commonwealth. And you hit the nail on the head. The people are nicer here. Just much nicer. Oh, we're the best humans. Come on. We're not perfect.

Especially on line after a loss. You know, like 2% of us probably aren't the best people. Overall, we're great. And we are carrying Kentucky basketball. Can I make that point? Please. I've been thinking about this lately. What are the good things about Kentucky basketball right now?

It's not recruiting. It's not the record in several years. We're not really in the national conversation lately. Probably not going to win a title. Been a long time since we've won a title. Been a long time since we've been to Final Four. Been a long time since we've even done anything in the SEC. You're hurting me right now.

Hold on though. You know what's there every damn year? The fans. We got this team on our backs carrying them right now. Think about that. Everything is down a little bit across UK basketball. But yes, we might be slightly crazy. and a lot of people hate us because the way we act.

But the thing that's still making Kentucky right now, it's Big Blue Nation. Well, you think about how bad they've played in Nashville this year, and then you see the crowd that still shows up at the SEC turning up for Kentucky. It's going to be a big blue takeover still, even if they play on Wednesday at 1 p.m. Respectfully to this team, did they deserve to have a road crowd like they did tonight

yelling Go Big Blue through the TV? Probably not. But those are Kentucky fans. That's what we do. We're the best. and right now we're the best thing the program's got going. And the rest will get better. But in the meantime, the fans are still going to be here doing what they do.

Amen. How about that? Preach. Let's take a break. Shout out the fans. Shout out the guys. Shout out the guys. In the bathroom.

We'll be right back. Welcome back in to the local Toyota Dealer's KSR post game show. Drew Franklin and Billy Rolidge after Kentucky's 72-63 win at South Carolina. Cats, what, 18 and 10, 9 and 6 in the conference? That's right. Feel pretty firm in the NCAA tournament now. You can stop those conversations. Still need to get another win to get out of that Wednesday talk.

Maybe he can do that with Vandy coming to town on Saturday. But for right now, we're still celebrating the nine-point win. We're celebrating Denzel Aberdeen, celebrating Mo Diabate, Colin Chandler with another dagger, decaf dagger, we call them. Another big three. Yeah, Colin Chandler, man. And he played so poorly in the last game. He disappeared.

You don't know what happened. And he had hit some big shots in that. eight of nine stretch that Kentucky had won and good to see him hit another one tonight. Before we get more phone calls here, I haven't heard your thoughts because it broke after our morning shows about Mark Pope having to write a $25,000 check. Surprised it was only 25K, honestly. I don't know what the standard is for that, but I feel like I would have made more of an example out of him for trying to dodge the way that you do it, right? Yeah, I didn't think he's getting out of that one. I don't know the scale of, you know,

where that fits in the line of fines, but I knew he'd be right. writing one. I saw after the game they asked Denzel Aberteen if he's going to help pay it. He was like, heck no. It's all on Mark Pope, but he had a good laugh about it after the win in South Carolina. I mean, that'd be a stupid question 10 years ago, right? But nowadays, these guys got, they can all chip in if Mark was really upset about somebody and lost it. But I don't know, man. I don't know.

Do you think that he'll get thrown out of a game as head coach at Kentucky? No, not with that kind of language. No. He didn't say the full word. I don't think he's capable of getting thrown out if he can't. He's a line stepper. Even when he punched the whiteboard in that CBS thing, you know, he like gently held the back of the whiteboard as he punched it.

Which is a good quality of him, not hating. That's a great guy. But I don't know if we're going to get the throw me out. I guess he threw a water bottle at BYU and got tossed one time. I saw that video. Okay. So I guess he does have it in him if there's a prop nearby. He's got more technicals this year than I.

I mean, I would have lost bet in the under on that. So maybe we'll see it. I have one more thing before. phone lines. And it's late. I feel like I'm getting mean. And I don't want to be mean. I try to be nice to everyone. But Billy, South Carolina is not good at basketball. And I don't say that to take away from Kentucky's win. I'm happy we won however it looked. But how did South Carolina win three games? They're terrible. Meeche Johnson. He's had big games against Kentucky in the past. He is what he is. Had some tough shots tonight. He got to the foul line. What was that?

That strong dude had a stretch where he turned it on. But he was 0 for 7 from three. The capic? Yeah. They were just giving him open shots. I think he was one for six. For them to hit four threes to start the game and then finish eight of 29 shows you how cold they got. I'm glad, you know, not trying to take away from Kentucky's victory by calling out the opponent. Well, you are a little bit, but it's okay. But it needs to be noted. That was not a good team. No, I was going to go to the same point. They hit four threes in the first four minutes and they end the first half shooting 25%.

Like it was just a disaster offensively for them after that. They can't get a rebound. I mean, you've got Yellovich out jumping these guys for rebounds. So, I mean, they've got a lot to work on, obviously. To work on. Where are they working on it for? There's three games left. I mean, you could, it's all about March, baby.

It's about going on a run. Do you think Mr. Paris is gone? I don't know. He's from my wife's hometown, Finley, Ohio. And while I was watching him, I was eating a bowl of ice cream from this famous shop in Finley, Ohio, and I felt sad for him looking down on ice cream, knowing it's probably over for him there. I mean, they lost all the stat.

The rebounds, losing that by 20. Kentucky's fast break points, 26 to 7. Kentucky won like every stat. It's amazing the game was as close as it was. In fact, as I'm just reading the box score here, I don't know how it was close as it was, but I just needed to get it off my chest that I do not think South Carolina is great at the sport of men's basketball. Maybe the empty gym should have alluded that for us before the game even started.

Don Staley was there. Don Staley was there. Maybe they're just so invested in the women's team. They don't have enough energy for the men. Shane Beamer was there. I hate that guy. All right. Who's up next?

Let's go to Nick. Hello, Nick. Do you like Shane Beamer? Of course not. All right, me either. Nice. That makes three of us. Just a couple comments.

One would be about the box score of the minutes and then about Cam Williams as well. But the box score, I mean, I like seeing the O.A. Aberdeen and Chandler each said, around 35 minutes, 35 plus minutes. I mean, you got to have that the rest of the way. And I think what I would change is, you know, Yelovich has a little less than 17 minutes. Diabate has 20 minutes.

I think you just got to give those guys more minutes and take away minutes from Garrison, have him about five or six. Johnson, I just don't feel like you can play them unless you have a huge lead by at least 15 points or so. He's just not given anything. Noah, I mean, he got. about five minutes, but he got you five rebounds.

I mean, he's got to make the shots, but he's getting bored. So I still think you can put him out there for a few minutes a game. I just think you've got to give some of these big guys some more minutes, I mean, because we've got three games left and then postseason. And last thing I would say on it is if there's some way, you know, they got to get Cam Williams back somehow because they just need that extra shooter and that extra big guy on the floor to just stress the defense more. Thank you.

I appreciate the call. I would love to get Cam Williams back and Pope keeps holding out hope saying if they can go on long enough run then maybe they can get him to help. Billy, I just don't know if he gets healthy guy that's been out that long, what he can do. But it is clear how much he's missed.

I mean, he's the plus minus leader on the team and just earned a starting role. I feel like he was finally turning a corner and then he goes out with that fluke injury just getting back on defense. So that's... Yeah, and then like conditioning-wise, how in shape is he if when

he does get healthy. One thing the caller says he would like to see Brandon Garrison around five or six minutes a game. I just don't think we're going to see that. I feel like Pope is dedicated to... Oh, he's committed. But like Yellovich, I know he thought he was Steph Curry here tonight for a little bit, taking a lot

of threes, but that was a pretty good game for him. 11 matches his high for the year. He had 17 minutes to Garrison's 13. Maybe just slide a few more Yelovitch's way. I'd even like to see him Diabate play together when Moreno needs a break. Yeah, yeah. I just, what was the plan for this front court going into the season?

I mean, you took a guy that was in the same calendar year with a major knee injury. I guess your expectation was Brandon Garrison was going to be better from last year, but Yellowidge was a late addition to the roster. Like, what was the plan at the front court this year? And it just feels like just a few weeks ago, we're like, what are we going to do with all these big men? We have way too many big men. Can we trade a big man for a guard? And now it's like, uh, I need a little help in the front court.

with Marino. It's just added to the list of the roller coasters things of this season. But I would like a little more jelly. Maybe not six three-pointers in a game. I mean, he could be really key. We talk about the stretch forward how important it is in Mark Pope's offense. So maybe some more of that. But I'm telling you, Tom was yelling at him

to shoot the ball at times in this game. As many threes as he shot, he could have had, maybe even double. Tom wanted more. He was wide open. They were just letting him happen. I didn't do the Tom, Jack sink up tonight. Should have. Jack was good tonight. I mean, he was frustrated from the get-go, but then, like, seeing them fight and take the lead.

I mean, there was just some audible o-mans after some buckets or some bad turnovers. I just love listening to those guys because they treat it like it's their children out there. No holding their emotions. Who's up next? Ed. Ed. Hello, Ed.

What's up? Hey, hey, guys. I'm so happy that we won one. And I got a question here. for the winning this program in history, but how big of the lead do we still have over second place? I think we are second, aren't we? No, we had a four-game lead over Kansas earlier in the week.

I think a five-game lead now. I'm trying to do math on the fly. Think. Call it a five-game lead. Well, I hope we don't, I hope we outlast Kansas and keep the lead. that would be sort of sad. I've been a cat fan.

I'm like 70 years old. I've been a cat fan all my life. Me too, and that's something we're proud of. We can't be losing the all-time record. Right. Yeah. That would be a sad thing. But go cats and hope for it to this.

All right. I actually have the official numbers now. What is it? Turns out I was right. Imagine that, this big brain. Kentucky leads Kansas by five games. 2,440 to 2,435. All right.

Let's go. That's from our guy, Stephen Peake, just tweeted that an hour ago. I'm staying on top of it. I remember we had to change it on the open for UK a couple years ago. Yeah, we've slipped up, I think a couple times. Lost it to Kansas briefly, got it back, and lost it to Carolina for a little bit, got it back. Let's just not give it up again. Yeah, let's just win more.

Who's next? Michael. Hi, Michael, thanks for calling in. What do you think of the game? Hey, what's up, Drew? Hey, man, me, my dad and my sister were coming back from the ball game, and it's my sister's first game. She wants to say a little something.

All right. Hello, sister. Hey, yeah, I just wanted to say I have been a fan for my whole life, 33 years. I went to my first in-person game. We're coming from Charlotte, and it was just, I was so ecstatic to see the players in person. It was just surreal, even though it was a way game. It was just, you know, great to see the team and just being there in person. The game was great.

You know, I was so excited to be there. You know, the only thing I could say I was a little disappointed in O way a little bit, but Aberdeen and Duabate showed up for the team. And I was just great that everybody as a team showed up for everybody today. Yeah, I'm glad they got the win for you since you showed up. Being your first game in person, did you have any like takeaways or observations? of something that was new or different or something that stood out to you watching in person? Well, one thing I will say, I did notice that Pope and the rest of the coaches,

they kind of huddled a little bit at timeout before they went and spoke to the team, which is really odd. That was the first time I noticed that. It was at every timeout. Like, why are you huddling before you go talk to the team? You're taking away time to, you know, drop a play when South Carolina was talking to their team, the entire team. I'm sorry, the entire time. That was the first time I noticed that. I thought that was a little strange. I don't know what their game plan was behind that,

but that was what I observed during the game. Tells me you've been paying attention. They've been doing that this year. We've had other people call in and ask that as well. Appreciate the call. Billy, that's a big thing. There's been timeouts where I'm not sure Pope spoke to a player because they do their coaches' timeout or coaches huddle and the player huddle is a few feet away. And then sometimes you let the assistant go and talk to the guys and Maybe it's not the head guy. It's usually, I see Mark Fox do it a lot.

Yeah, so we've seen it a couple different ways with how they handle it. It's also a good reminder that no matter how bad a game might be, it could be somebody's first game, right? 33-year fan in their first game happens to be in an empty arena in Columbia, South Carolina, but still a special moment, right? I have to remind myself at Rupp a lot. You know, I'm pretty blessed covering the team for, it feels like 50 years. It gets to go to a lot of games, and there's nights where it's like,

oh, eastern Michigan, you know, stuff like that. you get in there and you see someone getting their first ice cream cone and all that, it brings the joy back a little bit because it is a very cool experience to watch Kentucky basketball in person, whether that's in Rupp or South Carolina or the SEC tournament. And then that person's put on the snackwards cam and then they're mortified after their first visit to Rupp. But, I mean, it is special to see your team for the first time like that. Yeah, I've started staring the camera down while I eat, just waiting for the red light to go on. You want it.

You're like. Yeah, bring it. Watch me. I intentionally just dropped chili all over my shirt, but nothing yet. We're going to take another break here. The cameras don't reach that high. Yeah, that's true. I'm up in the crow's nest.

Another segment? You got anywhere to be? We got one more to go. Yeah, you got anywhere to go? You want to do another one? Let's keep it going. Let's keep it going. We should take a break.

I think that's how this works. We come back. Drew and Billy, take your calls. Celebrating Kentucky's 72, 63 win over South Carolina. All right, one more segment here on the local Toyota Dealer's KSR post-game show, Drew Franklin and Billy Relage, our State of the Union correspondent. What have I missed so far, Billy?

I mean, I've been watching Tennessee, Missouri. Yeah, how about that? 67, 65, Missouri, a minute left. Missouri has the ball, trying to put the balls away. We're going to talk a little more about the cats beating the Gamecocks because that's what we care about here in Kentucky. Here we've got a full phone bank. We do.

We've got six calls before we end this thing, Drew, and then I get to go home and go to bed. Yeah, I'm pretty excited about bed too. It's been a long day, but, you know, luckily I got one of the 7 o'clock shows. I don't envy the guys at the 9 o'clock. You get the morning post tomorrow? No morning post.

I got to be up early, though. Six o'clock alarms already set. See you bright and early. Let's get these calls out of the way. Who's up first? Angus is up first. Angus, thanks for calling in. I just called to say that I hate Shane Beamer

and his stupid freaking sunglasses. Go catch. All right. We appreciate the call. By my count, that's four of us. We're growing. The group is growing, Billy. A stockton mortgage plug here at the final.

segment. Poor Shane's probably on his way home. I'll tune in those Kentucky guys. See what they're talking about. God, I don't like Shane. Who's up next? What do you think of Shane Beamer? TJ. Hi, TJ. Hey, buddy. How you doing, man? Couldn't be better. Hey, you know, I think Matt said it. You know, it was funny. I was listening to it the other day, actually. It was a podcast that you all had when Calipari left. And Matt said it the best. He said, be aware because it's not going to be exciting anymore with, you know, the number one

recruit or the number five recruit, just the way they play ball with Mark Pope. And I'm trying to be excited about Kentucky basketball. You know, I've been a fan of those 40 years. I've got the jerseys. I've got the makers marked bottles. And I just found myself tonight almost falling asleep during the game because there's no alley-oops, there's no top recruits coming in, there's no number one draft picks, there's no this, there's no that. It's just so hard to get into this mindset of Kentucky basketball is awesome because, because why? I mean, we pulled away at the end, sure, but there was like three minutes left. It was a two-point game against the worst team in the SEC.

Why is that exciting? It's so hard, man. Help me out. All right, TJ, appreciate the call. It's not that wrong. Wasn't the most fun basketball game to watch? I mean, South Carolina shot, what, 37% from the field? I'm talking about both teams under 40% from the field.

Both teams under 30% from three. It was a rock fight. It was $4 to get in. Yeah. Was it really? It was $4 again. I mean, this isn't one. I don't know if ESPN Classic still exists.

It probably won't be turning on ESPN Classic tomorrow to catch this replay. I don't know if SEC Network will add this to Kentucky Day when they do that this summer. No, no, probably not. So, TJ, you're not alone in this not being a fun game. And overall, I know Kentucky basketball, we're in a little bit of a lull. It's not the gold standard that we're used to. You know, if you don't want to say gold standard, we go back farther. It's not even in the 90s, even though we try to wear denim.

Well, I mean, you made this point. It's not even about just winning games. That would bring the excitement back. But you've talked about the expectation of like going into the NCAA tournament with like you better watch out for Kentucky this year. They don't have that this year. They might be a team that makes an upset or could go on a run. They're not the you got to watch out for Kentucky this year.

And you made that point this week about how that's lost on you. Well, that's what makes me sad, Billy. Being a Kentucky basketball fan, it's full time. like even on a day you know you play Tuesday, Saturday Thursday morning you're thinking about Kentucky basketball and what's next and this time of year we're absolutely thinking about

selection Sunday we're thinking about the SEC tournament we're thinking in our heads we're going to hang another banner you're doing the bracket pools at your office and everyone in the office puts Kentucky as the champion because we're all Kentucky fans that's what we do but now we're not in that spot like I don't know about you I'm not thinking about March Madness

on Thursday morning so I don't want to think about March Madness on Thursday like we don't have that excitement that have that is just constantly in our brains at all times when things are going well. And part of the reason is you turn on the TV and you see a game like that, 72 to 63 against South Carolina. And we just had some great games around college. I mean, it was basically a final four on Saturday with one verse four, two verse three. I mean, this has been, for all the complaints about the transfer portal, and I don't like it either, where you got guys in the G League just showing up with their algebra book acting like they're, you know, I'll go back to school. It's like, dude,

40, go get a job. I don't like any of that. But this year, the games have been pretty awesome. And the stars have been stars. I mean, there are some dudes all over the country. And it's been a fun season. And when you ask anyone outside of Kentucky, let's talk about it. They're not saying the word Kentucky. It's a lot of other teams that are having all the fun. Yeah. I don't like this negativity, though. TJ got me down a path. Kentucky won 72.63. Remember, South Carolina is the bad team. Not us. We won. Let's get to a happier caller. Who's next? We had somebody dropped, so we have three left.

Brandon is up next. Sorry to the caller that dropped. Hello, Brandon. Brandon. All right, Billy, during the break, I heard you talk. You said you were worried the phone lines were hanging up on people. I was, yeah. Do we think that's still a concern?

No, Brandon's still on the line. Oh, okay. I think his phone may be on mute or something. I'll try to speak up. I'm just going to have to open the phones back up, Drew. I mean, we can't end like that. So we got a couple more here. Luke is up next.

Okay, Luke. Save us. You guys, I just wanted to say a couple of other things. and TJ can kiss my ass being so negative. We won. Yes, the game was ugly. I drove eight hours here to see a game that should have come with a warning label. Yes, okay, that's part of it. Some games you're going to get the ugly, but we've won.

Why does it matter? Why are we complaining? Here's another thing I'm going to hit people with. I called the pre-show earlier and talked about how Kentucky is, you know, basically this team is like a really hot girlfriend that keeps cheating on you. I mean, that's what they are, and that the program itself is kind of like the oil industry that, look, it's boom or bust. There is a lot of boom or bust.

Let me hit you with some facts. My dad was born in 1959. The first 36 years of his life, that's until 1995 for all of you that stuck it, that stuck at math. So the first 36 years, you know what he saw Kentucky basketball do his first 36 years? One national title and four whole final fours. Dude, my childhood, I had four and five years. Okay, I was blessed.

Okay, we are very fortunate to be Kentucky basketball fans because more often than not is pretty darn good. And yes, we have been in a blue blood rush. and I do, look, I'm not trying to say that, you know, it's not an issue because it is an issue. But this program has been in far positions than we are in now. And in the NIL era, you can turn it around very quickly. And I'm just really sick and tired of all the negativity and all of that. Listen, I'm not saying, I think, you know, I have my problems with Pope and all that stuff.

But in this moment right now, I am not going to sit here and be angry about the fact that we won a game. what the hell is wrong with people to be angry at 11 o'clock on a Tuesday night about winning a basketball game? You know what? That's all I got to say, guys. Thank you for taking the night. Wow. Thanks for getting with Luke. Luke was his name?

Yeah. Thank you, Luke. You got us back on track. I even drifted to negativity land there for a little bit. Billy had to run down the street and get me, get me back on track. Thank you. We needed that energy. TJ got in my head a little bit talking about big picture things.

It don't matter. Just beat South Carolina. covered the spread, Billy. Denzel Aberdeen had 19 points. Mo Diabate was awesome in the second half. You can only beat the team in front of you, Drew. That's all you can do. Held him to 36%.

Kentucky's 10 and 0 when they hold teams under 40%. How do you win the rebounding battle by 20? Kentucky did that. We're not complaining about that. What else do you like? Colin Chandler with another dagger, another decaf dagger? You like that? He's not done.

He's got more. of those I bet he hits one in Nashville. How about Malachi Moreno pick and roll out of an inbound's play? Chef's kiss. Chef's kiss. Almost did the Ryan Lemon noise there. Sorry, got a little carried away.

Big game from Malachi, two shy of a double, double. Love the 11 rebounds. Also love that we won. Got out of that three game losing streak. Had and had one of those in five years. Let's not do that again for a long time. I needed it. I also got some more people on the line if you want to. I thought you were going to

tell me more things you're excited about. That too. Looks like Missouri won. Did Missouri win? They look happy. I looked away. And of course, it goes to the studio. It looked like they were celebrating.

Who's up next? Oh, yeah. Look at them. That's a celebration. They're definitely celebrating. We're going to call it here. You're hearing it now in the KSR postgame show, Missouri beat Tennessee somehow. Oh, yeah, up four.

They're good. Missouri wins. Downgo the Vols. Not mad about it. Who's up next? Matt is up next. Hi, Matt. What's up?

Hey, guys. Great win. I don't care at this point. Any win right now is a great win. I thought it was a hard-fought win. My concern is recruiting for next year. I just wonder if maybe what our issue is, we don't have, say, a Vince Merrow to help recruit the guys.

Maybe we need to look at our assistant coaches and see why we're not getting recruits. I mean, Mark can't be the only guy doing the recruiting. We need some strong recruiters on the outside. We need – I mean, we had guys with Calipari that were good at going out getting people, that's maybe what we're going to be what we're missing right now. Thank you. You're exactly right on that. I appreciate the call. They do need some help on the recruiting trail.

That's no secret. I think everyone is in agreement. They need a general manager. Hopefully that's announced soon because portal season's right around the corner. And I don't care what people say. Portal season began a long time ago because that's how the sport works. And the football team, I mean, Coach Stein came in with two GMs. So, I mean, the least Kentucky do is, it could get one.

and hopefully it's a little better than Vince Mero because I think he brought in Jasper Johnson in the last minute for Kentucky. He did help with that. You know, people wondered about if it's Pope doesn't want to GM, UK, the three-letter place. You're right, Will Stein showed up with the GM and an assistant GM. I mean, he was ready to go, hit the ground running.

Why are we living in the Stone Age with the GM spot? They need one bad. It's obvious the best teams in the country have them, but I feel like we're being pulled by this magnetic force towards negative town and we're not going to do it, Billy. Luke brought us back and I'm not doing it. But we do need a G. Who's up next? We get two more. Billy is up next.

Billy, only positive thoughts to wrap up the show. Well, I think this is kind of positive. I just wanted to explain to the lady who went to her first ball game in person today about the coach's huddle. I had heard Mark talk about this several months ago about somebody

had brought up the question and he said he does it intentionally to give the players time to work out what they envision the problems for that are on the court. And that helps develop the leadership among themselves and communications. And then he has a coach or himself go over and talk to them and follow up and make sure that they've covered all the bases. All right. Once the players to actually run that show, if they can recognize their own problems and work without themselves first, that's his plan. Perfect. That's a great explanation, Billy.

See Billy, other Billy, the Billy that's here with me right now? Which one? Me? Yeah, you. Not her, Billy. Someone asks a question. We don't have the answer. This Billy comes through. I mean, that's big blination. The best Billy on the show right now. Smartest fan base. That's because I graduated from the UK over 50 years ago, 1973.

So I've been around the UK graduate for a long time. I knew all the worst on all the UFK before I got out of high school in the 60s. So there you go. Well, maybe you should have a podcast sometime. Tell some stories. You seem to know Ball. Thank you for calling in. Thank you very much.

I can't think of a better Billy that's been on these airwaves to me. Well, hold on now. I mean, I agree. That was a great call by Billy. And if Brandon hadn't to have answered, we wouldn't have gotten Billy. So things happened for a reason, Drew. What do you think of the move of letting the players, like a player's only meeting during a timeout? I like that.

Work your problems out before the coach comes in and gives you the game plan for the next, what's going to happen. I could see how that'd be bad at sometimes, but I think for the most part, that's a good concept. If I were in the, I'd have a hard time staying on task. I'd be cutting up. I would need a coach over there in my huddle,

but I can see what he's going for. Player empowerment. Didn't the last coach say that all the time? I think you did. Yeah, I've heard that. So we have one left. We got one call left. What's their name?

Steve. Steve, you got to bring it. It's been a great ending here. We had Luke, fire us up. We had Billy drop knowledge. Take us home. What's up? Well, first of all, a win is a win. And if you're going to beat North Carolina and you're going to beat Kansas, you've got to keep piling them up. So, you know, take it when you can get it. And also, where would this team be without Malachi Marino? I don't think he gets enough credit. And if he wasn't there, we'd be, you know, 50% or less on wins, I think. So the guy is a stud. He's outperformed whatever we thought he might do, and he's just one hell of a player.

You're exactly right. Thank you for calling in sharing that. It's a great way to end it. Malachi has been awesome. The original plan early, Brandon Garrison was the starter. We know Malachi pretty quickly started showing that he could compete and eventually take those minutes, becomes the starter. I feel like after every game, we get like this Malachi Marino is the first freshman since blah, blah, blah, to have this many rebounds on the road. You know, we're getting all these first-time things for him as a freshman.

he's been awesome. I'm one of the people and I don't run from it. I watch him at Great Crossing and I knew he'd eventually be good but I thought freshman year might not be quite ready. He just thought he needed a little more muscle, need to get a little more physical and he still has to work on that.

But I didn't see anything like we've seen from Reno and the caller's right. Who knows where we'd be without him? Has blown our expectations out of the water. Not only that, he had the game winner versus LSU of course. And I mean, was it the first basket of the last game versus Auburn? he scores, he rolls his ankles,

is on the court for five minutes, and he ends up getting up running off the court and then coming back in the game. The guy's tough. And if he doesn't go to the NBA, I'm looking forward to a sophomore campaign for a guy Malachi. And here lately, I feel like he's been money at the free throw line too,

which you want this time of year, especially from your big guy. Four for four from tonight. I don't have past game stats in front of me, but I feel like if you looked up the last month, he's been pretty consistent at the line too. So yes, shout out to Malachi Marine. Great night tonight.

Almost got the double double, but got the 11 rebounds, two blocks. Just obvious when he's not out there, it's a big difference. Malachi Moreno is 70 for 100 at the free throw line this year. That's 70%. That's 70%. I'd say in the last month it's even better. That's probably a lot to do on the fly.

Y'all just trust me. Billy will call him back me up. The Billy we like. But I like this, Billy. It was fun. Thank you for letting me hang with you late tonight. I feel like we should probably turn this off and go home. They have other shows they have to do.

State of the Union's over. Tennessee, Missouri is over. Kentucky, South Carolina is over. Cats win 72, 63. Staying out of that bubble conversation. We'll be all right. Got Vandy coming up on Saturday. Three important games left.

Let's win some of them. Hell, let's win all of them, Billy. Let's go three and O. Let's do it. But for now, we're going to celebrate this one. Cats beat South Carolina for Drew, Billy, and all our callers. Thank you all for listening.

Go Cats. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was funny.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

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