KSR - KSR Postgame UK MBB vs Tennessee 02/11/25

Episode Date: February 12, 2025

Matt and Billy recap the Cats' 75-64 win vs Tennessee.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 headlines. 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 And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Clivert Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office blue 42. A rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta,

you already know there's a lot to break down. Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. On the podcast, reality with the king, I, Carlos King. Recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House Wise franchise,

the drama, the alliances, and the T, everybody's talking about. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome, everybody. It is the local toy dealers, KSR postgame show. The Cats get a massive win at home tonight. hobbled, barely able to put forth a team at the end and still find a way to get a victory against Tennessee sweeping the season series 7564.

You know, this is for me, this is one of the better wins we've had in the last few years for a variety of reasons. One is it's against Tennessee. Tennessee is obviously top five. Kentucky breaks an all-time record for most wins against top 15 ranked opponents in the history of the school. We've never had seven in the regular season, and we have seven this year. Now, that's in part because we usually don't play enough for these teams to get there, but seven and one against top 15 teams this year.

And that's an unbelievable accomplishment. This team is very unpredictable, but one thing you can. predict pretty certainly is they show up in these games against top teams and they play well. And tonight they get the victory over the balls the fifth time in the last six games they've beaten Tennessee and they do it in front of a raucous home environment. We talked when we heard the snow was coming. What's rough going to be like? I could tell at the bar before when it was extremely crowded that it was going to be great.

And then the arena, you know, we talk about ESPN and where they play. the microphones. Well, wherever they placed them the night, it was loud. And a big kudos to everybody that went there for what sounded like an absolutely awesome atmosphere. For me, this game is, there's a lot of people to talk about, actually. This was sort of the epitome of a team win. Team. I would say almost everyone that played played really well. And there's maybe one person I wouldn't say that about, but you know what? I'm not going to call them out because I want to be positive about all the people that did play well. Because I thought there was just so much good that occurred.

Obviously, don't have Jackson-Robinson start. You lose Lamont Butler with eight or nine minutes to go. Obviously, Kerr's not playing. Carr is still not even close to 100%. And then these other guys just decide, you know what, we're not losing this one. And I want to go through the people that I thought had the biggest impact. I'll start with actually Kobe Brea because his three's at the end. And, you know, when you don't have Robinson or Butler, you lose basically your two primary

offense starters. And so it's, you know, how are you going to get the offense going? Well, with Kobe Brea, you know, he's such a good shooter. Just how about step back threes? Two step back threes down the stretch. Game was tied. He hits two in the next three plays. And then after they crowd out of him, he drives the basket and throws a lob to Oway.

I thought offensively this was maybe as good a game as Bray has played completely. You know, against Florida, he obviously had seven made threes, but he did a bunch of stuff. He drove to the rim. I thought Kobe was great. You know, the two kids from Kentucky. Like, I mean, that's going to be what most people remember this game and they should. Trent Noah, 11 points, three threes, you know, drove to the basket, played pretty good defense, rebounded, hit free throws.

I mean, what a game by the Mountain Mamba. And I'll do respect to my man, Mark Pope, who I love, I'm not doing holler-baller. I'm doing Mountain Mamba. That's the name. He seems to like it, and the fans have clearly embraced it. And that kid, you talk about a kid that has grown into feeling confident. What I love about Noah is he believes not only he belongs out there, He's not scared.

His third three, he knew, Jay Billis pointed this out, he knew before he caught it, he was going to take it. And so much of a kid like that is about, do you believe you should be there? And he does, and he just keeps getting better. I thought he was huge tonight. Travis Perry, you know, Perry's got some limits on defense, but he keeps, like, getting closer, closer and closer on defense and then makes two threes each of which were huge not scared i love that about both those guys because the deficiencies they have some of them they won't be able to overcome but some of them they will and until then keeping the confidence you got to like it and to have

those two guys combined did no i have 11 or 13 now in my head i'm thinking he 11 13 he 11 okay so to combine 11 points for him six for per you tell me before the game we get 17 from those two guys? Eight from Perry. Eight from Perry. Nineteen from those two guys. Come on. That's huge. I thought the most important play of the game was Ansley Almanor. We're down three. We're reeling. We're really not getting a lot of space on offense. We're really not getting a lot of movement. And he goes off the bouts and gets an and one that to me was the most important play of the game. Stop their run. He makes the free throw, ties the game and we really kind of take over from there when you go back and i will watch the last

eight minutes of this game again ansley almanor's play i thought was the most important play and it wasn't a three it was him taking off the bounce thought that was uh thought that was huge amari was good in the role he kind of does that top of the key thing he also had a huge and one down the stretch in the second half you know i still find myself billy a no no no no yeah when he shoots sometimes, but that was a big one. I think that put us up two. He got a name one. He missed a free throw.

Maybe he put us up three. But big play there by him as well. Owey. Otega Owe has hit double digits in every game this year. Every game. Every game. That is an unbelievable statistic for that kid. Like every game.

He is 24 for 24. Let me just give you a little perspective. The last Kentucky player to go 24 games in a row in double digits with Malik Monk, that dude was pretty good. You know how much I loved Antonio Reeves. And Antonio Reeves obviously could go for 30 and could do things that were amazing. But you know how many games he had in double digits last year? Remember, he was like second team All-American, 23.

O.A already has more than Antonio Reeves had in the regular season. That's crazy. that's crazy and it's between 10 and 17 every game but you can rely on it you can book it and i thought he uh i thought he played great defense like he he he was excellent on defense and he especially with butler robinson now he's our best defender now and i thought he did an uh an excellent job uh as well so and butler by the way until he got hurt played great Butler had some huge drives to the basket there early in the second half. I thought Butler was excellent until he got re-enjured.

So massive win. Kentucky's now 17 and 6, right? They now are in the top eight in the SEC, and this win and other results kind of make it to where, you know, if they'd handle their business, they'll get in the top eight. They have a chance, I think, to get all the way to number four or five if they handle their business down the stretch. obviously sweeping Tennessee is great

but this team is starting to find their rhythm and you know it's going to be a piecemeal performance for the next couple weeks I was excited to hear Pope say that Jackson Robinson and Lamont Butler he thought would be ready for March that's good but he also seemed to suggest they might not be ready the next couple weeks well we've got some winnable games

but they're games that are not guarantees We go to Texas. Now, Texas is struggling right now. I think they're getting whipped by Alabama. Arkansas beat them at home. They lost to Vandy. Like, they're on a slide. So that's a game that if we were at full health now, I think we'd win.

But with this group, it's going to be a struggle. Then we play Vandy at home. We got to win that one. That's at home. I don't know who's going to be playing, but that's at home. And then we got Bama. We go to Bama the next week. The way I look at it is, if you could find it,

a way to win these next two. The Bama game is free. But then we're going to have to piece it together. And then maybe when we get to the final stretch, play Auburn, go to Missouri, go to Oklahoma, we may end up at that point having our full roster. And I still think in March, anything can happen with this group in March. I think they can lose to anybody. But I also think they can beat anybody.

Like, nobody scares me with this group. They, you know, they have a way. And with seven minutes to go, this game was tied. And all signs indicated we were in trouble. We really didn't have guys to create offense. Our best defenders were hurt. We seemed to be kind of out of sorts. And then the next thing you know, they end up winning by 11.

So big shout out to the team. Big shout out to Pope. Big shout out to that crowd, who I think played a huge, huge role. in the victory. 859-280-2287. It is another happy win. What a year. Seriously, what a year this has been for Kentucky.

Not only have I enjoyed it, this is what we all kind of hope for when we got Mark Pope. And I maybe could have guessed we'd be 17 and 7, but I certainly don't think I would have guessed it with two wins over Tennessee, a win over Duke, went over Gonzaga. I don't know, man. This has been a heck of a run, and hopefully it will continue. We'll take a break.

859-280-2287. Nice Tuesday night with a sweep over the balls. This is the local toy dealers, KSR, post-game show. Welcome back. It is the local toy dealers, KSR post-game show. 859-2-827. The text machine is 772-752525-4. Let me give you a couple from the text machine.

but first before I do that, if you're at home and you're sitting there going, what can I watch? Most of you probably have the CBS Sports Network. You should turn on. It's a great environment. Yukon is playing Creighton. Yukon's up three. It's at Creighton.

Creighton had dollar beer night, Billy, so that their fans would be ready. So it is wild. And Yukon's player Liam McNeely, who we recruited here at Kentucky, is just going off. I mean, he's like, I think he's got like 28 points, and he's talking trash to a drunk crowd, and it's actually quite an environment. So that's on the CBS Sports Network. On the text machine, one person writes, Matt, I'm not going to compare Pope to Cal forever, but I do think we can say in the last five years we lose that game.

Yeah, that's probably true. I mean, it's tough because we lost a cow, so it's hard to kind of do that whole thing a lot. But I do think this was like, this was a grinded out kind of. a game that I think may end up being, you know, Pope, you know, we lost a game like this at Vandy, but I feel like we almost got it back tonight because I thought the Vandy game was a grinded out game that we should have won. This was probably a grinded out game that we should have lost and we end up kind of splitting them. So I think that works out, I think that works out pretty well. One person writes, Matt, the substitution pattern I saw you didn't like, but I thought it was great.

good coaching by Pope well i mean i listen you can't say anything bad about the bench because they play i mean how many points did the bench have you had you know 19 between no and perry i guess almanor is technically a starter but i kind of 26 from the bench and that's not even count how many almanor have 12 14 something like that 13 yeah and i consider him a bench player even though he's starting so um the only thing i don't like i don't like when he i don't like when he i don't like at the start like four minutes into the first and second half. I don't like that he puts all the reserves in at once. I don't think that does them justice.

And I think we see that when they play with other starters, they're better off. But, you know, that's a nitpick we want. So, like, he might say that the reason they had so much energy at the end is because he done it. He did that. So there you go. 859-280-2287.

Yukon. This would be a big win for them if they get on the road. They've been struggling. Danny Hurley is doing all he can. not to lose his mind there in Omaha. Do you know who I am? Yeah, he made his jacket into like a straight jacket right there. Who's up first?

Tyler. Tyler, go ahead, Tyler. Hey, Matt, we're driving back from the game. Had a great time at the game. I was just kind of came to me when we were watching. I know you're not big on team nicknames, but I was wondering what you thought about the unpredictables for this team name. Somebody sent me that.

Maybe it was you. Somebody sent me that tonight. and I don't think that's a bad name, but, you know, I don't do names. Mountain Mamba I took because it was like the moment I heard it, it was good. Besides that, but yeah, the ones I've heard, because they are unpredictable, to be honest. Great, yeah. All right, that's it. Appreciate it.

Thank you, man. Let me, but you were going to say something, Bill, you said, and I wasn't at the game, but you said there was a halftime show that was awesome. Is that right? Yeah, I don't know what you call it, but it is awesome. Drew Franklin posted a video of it, and it's this woman on her back using her feet to bounce a basketball on a contraption that then puts it in at hoop. So it's like it's something. I'll give you that.

So he puts it in a, she's dribbling with her feet? Yeah, you know the old machine you put a penny into the slot and then you got to jiggle it and have the penny land on the slot below it. It's usually at like Taco Bell or something like that. Yeah, vaguely. Well, take that in reverse, and she was on her back and bounced a basketball up until it went into a hoop. I'm probably doing a poor job explaining this, but Drew posted a video. So it's on Drew's Twitter. Yeah, yeah, it's something.

I don't have to look at that. Your description is really bad. But I bet it will be interesting when I actually see it. Who's up next? Michael is next. Michael, go ahead, Michael. Hey, man. How you doing, man?

Doing great. So tonight Rupperino was amazing. I got a chance to take my daughter with me. It's been a little while since we got to see a game. And she just had a blast. And so he loved O way, watching him play, was just jumping up and down. And she knows her Daryl Dad's big blue fan. And my energy went a little bit down when Butler got hurt.

So when Mueller got hurt, I sat down for a little bit. She knew she just felt it because she watched me during the Arkansas game. I was furious for the Arkansas game. I tried to call it in just to talk to you. But, no, the game was amazing. The place was just rocking and to watch Noah do what he did tonight. I was just proud of him. And it was great seeing some Kentucky players step up.

But my daughter actually has a question for you. Is it okay if she asked you? Go for it, yeah. Hey, I was just wondering why you weren't at the game. Yeah, I don't go to most of the games. I think I get too nervous and now the media seats are kind of terrible. So I watch at home. But I'm glad you were there for me.

I appreciate it. I go to the games when we go to the SEC tournament in NCAA, I'll be it there. But I appreciate the call. I'm glad you guys had fun. Yeah, let me see. say one of the things I like about Trent Noah's game. I don't think this is a fluke, right? So over the years, we've had Kentucky kids who have had moments where like something crazy happens. Like Preston LeBaster had that game where he scored like 20 against Ole Miss,

Dante Allen had a couple of games. And then there were times that guys played. Dominique Hawkins and Derek Willis, I thought were good players, but they would have games where they just kind of went nuts. I actually think Dominique and Derek probably don't deserve to be on this list. But I feel like with Trit Noah, this is the start of him being a really good player. You know who I think he's going to be for us, Philly? Who is that? I think he's going to be like that kid from Clemson, the one that we can't figure out. Oh.

You know what I mean? Yeah, I know you're talking about. I think he's going to be that for us. I think he's going to be like that kid. That kid's really good. I mean, that kid took Clemson to a final eight. He had 20 rebounds against us. He beat Duke the other night.

And you go, why does this kid so good? I kind of think that's going to be Trent Noah. Like, Trent's a better shooter than that kid. That kid's a little stronger than Trent is. But I think we're going to be looking back and I wonder if he's going to be like, I can't remember that kid's name. It starts with an ass, his last name. But I kind of think he's got a little of those vibes in him.

Because I think, I think Trent's could be really good. And I think Travis is going to be good too. But Travis is always going to have some defensively. limitations. I think Trent's got a chance to be really, really good if things connect for it. Who's up next? Nate is next. Nate, go ahead, Nate. All right, here we go. I'm going to start off by Danny Hurley getting squirly. Huh? So we're talking about nicknames. Also, if we had a third kid, I would reach out to call them Fluffy. You remember Harry Potter, the three-headed dog? Those boys got doggy tonight. So I was trying to call in earlier on the post-game show, or

of the pregame show to talk about what Robinson needed to, or what we needed to do with Robinson being out. However, I figured you all would say something about Brea needed to come through for a good game or car. Well, yeah, that's what Ryan said. And Ryan, I mean, Breit, look, we might have won anyway, but those two threes Bray hit were massive, because we really weren't able to get any shots off,

and he didn't need to run offense. He just stepped farther back and made, two threes. 100% then after that, I was going to say whoever thought that Kentucky fellows would come in combined for 19. I want to hear what you all have to say about that. And let's just keep going. Yeah, I mean, nobody. I appreciate the call.

I mean, I, yeah, nobody would have thought that. I mean, they made five threes between the two of them. You know, when Noah hit those free throws. Billy, that was, I mean, we're only up three, right? Noah's free throws made it five. Those were his first free throws. Those are his first free throws of the year. That's a tough, that's a tough spot to come in and shoot your first free throws of the year.

And then he nailed them. Yeah, 32 points from Noah, Almanor, and Perry. That's awesome. That's really awesome. And again, Almanor started, but I still consider it. I mean, think about at the beginning of the year what Almanor, Perry, and Noah were. Okay, so when we started this year, we had the starting five, Bray was the sixth man, Kerr was probably the seventh, right?

The eighth was what, Garrison? And so you probably had all manure was the ninth man, Noah the 10th, and what, Perry the 11th? So if I tell you that we're going to play a top five Tennessee team in February and our 9th, 10th, and 11th men are going to combine for 32 points, I mean, that's pretty awesome. And that says a lot about how Pope believes in those guys and really, you know, builds them up. Who's next?

Thomas. Thomas. Thomas. Well, I'm going to build on that because we were screaming, play your best five. Pope, play your best five. Well, but the best five tonight, yeah, the best five tonight, though, was it, I mean, Noah was one of the best five tonight, right? I mean, when I was saying playing the best, I think I tweeted out something like, play your best guys, part of that was I didn't love the minutes we were giving Chandler in that moment.

But then the other part of it was I just don't like when he doesn't play when he plays all those guys together. But with that said, I thought Noah was one of our best five tonight. So he, I mean, he was in it down the stretch like he should have been. Well, we didn't until he got the game and did what he did. I'm loving that. That's true. If you'd ask me before the game, if you'd ask me before the game, I would not have wanted him. You're right.

Go ahead. What'd you say? Wouldn't you hate to play? play Kentucky right now. If you were anybody else, you don't know what you're going to get. That's exactly right. I think what would be hard is you don't know what you're going to get. So, like, if you were playing contiguous right now, you'd go, why couldn't we get the team that

was down 27 at Old Miss? Why are we getting the team that's beating us, like, in our place? You're right, because you would have no idea going in the game what you're going to get. And Brandon Garrison is the big question mark for me. I love him. He is me, too. I agree. Yeah, I don't, Garrison is my, and I appreciate the call,

Garrison is my biggest concern because we're going to get Butler and Robinson back. So like in other, let's say we had, when Butler and Robinson come back, let's say Noah, Perry, Allmanor, let's say they're not playing well. Like, we'll be all right. But we're going to have to play Garrison. He's going to have to be Amari's backup. Amari's foul pro. and he's just a really bad defender.

Like he's a really bad defender. And I feel like he's gotten worse defensively. Offensively, he can give you some stuff. He's just a really bad defender. And, you know, I actually think because Noah's gotten better on defense, Travis Perry's gotten a little better, I feel like Garrison is our biggest weakness defensively right now. And when he comes in,

he just gets exploited so they just put him in a pick and roll and you know it just doesn't it kills us and so i do worry about garrison but the thing is you know garrison had garrison had 15 the other night so like he can make up for some of that because he can hit shots and sometimes finish but his defense does worry he'll shoot that three though he will and i i want him to he made one i think tonight right but but i just defensively i it's tough i mean amari sometimes drives me crazy when he doesn't raise his arms, but he slides his feet and he can recover and get blocks. Garrison is, he's also slow, or at least he is slow flatterly. But go ahead.

Jacob. Jacob. Jacob. Hey, Matt. Coming home from the game, I think that Butler really set the tone for the game with that first, that first steal and lay up. I think that really set the tone. That the crowd going.

And he had another big. A big steal in the second half. Yeah, another big steal in the second half. I think the game was like three, and it looked like they had a layup that was going to make it one. He steals it and then goes down there and gets a layup on the other end, and it goes from three to five. I thought that was a big play.

Yeah, yeah. One of the things that Pope really hit on in his post-game interview was talking about the improvement in Noah and Braya especially. And I just wanted to kind of echo that. that one of the things, I think Perry had at two threes, I believe, but the two-pointer that he made, that this little over. Yeah, that was a great shot with the whole bank. Yeah.

I think that was almost more impressive, and it shows, I think, a little bit more of a diversity in his game. I think he's getting better that way. And then, of course, Noah's. Well, I love that he's not scared to do it, right? Like, anybody that saw that kid playing high school, I mean, he certainly wasn't scared in high school, and neither was Trent Noah.

but sometimes when guys like that get to college and they're seeing a different level of athlete, they'll shy away and like in Perry's case, maybe only shoot threes. Seeing him take that drive, I'm with you, sir. I thought, look, the fact that he'll take a running drive into a defender off in bank it, make it or not, I like that he's willing to take that shot. Yeah, yeah. And then finally, Oway had a great game and the chant finally caught on. I don't know if you caught it at home.

It did. Finally. I heard it. Yeah, it came through. It came through. Yeah. It was loud. It was loud.

Everybody was doing it. Appreciate the call. Shout out to whoever got that going. I've been waiting all year, Billy, for the O-A-O-W-A-W-A-W-Chant. Sounded good on the radio. I thought it sounded great on TV. Well, it was awesome. All right.

We're going to take a break. 859-2-80-2287. Be right back. It's the local toy dealers, KSR post-game show. Welcome back. It is the local toy dealers, KSR post-game show. If you're watching this Yukon game, I think you're seeing the start of a star getting born here with the Liam McNeeley kid. He's got, what, 34 right now in this game?

65, 62 Yukon over Creighton. He's got very, he's got some lightener looks, you know? Yeah, he's rocking the headband. He's got the head man, and he's talking trash, and he can dribble, and he's tall. He's got some lightner vibes to him. No, don't make another one. No, I missed that one. All right.

So, you know, he almost came here. It was down to Yukon and us. I think if he had come, well, they saved a spot. I think he was going to be the 13th scholarship. It would be interesting to see what happened if he did come here. 859-280-2287. One person writes, Matt, the thing I love about our team is I think we're much tougher than we were a couple weeks ago, and that's good to see.

I agree with that. I think we are much, much tougher. I think we toughness was a real issue I thought especially at the start of SEC play I just didn't think we were tough at all and I think that's I think that has really really gotten a lot better a lot better so yeah 859 280 27 all who's up next Ryan Ryan Ryan go ahead Ryan hey Billy first time long time who I just got two quick comments first of all just wanted to say I haven't been to too many UK games but that building is was about to blow up. My voice is going to be raspy for three or four days. It's so worth it. I'm glad to hear that. I mean, it certainly looked like it from afar.

It seemed like it was great. I mean, I love watching. Rupp it in a moment like that is the best. It was pretty nice. Second comment, you may have mentioned something earlier in the show. I didn't catch the first few minutes. But what you mentioned either on the pregame show or earlier today, in our case are about how we seem to stop overcomplicating defense and just playing more straight

up and not forcing to a weak side or a strong side looks a lot better tonight and I thought we we stayed in front played a much more consistent type of defense if that makes sense part of me wonders if they're just if they've just changed that right like I do kind of wonder if they've just that was the way they were defending and he's just gotten away from it because they obviously it felt like they changed that against south Carolina and And the same tonight. So, yeah, that was something. Apparently, I missed this at halftime, maybe of the Tennessee game, the first one.

Tom Crean pointed that out as a weakness we were doing. I'm not sure. But I think we're not seeing the overplays like we were, and that looks like that might have been an adjustment. Yeah, I completely agree with that point. Definitely saw a change in the South Carolina game. I just hope going forward that's something we stick with. Yeah, I agree.

Appreciate the call. man i know i keep bringing this up but the dude omaha you know except for that referee that lives there a lot of good things happen in omaha it seems like like what do you know about Omaha bill you got the college world series right yeah you got uh insurance company have you ever seen the movie Nebraska no i haven't no really good movie you ought to see it it's will forte uh his dad thinks his dad i think thinks he won like a publisher's clearinghouse sweepstakes and so he drives him Omaha and like it's the whole thing. Yeah.

What are you laughing at? It's that riveting plot of, but it's hard to describe. Like it's like it's not about the plot. It's like the, maybe so, maybe like a halftime show. I've been to a Creighton game,

by the way. Their crowd gets it. I've been to a Creighton game in a home of their crowd goes wild. That's a, that's an underrated really good crowd. We, do you know, we played at Creighton.

Did you know that? Was that recent? Or was that, let's do a test. Can you remember? when we played at Creighton. No. We played at Creighton the year we went to the NIT with Billy Gillespie.

And I think we won that year. I think we beat UNLV at home with Perry Stevenson. That's when he flexed them bones. Then we went, I think we won at Creighton, and then we lost at Notre Dame. And that was the game where Jody Meeks almost didn't come out for the second half. Sounds like a high moment of the Billie era. We have played a road game at Creighton. I don't know if a lot of people remember that.

Who's next? Kevin. Kevin. Go ahead, Kevin. Matt, first of all, just want to say, so appreciate you, everything you do for UK. All the fans sometimes miss the force for the trees with you, and I just wish that was different.

So first of all, appreciate you. Second of all, thank you very much. Two observations from sort of a macro perspective on the season that I think is a hilarious paradigm ship. First thing is, you know, I along as well as a lot of other fans criticize Cal for the lack of SEC wins. But I think a lot of fans would be willing to trade resting our best players and maybe not representing ourselves the best in the SEC tournament if it meant we would do better in the NCAA tournament. Yeah, you're probably right about that.

The problem, though, is you don't know. Like, if you tell me, okay, Matt, we sacrifice. the SEC tournament for the NCAA tournament, and we get to the final eight or whatever, like then I agree with you. The problem, though, is when you sacrifice the SEC tournament and then losing the first round of the NCAA tournament, you know, I think that's what happened to Cal actually the last couple years a little bit. So the problem is you don't know during the SEC tournament what's going to happen in the

next week. Right. And obviously, I'm operating on sort of the cute side of that, you know, to make it interesting. But, you know, second of all, preseason, we probably would have just. just done, everyone would have been okay with a postseason win. And it's funny to see the goalposts move consistently and consistently, you know, Pope is such a victim of his own success. So it's going to be interesting to see how it closes out here on the season, man.

I really appreciate you. Appreciate it. Well, I mean, if you were to, if you were to have told me when the season started, that the SEC would be as good as it was. Like, I knew the SEC was going to be good, but I didn't know it was going to be this good. Like, I thought Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee were going to be really good. I didn't think Florida was going to be as good as they are, and they are. You know, A&M and Mississippi State and Ole Miss are better than I thought they'd be.

Missouri was 018 last year in conference, and they're really good. You know, Oklahoma, even though they've struggled in SEC play, was better than I thought. I mean, really, if you look at the conference and you go, okay, who's disappointing? I mean, what? Like, Texas is probably the only team that has not been as, in Arkansas. South Carolina. Yeah, but I thought they'd be bad.

I thought they were going to be the worst team in the conference. Texas and Arkansas are probably the only two teams in the conference that are worse than we thought they'd be at the start of the year. So if you had told me the SEC was going to be like it is, and we were going to have a non-conference schedule the way we had, where Duke's probably better than people thought, Louisville's probably better than people thought. And you told me we'd be 17 and 7.

I'd have been really happy. So I'm not going to not be happy as it is. Now, it's been a weird path there. But I just think I can't, we cannot under it in a normal SEC, Billy, the SEC we dealt with in the last 15 years, this team would be nine and two in the SEC right now. And we're six and five. But we're not six and five because we're worse. We're six and five because the SEC is awesome this year.

Yeah, and add on the fact that you're missing so many players, some of your best score. Yeah, that's exactly right. If we weren't fully healthy, you're probably, I think we win that Vandy game if we're fully healthy. It was probably at least seven and four if we are fully healthy. So, yeah, you're exactly right. Who's next? Butler. Butler.

Go ahead, Butler. Hey, brother, first of all, I want to say a heck of a win tonight. Go cats. That's, you know, he sweep the balls. Heck yeah. I've called in all these years and I've never told you, congratulations for all your success. I mean, KSR, KS, bar, your ESPN, KS, free show, all that.

Congratulations for that. I'm going to run through a few things real fast so somebody else can get on here. Okay. I want to say hi to a guy that listens to you all avidly, and every time I pay my storage bill to him, he always says, I heard you on KSR, so hello, Anthony Heflin. Hello, Anthony. But, yeah, hello.

But fair or foul, I live down here in Mercury County. I've told you that, you know, when I called in. Yes. You said it's not right for somebody to wear UK gear every single day, but I live literally 10 minutes from the Tennessee state line. Yes, you do. Fair or foul? It's pretty fair.

I mean, I'm wearing U.S. It's fair. Oh, it's certainly fair now, for sure. Yeah. I mean, like, you live, see, you live, like, there are, I don't think people in the rest of the state who don't live on the state line get it. Like, you get it. McCreary County's right there. Bell County, where I'm from is right there.

There's some places down, like, I don't know if Hopkinsville is on the state line, but it's right next to it. So, like, Franklin, Franklin, Kentucky, I guess at Simpson County, like those of us that are on the state line, it's a little different. I know exactly what you deal with. Yeah, so I represent as much as I can, and we don't have a Walmart here, so it's either Oneida or Somerset or Williamsburg or Wayne County. You know, we've got to travel to get to a Walmart, so when I go to the Oneida Walmart and Tennessee down there,

I'm wearing my blue no matter what. I've got a quick question for Billy, and then I'll let you go. I appreciate my... All right. making my call. Gully, when, and I love the pre-show, by the way, when Cal was doing the pre-show, compared to now that Hope is doing the pre-show, what is the call amount like? Because I feel like the fan base is more ramped up now, and you're getting more calls.

Because I've tried to call in all night. I've tried to call in for a week and can't get into play. Pope's calling show. I only tried like two or three times with Cal and got in but lost connection. Is that agreeable that it's more harder to get into Pope's calling show than it was Cowell's the last few years? Yeah, no, very much so, Butler. I mean, there's just an excitement in the fan base that, I mean, I have full lines for the

Pope show at the very beginning of the show. That's amazing. Because I can tell you there were some years I hosted the Cow show. and it would be like Bob and Jamestown and one of the last few years were like that really yeah you know I mean that's what it was and so you're you're exactly exactly right by the way speaking of living on the border Trent Noah was asked after the game in the press conference about playing against Tennessee and he said my mom he said I'm always you know been on the state line right next to it my mom even would go get her hair done in Knoxville I was like that is such a

That's awesome. The 13th region to say. My mom would get her hair done at night. Because, like, that's, you know, when I was a kid of Middlesbril, the city we went to was Knoxville. Like, I mean, so, and I had to watch Knoxville TV stations. And so did Trent Noah, right? If you're in Harlan or Middlesbrough, we got Knoxville TV. Now, now you get a win like that.

That's got to mean a ton for him to not only win, but play like he did in the game. Who's next? Trey is next. Trey, go ahead, Trey. Hey, what's going on, fellas? What's up? Well, so, MJ, I got two points. The first one is that caller the other day.

He said some sports reporter said that he thought this team had piqued already. I don't think that's true at all. As a matter of fact, I think this team has a lot of growing room. You know, to see Trent Noah and Travis Perry transform right before our eyes into legitimate minute players. And I think come tournament time, they may have a huge impact in a game, a game or two. Yeah, I don't think they've peaked if we're healthy, right?

So for me, there isn't a health sense. Like, I don't think car is going to be 100%. So I think at best we're going to get an 80% car, just because you can just tell he's in pain. But if we can get Robinson and Butler healthy to where they are, like I thought Butler was 100% himself until he re-injured his arm. If you can get those guys to where they're 100% themselves, then I agree with you. I think there's another gear they can still get.

Now, if we don't get those guys healthy, then I do think there's a cap as to where this team can get. But if those two guys are healthy, then I'm with you. I think there's still a higher level they can reach. Do we know exactly the shoulder injury extent of Butler? Not as far as tonight. They haven't said. I mean, I'm sure I have not heard like what the official diagnosis is.

I mean, I know before he got hurt at the end that I thought he looked pretty close to 100%. And he was, you know, when you're a right hand and you go up for a layup on the right side, you take a hit to the left shoulder. And he took a few of them and seemed to be okay. and then I think he just fell in a weird way, and then that's why he got hurt of you. Well, hopefully he'll get back soon. Second point, this is really interesting to think about.

So come next year, isn't it going to be crazy to think? We're going to have four Kentucky guys on this roster. And they'll all contribute. And they'll all contribute. You're exactly right. That will be, I mean, what, But you got to go back to when would there have been four Kentucky guys contribute? I mean, obviously Rick's early days.

I wonder, has there been a year since those, you know, the 92, 91 years? Has there been a year that four Kentucky guys have contributed? I don't think Sutton had any. No. Well, Patino had, I mean, so Petino had Reggie Hansen, Richie Farmer, John Pelfrey, and Darren Feldhouse. So those were four Kentucky guys contributing. That would have been like, what, 90 and 91?

That's probably the last time that there's been four Kentucky guys. I'm sure there's been four Kentucky guys on the rock. Well, wait a minute. Let me think. Brandon Stockton, Josh Carrier, J.P. Blevins. Was there one other one on that team? But those guys aren't as good as the ones we're talking about. So, yeah, you're probably right.

I don't know that we've ever, certainly not in my lifetime if we had that. Oh, I'm excited for it. I'm going to hang up, guys. You guys have a good time. Appreciate the call. Yeah, I don't. That's a good question.

I mean, that tubby had that group that had all those guys, but they're not as good as the guys that are coming. I mean, next year, well, first of all, Kentucky has not produced two dudes as good as Jasper Johnson, Malachi Moreno in the same year. Maybe ever, or at least for a long time. So, yeah, we probably will have more Kentucky contributions. And let me just say, I think there's a kid out there that plays for another school

that's from Kentucky that you could see here next year. So, yeah, it might be the most Kentucky team since the unforgettable. 859-280-2287. We will take a break. Come back. Final segment. It's the local toy dealers, KSR post-game show. Welcome back. It is the local toy dealers KS Bar, KS Bar, KSR post game show.

Here's a little interesting thing that I just saw. Sportsbetters can no longer place wagers at Churchill Downs, the racetrack closed its sports book. Wow. Isn't that interesting? Like the whole, it's so funny how that whole idea of all this was that like it would be at the tracks. and then it would like help the tracks and now everybody bets on their phone and the tracks things don't really matter you know is that because nobody's betting at the track is that why they're closing that i guess well there nobody's bet on sports right but they're not betting on sports

so like i remember when when when red mile opened the the the in-person sports betting there i was like worried about for kis bar and i just think everybody does it on their phone you know so it's like I think a lot of these businesses put in like a lot of money into their sports books and I don't know I don't know how much that's working for them because people just do it on their phone you know so it's like a lot of things everybody does it on their phone [phone] let's do five more and we'll call it an evening who's next Luke Luke Luke look hey man how's it going doing good yeah so two things real quick I know the defense was a lot better tonight. How much of that

do you attribute to Lamont, Butler, being back? I know he went down. Hopefully he is good to go for the rest of the season, but how much of that do you think it is something? I think it's huge. I think it's huge. I think you saw that when the worst defensive

stretch we had was that stretch at the start of the second half when Butler went out. Like from the 16 minute mark to the 12 minute mark, I think Tennessee scored on eight straight possessions. and that was when Butler was out. I also think, though, we just, oddly, we match up really well with Tennessee. Like, they lead the country in three-point defense, yet we've shot 50% from three in both

games against them. I'm not really sure why that's the case. And then they're not a good three-point shooting team, but they're hideously bad against us. And so I don't really know why that is, and we seem to defend pretty well against them. so I just think for whatever reason the matchup is good for us there yeah I agree the Kai Siegler is kind of a bum when he plays Kentucky I don't know what it is well but I mean so is chas Lanier I mean neither like yeah and Lanier and Ganey tonight were

0 for 11 from three now Ganey played pretty well against us down in Knoxville but Lanier and Ziegler both just have not Ziegler played better tonight but like they just haven't played well against us and they play well against everybody else else, so I don't really know what it is. Yeah, I mean, it's been his whole career. He's not played good against Kentucky, so I don't know if he's just got the jitters or what, but I know for a fact that he's no competition for the Mountain Mamba and the bluegrass bucket.

Thank you so much. Oh, I like that. The other name, yeah. I think part of it is, you know, I think part of it is that Tennessee, we're used to Tennessee being a really big, really athletic team, and they're playing three guards for the most. part. Their center, Igor, is a good stretch player, but he's not crazy athletic. And then kind of their athletic guys, Mayshack and the other one, they're not great scores. So I think we just seem to be able to defend them pretty well. The guy that used to always give us trouble for them was like

Adu, who's now at Arkansas. We always struggle with those guys. They just don't have a guy like that this year. So Yukon beats Creighton on the road. We'll do, you got four on there or five. How many you got left? I got five. You want to go to all five? Let's do all five. Okay, Casey. Casey, go ahead, Casey. What's going on, fellas? So I just wanted to holler at you and see what you thought. So we had no Robinson.

We played good defense versus the best defensive team of nation, in my opinion. Not stagnant. We usually play, I feel like, again. Well, we were pretty stagnant. I disagree with you on the stagnant. We were pretty stagnant in that second half, but we got fortunate that guys made big plays. Yeah, we lost Butler, though.

We did. We did. The Butler's the key. Butler and Robinson. Butler is the key on defense. Butler's the key on defense. Robinson and Butler are the key on offense. And so having Butler's was huge.

All right. So Jackson and Rob, so Jackson Robinson or O way is our best player. It's got to be. But Lamont Butler is our key player. And you said it for I could ask it. Yeah, I don't disagree. I think Robinson is our best score. O-A might be our best overall player,

but Butler's our most important player. Yeah, obviously. And then also I just want to say the Big Blue Nation, we're in a position where we're at because of this man, Pope tells the truth. I've not seen my yet. He can't say all the things. he's got to say he had some things, but Pope tells the truth.

He does not lie. I won't thank you, Will. And I appreciate him for who he is and what he does. Thank you all. I appreciate the call. Thank you. 5-9-280-2287. Four more.

Who's next? Katie. Katie, go ahead, Katie. Hey, Matt and Billy. My 15-year-old son and I are driving back from the game. We're driving back to Ashland. And we had a family member give us three tickets, and they were in the top row. So we walked into Rupp Arena at 635, got on the game time app, and bought tickets eight rows up from the floor, and had the best time.

And I'm calling because I'm just really happy. I'm really happy that this generation of Kentucky fans are getting to actually get a good taste of what Kentucky basketball is all about. my 15-year-old son, diehard fan. He was three years old when we last won the National Championship. We have season UK football tickets. And honestly, in the last five or six years, he's had better UK football memories than basketball. And we try to keep telling him.

No, no, you don't understand. Like, UK basketball. It's like, it is, it is, it is. And I'm really glad that they're getting to see that now. And I'm just so happy we were at the game. Go cats. I totally agree with you. Yeah, I appreciate the call.

I think that it's been interesting to watch with kids. I do think kids, you know, when Cal first got here, kids loved John Wall. They loved Michael, Kid Gilchrist, Anthony Davis. I think Malique Monk and Darren Deerrin Fox were big with kids. And then for whatever reason, I mean, part of it's that we weren't winning. I thought Dillingham and Reed kids really liked, but kids, didn't seem to be, I would notice that it just didn't seem like kids had the same energy that I had and that it seemed like kids had in the early Cal years.

Well, that's back this year. I mean, I see it at the bar before games. And the kid, like this group, for whatever reason, I think Oway really resonates with kids. And then I think having these two guys from Kentucky, I mean, all these kids in Kentucky see these two dudes from their. state and they're playing and I just and now on the back of Reed doing last year and kids loved Rob but like it's good to see Kentucky just the younger fans being re-energized I didn't

know this until I just saw Tyler Thompson's tweet did you know Mark Pope's daughter danced with the dance team tonight no Mark Pope's daughter either does or did she may not anymore dance for the Utah Jazz dance team oh okay and I guess she wore Mark Pope's jersey and danced with the Kentucky dance team tonight. So it's kind of a neat little thing. All right. Three more. One question for you, though.

There was a goaltending call that was overturned in the game. I hate that rule. Hate it. But they didn't do it until they were at halftime. Yeah. First of all, I get reviewing goaltending. But there's a problem with reviewing goaltending. First of all, it should be at the first, at the next stoppage.

There was a stoppage. They stopped it with 50 seconds left. like Tennessee called time out. So if they're not, if they don't change it then, I don't think they should be able to change it at half time. So that's my first problem. Second problem, I hate the rule that if they call goal tend to and then they find out it's not, it just goes away because the guy blocked it out of bounds.

We would have had the ball back. Yeah, no benefit. You don't get the benefit. Like, so that they've got to figure that out because if you're going to go review it and the offense would have gotten the ball back. you're punishing the offense for your bad call. You can't do that. So, like, I hate that.

I get why they have the rule. And in theory, I like being able to replay Goldton. But I just don't think you can do it to where the team. I mean, we would have gotten the ball back. So not only did we not get the points, we didn't even get a chance to score. I just, I've never liked that rule. And I actually think it's kind of unfair. And I don't know why they do it like that.

So also I want to thank the fans. We had 34 tickets given to me that I was able to give out to other people. That's a lot for people to, because, you know, those are 34 seats that were filled that wouldn't have been otherwise. So thanks to the fans that did that. Who's next? Todd is next. Todd, go ahead, Todd. Hey, Matt.

Yeah, that Goldfin call, that's pretty, that's pretty lame by the NCAA to do that. Yeah. But you open your show talking about the Almanor Drive, which I thought was huge, and then the Berea drive with the Lob to OA. And I think that's something this offense has to have because the dribble handoffs that we're trying to get a back door or a three, they're just pushing everybody out. But we get a little bit of penetration. It opens up Noah.

It opens up Berea. And it gives that lob to OA. And I think that's something that we've missed with Butler. But maybe we can hopefully get those guys at least doing that. to kind of open things up for everybody else. I was really surprised because this team has been pretty weak getting people off the dribble. Like O'A, O'A can get to the rim, but then he can't finish usually. He misses so many layups.

Robinson has the same problem because he's not very strong. Now, Butler's a pretty good finisher, but then, like, Bray and Almanor, I'm not sure I've seen Bray and Almanor take a guy off the dribble all year, and then they both did it in key moments tonight. Yeah, Almanor, he's going to have to do that because everybody's just like, okay, he's going to shoot three. So they're putting a guard on him like Lanier was guarding him tonight and he finally took advantage of that. That's a good point. That's a really good point.

And also, good to see the Kentucky boys come through. Perry still makes me nervous handling the ball, but I'm sure that's something will come with experience. But Noah's defense is very underrated, I feel like. I agree. See, if he gets that, he's really good at guarding, they have him guard the four a lot, and I'm shocked at how effective he is at that. Yeah, well, he was on Lanier tonight, and he wasn't just trailing him off screens. He was kind of running on like the side of his hip and like going under a few screens,

which I think we need to do more of. But just his overall IQ and, you know, the kid just makes winning plays. and I hope he continues to get time and hope he continues to progress because that kid's something special. Appreciate the call. I'm back to Kirkland. He's like that Clemson kid.

Like you look at that Clemson kid, you go, how does he guard anybody? And then he's a pretty good defender. And Noah reminds me of that guy. Like I said, I think he shoots better than that guy, and that guy's probably a little stronger than Noah, but they have a lot of similarities to me. Two more.

Who's next? Lance. Lance. How are you, Lance? I'm doing good, Matt. I'm kind of piggybacking off of a caller a little earlier. I feel like tonight was a major advancement in the depth of our roster, honestly. There may be a game, you know, if we are completely healthy,

hopefully to get everybody back, where Butler or O.A or maybe another starter is in foul trouble or possibly they get injured during the game. You know, something comes up during the NCAA tournament where these crucial minutes and SEC play against teams like Tennessee, will be crucial towards Perry and Noah's confidence going forward. Well, we've already seen their, I agree with you, and we've already seen their confidence go way up. I mean, I love, I don't really think they were scared earlier,

but they were hesitant. They're not hesitant now. And to me, you can't play basketball at a high level and be hesitant. And seeing Noah and Perry, and it's not just Noah and Perry, seeing Almanor and even seeing like Oway, who I thought went a few games where he didn't want to shoot. Seeing all these guys be confident, you know, I love it because we need that. Because you can't be scared in these games because if you are, you're already beat. Absolutely.

It's just good to see their progress going forward. It's all I got. Yeah, I appreciate the call. That was one of Kyle's best skills is Cal made the dudes believe that they were all. awesome. Sometimes I wish they were a little less confident, some of them. But he was great at telling dudes, like, getting the best out of them and making them feel confident. I feel like Pope's got that same characteristic. Like, they go about it a different way, but they're both really good at making all the guys kind of believe like I can do it. And I think that's a great characteristic to instill.

All right, let's do one more, and we'll call it a night. Who's next? Kentucky dude. Kentucky dude. How are you? Hey, I'm good. How are you guys? Good. I'm glad to get on the Billy show. Let's see. I'm done here in Louisville right now at Derby City, and the sports gambling is wide open.

Well, this is at Churchill Downs is what the thing. It's at February 16th will be the last day. Oh, that's last day. But anyway, how about I was down here? I'm out here on work. I had some guys from Michigan. They were trying to figure out how to say Louisville. They said Louisville, Louisville.

Yeah, they're wrong. I said, Louiserville. Okay. Well, I'll take that one. I'll take that one, too. Yeah. Although, they're good. Where are you from?

I said, well, I'm from the 606. Yeah. Well, I appreciate to call. They're good, though, and that helps us. Listen, Louisville being good just keeps helping our resume. So I'd say after this game, we're probably a solid four seed, assuming we win Saturday. But Saturday's going to be tough. I know Texas has not played well, but it's going to be 8 o'clock.

If you're just looking at like, you know, it's first time Kentucky's played there. Well, I think we played there once in the ACC Big 12 challenge maybe. But we don't play there a lot. 8 p.m. It's the prime game on ESPN. So I think it'll be a wild environment. And if we can get that one, then you got Vandy at home. got LSU on the back end.

Like you can, we can get to where my goal for the rest of the, I want us to be, get a buy in the SEC tournament, be a three, four, five seed, and then let's just let it roll and see what happens. Thank you folks very much for being here tonight. Huge win for the cats against Tennessee.

We will be back tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. It is Wings Day at KS. Barr. So you think they'll have school tomorrow, Billy? I guess. Well, the roads don't look bad. I don't know. I think they should. They should.

But if they don't, come on out and join us. And if they do have it, come on out and join us anyway. Your kid doesn't need to go to school. We'll see you later. This has been the local toy dealers, KSR Postgame Show. The Cats Take Down the Balls. We'll see you later. 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 headwriter, 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 Sports Slice comes. I'm Timbo, in 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's Slice of Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you. conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee.

We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, 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, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast Deeply Well with Debbie Brown. If you've been searching for a soft place to land

while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to Deeply Well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.