Tag: University of Kentucky Basketball

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Frankfort Local News

Kentucky Basketball Team to Visit White House

The University of Kentucky’s men’s basketball team is heading to Washington D.C. to meet President Barack Obama this Friday.

Kentucky won its eight national championships this year, and the presidential meeting is typical for NCAA basketball champions.

This is the Wildcats’ first White House visit since 1998. This is also the team’s first official visit to the White House under Coach John Calipari.

UK previously took a phone call from President Obama in 2010, when the John Wall-led Wildcats were honored for their work raising money for disaster relief in Haiti.

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Local News

College Basketball: Cards Visit Pitt Saturday

In college basketball this weekend, the Louisville Cardinals are on the road tomorrow night at Pittsburgh. U of L has lost three of its last four games; the Panthers have dropped seven straight.

Cards’ coach Rick Pitino said today he wasn’t sure if leading scorer Kyle Kuric will play. Kuric sat out the last two games with a high ankle sprain.

Tipoff is at 9:00pm tomorrow.

The Kentucky Wildcats return to action tomorrow in Lexington, where they’ll take on Alabama at noon. Indiana hosts Penn State on Sunday.

Murray State visits Southern Illinois-Edwardsville tomorrow (Sat) night. The number 14 Racers are 19-0 and one of two remaining undefeated Division One teams in the country. The other is top-ranked Syracuse.

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Local News

College Basketball: Indiana Upsets No. 1 Kentucky

Christian Watford’s three-pointer at the buzzer gave unranked Indiana a 73-72 upset victory over the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats today in Bloomington.

The Hoosiers led by as many as ten points in the second half. UK came back to reclaim the lead and was ahead by two points when Indiana got the ball with about five seconds left in the game.

Indiana, which has been rebuilding under new coach Tom Crean, improves to 9-0. The Wildcats are 8-1 and will relinquish their number one ranking next week.

In other action U of L beat Fairleigh Dickinson 80-58 at the KFC Yum Center. The Cards are now 9-0 on the season.

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Local News Next Louisville

Dominican Team To Face Former UK Players In KFC Yum! Center

Tickets go on sale tomorrow for an exhibition basketball game later this month at the KFC Yum! Center featuring the Dominican national team.

Some U of L fans are rankled that the visitors to the new home of the Cards will be coached by UK’s John Calipari, and their opponents will be a team of former Wildcats.

Calipari is coaching the Dominicans against a squad of former UK players now in the pros. The teams’ August 15 game in Lexington quickly sold out, so Calipari scheduled a second game at the Yum Center the following night.

That’s not sitting well with some U of L fans, but the Yum! Center is a state-owned facility and the basketball program has no control over off-season scheduling.

Cards Coach Rick Pitino said this week it’s no big deal.

“We don’t pay any attention to our competitors, except when it’s time to play them and I really mean that sincerely, it’s no different than Villanova or West Virginia or anyone else. It’s a free country. And the KFC (Yum! Center) last time I checked was part of this country,” he said.     

The team of professionals will be coached by retired U of L Coach Denny Crum. Crum’s radio show partner, former UK Coach Joe Hall, will assist Calipari with the Dominican team.

That team includes two former Louisville players.

(Photo of Denny Crum and Joe B. Hall courtesy of WKRD Radio)

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Noise & Notes Politics

Flash: Richie Farmer Played Basketball

During Monday’s debate between the three Republican candidates for lieutenant governor, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer continually reminded voters of his folk hero status as a basketball legend.

Besides mentioning being “valedictorian of his elementary school class”, Farmer, who is running with state Senate President David Williams, accentuated being named Mr. Basketball in 1988, who subsequently played for the University of Kentucky.

Don’t believe me? Check it out.

From Barefoot & Progressive:

Continue reading “Flash: Richie Farmer Played Basketball”
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Local News

Kentucky Advances To NCAA Final Four

The Kentucky Wildcats defeated North Carolina 76-69 today to win the men’s NCAA basketball tournament East Regional and a berth in the tournament’s Final Four.

Brandon Knight scored 22 points and DeAndre Liggins hit a key three-pointer late in the game to lead UK to its first national semifinal appearance since 1998.

Kentucky will play Connecticut next Saturday in Houston; Butler takes on VCU in the other Final Four game.

UK last played Connecticut in November in the Maui Invitational. The Huskies won that game 84-67. They’ll tipoff Saturday around 8:50pm in Houston.

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Local News

NCAA: UK, Morehead State Return To Action

Kentucky is back in action Saturday in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The Wildcats take on West Virginia at noon in the East Regional in Tampa.

The two teams last met in the 2010 tournament, when Coach Bob Huggins’ Mountaineers defeated UK to advance to the Final Four.

They missed some shots and you know how it is. You start missing shots, the cumulative effect….you start maybe aiming it instead of shooting it. They just missed a whole bunch of shots. We kept them on the perimeter, which is what we wanted to do,” Huggins said Thursday.

West Virginia defeated Clemson and UK held off Princeton Thursday to advance to Saturday’s round.

Morehead State returns to the court Saturday, taking on Richmond at 5:00pm in the Southwest Regional in Denver. The Eagles are coming off Thursday’s one-point upset of Louisville.

The women’s NCAA tournament begins this weekend. Kentucky faces Hampton Saturday; Louisville takes on Vanderbilt Sunday.

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Local News

NCAA: Kentucky 59, Princeton 57

Brandon Knight scored the go-ahead basket with two seconds remaining and Kentucky held on to defeat Princeton 59-57 in an NCAA East Regional game Thursday in Tampa, Florida.

The Wildcats will take on West Virginia Saturday.  The Mountaineers defeated Clemson today to advance to the next round.

West Virginia defeated Kentucky last year to advance to the tournament’s Final Four.

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Local News

Cards Fall Short In Big East Tournament Title Game

The University of Louisville men’s basketball team fell to Connecticut 69-66 in the Big East Tournament title game Saturday night in New York City.

The win gives Connecticut an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament next week.    U of L is expected to receive an at-large bid when the pairings are announced Sunday evening.

The Kentucky Wildcats will play Florida Sunday for the Southeastern Conference Tournament title.   Tipoff is 1:00pm in Atlanta.

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Local News

Calipari Speaks To Louisville Rotarians

University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari addressed Thursday’s meeting of the Downtown Louisville Rotary Club.

Click below to hear the entire speech.

Audio MP3

He spoke as hundreds of Wildcat fans have begun camping out on the UK campus for Saturday’s distribution of tickets for the team’s first public practice on October 15.

As he begins his second year as UK coach, Calipari says he’s still getting used to that level of fan devotion.

“You fans out there, you’re nuts. You’re crazy. I was just at a nursing home, retirement home, Brooks Place in Winchester, and a 96 year old lady grabs me. (She says) ‘you’ve got to work on their free throw shooting, coach.’ Ninety-six…you’re worried about free throws, he said.

Calipari is rebuilding his team after five players were chosen in the first round of the NBA draft. He says this year’s team is talented, but will need to execute well to be as successful as last year’s squad, which reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.

Calipari said he remains opposed to the NBA rule that prohibits players from jumping to the league straight from high school.

“I hate it. I’ve always hated it. Players should be able to go directly to the league. Why shouldn’t they? Let them go right to the league. And the ones who come to college should stay two or three years,” he said.