Alabama coach Anthony Grant isn’t thinking about the Crimson Tide’s future going into Saturday’s game against Kentucky.
“Our focus is the SEC tournament,” he said. “We’re excited to be here in Atlanta. We’re excited about the opportunity to compete for a championship. And the thing we talked about is we’re promised one game in this, and that we have got to we want to be here for the duration. So we got to take it one game at a time and our goal is to try to compete for a tournament championship. So that’s all we’re worried about. That’s all we have got. So we’re excited to be in Atlanta, we’re excited to have an opportunity to continue to play.”

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Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy has nothing but respect for Big Blue Nation. Kennedy gave is opinion of Kentucky’s contingent following his team’s 66-55 win over South Carolina in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament Thursday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga.
“We know there’s nothing like Big Blue Nation,” Kennedy said. “I was saying this before. I’ve lived in Birmingham, I played at UAB, coached at UAB, so I’ve experienced Alabama football fans. I lived in Cincinnati for five years, so I’ve seen Buckeye Nation.
“And for my money, nothing can touch Kentucky basketball fans. And I think you really get the opportunity to feel that when you’re in the SEC tournament.
“And we’re going to see it tomorrow, certainly a home court advantage for them, which I’m excited about. I think our kids are excited about it.”

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University of Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart and coach John Calipari issued statements after Enes Kanter’s appeal on his eligibility was denied by the NCAA.

Mitch Barnhart:
“We are disappointed in the result and equally disappointed in the process. We have spent significant effort and resources to help this young man play college basketball in the United States. This has been on our radar screen daily for 10 months. We were informed by the NCAA that the flexible decisions made by the NCAA staff in other high-profile cases could not be used in case precedent and were not binding on the NCAA going forward. The University of Kentucky was very hopeful that our student-athlete might receive the same type of consideration afforded to these other athletes but that did not happen. We were also reminded on a regular basis that the amateurism and professionalism piece, including benefits received from a professional team, is the one area of Bylaw 12 that has not been deregulated.”

Calipari

“We are obviously disappointed in this decision and find it unfortunate that a group of adults would come to such a decision regarding the future of an 18-year-old young man. This has never been about our program or the University of Kentucky, it has been about the wishes of Enes and his family to have their son educated in the United States. It is a shame that Enes had to endure the constant speculation and misinformation that was furthered by certain media organizations in the smear campaign conducted by his Turkish team.

“The silver lining is that Enes will always be part of this team. My job will be to prepare him for his entry into the NBA Draft, which this decision by the Association will likely necessitate. Enes will always be a part of our family and I plan to be by his side in the green room whenever he is drafted.”

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By Brian Melton/The Grant County News

You often hear about the quintessential “trap” game described in sports.
That game that doesn’t exactly stoke any excitement against a team that you should handle without much issue. The Penn Quakers were just that for the Kentucky Wildcats Monday night.
Fresh off a big win over Louisville and preparing to enter SEC play Saturday in Athens, the Cats came out of the gates, let’s just say a little less than inspired. Penn shot the ball unbelievably from long distance, hitting 7 of 9 three point attempts in the first half in building a 12 point lead with only five minutes left in the half. An old fashioned three point play by Doron Lamb started a furious 14-1 rally to close the half that gave UK an improbable 33-32 halftime lead.
Kentucky dominated the second half with a much improved defensive tenacity and one of the most impressive shooting performances thus far this season.
The Wildcats made 18-22 field goals in the second half. Yes, you read that right, that’s just under 82 percent in an entire half of basketball.
Once again the team’s tremendous passing ability and willingness to share the basketball lead to open shots and the Cats pulled away for a deceiving 86-62 victory.
Brandon Knight once again had a tremendous game leading the team with 22 points on 8-12 shooting from the field. Josh Harrellson managed another double double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and once again was the dominating presence in the post.
Without those two performances, especially early when no one else could seem to get a shot to fall, the outcome would not have been good.
Darius Miller had a second straight strong performance with quite a stat line: 11 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals.
Coach Calipari said after the game that Miller has the talent to be the best player in the SEC if he can play with the same energy and desire each and every game. No pressure there.
Speaking of Coach Cal, it has been amazing to see him interact with both Eloy Vargas and Terrence Jones recently. Now we all know that our fine coach is a little excitable and energetic on the sideline, but recently he has been “out of his mind” as he likes to say.
He has been riding those two more than a horse training for the Kentucky Derby, doing all he can to get them to play up to their potential. He said after the game that he expects his players to give 100 percent all the time and he will continue to push them until they do. Their ability to contribute to the team will be huge entering conference play this weekend.
The Cats are now off to Athens, Georgia to take on the Bulldogs who have won eight straight games and are unbeaten on their home court.
The key to the game will be controlling Trey Thompkins inside and keeping their own interior players out of foul trouble. Let the SEC title defense begin.

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By Brian Melton/The Grant County News

Every year when the Kentucky Wildcats face their archrival Louisville Cardinals there is always excitement, but the 2010 edition seemed to have a little something extra with the opening of the Cards new arena and both teams ranked in the Top 25.
And when Louisville made its first three shots from long range, this Wildcat fan thought the Cats were in for a long day. But, led by a dominating performance on the boards and in the paint by Josh Harrellson Kentucky weathered the early storm and started the New Year’s Eve celebrations around the Big Blue Nation with a bang. UK wins going away 78-63.
What a game for Josh Harrellson who scored 23 points while grabbing 14 rebounds and could not be stopped inside, seemingly grabbing every loose ball within Louisville city limits. He simply did it all for the Cats. His rebounding and scoring kept the Cats close early in the game and helped them pull away while showing off the full repertoire of his offensive game. The best part was that he did so against the school’s biggest rival and didn’t seem surprised at all by that type of performance.
It’s hard to believe you can lead the team in scoring with 25 points and completely control a game and get overlooked, but that’s what happened by Brandon Knight against the Cardinals.
Knight had another stellar outing against a pressure defense designed to create turnovers and wreck havoc on opposing offenses. That sure wasn’t a problem for Knight who again ran the offense effectively and was able to get the team a good shot when they needed it most. He isn’t John Wall, but he is just as, if not more effective, as a leader for this team.
I sure hope that DeAndre Liggins didn’t have bad breath on Friday because if so, Peyton Siva and Preston Knowles had a long afternoon. The decision of coach Calipari to have Liggins guard Siva completely disrupted the Louisville offense, making it difficult to get any easy looks at the basket.
And when Knowles got hot in the second half, all it took was a little quality time with Liggins to quiet him down and finish off the game for the Cats. Easily one of the most impressive defensive performances in recent memory, especially for a guard.
Kentucky closes the non-conference portion of the schedule tonight against the Penn Quakers before heading to Georgia for the beginning of SEC play on Saturday afternoon.

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Kentucky guard DeAndre Liggins answered a few questions on Sunday at the Craft Center as the team prepared for its final non-conference game of the season set for Monday against Penn. …

On if the game against Penn is a dangerous game?
“No, we just have to bring the same intensity defensively and execute offensively. We are making some good strides right now and we need to continue to do that.”

On his performance against Louisville
“Yeah, I missed a couple of shots. My offense wasn’t there so I had to pick it up defensively.”

On UofL coach Rick Pitino saying that he and Josh Harrellson know the game of basketball really well
“That is good. I just have to continue to do well. Josh played a great game for us and I did a good job defensively. Our team played well in that building and we have to continue to do that.”
On guarding a smaller point guard compared to guarding a bigger player?
“It is very hard for me to guard little guards. I was just so intense and enthused about that game (Louisville) that it really didn’t matter (who I was guarding.) I just wanted to make it hard for my opponents. You just have to stay really low and be very crafty with the ball and come off screens.”
On guarding Louisville’s Preston Knowles
“He is a good player. He is a feisty competitor that can shoot the ball well. I just tried to get up in him and make him uncomfortable.”

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Kentucky coach John Calipari knows Doron Lamb is a valuable piece of the puzzle.
Lamb scored a record 32 points, the most for a UK freshman in his last outing and could easily be starting as opposed to coming off the bench.,
During his pre-game visit with the media prior to his team’s game with Coppin State, Calipari hinted that Lamb could be in the starting lineup sooner rather than later.
“He could be in my office saying that he wants to start and then I have to deal with that. He may start here at some point, I don’t know,” he said. “But I do know that it really doesn’t matter. His stock is (soaring high). There is less pressure on him than anyone on the team and he just goes in and lets it fly. The biggest thing with him is his feel for the game is beyond a normal player.
“The second thing is that his motor, which wasn’t moving early, and now you see a player that is playing more aggressive and faster yet not losing his feel for the game. I have to get him to practice a little bit harder and with more of a motor than he does. But when that ball is thrown up he goes.”

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ESPN, the BIG EAST Conference and the Southeastern Conference (SEC) have reached an agreement for 12 members from each of the two premier conferences to play each other in a men’s college basketball inter-conference Challenge the week after Thanksgiving starting in 2011. ESPN will provide exclusive coverage of all 12 games across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. The new BIG EAST/SEC Challenge will mark an expansion and modification of the SEC/BIG EAST Invitational, a four-year event from 2007 to 2010 that featured four matchups between the two conferences from two neutral sites.
The new BIG EAST/SEC Challenge format will feature 12 games over three days beginning on the Thursday after Thanksgiving of each year. The 2011 schedule will include four games a day Thursday, Dec. 1 through Saturday, Dec. 3. The event title will alternate to the SEC/BIG EAST Challenge in 2012 and be played Thursday, Nov. 29 through Saturday, Dec. 1.
All 12 games each year will be played at home campus sites with each conference hosting six games a year. SEC teams will alternate home and away games. Twelve of the 16 BIG EAST teams (17 teams in the second year) will participate each year with home, road and no-game assignments determined for 2011 and 2012 in advance of the 2011 event. Matchups, times and network assignments are to be determined.
“We are thrilled to continue to showcase two of the best college basketball conferences through a new BIG EAST/SEC Challenge,” said Burke Magnus, ESPN senior vice president, college sports programming. “We applaud the conferences and their schools on their enthusiasm for the series and know fans will look forward to a true test of conference superiority each year beginning in 2011.
SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said, “The Southeastern Conference is pleased to provide this expanded opportunity for all 12 of our member institutions to participate in the SEC/Big East Challenge each year. The ability to showcase SEC basketball on the various ESPN platforms in this type of conference competition makes this a magnificent and fun event for our coaches, student-athletes and fans.”
BIG EAST Commissioner John Marinatto added, “The past four years of the SEC/BIG EAST Invitational have provided both of our respective fan bases with high quality and exciting matchups prior to the start of our conference regular seasons. We are now pleased to expand the format to offer even more competition, and bring these games to campus sites. Add to the equation the exposure that ESPN provides and you have a truly wonderful event.”
Over the four years of the SEC/BIG EAST Invitational, the conferences split the series in 2008 and 2009 and each won one (SEC in 2010 and BIG EAST in 2007).
Since 1999, the SEC (four) and the BIG EAST (seven) have combined for 11 Final Four appearances and five national titles: Connecticut (1999 and 2004), Florida (2006 and 2007) and Syracuse (2003).
SEC Media Relations

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Sean Woods has been on the road a lot lately.
By the time his team reaches Rupp, Woods his team would have played defending NCAA runner-up Butler, Ole Miss and Arkansas in guarantee games during an eight-day span. In addition, Mississippi Valley State played Georgia close before the Bulldogs escaped with a 72-70 victory and suffered a 71-54 setback to Indiana in Bloomington last month.
Going into Wednesday’s game at Arkansas, the Delta Devils had won just one game – a 75-64 triumph over Georgia Southern in the South Padre Invitational.
The former University of Kentucky guard, now the coach at Mississippi Valley State, will make his second visit to Rupp Arena Saturday. The last time Woods and his team made a visit to Lexington, the Wildcats came away with an 88-65 victory over the Delta Devils two years ago.
Woods played at Kentucky from 1989-92 and was a member of the “Unforgetables,” the team that went 29-7 and lost to Duke on a last-second shot in the 1992 East Regional finals at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The loss to the Blue Devils marked Kentucky’s return to the forefront in college basketball following a two-year probation that prevented the team from competing in the postseason following recruiting violations in the Eddie Sutton era.

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Usually, most people have their pick of favorite players, but how about picking a team in reverse? Prior to Kentucky’s game against Indiana Saturday, Oscar Combs, Ira Combs, Jeff Drummond, Harold Combs, Lonny Demoree, Rob Bromley and others at my table were pondering a first- and second-team cast of players considered the worse to ever start for the Wildcats. The criteria is simple, the player had to at least be a starter. Wanted to see what our readers thought. Have fun with this and I will post the results in the next couple of days.

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