75-72 over Hogs. Kind of got a little edgy at the end, but Kede sank four-of-four from the line to close it out. Struggled from the line sinking 17-of-28 (57%). Rod had an off night converting only 3-of-11, but that was OK because Rod played a super game with 20 points and seven boards. Rod was five-of-nine from three. Kyle was awesome too. Took the team on his back in the first half and got us out to a comfortable lead. Kyle was sinking threes and driving and scoring at the rim. Kyle finished with 19. If you look at the other guy’s free throw numbers they were pretty good. Kyle was six-of-eight, Kede was four-of-five, K Bright was two-of-two and Dai-Jon and Josh were each one-of-two. Rod will work on it today. Rod and Kyle showed a ton of leadership last night. They took the team over and got us over the top in this game. Hung tough on the boards; Arkansas got 39, we got 37. If we can stay that close tonight, we’ve got a shot. Only had 12 turnovers which was huge. Turned it over some late, but we really took care of the basketball for most of the game. And we sank 12-of-28 trifectas (43%). If we can do that tonight also, feel good about our chances. They shot 43 percent from the field but only sank four-of-16 from three. We played solid defense most of the night. Just loved Rod and Kyle’s leadership and awesome play. Really proud of them. Bodes well for tonight.
Tonight it’s UK at 7:30 ET/6:30 CT on the SEC Network. If we could win tonight, you never know. There could be some magic in this team in this tournament. I love the makeup of our team for next year, but I’m really also liking it right now. As Kevin said, we wouldn’t have won this kind of game in January or February. This was a huge boost to our confidence. Big Blue is talented, but we’ve played them tough both times. We lost 70-68 at home in a game in which there was a terrible missed call on a shot clock violation by Kentucky that was allowed. Nerlins Noel sank a shot after the shot clock expired but he was awarded the basket. It was at a pivotal time late in the game and probably kept us from winning that game. We lost 74-70 at Rupp, and played them very tough there also. So we’ve got a very good shot. We lost to them twice last year in the regular season and beat them in the tournament championship game. I really believe in that theory that it’s hard to beat a team three times in a season if the talent is pretty even, and I think that’s the case this season. I like our chances. It’ll be tough, but I know we’ll be ready. Should be exciting.
Starters for this weekend’s series against Auburn are LHP Zo (4-0, 0.87) vs. Auburn LHP Daniel Koger (0-0, 2.42) 6 PM CT; RHP Tyler (4-0, 1.07) vs. AU LHP Michael O’Neal, 2:15 PM CT, Fox Sports South; and Sunday, at 1 PM CT, LHP Phillip Pfeifer (2-0, 1.32) vs. AU RHP Rocky McCord (2-0, 3.44).
Would be nice to get the season started with a sweep, but I know how Corbs and all three of our coaches approach it; one game at a time. Let’s just win tonight and go from there.
I’ve thought more about James’ comment, “Nicky Satan.” It was James being James. James admits openly that he’s emotional and passionate and those two qualities are his greatest strengths and his greatest weaknesses. I think for the most part they are his greatest strengths. I love James’ passion about his football team, his university and his family and his community. James is such a great, passionate guy and an awesome coach. On the Nicky Satan comment. I know James kind of wishes he had that back, but at the same time, he respects Coach Saban as a football coach, but you know what, Saban’s a rival and we are not going to back down from anybody. Those days are over. That’s not happening any more with our football team or our university. We respect Saban, but if we play him and his football team, we are in it to win. So I’m OK with James being competitive towards a rival. That’s college football. That’s passion and emotion. And I love James’ passion. What’s not to like about our head football coach? Awesome football coach. Awesome person. Feel the same way about Corbs and Kevin. We have three fantastic coaches.
Our men’s golf team has some real potential. We have a new coach, Scott Limbaugh, who came from the University of Alabama and has brought passion and toughness to our team. Will have more on the golf team in the coming weeks. The future both this year and the coming years is very exciting. Women’s tennis is doing well too. Our girls bball team is waiting till Monday Night to see if we’ll get an NCAA bid. We’ve got a pretty good shot. We’ve had a good season. Like the girls a lot.
Will keep you informed on what’s going on. Big one tonight at Bridgestone Arena. Can’t wait. Baseball should be fun this weekend too. Love the product Corbs is putting on the field. He’s awesome. We have incredibly good coaches.