Courtside with the Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie did not sound optimistic when asked about injured players Joe Crawford, Jodie Meeks and Derrick Jasper.
Crawford had not been active on the court since taking himself out of the Tennessee game on Jan. 22, Gillispie said on the Southeastern Conference coaches’ teleconference on Thursday.
When asked if Meeks and Jasper had been practicing, Gillispie said, “Limited. Not totally. Limited.”
ESPN announced Nashville and Cincinnati as the sites for the 2008 Southeastern Conference-Big East basketball challenge.
The 2008 SEC/Big East competition features four games over two nights. In the 2008-09 season, it will be played Dec. 16 at Nashville’s Sommet Center and Dec. 18 at Cincinnati’s U.S. Bank Arena. The annual event matches four teams from the BIG EAST Conference against four teams from the Southeastern Conference.
Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Mississippi State will represent the SEC, while Marquette, Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida will represent the Big East.
On Dec. 16 in Nashville, Vanderbilt will face South Florida while Marquette squares off with Tennessee. On Dec. 18 in Cincinnati, Mississippi State will face Cincinnati and Ole Miss will play Louisville.
Teams invited to participate in the SEC/Big East Invitational are chosen by ESPN in consultation with the conferences and are based on geographic and competitive criteria.
In 2007, Villanova overcame a 21-point deficit to beat LSU 68-67 in Philadelphia. South Carolina beat Providence by the same sccore in the opener in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, in Birmingham, Ala., Georgetown topped Alabama 70-60, and West Virginia beat Auburn 88-59.
Tickets for the 2008 SEC/BIG EAST Invitational are expected to go on sale in late summer.
Kentucky will be in line to play in the event in 2009.
UK plans to honor its 1978 national championship team during the Feb. 9 home game against Alabama.
During that reunion weekend, the 1978 team will also participate in a fund-raising event for the UK Basketball Museum. A reception and cocktail party will be held at the Signature Club of Lansdowne from 5 p.m. until 8 on Feb. 9.
Tickets are $50 in advance and available at the UK Basketball Museum and all Central Bank locations.
The Southeastern Conference named Kentucky players Ramel Bradley and Patrick Patterson to individual awards.
The SEC named Bradley its Player of the Week last week. It named Patterson its Freshman of the Week.
Here’s the SEC news release:
SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ramel Bradley, Kentucky
G * 6-2 * 191 * Sr. * New York, N.Y.
* Bradley scored 20+ points in seven UK’s last eight games including 26 against South Carolina. He has nine 20-point games on the season, tied for fourth most in the league and has made 29 of his last 30 free throws.
* Bradley went 8-for-8 in the last 1:30 to help seal UK’s win over Tennessee.
* He recorded his second career double-double with 26 pts and 10 rebounds against South Carolina and has played 214 of a possible 215 minutes in league play.
* Averaging 21.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg and 4.0 apg in SEC play and leads the league in free throw percentage (.869)
Bradley’s Season Stats
PPG RPG APG BPG SPG
16.7 4.3 3.3 0.3 1.6
SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky
F * 6-8 * 232 * Fr. * Huntingdon, W.Va.
* Patterson recorded his seventh and eighth 20-point games this season this week including 20 in UK’s win over third ranked Tennessee.
* He also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and tied his career high with three block shots against Tennessee.
* Played all 40 minutes against South Carolina and has played 209 of 215 possible minutes in UK’s five SEC games.
* Patterson ranks 13th on UK’s all-time freshman scoring list
Patterson’s Season Stats
PPG RPG APG BPG SPG
17.1 8.1 1.8 1.5 1.1
Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie and his players expressed a key to Saturday’s game against South Carolina: contain Gamecock guard Devan Downey.
Downey excels in dribbling into the heart of an opposing defense. He’s scored 20 or more points in four straight games and ranks No. 3 among Southeastern Conference players in assists.
“We’re going to have to have very strong help,” UK guard Ramel Bradley said of defending Downey. “We have to stop him from dribble-penetrating, because he’s very good.”
Downey also leads the SEC in steals (3.5 per game).
Stopping opponents from dribbling to the basket area has not been a Kentucky strength this season.
“We’ve been inconsistent at it,” Gillispie said. “He’s outstanding at it.”
[Hear Gillispie’s Friday press conference.]
South Carolina starts four players 6-foot-7 or shorter. So UK faces an unorthodox opponent.
“I don’t think you can play conventionally and match up with them,” Gillispie said. “If you play conventionally all the time, you’ll be hoping they miss.”
Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie expressed doubt about senior Joe Crawford being able to play against South Carolina on Saturday.
Whether that was coach-speak or a genuine concern about Crawford’s availability remains to be seen.
Foot pain associated with a plantar fascia condition caused Crawford to take himself out of UK’s game against Tennessee on Tuesday. Crawford did “a few things” in practice on Friday, Gillispie said. “But not much. I don’t know if he’ll play.”
[Hear Gillispie’s Friday press conference.]
Meanwhile, Derrick Jasper and Jodie Meeks participated fully in practice on Friday.
Jasper pronounced himself 75 percent recovered from the mid-June microfracture surgery he underwent on his left knee.
Even at less than full capacity, Jasper has contributed to UK’s 2-2 start in league play.
Gillispie expressed concern about Jasper continuing to limp.
“Sometimes it hurts,” Jasper said. “Every once in a while, there’s a sharp pain.”
Kentucky’s game against South Carolina on Saturday comes four days after an emotional upset victory over No. 3 Tennessee. It sounds like a formula for a letdown.
But UK players and Coach Billy Gillispie said no.
“I don’t think so,” Gillispie said at a Friday news conference. “It was a great win for us. But we have such high respect (for South Carolina).”
UK, now 8-9 overall and 2-2 in the Southeastern Conference, is in no position to lord anything over an opponent, Gillispie said.
“If a few plays go the other way Tuesday night, we lose,” he said. “I don’t think they think they came in and annihilated anyone.”
Sophomore guard Derrick Jasper acknowledged some concern about a letdown.
“I was kind of worried at first,” he said. A good practice on Friday alleviated those concerns, he said.
South Carolina has a 9-9 record overall. The Gamecocks are 1-3 in the SEC.
Andy Katz, the president of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, sent an e-mail to members on Thursday that said the crack calls on coaches’ teleconferences is spreading.
Wrote Katz: “Unfortunately we now have a trend. Thursday, the Big East conference call was hit by pranksters just like the SEC call. Marquette’s Tom Crean,
Katz asked for media members to help in stopping this kind of activity.
A limited number of tickets remain for
UK plans to honor its
Kentucky also plans to use Saturday’s game to recognize the 2007
Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald- Leader has covered Kentucky basketball since the 1981-82 season. That time includes five coaches, five Final Fours, four athletic directors, two interim athletic directors and many memories. Before coming to Lexington, Tipton worked eight years for the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch. He covered Marshall’s basketball team for two seasons before coming to the Herald-Leader.