Kentucky Wildcats 5 for Thursday: Time to root for Florida and Alabama
By Paul Jordan
So it’s come down to this. The LSU Tigers did Kentucky no favors last night as they were drilled 73-53 by Georgia lat night, which created a three way tie in the SEC East for second place between Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Georgia. And as of now, due to Vandy sweeping Georgia, Vanderbilt would win a three way tiebreaker fr the #2 seed in the SEC East. Kentucky owns the individual tiebreaker against both Vandy and Georgia, so one of these teams have to lose on Saturday and Kentucky has to beat Tennessee Sunday to snag that #2 seed. So as a public service, here is your rooting schedule for Saturday:
SATURDAY 1:30 PM – ESPN3
GEORGIA @ ALABAMA
This should be a great game as both teams are fighting for their NCAA lives. Alabama is especially desperate as they have lost two games in a row and they have been two bad losses — to Auburn and a 27 point loss to Florida. Georgia would be squarely on the bubble with a loss and a 20-10 record.
SATURDAY 6:00 PM – ESPN
FLORIDA @ VANDERBILT
Well, if Alabama does not take care of business, I have to do my least favorite thing in the world… root for the Gators. Florida still needs the win to remain a number four seed for the NCAA and Vandy can’t afford to lose two games in a row. Once again, should be a great game.
2011 commitment Kyle Wiltjer missed four weeks of his high school season due to an ankle injury. Well, on Tuesday, he made his return to the hardcourt and showed no rust from the layoff. Wiltjer scored 21 points in a 77-45 win in the opening round of the Oregon 6A tournament. Wiltjer’s Jesuit team is seeking to be the first team to win the state title three straight years in the 6A category.
Keeping on the news of that 2011 class, Wiltjer’s fellow commitments Anthony Davis and Michael Gilchrist have been named as finalists for the Mogan Wootten national player of the year award. Keep in mind there are only four finalists, so a future Wildcat has 50/50 odds of taking home the honor. Michael Gilchrist has led his St. Patrick school to the number one national ranking while Anthony Davis is racking up some insane numbers this season. For the year, Davis is averaging 32 points, 22 rebounds and 8 blocks per game.
I found a good article on ESPN about Anthony Davis and how despite his gaudy stats, he will probably lose out on the chance to be Illinois’s “Mr Basketball”. Seems that most people advised Davis to transfer this year as he would be able to play with better players, have a winning record, and possibly compete for a state title. Davis refused to transfer and abandon his teammates and as a result saw his season end with a losing record. Yet, you have to love the quote from Davis:
"“Overall, I love playing with this team People told me to transfer. I stuck it out with these guys. I love them. I never was going to transfer, ever. This is my team. This is who I’ve been with since sixth grade through my whole high school career.”"
I know that we have all sent emails that we regret, but that latest from Louisville lawyer/organizer of the Derby Festival Classic seems to take the cake. Still upset about the fact that none of the 2011 Kentucky commits are appearing in his game, he fired off an email to UK officials and some media members. In the e-mail, Owen, a Kentucky grad, brought up the Calipari/Worldwide Wes connection and questioned Calipari’s relationship with Michael Gilchrist’s mom. Yea, not a good idea. I will let A Sea of Blue’s Glenn Logan take him to task.
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