Kentucky Basketball Preview: Transy Rivalry Renewed

How many of you were alive the last time UK and Transy played in basketball? None of you? Well don’t feel bad, because if you were alive then you would be 100 years old at least. Yes, that is how long it has been since UK and Transy played. Until this year, the last game was in the 1910-1911 season and UK won the last two games by a combined score of 52-43. The all time results of the series is 7-7. So expect the Cats to come out with a chip on their shoulder and want to take control of the series. Ok I am kidding about the chip on their shoulder but UK will go to 8-7.

What to expect

UK to come out and take command early, and dominate throughout the game. Expect the big men for UK to really dominate on the boards and score at will against a much smaller Transy team. I expect Terrence Jones and Anthony Davis to get a lot of dunks and put backs and absolutely dominate the paint area on defense which will leave Transy to try to shoot three’s against taller players. Expect this game to be over by halftime for scoring purposes, and I expect Cal to experiment with different lineups and schemes to see how the UK players can adapt to those schemes.

Transy Players to watch

-Brandon Rash: 6-4 G/F who lead the team in scoring last year with 11.9 points per game, and was second on the team with 4.7 rebounds per game. Doesn’t shoot a lot of three’s so expect him to attempt to drive the ball and shoot mid range jumpers.

-Barrett Meyer: 6-2 G who was second on the team with 10.7 points per game. Shot the most three’s on the team but only averaged 30% from deep. Expect when the middle gets clogged up for him to shoot a lot of three’s.

-Ethan Spurlin: 6-4 F who was third on the team in points at 10.5 and led the team in rebounds at 5.1 per game. Spurlin shot 60% from the field and expect him to be a guy who tries to score inside for Transy and stays around the ball getting rebounds.

UK Advantage

Obviously UK’s biggest advantage on paper is inside. Transy’s tallest player is 6-8 then drops to 6-6. UK will look to get the inside game working quick with a lot of driving to the basket and dumping it off to the bigs for dunks or alley oops. Jones could have a big game if he approaches the game the way he did in the two scrimmages and stays aggressive. This will also be a chance for Davis to show his low post moves and rebounding ability. Also look for Wiltjer to show off some of his polished low post game against much shorter defenders.

Transy has an experienced team and most of their production comes from a 9 man junior class who looks to lead the team. Transy really doesn’t have the players to compete with UK but it should be a great environment and a game that should have been played long before this year. The teams are only a few blocks apart and used to be fierce rivals to the point Transy cancelled it’s athletic program due to a fight in a football game with UK. Go to this link from John Scott of the LHL to check out a very interesting history lesson on the rivalry that Transy once owned: http://www.kentucky.com/2011/10/30/1940148/way-back-when-transy-kentucky.html#storylink=rss

Also expect a record to be broken for most points scored by either team in a game against each other and also for most points combined scored in a game. The most combined points scored was 44 when Transy won 42-2 over UK, that is also the most points scored by either team in a game against the other. I look for UK to break that in the first half. All in all it should be an exciting game and I am looking forward to watch the former Lexington rivals go after it on the court.

Also you can follow me on Twitter: @tyleradkins_

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