Drew Franklin (3:18)

And I'm so excited. This is my Christmas. To the people here at 4am that is truly unbelievable. I've been here at 4am they're asking me to leave at that point. But you all start your day that early. It's crazy. I mean, just yesterday, the Arkansas, South Carolina game, no one in that first session wears blue, but you could just look around and there's blue everywhere. Just to be at the first game on Wednesday. So I know we'll be excited and in there tonight.

Matt Jones (3:37)

You know how I knew there was blue in that arena was when they announced John Cal Peri, and he got booed yesterday during that game. That said to me, there's probably blue in the arena than there was.

Shannon The Dude (3:46)

Yeah, I know. We had the debate. Do you boo John Calipari at the SEC tournament? The answer is 100% yes.

Matt Jones (3:52)

And he plays this afternoon. But Kentucky will open it up against Oklahoma. That last night, Oklahoma, after being down in the second half, comes back and takes the win. I don't know, you guys may have all gone to bed, so you may not have gotten to see some of the Oklahoma quotes after the game, but it's a pretty chesty bunch from the Oklahoma, Oklahoma players. They all said the same thing. We should have won last time. And then we didn't. And the one kid, I think his last name is more said. I can tell you this, tomorrow night we're getting the dub. He literally all but guaranteed the win in the locker room. Yeah, I think that's worth a boo. Ryan Lemon, do you think the players will see those quotes and get ready? There was already a lot of, I mean, probably the most tension of any game all year was Oklahoma.

Ryan Lemon (4:37)

I guarantee they see those quotes and if they don't, Brandon Garrison's going to see it and he's going to show everybody. He's the guy, man. He's the wild card. He had maybe the best game of the year.

Matt Jones (4:45)

We need to, we need to like, hold him back.

Shannon The Dude (4:47)

Shannon, I'm going to go ahead and call it. There's going to be a technical foul at some point. It was too chippy last time for it not to be. And I'm sure there's going to be some carryover for this game today.

Matt Jones (4:56)

You know, for Oklahoma, I think they're probably in the tournament, but this is a big game for them, maybe to avoid the playing game, but for Kentucky, I actually, if I were you and you're watching the games today, here's what I would watch. If Baylor could somehow beat Texas Tech and then we were to win, I think all of a sudden, if you believe Joe Lenardi and he tends to be pretty good at this, we'd be right on the verge of a two seat, something we haven't really even talked about at all. I think if you win or lose, you're probably a three, Drew. But I, I think you could set this up. If you were to win today, then beat Alabama, I think a 2 would really be on the table. But either way, win today and I think your seed is a two or three is locked in. Yeah.

Drew Franklin (5:38)

Feel pretty comfortable as a three. I've thought since getting Missouri, two is possible because you're going to have to run into Alabama that was at one time considered a one seed. And really just. I know we want to think about seeding, but can we just please win in this damn city? It has been so long.

Matt Jones (5:51)

Yes.

Drew Franklin (5:52)

Since we've had an extended stay here. I do not want to be home by.

Matt Jones (5:55)

Well, let me get. Let me give you some stats that are negative stats, but that should also motivate us. We. I don't think I would have ever thought this. We've lost five of our last six SEC tournament games. Five of our last six In a city that we own in terms of people, we've lost five or six. We've lost nine of our last 11 postseason games. And it is time after all of that, in my opinion, Ryan, to see us go back to where we are. It's also important. Hey, we want Mark Pope to get some postseason wins. His career resume has been really good, except not been that great in the postseason. So I think it's big for both entities.

Ryan Lemon (6:34)

Yeah. We've talked about how Kentucky used to own this tournament. We come down, we own this town. We own the tournament. We kick your ass. We go home with our trophy and cut our nets down. They need to get back to that. And then Pope knows that he's. How many times you heard him say, we understand the assignment. We know we're going to Nashville to win the tournament. What a change that is to hear your coach say something like that.

Matt Jones (6:51)

Yeah, how about that? How about having a coach that says he wants to win a tournament down here? I mean, that's a big look. That's a big deal to me. I mean, one of the things the old coach used to do is he'd be kind of cute about it. He'd be like, I don't care if we win. But, oh, by the way, we win a lot. So do you care? Do you not care? I don't. I want to hear a coach say that he cares. I mean, the money that this fan base brings down here and the money and the amount for a lot of people, the amount that this cost them, how much they want to do it. Heck, for me, I mean, this is a trip I've been doing. This is my 30th year doing it. I want. I want a team and a coach that wants it as much as we do. And it thinks you have. We have that right now.

Drew Franklin (7:30)

Yeah. I kind of understand the point about it not mattering for tournament seating if you make it far. But you can't say that to your fan base, who pays outrageous prices to be down here.

Matt Jones (7:39)

But there's more to life than tournaments seating. Like, there's actually the memory of winning these games. I mean, think about how many of these games over in the SEC tournament you remember. I. Life is not just about tournament seating. Like, they're also playing for banners, and this, Shannon, is one of them. Yeah.

Shannon The Dude (7:56)

I mean, this has been the most competitive SEC or conference that we've seen in our entire lifetime. I don't know why you wouldn't want to win and say that. We. We just won.

Matt Jones (8:04)

I mean, the last. The last. What if I told you the last four SEC tournaments were won by Alabama, Tennessee, Alabama, and Auburn? There's a name missing there, Ryan, and there's a name that needs to get back into that slot.

Ryan Lemon (8:17)

That's what we used to own. This tournament was the Kentucky Invitational. It's time to get it back. It's time to, you know, like Drew said, just win a game. We haven't won a game here since 2019 in Nashville.

Drew Franklin (8:27)

You can even leave aside the fans seating, these players don't have much left in their college career. I'm sure they would like to play several more games. So just saying that out loud I think is crazy.

Matt Jones (8:36)

All right, so let's. I always like to do. Let's see who's here from the farthest away. Who's here from, you know, at least 1,000 miles away. Anybody? Where are you from? Where? Naples, Florida, North Dakota. North Dakota. All right, I like North Dakota. So anybody here farther than North Dakota?

Drew Franklin (8:57)

California? Right here with his hand up.

Matt Jones (8:58)

Where's California?

Drew Franklin (8:59)

Right by this post.

Matt Jones (9:00)

Sacramento, California. Right there.

Drew Franklin (9:03)

Like the beat.

Ryan Lemon (9:03)

It'll be hard to beat that one.

Matt Jones (9:04)

I think that was going to be hard to beat. What about you? Wait a minute. You flew in from Jamaica, you know, sir, I can see you. You don't live in Jamaica. Nobody that pale lives in Jamaica. But you came from vacation. You don't count. I'm telling you.

Drew Franklin (9:21)

Jamaica Queens.

Matt Jones (9:23)

Jamaica Queen Sacramento. Give me a round of applause to lighting the beam there, making the trip here now. Jamaica's. Jamaica is good. I don't even know. Is Jamaica farther than Sacramento? I don't know the map very well, but either way, right? Either way. Exciting to see people make that distance.

Ryan Lemon (9:39)

We love it here, man. You know, the. There was a crowd out the door before they even opened the door to get in for the pre show. These people stay here all day, watch games. And Shannon did a poll earlier. Most of the folks that were here for the pre show are going to the game.

Matt Jones (9:53)

Yeah, I would think so. If they come down this far. I would assume so.

Shannon The Dude (9:56)

The point being though, you know, there's always a good group of fans that comes down just to party, just to be a part of this atmosphere because it's so exciting every year.

Matt Jones (10:04)

All right, so let's talk a little bit about scheduling. You start the game start as soon as we're off, one hour later. But then we have a. Shannon will be playing right here on this stage. Is it down here? Up upstairs?

Shannon The Dude (10:14)

Right here on this.

Matt Jones (10:15)

Right here. He'll be playing at this stage tonight from 4:30 to 8:30. So do your pregame get. He will literally go up to tip of the Kentucky basketball game. And then our pre show will be at 7:00 Eastern. So 6:00 Central. We're going to be doing it from undisclosed location. But I or my post game show May finish at 2:30 in the morning tonight. But let's see. What are we going to be talking about, Drew? Are we going to be talking about a victory? How do you like Kentucky against Oklahoma today? Do we know what the spread is?

Drew Franklin (10:45)

I should look that up.

Shannon The Dude (10:46)

Six and a half.

Matt Jones (10:47)

Six and a half. Kentucky. Kentucky's a six and a half point favorite. Do you like our chances?

Drew Franklin (10:52)

I do like our chances. I mean winning at Oklahoma took a pretty superhuman effort from Otega. What do you have the last 18 points of the game? You know, I think that was kind of unique circumstances. I think it'd be a much more well rounded effort. I do wonder about the emotions, how that ended because Moore, Jaylen Moore, you mentioned they physically had to pull him away from the handshake line and that wasn't that long ago. Brandon Garrison probably needs to wear a helmet from that beer being thrown at him so you can almost get too amped up. But as far as the matchup goes, I think Kentucky should be in a good spot.

Matt Jones (11:21)

If you were on DraftKings, Shannon, would you bet on, would you bet on over a half for a, for a technical or a fight? I mean over. Yeah, that was, I mean we haven't, our guys talk trash but we really haven't seen them be, be chippy this year. But that game that, that brought out, they couldn' do the postgame handshake.

Shannon The Dude (11:40)

That brought out a side of this team that I haven't seen. I, I always just thought watching the games that this team was kind of soft a little bit. Didn't like, you know, a whole lot of confrontation. But watching that game, I said, all right, this team's got a little fight to him. Maybe they can get a little chesty if they need to.

Drew Franklin (11:53)

Williams carried Brandon Garrison the length of the court to get him away from that postgame, whatever he went for. I mean that was pretty outrageous the, all the postgame stuff that went on. Hopefully they'd move past.

Matt Jones (12:03)

Well, they were in a battle last night too. I mean Oklahoma played a long game. It was a close game against Georgia throughout. So I think that' help us as well. I also think the good thing about Oklahoma is you can get shots off against them. We did. You just have to shut down Jeremiah Fears. And because he, he, he can kill you, he can go for 35 if you're not careful. We do have to make sure. And that's why, by the way, remember if we had Butler against Oklahoma play like 12 minutes or something like that now you'll have him for for a.

Ryan Lemon (12:33)

Full game and he's helped. Pretty close to being 100% healthy. He's a big key to this game tonight because fears is good and they're not shy about jacking up shots. They're perimeter guys. They'll shoot a lot of threes today. We just have to match that and.

Matt Jones (12:44)

We have to, you know, hope they miss them. I always point to you because you say this. This is definitely a Kobe. Brayan needs to hit three or four game because they're going to put up points. I think if we're in the 80s, we're in pretty good shape, but we got to get there. Yeah.

Drew Franklin (12:57)

And I've been worried about Kobe when he leaves Rupp Arena. But that game in Missouri when he had four threes. I think just knowing his role now with Jackson Robinson being out, he knows he has to do it. He stepped up. He's been making shots outside of Rup and he's really played better defense. He's rebounded. He's become more of a complete player as the season's gone. Hopefully that continues.

Shannon The Dude (13:14)

They're going to need a lot of contribution, I think from the bench. You know, this last game they basically relied on Otega away. He had 28 points.

Matt Jones (13:21)

But that was a legendary performance.

Shannon The Dude (13:22)

It was, it was. But you know, you can't rely on that again. I think tonight it would be kind.

Matt Jones (13:27)

Of awesome if he did it again against his former team. 859-280-22871, person writes. Matt, you guys are in Nashville for the SEC tournament. Most memorable Kentucky SEC tournament games in Nashville. First one that comes to my head is the Mississippi State wall cousins. The boogie put put back and going to overtime and winning. I never thought I'd see a grown man closer to being broken down than Rick Stansberry was after that game because they ended up not even getting in the tournament. I don't think that year because of that. That one to me is the one that sticks out. What sticks out to you besides that one?

Ryan Lemon (14:03)

I go back to 98 where Jeff shepherd got hurt friend his ankle right before the championship here. I think it was here. Well, I may have been Atlanta.

Matt Jones (14:10)

Yeah, that's not here.

Drew Franklin (14:11)

So I got a Couple Malik Monk vs. Arkansas when like an assistant was trying to fight Malik Monk. There was bad blood in that one and I believe it was the game before the Cousins tip in Tennessee had a good team and Kentucky beat it by like destroyed.

Matt Jones (14:25)

Were any of you all at that game? I still think best Kentucky crowd That's ever been in an SEC tournament game was that Tennessee game in the semifinals. Because we. It was kind of like this people. To me, that crowd we had in that Tennessee game, if we win tonight, that could be the crowd tomorrow night. In terms of people being ready, I agree with you. That crowd was insane in 2010.

Drew Franklin (14:47)

I remember a few big individual performances. Tyler Ulis had 30 in the championship winion. Gabriel seven for seven.

Matt Jones (14:54)

That was in Missouri.

Drew Franklin (14:55)

Oh, that was in St. Louis.

Matt Jones (14:56)

Yeah.

Ryan Lemon (14:56)

How about the Dominique Hawkins game? That was here.

Matt Jones (14:59)

That was here. Yes. Yeah. The. The. I think you. The. The Tyler Eulis game where they beat Texas A M in the championship. That was a great one here. There have been a lot of memories here, but as we talked about, Shannon, haven't had him in a while. Need to get it back tonight.

Shannon The Dude (15:13)

I was just sitting here trying to rack my brain and think about ones that you all haven't already mentioned. And unfortunately, there's not really a whole lot to talk about from the last few years down here in Nashville. But we could change that today.

Matt Jones (15:22)

We are going to change it. We're going to get the victory today. We're going to take a break and be right back. We are here at Tin Roof Cats in Oklahoma tonight. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. Welcome back here, Kentucky Sports Radio. 859280, 2287. Rick's going to have to bring the energy with this music, Rick. It's the SEC tournament. I'm going to need music, energy from you, not boom, chicka boom. Can you do that for me?

Ryan Lemon (15:48)

Yeah, I think I could do that.

Matt Jones (15:49)

Yeah. All right. There you go. There you go. We got to get some energy, Rick. You can't just hit the random button. You got to give us some stuff to go. We need to talk about what happened yesterday during the very first game of the tournament with your Arkansas Razorbacks. Drew.

Ryan Lemon (16:05)

I love them.

Matt Jones (16:08)

Well, first of all, a couple things. Let's start with during the game, they were up 20 in the second half, nearly blew it. South Carolina cut it to one, and then a guy dribbled it off his foot. Or they might have actually won the game. When it was over, South Carolina was up two with three seconds left. Or, excuse me, Arkansas was up two with three seconds left dot Arkansas makes the first free throw. They're now up three. South Carolina's got three seconds and one timeout. Now, none of y'all are coaches, your basketball bennies, but you're up three. You got one more free throw. What should you do? You should make the free Throw. John L. Davis, the Arkansas player, looks to the bench, then shoots and tries to miss it on purpose. Now, he's played so bad this year that even with trying to miss it, he still made it. And it went in, but you could tell he tried to miss it. I was sitting with Mario and Shannon. I was like, I think he tried.

Shannon The Dude (17:05)

To miss it 100%.

Drew Franklin (17:06)

Threw it hard off the glass.

Matt Jones (17:07)

He threw it hard off the glass. It went in. So after the game, Cal is asked, why did you try to miss the free throw? And he goes, that's just my style. If you miss the free throw, it throws them off and it gives. Here's Cal did not know there was a timeout. He. There's no way he could have known that, because if they caught it, they could have called timeout. He said, I'm unconventional in my style, was what he said.

Shannon The Dude (17:32)

That's one way to put it.

Matt Jones (17:33)

So now they won the game, Drew. It ultimately doesn't matter. But doesn't that sort of sum up the Cal experience in a nutshell, trying to miss a free throw when you're only up three with three seconds?

Drew Franklin (17:48)

Yes. And honestly, we got there at about halftime. They were up 20. I think South Carolina was up 16 the whole time I was there. But not just that last dumb decision that I can't believe he even tried to explain. I. Looking at that bench, not that I needed confirmation, but that look they had, that look that they had against a M, St. Peter's he was doing. Throwing his hands up. They didn't know what was going on. They look so rattled. Kenny Payne, who is a nice guy, if that had been a statue of Kenny Payne, I would believe. He didn't move. I'm not sure he moved. Turned his head. He didn't speak. They just look like a staff that was completely rattled when they're still up 10. And I do not miss that at all. Congratulations on winning. But, I mean, they almost completely blew that. And I'm glad to be way past that.

Matt Jones (18:29)

Whatever happened after this. Yeah. I'm not gonna say which one it was, but there was a member of that staff. So I accidentally. We had just gotten there at halftime, right? And I accidentally found myself, like, the SEC tournament's different than these up. Like, if you go to Rupp arena and you're in the media, you can't get near the locker room.

Shannon The Dude (18:47)

Right.

Matt Jones (18:48)

Like, there's really no way to get close to players. But the SEC tournament, because they have four different locker rooms, you can end up right next to them. So I End up accidentally right next to Arkansas's like, locker room. So as they come walking out, all of a sudden I'm just standing there and I look Shannon and I'm face to face with John Kelly.

Shannon The Dude (19:10)

Oh, no. Oh, that's awkward.

Matt Jones (19:12)

Face to face now he is kind of looking down like at a note sheet. So I don't even know if he saw me. So it was. That was no thing. But one of the people on the staff, I'm not going to say which one, but one of them was walking with a big smile and he saw my face and he just looked at me and he just stared at me right in the eye and walked right by staring at me the whole time. And I wanted to be like, man, what are you staring at? If I wanted to see you, I'd just go to Broadway tonight. You'd be out there.

Drew Franklin (19:40)

I know who it is.

Matt Jones (19:41)

And there was a down, but it's clear. Man, that was the first time I'd really been around them because I didn't go to the post game press conference in Ruby. And it was interesting to see they, they. The. The swagger with which they walked.

Shannon The Dude (19:54)

That had to be a little bit of an awkward moment.

Matt Jones (19:56)

No, I didn't expect it to come.

Shannon The Dude (19:57)

So you just stared him right back in the eye contact.

Matt Jones (20:01)

Byron west from, from Middlesbrough was not there to back me up. If you'd been there to back me up, I would have stared hard right back at him.

Shannon The Dude (20:08)

But I will say, like, behind the scenes, the security is very relaxed behind the scenes. We'll get to another.

Matt Jones (20:15)

Yeah, we'll get to this later. Mario ended up almost getting kicked out last year.

Shannon The Dude (20:19)

But to your point, like, Ryan and I, I thought we were. We could have just ran out with the Vanderbilt basketball team and gotten in the layup line if we wanted to. Nobody was, like, there to stop us. It was really.

Matt Jones (20:27)

Well, that was bizarre. This is also, by the way, you'll see this after the game tonight. This will be the first time all year that Kentucky reporters can go into the locker room after the game and talk the players. So, Ryan, you've done this back in the day. This is usually a time where you get a lot of stories and a lot of stuff about you, the UK players, maybe you didn't get during the year.

Ryan Lemon (20:45)

Postseason is the first time. Yeah, you actually can go into their, their world, into the locker room, interview guys at their locker. Because in the past at uk, they always bring guys out to the media talk area. So it is kind of a different feel after the game.

Drew Franklin (20:56)

I'm excited to not have to the rapid reaction outside too. I get to be on the court. All kinds of cool rules.

Matt Jones (21:01)

Well there. So. So anyway, it was interesting to. To sort of go face to face. And I have to tell you, had they lost Arkansas, I might have been petty and gone and stared back at the press conference. That would have been fun.

Drew Franklin (21:14)

See him call out Tyler Thompson in the press conference?

Matt Jones (21:16)

He did. He called out Tyler Thompson, said, how many of. How many championships have I won? And looked right at her. So he was. He was feeling himself yesterday. We'll see if he is when he plays Ole Miss today.

Drew Franklin (21:26)

I would have said, which decade are we talking about? Because not this one.

Matt Jones (21:29)

Let's talk about UK guys for a minute. Mark Pope said yesterday that Colin Chandler could play almost twice as many minutes in the postseason as he was playing in the regular season. I think with that. I think with that phrasing Ryan, that means you're talking about him basically becoming the sixth man. I mean, if he's going to really play twice as many minutes, towards the end of the year, he was playing 12 or 13, so that would be 25 minutes of action. Do you expect that to happen? Do you think Colin Chandler is now the sixth man on the team?

Ryan Lemon (22:01)

I do. Especially today. Oklahoma, they're so perimeter oriented, those guys. They jack up a lot of threes there. They need just a little glimmer of daylight. So I think that's why Colin will play a lot, especially today, just for defensive purposes.

Matt Jones (22:12)

We all love Travis Perry because he's from Kentucky, but would you, Drew, do what I think I would do, which is make Colin Chandler the backup point guard, at least until he loses it.

Drew Franklin (22:22)

Oh, you're going to make me say this in front of my Western Kentucky friends? I mean, he brings a level of athleticism that a lot of the other bench guys can't have. In the first game against Oklahoma, he kind of got beat off the dribble, but I think he's had a breakthrough, especially offensively in the last couple weeks. He just looks like a completely different player. And I agree that he should climb up the rotation, get a lot more minutes.

Matt Jones (22:41)

If I'm sitting there on the post game show and I'm looking at the box score and I'm looking at minutes and I see Chandler, Garrison, Almanor, Perry, Noah, Shannon, I have to tell you, I cannot believe I'm saying this. If I'd said it six weeks ago, I would have thought I was crazy. I think I want Chandler to have the most minutes out of that group, to be honest with you.

Shannon The Dude (23:01)

I think I agree with you as well. Lockdown defender and you know, he doesn't have to offensively go out there and get you 15 or 20 points, just give you seven or eight off the bench. And I think they're in good shape.

Matt Jones (23:10)

And part of it is because Carr's playing so well. I don't think you need the almond or minutes as much as you did. I, I mean, when he was, when he was hurt, I think I thought you needed a bunch of Almanor minutes. I don't know if you need that anymore because he's playing with car. Played 37 minutes against Missouri, which is crazy. We'll take a break. Be right back. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio. 859-280-2287. Couple open lines, give us a shout. We're going to go to the phones here this segment. Great crowd here at Tin Roof. If you want to score big on college sports, NBA DraftKings is the place to go. Kentucky's a six and a half point favorite tonight. If you want to go into it, you bet 5150 in bonus bets from DraftKings, use a Draft King sportsbook, my code KSR for all the customers, there's a DraftKings bar right down the street where we're going to be a lot of this weekend where you can watch all the games as well. DraftKings, the crown is yours. And if you have a gaming problem called 1 a gambler 18/ Kentucky only has fly new customers only boats expire 168 hours after issuance. For additional terms, responsible gaming resource DKNG Co Audio made it.

Ryan Lemon (24:16)

Nailed it. Nailed it.

Matt Jones (24:17)

That's a lot of words. 859-280-2287 let's do a real quick pick here. At the end of the SEC and NCAA tournament, which Kentucky player is going to be our MVP for the postseason? I think you can make a case for all five starters depending on how you look at it. Who's going to be our MVP in the end of the postseason?

Shannon The Dude (24:37)

I think it's owe the guy that they've leaned on so much this year. I mean he scored in double digits in every game except for two. So I think if they're going to have a run, it's going to be on him.

Drew Franklin (24:47)

Oh, last May and throughout the whole summer, you might remember I kept calling Andrew Carr my most valuable player in the tournament. I, I'm going to stick with, I can't change my opinion. I Called my shot a year ago. I'm sticking with. I'm going with car.

Matt Jones (25:00)

So, Carr, what do you got?

Ryan Lemon (25:02)

I'm going to go somebody different. I'm going to go Lamont Butler. I mean, he's already. He's know what it's like to make a big run. He's your leader, he's your defensive stopper. He's looks like he's getting close to being 100% healthy. I'll go Butler.

Matt Jones (25:11)

You stole my answer. I think if Kentucky. There's only one player on this team that has had massive success in the postseason and it's Lamont Butler. He's the one guy that when he plays, we're different. I've watched, you know, on TikTok, they're doing all these like biggest March Madness moments. You know, y'all, if you haven't, if you didn't pay attention, go watch Lamont Butler hit that shot to send San Diego State to the finals. He runs down the court, he shakes his guy, he shoots a mid range jumper and nails it. He was a huge part of their final Four bit. I'm going to say if we're going to have a run Drew that I want to have, I think Lamont Butler is going to be what it would do.

Drew Franklin (25:49)

Yeah, I saw that clip going viral yesterday. It says like he looked at the clock because he like turned.

Matt Jones (25:53)

He literally. Yeah, yeah, he dribbles. He. He takes the time to look at the clock and then shakes him. I mean, it was a. You talk. It's probably one forgotten clutch shot, but I mean, it's. It's a literal buzzer beater. I mean, it goes off as the buzzer does.

Drew Franklin (26:06)

And I said car. But in the SEC tournament, I think Butler is gonna have to be the guy because there's so many good point guards. You're gonna see fears today, gonna see Mark Sears tomorrow. You could see Walter Clayton on Saturday. He's the only guard that I think can really defend those guys we saw, it was like when we didn't have him. So I think in this tournament he'll be the key.

Matt Jones (26:23)

Since this is the SEC tournament, I know we've got big Kentucky fans here who appreciate the history of the conference. It is worth noting we should take a second to note the passing of Oliver Miller from Arkansas, the big O. When Arkansas joined the conference, he was him, Todd Day and Lee Mayberry. He was part of what I think is the best SEC tournament on the court that we've ever had. In 1992, when all those guys Latrell Sprewell, Hollywood Robinson, Robert Horry, Shaq. All those guys. Jamal Mashburn. We're all in the same tournament. He passed away yesterday. A legend of basketball. And when you're a kid and you see a big, hefty dude playing in the post, you can't help but like him, even though he was our rival. So everybody join me in wishing a round of applause on the and rest in peace for Oliver Miller, an Arkansas basketball legend.

Ryan Lemon (27:12)

You know, we all remember him because he was a big guy, one of the first really big guys that could really hoop it up at this level. But he was a hell of a player.

Matt Jones (27:18)

He was great. He was played in the NBA for a number of years as well. Was on that Phoenix team that played the Bulls in the finals. If you remember, Oliver Miller was a big part of that Barkley Phoenix team during the years. Who's up first? Stub is up first. Stub. Go ahead, Stub.

G (27:36)

Hey, guys, shout out to my buddy Chris. He's down there in front of you all somewhere.

Matt Jones (27:40)

All right. Where's Chris? Where's Chris? In here. How you doing? All right. Big shout out to Chris. Go ahead, sir.

G (27:48)

By the way, I think when I mess up in my job, I'm just gonna say I'm just unconventional and just. It'll be okay.

Matt Jones (27:54)

That's actually a good answer. I just. I'm unconventional. I don't follow the rules of the. I got it, man.

G (28:01)

My question to you, like, there was no question like, the LSU team last night. They absolutely. They were done. They were.

Matt Jones (28:07)

They quit. Yeah, they quit.

G (28:09)

They had quit. And now today in the Portal era, I think these guys, even more so than usual, when you're on a bad team, they're just going to want to be done so they can get gone.

Matt Jones (28:20)

Yeah. I mean, South Carolina. South Carolina didn't quit yesterday. South Carolina played really well. And, you know, I just thought lsu, to me, had Drew shown the signs of quitting way before yesterday. I thought they. I actually think they quit in our game within about 10 minutes. And so to me, that was the easiest pick of the day yesterday because LSU had quit.

Drew Franklin (28:42)

Yeah. And that was a big spread. If I hadn't seen him in RUP arena, because it was the moment Kentucky got that lead a few weeks ago in Lexington, you just saw a team that had their eyes on spring break and being done with the season, and that obviously carried into yesterday down here.

G (28:56)

Props to Lamont Paris for being in Caliper his year again. So that was great.

Matt Jones (29:02)

Yeah.

Drew Franklin (29:03)

Almost went to 40 against him.

Matt Jones (29:05)

Appreciate the call. Porter Moser, the coach at Oklahoma, I don't know if you saw he was giving. He was giving his post game thing yesterday, his postgame and, and there was a UK fan behind him going, go Cats. Go Cats. Calipary, when he was giving his post game interview, had a UK fan behind him holding up a hat saying, go Cats. Go Cats. And then la earlier tonight, the Mississippi State coach Chris Jans was giving a postgame interview and had a guy behind him, Go Cats. Go Cats. Is that gonna be our thing in this tournament, Ryan? Is that we just put people behind the coaches scream and go cat.

Ryan Lemon (29:40)

That's our job, man. We're down here to support the Cats. We don't want the other guy to win. So that's what we're supposed to do.

Matt Jones (29:44)

So I, I hope that happens again today. Whether it's Chris Beard or John Caliperi in that first game, Shannon, somebody needs to get behind him and hold up the go cat.

Shannon The Dude (29:52)

If it was already happening on day one, I'm 100 confident it's going to be happening every game in going forward. This fan base just continues to grow down here.

Matt Jones (29:59)

Drew, how many threes do we need to hit tonight to beat Oklahoma? We hit. How many we hit Missouri, 12, something like that. Do we need that many?

Drew Franklin (30:07)

I was actually thinking 12. I'll say 11. I think away might be able to drive on this team again, but they're going to have to hit threes. If they go cold and have a bad shooting day. I think whatever this tournament or next week, it'll be night night. Whoever they're playing, they're going to shoot well for any kind of run.

Matt Jones (30:20)

I think Kentucky's only lost one game this year when they hit 11 3. So you almost wonder if that's the magical number. I think we hit 11 against Alabama the first time and we lost. But Otherwise you hit 11 threes, Ryan, we end up winning the game and.

Ryan Lemon (30:35)

You get, if you get from everybody, you know, the other day or take a hit one. Brea Carr, Travis Trent, Colin Chandler, you know, they got threes from everybody. They get something like that, man, they are going to be hard to beat today.

Drew Franklin (30:46)

I agree with Ryan. The bench threes, they had four at Missouri. I think the bench, whether it's Chandler, Perry, Noah Almanor, if those guys can collectively make four or five, that's going to be a big difference maker too.

Matt Jones (30:56)

Let's look at the two Kentucky kids, Perry and Noah. What. What can they play in this postseason? I mean, like, yeah, okay, but spot medicine, I'm talking about on defense. I mean, that's where. That's where the issue is. Is. Is on defense. Can they. Because the thing is, in March, the defense gets tighter. So if you were struggling in the regular season, defense even gets tighter in March.

Shannon The Dude (31:18)

I don't think you're going to see 15 or 20 minutes out of them, but just here and there, give the guys a breather for a few minutes. I think they can. They can hold their own.

Ryan Lemon (31:26)

I don't know if tonight's a game for the. Those two guys. Now they're playing Georgia tonight.

Matt Jones (31:30)

I agree with you, actually.

Ryan Lemon (31:31)

That's a Trent and Travis game. Tonight's game may. May be a tough for them to stay on the floor because they're so quick and good on the perimeter.

Matt Jones (31:37)

This is also a big game for the big guys. I mean, this is a game where, in theory, Amari and Andrew Carr should have a huge advantage. You remember, Garrison had maybe his best game of the year against these guys. This is going to be a game the big guy, if their guards are good. Our big guys need to play well tonight because that's, I think, where our advantage is.

Drew Franklin (31:56)

If we can keep Garrison's emotions in check, I think he can't have a big game because his beef with Oklahoma goes back to. He played two years at Oklahoma State, lost on a buzzer beater once. They waved goodbye to him. So this is a team that he's got bad blood with. Even going before he transferred to Kentucky. I think he'll play well.

Shannon The Dude (32:11)

Here's one thing. Nobody's gonna be throwing a $17 beer at him tonight. We don't have to worry about that.

Matt Jones (32:16)

The beers are seven. This is the first time, by the way, they've ever sold beer at the SEC tournament. Unless you were in one of the luxury items. How many of you are going to partake in the 17 beer at the thing?

Ryan Lemon (32:27)

Oh, not many.

Matt Jones (32:28)

Not many. So how many are going to partake before at Tin Roof?

Shannon The Dude (32:31)

They already are. Yeah, some of them already got to start.

Matt Jones (32:33)

There we go. That's a more. More likely scenario. Who's up next? Got Scott up next. Scott. Go ahead, Scott.

H (32:41)

Yeah, I was just wondering if y'all.

G (32:43)

Thought the game time tonight would affect our play any.

Matt Jones (32:46)

Like if we played better on late games this season or early games. We haven't had them. We haven't had a lot of late games. I mean, the amount of. As far as I can remember, we've played three games this year late at night, and it was Duke Gonzaga in Missouri, which were three of our better performances of the year. So I think to the extent it matters it helps us. Where Drew this late night thing can matter would be if we get to Saturday, you know, if we, if we end up having to play at 9:30 tonight, 9:30 tomorrow night and then getting up at playing at 3:00 on Saturday. That's where I think playing late night hurts you. I don't think it hurts you tonight.

Drew Franklin (33:22)

No. I hope we get to that problem. Meaning we're playing on Saturday. But that's just one of the worst things about being that late team. It's an inconvenience every year. Also worry, you know, we talk about Carr playing 37 minutes, Butler playing a lot. This back to back to back I think could have some wear and tear on the guys.

Matt Jones (33:38)

Yeah, there's only been one team in the history of the SEC tournament win from a 9:30 starting slot. Like win the whole thing. So like it is a, it is definitely a negative to have to come through this side but that's why you want to be a one or two seed. Appreciate the call. They thought they're good. Left him speechless. 859-280-2287. We are here at Tin Roof. A massive Kentucky crowd. We're going to be here, be on and off all day. Shannon is here today at 4:30. We will take a break and be right back. Kentucky and Oklahoma tonight. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio here live for all of you. For all of you driving, here's what I'd like to do if you're driving this way. Well, you know, if you're driving don't send a text but if you're in the car on your way this way, send a text to the text machine. 772-774-5254. Tell me where you're coming from. I'd like to read. I know there's a lot of people headed down the roads right right now I have a couple of stories I want to tell you that I think are kind of neat. We'll start with probably nobody in here knows the name Natalie Zito, but I bet a lot of you over the years have seen the video. You may remember many years ago there was a young woman who was trying to sing the national anthem at a Portland Trail Blazers game and she forgot the words. You may remember this. And the coach who at the time was Maurice Cheeks, he walked over, put his arm around her and sang the words with her. Do you remember this Video from years ago. It's 22 years ago. She forgets the words. She gets nervous. She starts to cry. He comes over as the coach puts his arm around her. They sing together. Apparently after that, she kind of lost her nerve to sing. It made her very nervous. And she never had sung the national anthem again, even though she was a great singer because she was scared of that moment. Last night in Portland, they brought her back 22 years later, they had Maurice Cheeks come out and she sang the national anthem last night at the game. Nice. That's a very cool story. Maurice Cheeks stood next next to her, and she sang the national anthem. I think that's a really neat story.

Drew Franklin (35:48)

I remember that video well. I mean, it broke your heart. Just watching it was like, I couldn't get through it. It was painful being in that moment. She was very young, obviously, big crowd in NBA game, and she did not have it in her. I do think she had a good chance to do something really funny and do it again. Kind of like, forget the words, maybe intentionally, but run it back like.

Shannon The Dude (36:05)

Like later on when I'm singing Fat Bottom Girls and I forget the lyrics. I hope that one of you will do the same for me.

Matt Jones (36:09)

Yeah. By the way, I've heard through the grapevine your boy Vince Merrow wants to come up and sing simple man again. Simple Man. We'll do it.

Shannon The Dude (36:17)

Absolutely. We would love to have.

Matt Jones (36:18)

All right. He did that the last time. The last time you were here. 859-280-2287. Then another video on the Internet this morning. John Gruden, who is now working for Barstool, but the former Raiders Tampa Bay head coach. He's doing this thing where people send him stuff and he unboxes it. And today's unboxing was UK gear sent personally by Mark Pope. And he asked John Gruden to cheer for Kentucky during March Madness, and he said he would. So we picked up a new fan today as well, thanks to Mark Pope.

Ryan Lemon (36:49)

That's really cool. You know, again, Pope just kind of doing things like that. That makes him more endearing to everybody. Not just our fan base, but everybody.

Matt Jones (36:55)

Yes. One person writes here, Matt. You all talked about this a few weeks ago, but now, at the end of the regular season, I'd like this question. What is the final regular season grade you give for Mark Pope for year one? We'll probably have a different grade after the postseason, better or worse. But, Shannon, what grade are you giving Mark Pope? Year one. Considering everything that went into it, what's your final grade?

Shannon The Dude (37:18)

Throwing the team together in two weeks. Injuries that he's dealt with the entire year. The best conference that we've ever seen. I've given. I gotta give him a solid A. I think that considering those factors, there's no other grade you can give the guy.

Matt Jones (37:31)

So, hey, all right, I'll go second. I think when it came to building a roster, I think he built like a B roster and got close to a performance, which I think is in even more. I thought. I always thought coming in the season, we were one player short. I still think we were kind of one player short. But the way they won games against big teams, I think it's important who you beat. We beat Duke, we beat Gonzaga, we beat Florida, we be Louisville, we beat Tennessee twice. Right. Like to win all of those games against people that matter. And then you had a roster that in addition was probably a player short and they were hurt a lot of the years. I think I'm going to give him an A minus. It's an A on performance. Roster building made it just slight. And I think if he'd had one more player, it'd be an A. So I'm going to give him an A minus, but a solid A minus. At Georgetown, they let you do this thing when you. When I teach, that's like a slash. A minus. I would give him an A slash. A minus. What about you?

Drew Franklin (38:28)

I'm going with an A. I mean, I agree with everything you just said. Also, it's lost on people. Yes. He built a roster in two weeks. He didn't have a coaching staff. He had to go out and get these assistants. He didn't have a house. I mean, he's doing all this on the fly. It all happened so quickly and we all know the games. You listed them. But one more thing I think we got to give a lot of credit for is this fan base has been so excited all year long. To anyone here that's been going to Rupp arena this year, you know what I'm talking about. It's just been different in there. So I also have to give him a bump for just uniting bbn. I mean, we've always been the best fan base, but it's been a different experience this year getting behind him.

Matt Jones (39:02)

I want you all. Let me ask you a question. If you're honest with yourself, how many of you were more into Kentucky basketball this year than you've been in the last few years? Raise your hand. I mean, I.

Drew Franklin (39:11)

Yes, almost every hand.

Matt Jones (39:12)

I mean, I certainly am. There's no doubt in My mind, I like. I really liked last year's team. I really liked Reeves and Shepard and Dillingham. I don't want to act like I didn't, but I have to tell you, prior to last year, the games had become a grind to watch. Like, I didn't really think they were all that fun last year. They were fun until Oakland. But this is different. I've had more joy, Ryan, watching this team you throw away, maybe the at Ole Miss game and a couple others. I feel like every game, even when we've lost, has still been fun to watch.

Ryan Lemon (39:43)

We all got that joy back, you know, he brought the joy back in Kentucky basketball again. Now let's see what you can do this weekend. Win a couple games this weekend.

Matt Jones (39:50)

What's your grade?

Ryan Lemon (39:51)

I'm going to give him an A minus. I can't give him an A because I didn't beat Arkansas. That's the one game we thought we were going to win. Had to win Arkansas at home. He didn't get it, so I'm going to give him an A minus.

Matt Jones (40:01)

I had somebody ask me, what do you think would have happened at this school if you had the exact same record if Cal had been here? And I think if we're honest, it would have been worse. Yeah, it would have been worse. Even if we did the exact same thing. It was just Drew. It was just time to have a different. A different voice, right?

Drew Franklin (40:21)

Absolutely. And we would have been told, this doesn't matter. That doesn't matter. Wait till March. We're built for March. Yada, yada, yada. But also with Pope, little things I mentioned, bringing the fan base together. But how many times after a game is it an hour and a half later and he's still out Talking to people, FaceTiming someone's grandmother, singing Happy Birthday to a kid. And I know that'll eventually wear off over time. I don't think he can do that forever. But there's just so many things outside of basketball that I think he deserves a high grade for.

Matt Jones (40:47)

Totally agree. Who's up next? Dave is up next. Dave, go ahead, Dave.

H (40:53)

How you doing, fellas?

Matt Jones (40:55)

Good. Doing good. What's up?

H (40:57)

I'll just in there to White House. Tennessee getting ready to drive down and watch all the spectacle. It is UK basketball. Do you think today it's going to be a really close game? Oklahoma, Are they going to give us their best? Which I think they will. And how many you think we're going to win by it? I'll hang up.

Matt Jones (41:12)

Listen, I think every game from now on, Ryan's going to be close. I do. I mean, I don't think there's. I think today will be close. I think with eight minutes to go, we'll be up like five or six and it'll just depend. Do we keep extending that or does it come down to the final possessions? But outside of maybe the very first game of the NCAA tournament, I think every single. And I'm. I'm hoping that one's not close, but I think every single game from now on is going to be close and we just have to be ready for that.

Ryan Lemon (41:39)

I think that's right. And we've seen it this year. A lot of our games come down to the final possession. We've got a bunch of senior veteran guys. We've got Lamont Butler, who knows how to win these close games. So, yeah, especially in this weekend, every game we play is going to be a tight game. Down in the last possession.

Matt Jones (41:52)

And just read you some of these plays. Places people are coming from Louisville, Bardstown, Evansville, Henderson Town, Tennessee, which I didn't even know was a place. Middlesboro. How about that? Sturgis, Kentucky. Where's that?

Drew Franklin (42:05)

Webster or Union?

Ryan Lemon (42:06)

Yeah.

Matt Jones (42:06)

Union County. That's right. Floyd's Knob, Indiana. Owensboro. Milport, Kentucky. Where's Milport?

Ryan Lemon (42:12)

Never heard of that one.

Matt Jones (42:13)

Never heard of it. Brandon, Mississippi. Barberville. Wow. Enterprise, Alabama and Versailles. And they just keep coming. I'm expecting. Drew a massive, massive crowd tonight. If you don't have tickets, I think it's going to be expensive.

Drew Franklin (42:28)

And you mentioned it being a close game. What I like is look around. Have you seen one Oklahoma fan in Nashville?

Matt Jones (42:34)

No. The Oklahoma student section yesterday, zero students in it, not one. They did not have one student. I bet we'll fill our student section. We will take a break and be right back. This is Kentucky Sports Radio live at Tin Roof.