Ryan Seacrest (2:43)

Broadway in Lexington invites you to celebrate.

Matt Jones (2:45)

New Year's Eve with Lexington's own lee Kimbrell for two shows only on December 31st.

Drew (2:51)

Then from Netflix is a joke catch.

Matt Jones (2:53)

Ray Lau January 2nd and 3rd and January 8th through the 10th, don't miss AGT finalist Aaron Belial.

Drew (3:00)

For tickets to all comedy Off Broadway.

Matt Jones (3:03)

Shows, call 859-271-joke or visit comedyofbroadway.com welcome everyone. It is Kentucky Sports Radio Monday. It is December 22nd. I am Matt Jones here on a foggy New Orleans, Louisiana morning. I am looking out and from my window across the street to the Superdome where tomorrow I will be excited about the biggest football game in the history of mankind, the New Orleans Bowl. But until we get to that point, we are getting ready. After a great weekend of basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats beating St. John's you can give us Shannon Clark's Pump and shop, phone line 859-280-2287. The A Vision Auto Glass Text Machine is 772-774-5254. In this dish and sponsored by the T.J. smith Law Office. Call T.J. he'll make them pay. Ryan I spent all afternoon and evening traveling down here to New Orleans. It's the first time I think I've been in New Orleans since Kentucky cut down the nets in 2012. I was trying to think, has Kentucky played down here since then? Drew, I can't remember a time. Do you?

Drew (4:18)

Yeah, they played right up against Christmas in the CBS Sports Classic. I think they lost. Wasn't a well attended game. It was like the 23rd or something before Christmas.

Matt Jones (4:27)

I didn't come to that game because I have not been here in a long time and it's nice to be back. We, we came twice that year, Ryan. They played in the SEC tournament here and then a few weeks later played in the Final Four and we came to both, drove to both. So I've been on that road for a long time. Nice to be back. Do you like New Orleans as a city?

Ryan Lemon (4:47)

I do, yeah. You know, they used to have the SEC tournament, used to rotate and like every third or fourth year used to be at the Superdome there in New Orleans. So we would go down and spend a week down there and hang out at Bourbon street and do all the New Orleans stuff.

Matt Jones (5:00)

Yeah, it was, it was always a Good fan place for Kentucky fans. Haven't seen a ton of Hilltopper fans yet. Hattiesburg people will probably drive down like day of because that's not very far from here. But nevertheless, excited to be here. The big news this morning, I mean, we'll talk about a lot of other stuff, but the big news is, of course, Saturday and the Kentucky basketball win against St. John's I talked a lot about it on the post game show. I mean, if Kentucky does something successfully this season, if they are able to make any kind of run, we'll look back at the moment. All of that changed the second half when Jalen Lowe decided to come back in after his injury in the first half and Jaden Quaintance arrived to UK fans for a second half for Kentucky. Ended up winning by 19 points in the second half against St. John's and really took a season that had been depressing at best and completely flipped it around all of a sudden. Made it exciting. The possibilities endless, the ceiling raising and watching low and Quaintance on the court at the same time. You got a sense now, Ryan, of what they were hoping to do when they constructed this team. And it was electric. It was not only the best moment of the season. I mean, it's one of the better recent moments, along with like the Duke win last year, etc. I'm just going, oh, wait a minute now. This could end up being a fun season.

Ryan Lemon (6:32)

Yeah, for the first time, you're right. We got to see what the, the full roster, what a full roster looks like, what that $22 million roster looks like. And I'm telling you, man, when Jalen Lowe came in early and got hurt and walked to the locker room, I thought, he's done. I mean, not just done for the day.

Matt Jones (6:46)

Oh, he is.

Ryan Lemon (6:47)

I know he thought.

Matt Jones (6:48)

I assumed Ryan. I mean, I just assumed he was done.

Ryan Lemon (6:51)

And then the kid comes back, just tells me everything I need to know about that kid. So tough, kind of struggled early, but then he turned it on when he needed to. And they are just. They're just a different team when he's on the floor, man. They just. Everything is better offensively and even defensively when he's on the floor.

Matt Jones (7:06)

Yeah, I mean.

Ryan Lemon (7:09)

You.

Matt Jones (7:10)

No one in this team, Drew, can. Can kind of create their own shot consistently besides him. But then you throw in the Quaintance piece where you get this physical presence. We've seen a lot of those guys over the years, these guys that just physically are just a different player. He is that. And you know, Kentucky has not had that. Oscar was like that, but he was below the rim. We, it's been a long time since we've had a dude like that and just seen him on the court. It's like, oh, my goodness.

Caller (7:40)

Wow.

Drew (7:41)

Yeah. I have high expectations for him long term, but in his first game, I didn't expect much out of, out of him. I mean, he hadn't played a full game of basketball since February. So for him to come in and play the way he did when he get like 15 minutes and there were moments, especially when he was getting those put back dunks, I'm like, do we have Shaq on this team? I mean, the way he was throwing those down, that's been an issue for, for a few years, especially last year. Guys wouldn't dunk it right. Guys wouldn't challenge shots. I mean, on the offensive end, he was putting everything back and had, I think five offensive rebounds. And defensively he made Zubi look like.

Matt Jones (8:13)

A fool he was to help defense. Yes. Yeah. Zubi had no chance. And then the way. You're exactly right. The way he defended with no help, there was no reason to help. I mean, he, he, Zubi twice had moves that if it was anyone else on the court, he, he not only tries to score, he likely does no chance with quaintance. I want to go back to low though, for a second because Jalen Lowe, I've thought since they built this team that he had to be good. To me, I've said going back from the beginning of the season, he had to be a while. He had to be the guy. Without him, I didn't think we'd be as bad as we were, but I knew we wouldn't be good. It is so nice though, Ryan, to see it manifest itself. Right? He did in that second half. He did everything okay. I mean, think about it. Drives to the basket, finishing with layups, floaters. He made a three great passes. He beat his man off the dribble. And that, that is a good defensive team. St. John's can't score, but that's a top 15 defense in the country and he absolutely shredded them. And if you go back and look at the possessions where he's in, we get a good shot on every possession. Even when we miss, we get a good shot. It is unbelievable. And then contrast that with when he's out and we get no good shots. It feels like every time we score, we're almost fortunate. It is unbelievable to see how much easier this game is and how much better this team is when he's on the floor.

Ryan Lemon (9:51)

I gotta be honest, I never thought he was going to be an NBA guard. Second half showed me he's an NBA guard just like you could be at all.

Matt Jones (9:59)

He could be, yeah. I don't know if he is, but he could be.

Ryan Lemon (10:02)

Yep. And just the things you were talking about that he's doing, that allowed Ortega to do what he does best, you know, it just improves everybody. It enabled Cam Williams get some open looks and he knocked him down. He just makes everything better when he's on the floor.

Matt Jones (10:15)

All of these guys, Drew, get to be in their actual role. Otega is the most obvious. I mean, Otega gets to be the secondary scorer, which is what I think he can be like the best secondary scorer in the country. I still don't believe he's a star. You and I thought about that a long time ago, but I just don't believe it because I just don't think he has the makeup for it. But now he doesn't have to be. He can be a secondary score. Cam Williams is shooting open threes instead of contested threes. Modiabate is able to be the secondary rebound rather than the primary rebounder. It just makes Drew. It just makes everything fit into place a lot more.

Drew (10:52)

Yeah, no, you mentioned Cam Williams. I want more and more Cam Williams. Acquaintance and low. Everyone's talking about them as they should, but he was just as important in that second half. He had two threes in that 140 run. He's been playing good defense. I don't know how you fit him in in this puzzle because you've got to got a lot. Got a lot of guys that need minutes right now, but I want more and more Cam Williams because he seems to have turned a corner and is getting better with each game.

Matt Jones (11:16)

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I know what you mean by need minutes, but I actually don't care at this point if they get minutes. I mean, I think he needs minutes because he's good.

Drew (11:26)

I'm just saying I don't put him. Because you got away then the four. You got Diabate and I mean, they minutes from.

Matt Jones (11:32)

They played Cam a lot at the three. Yeah, I mean, you know, they played and normally I'd be against that, but I think quaintance and Diabate are such forces now. If you play a team that makes a lot of threes, not only shoots them, but makes them, you might not be able to get away with that. I'm trying to think, you know, Alabama's not been shooting consistently well, but if you played them and they did, maybe you couldn't do that. But you know, the lineup that, that, that made the run. Ryan was low away. Williams, Diabate, Quaintance.

Ryan Lemon (12:11)

Yep, that was it.

Matt Jones (12:12)

Which on paper doesn't look like the greatest lineup in the world to score, but it worked. And it worked pretty consistently during that half. And I'm sure there'll be teams that game plan around that and that will make that hard for Kentucky to do, but in that game it worked perfectly.

Ryan Lemon (12:30)

What'd you think about the lineup when he took the bate out? Went with two bigs, went with JQ and Brandon or JQ Marino. What'd you think?

Matt Jones (12:36)

Was that okay? I was okay. I mean, I consider Diabate, though, a big two. I mean, regardless of what I mean, I consider him playing like that. It, you know, I mean, I think it'll work. I hate two bigs in general, but I think if you got two guys that can hand, they all can handle the ball okay. So I do think that makes a difference. They can handle the ball. I don't know, Drew, if any of them can shoot, we'll see. But at least worked in that game. And I think it will work. Drew, in some SEC games, whether it works at all, we'll see.

Drew (13:10)

Yeah, I know Pope's an offensive guy, but with what we saw Saturday holding St. John's I think they 33% from the field and the way Kentucky rebounded, it's just going to be a defensive rebounding tough team that we didn't really expect out of a Pope team. But the way Diabate and Quaintance especially were playing on Saturday, we need more of that because that's their strength right now.

Matt Jones (13:29)

I saw a guy on TikTok say that we can now put in there Ryan the best defensive team in the country. And he basically said if Low gets a breather and you go away, Aberdeen Williams, Diabate acquaintance, that that could be the best defensive team in the country. He might be right about that. Now, I'm not sure if that team can score, so I don't know how often you could play those guys together. But he is right about that. Like they had a couple possessions with that lineup where St. John's couldn't even fathom getting a good shot.

Ryan Lemon (14:01)

Well, you know, we talked earlier this, this season how we thought they'd be an elite defensive team and then we got a little pushback because we're like, they didn't look. But I think you're right. I think they have the pieces there with that Lineup you're just talking about right now, they can lock people down.

Matt Jones (14:14)

All right, so let's talk. Okay, so now we have seen them be good. Granted, Drew for one half. Okay, we all have criticized. Everyone in the fan base has criticized the makeup of this roster. It is only one half. And I still have one major caveat that I think we're missing. But do you now say maybe the construction of this roster is better than people had given it credit for?

Drew (14:45)

I'm still worried about not having a backup point guard. I'll say it's definitely better than we were saying. It looked like a week, couple weeks ago. But even. Even though Low came back, just the way he got hurt, just sticking his arm out there, I still worry that they're just walking a thin line right now with health. But if he can somehow stay healthy, as you've talked about how important he is, then I think they can be special and it worked out. But I'm just still worried about not having a true backup option there.

Matt Jones (15:11)

Agree. Totally. And I also think, Ryan, we're still a shooter short, right? I still worry that we're going to play a team that makes a lot of threes and we don't have guys that can match them. But with that said, those two caveats, Low stays healthy and maybe Chandler or know what? Somebody starts making threes, then I think it's a really good construction of a roster. But I'm going to be sitting there all year like, I don't know, like a. Like a mother with like a six year old going, please don't get hurt. Please don't get hurt. Please don't get hurt. Like, that's how I'm going to be with Low all season long.

Ryan Lemon (15:52)

And it's going to happen again. You guys are right. He's going to get bumped again. It's going to hurt again. The fact, though, that he wants to play enough to go to the locker room and come back out just tells me that the dudes will do everything he can to stay on the court. Now, you mentioned shooting.

Matt Jones (16:05)

Didn't everybody assume he was out for the year?

Ryan Lemon (16:07)

I did. Oh, yeah, I did. Said, oh, he's done. He's. He's not going.

Matt Jones (16:11)

Somebody wrote me on the text machine because I had just written a tweet that was like, well, Jalen needs to be selfish and just not play. And then they wrote me and they're like, he's warming up. And I thought, no, he's not. Like, I was shocked.

Ryan Lemon (16:22)

Yeah. Kind of inspiring, man, to come back. You know, we had a point guard not long ago that had had a little injury and then set out the rest of the season. Set up like the last six games.

Drew (16:31)

Part of the scare is he walked straight to the locker room.

Matt Jones (16:34)

Who are you talking about?

Ryan Lemon (16:36)

Severe? That one. See, he didn't play like the last, what, five games.

Matt Jones (16:41)

The little. Why did you make the little boo boo? He had a little boo boo, decided not to play. But you don't know what was wrong with him.

Ryan Lemon (16:47)

Well, we kind of know.

Drew (16:50)

Oh, he wasn't laying it on the line for that team that year.

Ryan Lemon (16:53)

That's true.

Drew (16:54)

Fair point.

Ryan Lemon (16:54)

And now Jalen Lowe is.

Matt Jones (16:56)

Okay. Wow. Severe.

Ryan Lemon (16:58)

We want to say one more thing. You, Ryan Lemon, you mentioned the shooting. What? They were four of 16 and one of them was Mohammed Diabate. Three pointer. I mean, they've got a. You're right. They've got to find another shooter somewhere. Trent and Chandler have got to.

Matt Jones (17:10)

First of all, Chandler's gonna have to shoot.

Drew (17:12)

He.

Matt Jones (17:12)

He looks scared to shoot right now. And somebody's gonna have to make shots. I do believe that you're not going to keep winning shooting 25%. But with Jalen Lowe, it is a different situation. 859-280-2287. The text machine is 772-7745254. We will take your calls, talk more about the game, including the blow by handshake at the end. What was about. What was that about? We'll be right back.

Coca-Cola Announcer (17:37)

What a matchup we got, y'.

Drew (17:39)

All.

Coca-Cola Announcer (17:39)

This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit. Chance echoing drum beat. Everybody showing that school pride. A game like this. Yeah, it calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere and an ice cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo no matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going.

Ryan Seacrest (18:24)

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Unrivaled Basketball Announcer (18:55)

Season 2 of unrivaled basketball is here and the talent is unreal. Paige Beckers, Nafiza Collier, Kelsey Plumb, Brianna Stewart and more are back to redefine the game. Unrivaled basketball season two, sponsored by Samsung Galaxy, tips off January 5 on TNT, TruTV and HBO.

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Matt Jones (20:23)

Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio 859-280-2287 text machine 772-774-5254. One person writes, I bet Severe Wheeler didn't get up today and think Ryan Lemon would take shots at him on the radio. I can't play.

Drew (20:39)

Why?

Matt Jones (20:40)

Why, why are you taking shots at him though? I mean he just like, do you really think he could have played last games and just didn't?

Ryan Lemon (20:47)

Part of me does, yes.

Matt Jones (20:49)

Part of you or you genuinely think it's true?

Ryan Lemon (20:53)

I generally think it's true.

Matt Jones (20:54)

Okay, one person writes, Jalen Lowe was favoring his arm. You can see it. Fingers crossed for his health on the season. He clearly is Drew. He clearly, if you watch him, he runs in a way to try to protect that arm. I think a couple times you're going to see teams exploit this. He's very hesitant to go into picks right shoulder first. So for him, you know when A defender is driving, I guess to their left and his right. He's hesitant to watch. He kind of goes under him. I'm sure teams are going to exploit that with said Drew. That's what he needs to do. I'd rather him give up layups than get hurt.

Drew (21:33)

Yeah, we saw how fragile he is when seven seconds into the game when he heard it that wasn't even really a hard contact. I mean he was kind of just trying to stop the ball and got bumped and next thing you know he's running through the tunnel. So we know it's. It's very close to going at any moment there and I know some people have already brought this up. I would consider letting him chill tomorrow against Bellarmine. I know he needs a little run to keep getting his way back, but I wouldn't push him at all in a game that should be a blowout.

Matt Jones (21:58)

Yeah, I wouldn't blame. I mean I. If I can't imagine there being a reason to blame. I hope and you know. But he did say. I thought he had a good attitude about it. He said something like, you know, I could get hurt at any moment. I can't sit and think about it. And Ryan, I do think that's true. He can't sit. He can't. It's clear he's favoring it but. But he also can't sit and like try not to get hurt because like there's only so much he can do about that. Both of the plays where he's been hurt have looked like nothing when they happened and it looked.

Ryan Lemon (22:32)

He's not that type of player that's going to take it easy. He's going to go full out as much as he can. But you guys, you know, he sits out at Bellarmine. You got a long break for you play Alabama. He's got 10 days, you know, letting get heal up a little bit.

Matt Jones (22:44)

Yeah, I mean I want to see quite as play against Bellarmine.

Ryan Lemon (22:49)

But the other shock, he played as well as he did for as long as he did.

Drew (22:52)

Poor Bellarmine getting the spot on the schedule where acquaintance just decides to break out and become Shaq and then they're the next team up feel bad for their time.

Matt Jones (23:00)

What did you think about the blow.

Ryan Lemon (23:01)

By handshake that somebody there is a bad lose of sore loser. I took it that Patino's mad because he lost and he just doesn't want to make nice nice at this moment. And they went out for dinner the night before, they made nice nice then not then not after the game.

Matt Jones (23:16)

I thought it was weird. I mean, normally you would think in that moment they would have some sort of embrace. I mean, I know that they had spent time together. I know it wasn't the first time seeing each other, but I did think, Drew, it was a little weird. Didn't you?

Drew (23:28)

I did, too. You know, Patino's quick to make a video telling us what to think and do and speaking about mock Pope as captain. And he's always trying to insert himself in Pope's time here at Kentucky. And then when it comes time to have a moment after the game, get a little photo op, a hug and a congratulations, he just blows right by him.

Matt Jones (23:45)

Especially since he was a little sarcastic during the game. Right. When he did that interview and said, we're all choir boys or whatever.

Drew (23:53)

Yeah, he's filling himself in the first half when they were winning by seven.

Matt Jones (23:56)

But then when it Definitely feeling himself, Absolutely. All of a sudden, he got. He got quiet there.

Ryan Lemon (24:02)

Yeah.

Matt Jones (24:03)

Yeah. I mean, they're.

Ryan Lemon (24:03)

Didn't want to give us the photo app. Photo op.

Matt Jones (24:06)

I mean, they can't score like we think. We can't score. Like, they. At least against our defense, they couldn't score like. I didn't even realize Drew Bryce Hopkins was out there most of the game. Did you?

Drew (24:18)

Yeah, I. Man, he's. It's crazy how he hasn't taken a step forward, really. Patino called him out last week about how he's not an alpha and he needs a complete personality makeover, but he's still just kind of out there going through the motions. What we saw his freshman season here, there's so much more, and he just can't get it out of him.

Matt Jones (24:36)

Yeah, he. You know, he can't really. One person writes, Matt, if the team on the second half plays like that all year, I think this is a final four team. What about you all? I mean, I would still slow down. I still think you don't have a backup point guard. You're very susceptible to anything that keeps low out, whether it's an injury or foul problems. And I still don't think you have a really good shooter. But I do think now, I guess what I would say, right, is I do think now there's hope, and that is what is exciting, because I don't know if I thought there was hope until right now.

Ryan Lemon (25:13)

Yeah, I agree. I think it's a little hope now. Still, some things I got to clean up. Like you said, shooting too many turnovers still. I think they had more turnovers and assists Even in the game. So they still got some things they got to clean up, become a Final Four team, I think.

Matt Jones (25:25)

Rick, we have some breaking news.

Ryan Lemon (25:31)

Yeah.

Matt Jones (25:32)

Bill Belichick has hired Bobby Petrino as his offensive coordinator.

Ryan Lemon (25:38)

Oh, my goodness. The clown show just gets better.

Drew (25:41)

Oh, my.

Matt Jones (25:43)

Bobby Petrino will be joining North Carolina as Bill Belichick's offensive coordinator. You can't write that, Drew. Like, you couldn't make that up. Ladies, watch out there on the town.

Drew (25:54)

Unbelievable. I know they'd never sign off on it, but we need a documentary crew in there for, like, a hard knocks kind of show, following these two around Chapel Hill.

Ryan Lemon (26:05)

And make it too easy for us.

Matt Jones (26:06)

North Carolina. North Carolina. You are North Carolina. You're one of the best public universities in America. Wow. Bobby Petrino. That's a shocker to me. I can't believe. I can't believe UNC would hire that guy. Well, there you go. It just goes to show in sports, people will do anything if they think you can win. Who's up next? Got Scott up. Scott. Go ahead, Scott.

Caller (26:37)

Hey, good morning, guys. How are you all doing?

Matt Jones (26:39)

Doing good. We.

Caller (26:43)

We took the trip down to the game, and I'm gonna tell you, it was just awesome. Really felt like we needed that. The atmosphere was great.

Matt Jones (26:51)

Talk to me about the atmosphere. Talk to me. Before you do your question, talk to me about the atmosphere, because I, I, that was one of those moments that I really regretted not being there. What was it like in there?

Caller (27:02)

Well, it was electric. It started with just around town. I mean, it was blue everywhere. But, you know, just about 45 minutes to the game. I mean, the line was just ridiculous to get into the place, but everybody was just fired up, positive vibes. It was incredible. You get in excitement. Of course, it was such a, such an amazing thing because you go from being high to when low goes out. I mean, just, you could feel the air just leave the stadium. It was crazy.

Matt Jones (27:31)

Yeah.

Caller (27:31)

And, and, and then Quadens comes in. So you're, you're, you're, you're excited, you know, going constant. Yeah, you're excited.

Matt Jones (27:38)

Just have 30 seconds. So give me. We just have 30 seconds, so give me your question, if you would.

Caller (27:43)

Yeah, no problem. It's, It's a comment when, when second half was starting, low got out there to warm up was amazing. But I don't know if anybody else saw this. We were sitting behind the Kentucky bench while the team was huddling right before the second half. Throw in low row, runs over to the stands and over behind the Kentucky bench. He's talking to somebody for a minute while the team's huddled up. And I mean, he's talking to almost when the team is, you know, getting.

Matt Jones (28:09)

Ready to get 10 seconds, 10 seconds.

Caller (28:12)

He rolls out to the, he rolls out to the court, caps Pope and says, I'm good to go. Gives him a thumbs up. So that. I thought that was interesting.

Matt Jones (28:19)

That was awesome. I mean, I don't think they decided right until the last second to have him play. We'll take a break. Barry backs KSR. Welcome back. Techie Sports Radio. 859-280-2287. Text machine 772-774-5254. One person writes. Matt, I think the blow by was because Kentucky scored with 8 seconds left and it made Pitino mattress. Maybe, but he can get over that. Ryan, I don't, I don't understand. First of all, they were pressing, okay? If they're pressing and you break the press, you score. Secondly, just stop, people. I was talking about this Yesterday on Cover 0. Like, when did we decide that you just stopped playing a sport at the end of the game? I don't, I mean, why, why? Explain to me why it's bad that he's, that he scores right there.

Ryan Lemon (29:08)

I don't know why that trend started. Because you're right, it always used to be a chance to, you know, even the, the walk ons get a chance for them to get a bucket in or something at the end of a game. I don't, I don't know what happened. But like you said, they were still competitive. James Lee made the final basket at the end of the 78 championship with a dunk and the game was over. But it was kind of an explanation.

Matt Jones (29:26)

Point and it's one of, it's the most famous moment of that game in some ways. I mean, I, I don't understand why we decided this was somehow bad form. But even if you think it is bad form, Drew, they were pressing. So if they're going to press, then you cannot expect them not to score. Right?

Drew (29:46)

Right. And I don't think Patino would have been mad at that because he was pressing and he might not have seen it. But Pope tried to stop Diabate from scoring. He put up his hands. He was just too late. I mean, I didn't think it was that big of a deal at all. But you saw the St. John's took offense and it's been happening in the NBA a lot lately. They've had actual fights because of the guys gone and done a layup with, you know, as Time runs out, all these tough players.

Matt Jones (30:09)

I could do what I want, a manly. And then you score and you're like, you not being fair. You're not being any different. Sportsmanship, like, I don't. I. I don't get that at all. And that it was not always like that. It was that that's been a change. And I don't. I guess I don't think I was at the meeting where they decided that that was going to be it. One person writes, Matt, that sounded like one of our best crowds in a long time. I loved listening to how loud it was with the traveling fans. I think obviously the crowd was great. Part of it, I'm convinced, Drew, is how they mike these games. Because on espn, I think they turn the announcers up and the crowd down. And on cbs, I think they turn the crowd up and the announcers down because I could barely hear Bruce Pearl and Bill after. I could barely hear what they said. But the crowd was loud. If I'm right about that, that it depends on how loud you turn the crowd or not. Now, Billy says also the radio, he thinks the people in Atlanta screwed up the crowd because they couldn't even turn it down on the radio. So maybe that was just an in arena thing. But which do you prefer it the way ESPN does it or the way CBS does it?

Drew (31:17)

I think CBS is a much better product, but I will say I didn't. There were moments where I even thought, like, I don't. I can't tell you one thing Bruce Pearl said. Like, I don't know if it was just him not adding much or the fact that it was turned down, but I was really excited to hear from Bruce Pearl and nothing really jumped out for me. And part of it was it was kind of quiet with the announcers talking.

Matt Jones (31:36)

I could not hear those guys at all. Which, I mean, I guess it doesn't really matter, but. But Ryan, I mean, I especially burst Pearl, Bill Raftery, I can hear a little bit, but I feel like I couldn't hear Bruce Pearl say anything. A lot of the game agree.

Ryan Lemon (31:51)

You know, we're sitting at home. Watch it. Turning the volume up now. I got a friend that went to both games, Gonzaga in Nashville and the St. John's in Atlanta. He said the crowd was louder in Nashville, but on the TV it sounded louder in Atlanta.

Matt Jones (32:03)

Did it just shows how much they can manipulate it with those like knobs of whether or not you turn it, turn it up or not. Another person writes, matt, what do you think about Patino calling you Guys out in the media.

Ryan Lemon (32:17)

We called out the writers. We weren't. We weren't part of that. Are we.

Matt Jones (32:21)

I haven't written anything in a long time, but. But, I mean, I. You know. Okay, so his point is, you guys gave up on this too much. And there was a little bit of that from some folks in the fans. Here's what I would say. The job. The job of a media person is not to, like, be the cheerleader. And I think some people are naturally optimistic. Some people are naturally pessimist. But even if you were an optimist, I don't know how anyone could have looked after that Gonzaga game and said, things are going well. Even leave aside Low in quaintance, the issue drew after the Gonzaga game was not just that the team wasn't well constructed, is that they were not playing hard. That was my problem. They were not playing hard. So I'm not surprised. They're a lot better with Low. I thought it would be like that all season, but I was upset that they weren't playing hard. And so I think the criticisms that the media had us included were Drew, completely fair. Now, if you gave up and said, pope can't recruit. Pope's not good. Pope, then that's a different point. But I didn't make any of those points. But if you're making the comment of this has been disappointing, I think that was totally fair. Then I do, too.

Drew (33:36)

The fire Pope crowd, they were a little early on that I thought. But overall, that was not a fun month to start the season. And sure, those guys are out, but you still paid a lot of money for Brandon Garrison and a lot of the roster. And to get embarrassed the way they did in those games and just not even show up, that's a different conversation than losing. If you go out and lose by four and some of your best players are out, all right, you can brush that one off and get excited when you can get healthy. But they looked terrible in those games, and that's why the criticism was fair. They should have been much better than they were, even if they weren't able to win.

Matt Jones (34:08)

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

Caller (34:13)

How you doing, Matt? It's been a while since I called you. First of all, I want to miss all. Wish all you guys a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year and parents and prayers for your family. Matt, your dad, a couple things. And I got a question for you.

Matt Jones (34:33)

Go for it.

Caller (34:34)

Quentin and Low, you know, they pressed us, then we turned around and pressed on them. But one thing on the press. I know when they were pressing us our ball, our guys were not moving. They just stood still. You gotta move. I understand. You know a lot of not agile.

Matt Jones (34:54)

But we were awful.

Caller (34:55)

You have to win when somebody's pressing you.

Matt Jones (34:57)

If we had lost that game. Okay, hang on, hang on. Just take a breath.

Caller (35:01)

Okay, okay.

Matt Jones (35:03)

Take a break. My name is not Mike. Bye. I appreciate the call.

Caller (35:06)

I mean Matt. I mean Matt.

Matt Jones (35:08)

Yeah, okay, hang on. I don't remember what you said now. All right, go ahead. Do your second point.

Ryan Lemon (35:14)

But the press.

Matt Jones (35:15)

The press. Okay, so that drove me insane, Ryan. It drove me insane. We had three turnovers just in mounting the ball in the press couldn't get the ball in bounds and well, but he's exactly right. We didn't do anything. We just stood there with our left arm up trying to lob the passes. I'm convinced and I like Mark a lot. He didn't run one thing to get them ready for that press. Do you agree with that?

Ryan Lemon (35:39)

Yeah. They were doing the Caliperi play stand biggest guys just standing with these arm.

Matt Jones (35:43)

Caliperi would do that on an inbounds play on our own side of the basketball. And while I didn't like that either, that's even different than oppressed. I mean, you're sitting there trying to lob it drew to guards who aren't that tall to begin with. I just.

Drew (35:57)

I hated it so much against the St. John's team. That can really make you pay doing that too. You're right. It was obvious they didn't have any plan in place or practice for that much. To just try the old lob it up inbounds.

Matt Jones (36:09)

And they never adjusted either, by the way. At any point in the game. They just kept doing it. All right, what's your second thing?

Caller (36:16)

The question is, if we got a call in show, why are we not taking calling calls on the big blue line? I don't understand. I know there's been criticism, but if you're a coach at Kentucky, you should take calls. I don't understand that and I want Yalls opinion.

Matt Jones (36:33)

Well, I think there's two reasons. There's two reasons I appreciate the call. One reason is that they didn't. They didn't get a lot of calls. I mean, that's one of the reasons it was like Bob and Jamestown every week. But then another reason is when things go bad, they don't want to take calls. So I agree with you. If it's just going to be a leech pope monologue. Every week. Then you probably shouldn't call it the calling show because I. Because they don't really take calls, so. But I mean, that's the way it goes. Who's next? Ed is up next. Ed, go ahead. Ed. Ed. All right. No, Ed. Who's next? Okay, up next is Austin. Austin. Go ahead, Austin.

Caller (37:21)

Hey, guys. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year to all y' all and your family.

Matt Jones (37:25)

Merry Christmas.

Caller (37:28)

Me and couple buddies took off Friday night, heading down there. Long story short, my car decided to catch on fire on the side of 75.

Matt Jones (37:36)

I heard about you. I heard about you. So your car caught on fire on the side of i75. I heard people drove by, saw your UK gear and your car on fire. But did I hear you still managed to get to the game?

Caller (37:50)

Yes, we made it to Atlanta about 11 o' clock Saturday morning.

Matt Jones (37:55)

All right, so what happened to your car?

Caller (37:59)

Well, we were driving along, everything was fine and lost all power, pulled over, popped the hood and it was already on fire. I'm really not sure what happened.

Matt Jones (38:10)

Well, I'm sorry about that. Is it, is it, is it gone?

Caller (38:15)

Oh, yeah, it's completely gone.

Matt Jones (38:18)

Well, all right. Well, I'm sorry, but at least you got to go to the game, so that was good.

Caller (38:24)

Yeah, we made it there. We won. You know, it is what it is. It's a good weekend all in all. I'll say.

Matt Jones (38:31)

Well, if you can say it was a good weekend when your car caught on fire, I think you got a pretty good, pretty positive outlook on life.

Caller (38:38)

It was first time I'd ever experienced Cat Lana in person. And let me tell you, that crowd showed out.

Matt Jones (38:44)

Yeah, it really did that. Appreciate the call. That was. That's the part I loved. You got to see that kind of Atlanta crowd. Kentucky probably should play a game in Atlanta or Nashville every year, maybe both. Because of the way the crowd they get. If you're looking for a last minute gift to make your loved ones feel great, Cornbread Hemp has you covered. The code is KY Cheer. Stock up on infused gummies, seltzer, sleep support, oils and topicals. It's all there at Cornbread Hemp. The code is KY cheer for $40 off orders over 120 bucks. KY cheer, you got three days left. Great stocking stuffer, KY cheer. It's cornbread Hemp. This is the good life. We're gonna take a break and be right back. This is Kentucky sports radio.

Coca-Cola Announcer (39:28)

What a matchup we got, y'.

Matt Jones (39:30)

All.

Coca-Cola Announcer (39:30)

This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit chance echo drum beat everybody showing that school pride. Game like this. Yeah, it calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere and in ice cold Coca Cola, that's a winning combo no matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work, thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going.

Ryan Seacrest (40:15)

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Flu season is here and the in store pharmacy has you covered with a free flu shot with most insurance plans. And as a thank you, get up to $20 off your grocery purchase. Plus it's cough and cold season. Stock up on all the season's essentials and get ready for relief with discounts on items like Hall's Menthol Cough Drops, Tylenol Cold and Flu and Mucinex Fast Max products. Offer ends December 30th. Restrictions apply and offers may vary by location. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

Unrivaled Basketball Announcer (40:45)

Season 2 of unrivaled basketball is here and the talent is unreal. The best women's players on the planet are running it back with even bigger moments and bigger stakes. Don't miss as Paige Becker, Snafeeza Collier, Kelsey Plumb, Brianna Stewart and more. Take the court and redefine the game. This isn't your regular season. This is unrivaled, where the pace is faster, the energy is higher and every athlete shines. Unrivaled basketball season two, sponsored by Samsung Galaxy, tips off January 5 on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max.

Public Investing Announcer (41:15)

Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like efts with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comDisclosures welcome Back.

Matt Jones (42:27)

Techie Sports Radio 859-280-2287 by the way, KS Bar is open today. We're usually closed on Monday, but we are open today since it's right before Christmas and it's a Wings day. A regular a rare Wings Monday and then tomorrow KSBAR will open at 10 for the KSR show leading into the game. So KSR tomorrow will go from 10 to 11:30. Then the pregame show starts. The game is at 1, but we open an hour early tomorrow. Ryan for the game.

Ryan Lemon (42:58)

Yeah, it was kind of a rare Monday occurrence. We're there today so but you know, I know we're going to get to it but man it was packed last night. We had a great crowd last night at KS Bar.

Matt Jones (43:07)

We are. But again tomorrow 10am it opens for the game. It will open early as part of the watch party tomorrow. By the way, the oh and we're serving breakfast. I didn't know that until I love our breakfast actually. So we're serving. We are serving breakfast tomorrow at 10am as well. Let's talk about the volleyball game. We lost three sets to zero. Felt like we just when we lost the first set, which we should have won, we were up six points at one point, kind of lost all momentum and then, you know, the Texas A and M run continues. It's a bummer to get to all the way the championship drew and lose. I saw they kicked you out early and then we just never were able to come back.

Drew (43:52)

Yeah, I don't think my jinx had anything to do with that one. They just got absolutely dominated. I didn't watch all 33 or whatever their matches this season, but I have to assume that has to be one of their worst performances. They just couldn't get anything going after they lost that first set. I mean you have set point there and can take a lead and to blow it like that. They were just never in it from there and it didn't help. It didn't help that it sounded like A and M had 99% of the crowd getting them going to. They had all the energy, all the momentum and they ran away with it.

Matt Jones (44:23)

Well, I think the Nebraska for some reason volleyball of the other teams Hate us like the other fan bases because Nebraska had over half the fans there.

Ryan Lemon (44:34)

And they were apparently they all.

Matt Jones (44:36)

They all cheered for Texas A and M which I don't understand why Nebraska would care either way. I guess it was because they had beaten Nebraska but I don't really understand why they would care. But it does seem like the other fans really don't like us and I don't know why that is but it did sound like the crowd was. Was very pro Ryan A and M yesterday.

Ryan Lemon (44:58)

Yeah. I don't know if it's because we're the new kid on the block and the SEC has kind of not been the dominant in volleyball so we're trying to take over two SEC teams in the championship. Nebraska anti Kentucky for whatever reason. But yeah, more than half the crowd was Nebraska people rooting against Kentucky apparently.

Matt Jones (45:13)

So we had a good. Was it fun at the bar? I saw it.

Ryan Lemon (45:16)

It was packed. It was awesome. It was great environment. Every table was full. We had a line of waiting line to get in all that excitement. We jump out by six. Everybody's happy and then just watched it just slowly fall apart.

Drew (45:28)

I got there early knowing I wouldn't be staying and I was shocked by how many people were already in their seats well before it even began.

Matt Jones (45:34)

Yeah, well, I hate that we lost and but shout out to Craig Skinner and that team. They made it really exciting this year getting to the championship game and. And you know, I think he's going to have multiple more years of having a chance to have a top program here. I think his entire team are. There's only one senior, right? Am I correct? It wasn't Hudson the only senior.

Drew (45:56)

It's a big win to lose, but they still are built to make another run next year. She's the one lost. As long as they retain everybody.

Matt Jones (46:03)

Yeah. So that's. I think they got a big time future ahead. Who's next? Got Joe up next. Joe. Go ahead, Joe.

Caller (46:13)

Matt, I'm gonna tackle what you just talked about. Why Nebraska fans weren't pulling for us. Do you ever think maybe they think they maybe made the wrong choice and picking Bush bomb Kelly, the Louisville coach over CO Skinner? That might be my comment and I.

Matt Jones (46:29)

Don'T know but they don't like us, which is weird.

Caller (46:33)

That's all right. Don't get over it. Here's my big comment. Coach Will Stein, he really hasn't formulated or I haven't heard a special team coordinator and I think I'm serious about this. That might be his most important. Whoever he designates to be his special team coordinator. Because I've always said this about Kentucky. If you have good special teams, you've got a chance. And if he can get the right coach to do special teams, then I think we got an outside chance winning six games. And the last question is, did you make the Bonnie and Clyde's over the weekend?

Matt Jones (47:07)

I did not make Bonnie and Clyde's, unfortunately. I got tied up. And we'll talk about this a little bit more in the second hour. I got into my head about this play by play and it led me to stay at home and work all weekend. But. So I didn't end up doing that. But I, you know, I have not heard about the special teams coordinator. Will Stein wins. So he's going to at least be staying there through the first of the year. And we'll see what, we'll see what happens. But Will Stein will remain there and he's going to continue have to go doing double duty at least right up until the opening of the portal. So that'll be interesting to see how that works. Who's next up next is Corey. Corey, go ahead, Corey.

Caller (47:47)

Good morning everybody. So I was at the game set, second row down there. And you guys have shown some interest in the environment. Something cool that wasn't on the broadcast was during the, the lineups, whenever they were calling St. John's Rick Patino and Bryce Hopkins both got applause from Kentucky fans. Now it wasn't like a roaring, it wasn't like a roaring applause like for our guys, but more like, you know, when you sink a seven foot putt. It was kind of like that. But still there was no booze. So I thought that was really cool. And another thing that was really. First off, I've gone to a lot of games that were up. Some of the bigger games like Kansas, Gonzaga and all that. This may be the best environment I've been in as far as the crowd, the cheers. Of course it was probably 80% Kentucky fans there, so that was, that was cool. But the guys, they seemed different. They, they were having fun on the sidelines. Every time they come down in front of us, they were smiling. Of course they were up by then, but they were just having a good time. It was.

Matt Jones (48:47)

No, it was definitely a different, definitely a different mindset for the players. You could tell they looked a lot happier and I appreciate the call. And it is without question Ryan drew that the Kentucky fan base on the road, but specifically in Atlanta and Nashville, it is just a different fan base. And it can be because like we've talked about there they party leading up to it. It's people who don't normally go but I would suggest that for big time home games, if you promise me we get to control the tickets. I almost would rather play them in Atlanta, Nashville because the crowd is so much better down though there.

Ryan Lemon (49:26)

Yeah, a lot of those fans, they don't get to go to rupping like the collar. This is their one game a year. Get a travel, make a big deal of it, make a big weekend of it and that's why it's so exciting.

Matt Jones (49:36)

But it also just, I think it just attracts a different kind of person, Drew. You know, I mean, I, I, I'm nothing against Rob, but I think people who have season tickets get complacent about it. They don't do that for these trips. They're basing their entire reasoning around going.

Drew (49:53)

And you just said it, it's a trip. I mean having just spent a lot of money to go to Gonzaga when I purchased that last April, I mean you're looking forward to that for months and months and months. When it finally gets there, it's all just pent up and you're ready to let it out for the game. Unlike when you get a routine of going to home games at rup.

Matt Jones (50:08)

Yeah, I wish we could find a way to get some of that energy and rupp. I think it's hard, but I am for I would be for playing a game in Atlanta and Nashville almost every year because I think that is the best of Kentucky crowds. And in some ways these regular season games are now even better than the SEC tournament because the SEC tournament's gotten priced out for a lot of Kentucky fans. We'll take a break, come back. Our number two. This is ksr.

Ryan Seacrest (50:34)

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Flu season is here and the in store pharmacy has you covered with a free flu shot with most insurance plans. And as a thank you, get up to $20 off your grocery purchase. Plus it's cough and cold season. Stock up on all the season's essentials and get ready for relief with discounts on items like Hall's Menthol cough drops, Tylenol Cold and Flu and Mucinex Fast Max products. Offer ends December 30th. Restrictions apply and offers may vary by location. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

Unrivaled Basketball Announcer (51:04)

Season 2 of unrivaled basketball is here and the talent is unreal. Paige Beckers, Nafiza Collier, Kelsey Plumb, Brianna Stewart and more are back to redefine find the game unrivaled basketball season two, sponsored by Samsung Galaxy, tips off January 5 on TNT, TruTV and HBO.

Public Investing Announcer (51:19)

Max support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like EFTs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA S I P C Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comdisclosures okay, only.

Unrivaled Basketball Announcer (52:31)

10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line. But first. There the last one. Enjoy a Coca Cola for a pause that refreshes.