KSR Postgame UK MBB at Mississippi State 01/12/25

Summary

Podcast Summary: KSR Postgame UK MBB at Mississippi State 01/12/25

Podcast Information:

• Title: KSR
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts and Sports Talk 790 (WKRD-AM)
• Description: Matt Jones and the KSR crew bring you the latest in UK news and views Mon.-Fri. from 10 to noon.
• Episode: KSR Postgame UK MBB at Mississippi State 01/12/25
• Release Date: January 12, 2025

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1. Introduction and Game Overview

The episode kicks off with Matt Jones recapping Kentucky's thrilling victory over Mississippi State, securing a 95-90 win in Starkville. This marks Kentucky's 19th consecutive regular-season win against Mississippi State and their fourth victory against top-ranked teams this season.

Notable Quote:

Matt Jones (00:30): "Just a huge gutsy, gutsy win by Kentucky tonight. Absolutely."

2. Detailed Game Analysis

a. Team Performances

Matt and Billy Rutledge delve into the game's dynamics, highlighting Kentucky's ability to maintain composure under pressure. Despite a challenging environment in Starkville, Kentucky managed to hold onto their lead in the final minutes, demonstrating resilience and strategic prowess.

Notable Quote:

Billy Rutledge (01:15): "There's a lot of things you can talk about but for me I want to go over the players in a second..."

b. Key Players

Jackson Robinson:
Robinson was a standout performer, scoring 27 points, with 25 of them in the first 25 minutes. His exceptional shooting, including seven three-pointers, was pivotal in shifting the game's momentum.

Ansley Almanor:
Almanor emerged as a crucial player in the closing minutes, hitting three critical three-pointers that solidified Kentucky's lead.

Lamont Butler & Amari Williams:
Butler contributed with key defensive plays and three-point shooting, while Williams secured a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Notable Quotes:

Matt Jones (03:45): "Jackson Robinson... he totally changed the game."

Matt Jones (07:30): "Ansley Almanor... I think, and Travis Perry got the rebound and shot."

c. Coaching Strategies

Coach Mark Pope was commended for his postgame interactions with fans, showcasing his commitment to the team’s community and morale. His strategy during the game, particularly his adjustments in the second half, were highlighted as factors contributing to the win.

Notable Quote:

Matt Jones (09:50): "Mark Pope walked to the concourse to see him directly... that's how considerate he is."

3. Notable Moments

• Mark Pope’s Interaction:
  A heartwarming moment where Coach Pope personally engaged with a fan in a wheelchair, demonstrating exceptional sportsmanship and leadership ([10:45]).

• High-Pressure Shots:
  Almanor’s clutch three-pointers in the final minutes were pivotal in securing the win, exemplifying the team’s ability to perform under pressure ([18:15]).

4. Listener Engagement and Calls

The hosts invited listeners to share their thoughts and experiences regarding the game. Several callers shared their excitement, praised player performances, and discussed future games.

Highlights from Calls:

• Caller from Oxford:
  Expressed pride in being a Cat fan and commended Mark Pope’s leadership ([17:30]).

• Adam Townsend:
  Shared the story captured on video of Coach Pope’s interaction with a fan in a wheelchair, emphasizing the coach’s genuine connection with supporters ([37:18]).

• Sean:
  Discussed officiating calls and predicted outcomes for upcoming games, reflecting on the team’s strategies and areas for improvement ([40:13]).

Notable Quotes:

Caller (24:08): "Mark Pope... showing the fans love that."

Matt Jones (40:35): "I don't think they're going to be a national title contender without Merton."

5. Insights and Conclusions

Matt and Billy underscored the significance of Kentucky’s road victories against top-tier teams, emphasizing that these wins not only bolster the team’s confidence but also enhance their seeding prospects for the SEC tournament. The discussion also touched on the depth of Kentucky’s roster and the importance of key players maintaining their performance levels throughout the season.

Key Takeaways:

• Resilience:
  Kentucky’s ability to come back from deficits in high-stakes environments showcases their mental toughness.

• Depth of Team:
  The emergence of bench players stepping up during crucial moments highlights the team’s depth and versatility.

• Coaching Excellence:
  Mark Pope’s leadership both on and off the court is instrumental in the team’s success and fan engagement.

Notable Quote:

Matt Jones (32:23): "We have the best wins of any team in the country right now."

6. Final Thoughts and Upcoming Events

The episode concluded with previews of upcoming games and continued analysis of Kentucky’s season trajectory. The hosts also teased Matt’s appearance on ESPN Radio to discuss the NFL playoffs, albeit humorously noting his lack of familiarity with the outcomes.

Notable Quote:

Matt Jones (60:37): "I've got to go to bed because I got to get up in the morning and talk about the NFL playoffs."

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Conclusion:

This episode of KSR provided an in-depth and engaging analysis of Kentucky’s basketball season, spotlighting their recent victory, key player performances, and the strategic acumen of Coach Mark Pope. Listener interactions added a personal touch, reflecting the community’s enthusiasm and support for the team. The summary encapsulates the excitement and critical insights shared by Matt Jones and Billy Rutledge, making it a valuable resource for fans and followers of UK basketball who missed the live broadcast.

Transcript

[Matt Jones]

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[Billy Rutledge]

Card has no cash access and expires in six months.

[Matt Jones]

Welcome everyone. It is the local toy dealers KSR Post Game show what an awesome night as the Cats get yet another victory against the top 25 team. Their fourth victory so far this year against teams ranked in the top 12 in the net. Kentucky wins in Starkville for the 19th straight time they win a regular season game over Mississippi state, this time 95 to 90. We'll open up the phones after we finish this segment. The text machine is 772-7745254. Just a huge gutsy, gutsy win by Kentucky tonight. Absolutely. You know, about as gutsy as it gets to go on the road play in what was a great environment. I mean Starkville, you know, if you watch a Mississippi State Georgia game on a Wednesday, it might not be a great crowd but when they want to be loud, they can be loud. And it was like that tonight. Students staying out all day to get ready and Kentucky comes in and wins. There's a lot of things you can talk about but for me I want to go over the players in a second but just overall to come out and start the second half like they did and get up 14, I mean that's a huge, a huge margin to pull but then lose it in two minutes. It went from 14 to two in two game minutes and they actually fell down at one point by three. And then to come back and win on the road in the last two minutes, have it cut to one with the crowd going insane and then you still hold on and get a victory. I mean that's a massive win. That's a massive win for this team. It is now the second time that they've gone and taken kind of a disappointing loss in a back to back stretch and then gone and won a harder game right after like they did after losing to Clemson when they beat Gonzaga, lose to Georgia and beat Mississippi State. They are now 4 and oh against ranked teams and I actually think that number is about to increase. It'll be, I think Georgia will be. Excuse me, Louisville may get ranked, at which point it will be five. Now, Georgia may get ranked and then they. They have a loss. But against teams ranked, when you play them, four, no. And they've now won on neutral court. They've won at home, they've won on the road. I mean, when this team is clicking offensively, they can beat anybody in the country. And I think that became clear today. And most importantly for me, they get a true road win in a tough environment. And those are going to be hard to come by in the sec. I will say, though, today was kind of, I think, a day of separation in the sec because five teams that maybe are the five best teams in the conference, Auburn, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida and Kentucky, all go on the road against good teams and they all win close games, all five of them. And it might be the case that we look back and go, okay, that's when the five that were the best in the league kind of kind of separated themselves. As far as Kentucky, I mean, the two major stories are obviously Jackson Robinson, who was just brilliant for 25 minutes. I mean, he had 27 points, but he had 25 of them in the first, in the first 25 minutes of the game. And he was great, hit seven threes, looked comfortable in the flow. You know, I've said a lot over the last. Well, I've said all year, much to the chagrin of some people, that I think he's the most important player on the team in terms of us reaching, being great, because I don't think we can be great unless he is great. And tonight he was great. He was great against Gonzaga. And that's what we got. That's what we got to have, is we got to have him playing at that level. He's not going to always be 9 for 12 in the field like he was tonight. But the game, he totally changed the game. Not in the first half, in the second half, but also once he made his 7 3. Mississippi State's entire defense became do not let him get the ball, which opened up the court for a way to get two or three layups that I don't think he gets otherwise. Carr was able to get three shots at the basket, in part because he didn't get doubled because they would not leave Robinson. And then Almanor was able to get free because they were not leaving Jackson Robinson. And you don't do that unless you've scored the 25 points before. And then the second guy is Ansley Almanor. You know, we've talked a lot about him on this show. I, Mario has finally stopped texting me every single time he scores. But I wish he had tonight because three threes, I mean, three threes in a crunch time of the game when he hadn't even really played that much came in. You got to love the confidence and we needed him. Honestly, if he doesn't hit those, Kentucky doesn't win. It was also crucial. We were down two when he hit his first one. I think you could make an argument that that one, the first one he hit might have been the biggest shot of the game because we were down two with the momentum going away from us. And he hits that three and by the time he hits his third, the two point deficit was a seven point lead. And you know, he to me is the number two in hockey. They give three stars. He would be number two for me because of the way he hit those shots. But going beyond him, you know, I think, I think everybody that played significant minutes made a big play. It wasn't the best game for away, but he had, looking back, I think, two huge, huge plays. One of them, you know, we had been up 14, they cut it to 5, he comes and gets a dunk that kind of keeps, keeps the momentum. At one point we, they had cut it to or they took the lead, went up to. He hit the dunk, the layup that tied the game. So he made big shots. He had a little baseline jumper, I think that made it 86, 80. And he played good defense most of the game. Lamont Butler at times was off, but hit the three at the end of the first half and then hit the kind of game ceiling shot at the end. And maybe more importantly, when Mississippi State had the ball down three, he suffocated. Hubbard on defense, caused him to force a shot that didn't go and we win the game. You know, Amari Williams drives me crazy with keeping his hands down to the side, but he had a double double and you know, had 12 and I think 12 and 10 or 12, 11 had six assists. Andrew Carr, not a great Andrew Carr game, but when the game was in the 70s, he had three layups at the basket, each of which were again big in the moment that he made them. But just overall, just, just a gutsy victory. You know, great teams win games on the road like this. And I think this, you know, we've talked again a lot this year about how if you watch Pope's BYU team last year, they beat somebody great and they might struggle against somebody else. I think that's what going to be what this team is. I think they're going to kind of be, well, you have a great game and then I don't know what happens. Every game is going to be nerve wracking. I mean we've played, I've watched a lot of college basketball this year. I think we've the three best games I've seen have been involving us, uk, Gonzaga, uk, Florida and then tonight those are the three best games I think I've seen and we've been in all of them. It's going to be exciting. And the thing I like about this team is if it's close down the stretch, I feel good about us winning. You go back to our losses. Two of them were routes and even in the Clemson game we were kind of behind the whole game. But when the game is contested we are by my count at least five. And oh in games that really come down the stretch, including throwing in the Louisville one. Well, so really happy for the victory. You got two more tough ones coming now at home. I said there's this pack of teams that I think are kind of the tier two teams. Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and who's my other one? Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Ole Miss. Well, there was somebody else, I can't remember. Well, we're now 20 in those games. Oh, Texas A and M and we get the third one on Tuesday night. We'll get a chance to maybe go three and O against these tier two teams, which is huge not only for the overall record, but will also be huge when it comes to seeding and when it comes to SEC tournament seating because it'll be tiebreakers. So these are big victories and to win one on the road, they split these games one and one. We said when they played Gonzaga and Clemson we wanted to win one, we won the harder one said the same thing this week at Georgia, at Mississippi State, win one. We ended up winning the hard one again. And finally, before we take a break and get to your calls, I just posted if you were to go to to Twitter, I just posted two things back to back that I just I love and I want you if you get a chance to go look at it. One of them somebody sent me just a few minutes ago is a retired police officer. His name's Mike. He had Billy quadruple bypass surgery. I said today, I guess it was yesterday. And he is in ICU and he's sitting there in ICU and he apparently told the people they had to Put him in a place where he could watch a TV so he could see the Mississippi State game.

[Billy Rutledge]

I'd be the same.

[Matt Jones]

By the way, if you've had quadruple bypass surgery. I'm not sure this was the game because it was very nerve wracking. But I look at that picture of this gentleman and he's sitting there with all the stuff on him after having surgery and he's got the game on and like, to me, like, is that not. I mean, that's Kentucky basketball. That's, that's big Blue Nation fandom right there. I mean, look at that picture. And then the second one was a video sent to me by a guy named Adam Townsend. And I'm getting choked up just looking at it. You know, one of the things I love about Mark Pope, he's obviously a great coach. He obviously does an amazing job with game plan and all that. But you know, we've talked about it so much, I don't want to overlook and I don't, I don't want it to become trite how much he quote unquote gets bbn. You know, he comes out after these games on the road. He's now done this. He did it in Seattle against Gonzaga. I was there for that one. I think he did it at the Champions Classic when we played Duke. I don't know if he did it at Georgia, but we lost. But tonight he came out after the game to say hi to the UK fans that were at the game in Starkville. And what usually happens if you go to a road game is fans will kind of huddle usually around Tom and Jack and until the, the road team people kick them out and they're, you know, they're just hoping. Sometimes the players come out to see their families after and they're hoping to get a of view with, with the players. And Mark has done something that I don't know that I've ever seen any coach do consistently, which is come out and say hi to those people, which is an awesome thing to do for people that have come to a road game, etc. But apparently tonight there was a man and I don't know who let Mark know this, but somebody must have who was in a wheelchair and he was at the top of the level so he couldn't get down to the floor. And I guess somebody told Mark that. And Mark walked, Coach Mark Pope walked to the top of the level to go to the concourse to see him directly. And Adam Townsend takes the video of this and it's just a minute and a half. And we don't really get to hear the conversation. We can hear a little bit. But he not only comes up and says hello, he sits down in a chair next to him and. And the video is a minute and a half long. And he talks to him for a minute and a half, sits there and talks to him. I was told he actually made, you know, the radio broadcast and the media wait a minute so that he could. Could do this. I mean, how awesome is that, like, for that guy? And I don't know who that guy is, but for that guy, that's going to be really special. But it's also how considerate to sit and think, you know, I'm going to go out of my way. They got a long flight home tonight. I'm going to go out of my way to walk to him, to walk to the concourse in a road arena and meet this guy. You know, if you're going to be the coach of Kentucky, you got to win. And so far, we're winning. But what makes it different and what makes it special to people are doing things like that. And Adam Townsend caught this on video, but Mark Pope didn't know that was gonna be called video. That's not a UK video. That's a fan shot that he didn't know that anybody would ever know that, and he did it. So while I'm as excited about this win as I can be, I'm also excited to be winning like this. To play three of the most exciting games in college basketball, to have this group of players that seem like they're all such nice kids and fun to watch, but also have a coach that understands that part of this whole thing. That's pretty. It's pretty great. And I hope we all appreciate it as much as we should. I think we do. 859-280-2287. Text machine. 772-774-5254. Take your calls. Massive win in Starkville. Cats 9590. This is the local toy dealers KSR postgame show. Welcome back. It is the local 20 dealers KSR postgame show. During the break, Billy expressing a little jealousy. It felt like you.

[Caller]

You're.

[Matt Jones]

What? What were you. What did you say?

[Billy Rutledge]

No, I'm not jealous at all.

[Matt Jones]

What did you say, though? You just tell everybody what you said to me during the break.

[Billy Rutledge]

No, I mean, you. You would have thought Mario cured cancer by the fan reaction online because he picked the Cats to win this game.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, but he did pick them. We all picked Mississippi State.

[Billy Rutledge]

I know a Great job by him.

[Matt Jones]

So don't you think so don't you think he deserves the praise for having. For having stuck with the cats when people like you and I didn't necessarily believe.

[Billy Rutledge]

Yeah, yeah, no, he does. You know, we're all just taking shots in the dark. I mean, like, Jack Givens thought this game was going to be played in the 60s and ends up 95 to 90. So.

[Matt Jones]

So you're saying, like, if Jack Givens can be wrong, you can be wrong.

[Billy Rutledge]

Exactly.

[Matt Jones]

Say, congratulations, Mario, on picking the game correctly. Why do you have to. Why do you have to reflect your jealousy on him?

[Billy Rutledge]

I didn't know there's not jealous. I just.

[Matt Jones]

It doesn't sound like it. 859-280-2287. One person writes. Matt, can you wish my friend Tanya a happy birthday? Normally, I would say no, but because I'm in such a good mood after this victory on a Saturday night. Happy birthday, Tanya. I don't. I hope it's. I hope it was a great one. What? What a great win. And happy birthday to my friend Jamie Shimbari. It's her birthday, too. I didn't know that. That's the thing. When I don't get on Facebook much anymore, so I don't get to see people.

[Billy Rutledge]

So you don't know birthdays.

[Matt Jones]

So I don't know birthdays, but I saw somebody, a mutual friend of ours, post a happy birthday, and so I got to wish her happy birthday. I know almost no one's birthday. I know my mom's birthday, Larry's birthday, and I know what month, like other people's birth, but I don't know what day. I have no idea when your birthday is.

[Billy Rutledge]

Well, damn. Maybe.

[Matt Jones]

Well, you don't know what mine is.

[Billy Rutledge]

That's true.

[Matt Jones]

Okay, so there you go.

[Billy Rutledge]

I mean, we need a calendar.

[Matt Jones]

Exactly. Who's up first?

[Billy Rutledge]

Trip is first.

[Matt Jones]

Tripp.

[Caller]

What's up, Tripp, man, I got to see you in Oxford, and it was a fun time. And I hate to ding it to see in Startville. I just want to give a shout out. Mark Pope. He gave this team back to the cats, man, and it's been a fun ride. And what a game. What an environment. It was a great time to be a cat fan and get to watch that win. We're just. I'm just proud to be a cat fan, man. You know, shout out to the 606. I'm not. That's where my grandpa's from, you know, shout out 606.

[Matt Jones]

So what was it like in There. I mean, what was it like in there? Just with crowd all into it? What was it like?

[Caller]

Dude, we were outnumbered like crazy, but Ainsley Almanor just knew how to shut them down. And it's good. In the second half it was like boom. It was like they got a bucket and you couldn't hear.

[Matt Jones]

So you were there at the Ole Miss football game. So you were there at the Ole Miss football and you're at the Mississippi State basketball game. So you've been there. When we've conquered Mississippi, we play at Ole Miss. Do we play at Ole Miss again this year? I think we do, don't we?

[Caller]

In basketball on a Tuesday night? I hope I can go.

[Matt Jones]

All right, well, you're. You're two and oh. So you better be there when we play in Oxford in February.

[Caller]

All right, I've got a trio together. It's me and my brother in law, my cousin Justin. Man, it's a trio. We're dead lay when we're in the state of Mississippi.

[Matt Jones]

All right, good. Appreciate, appreciate the call. Yeah, we play down. This, by the way, folks, is the halfway point of the season was tonight. Halftime of tonight's game was the halfway point of the season. So 13 and 3, 15 regular season games left to go. Who's next?

[Billy Rutledge]

Lee is next.

[Matt Jones]

Lee. Go ahead, Lee.

[Caller]

Say, Matt, how you doing, brother?

[Matt Jones]

Doing good.

[Caller]

Hey, listen, I was in Starkville in 1996 when Marty Pope was playing. And I wish I could ask that guy that was on the phone while ago. I didn't hear the cowbells like you used to hear him. Are they outlawed now in the gyms?

[Matt Jones]

I don't think they can do it for basketball. They can do it for football, but they can't do it for basketball.

[Caller]

Oh, boy, they did it. 96. And they had a really good team, as you know, in 96 too. And of course, we beat them pretty soundly down there. 74, 56, I think score was dealt. Had a big game and everything, but I didn't hear them cowbells. And I was wondering about them. You know, this team is. And see what you think about this team. The bench is really starting to come around. Alvidor hit them big threes. I think Perry is having a nice run as a role player. And what he's doing there's just the experience is starting to come to the top now as we play these big games, one game after another. It never gets. It never gets old. And what time y'all open up Tuesday? I'm gonna be up there.

[Matt Jones]

Well, we open Up. Appreciate the call. I mean, we open up at 11, but the game will be nighttime, so you should be up. Yeah. If you want to come to the pregame will be 4:30. The thing I like about the good thing about having this older group of guys, they don't get rattled on the road. I mean, they don't. I didn't. You know, there was. There was a couple times in the Georgia game where I thought a couple people didn't look like they wanted to shoot. But tonight, everybody seemed like they were. Everybody had confidence, and that's what you want to see. I mean, you want to see guys. Jackson is the one guy that has felt like at times this year confidence is wavered. Pope said in the post game that Robinson said to him that in the last game he was too worried about the previous shot, and he wasn't going to do that this game. If you remember, he misses the first one tonight, but then was on after that. 9 of 12 is pretty good. And he also didn't force it. I mean, after he hit that seven three, I think he missed one more. But then, like, you know, he could have just kept firing. Instead, they utilized the fact that the defense was overplaying them and got other guys good shots. And so I give Robinson a lot of credit for helping set that up. And that's now, you know, for all the talk about, well, is Jackson really the guy? That's two games. Georgia and Mississippi State arguably are two road wins. Because I still think that. Excuse me, Mississippi State, Gonzaga. That Gonzaga game was a road game. He's been the best player, both of them. So we'll see if that continues to be the case.

[Billy Rutledge]

Who's next on a night. Brea really struggled, too. They needed that.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, Brayer did really struggle. He. His shot was off tonight, and I think he was like one of five or one of six.

[Billy Rutledge]

Go ahead, Christian.

[Matt Jones]

Christian. Go ahead, Christian.

[Caller]

Man, after being at that Georgia game the other night, tonight is the best antidote in the world for that. And he kind of teed me up before. I wanted to say I have two. Two quick things. What I love about Almanor is when he's open, he shoots it. And I want the other guys on our team to do that. I think Robinson did that tonight, but I love the confidence when he gets the ball, he shoots it. And then the second thing is with this team and with the SEC, like, field of 68 tonight was saying we're one of the, like, top three teams in the league. Wherever you think we fall in the sec, we're probably like one of five teams that are in the top tier in the sec. And the key with us is if we drop one, we're not supposed to make it back up with maybe one that you can steal. That's the whole thing this year. Don't drop two in a row in the sec. If you can go one and one each week, I think we're going to be in a good spot.

[Matt Jones]

No, I think if you can win half of your. And I appreciate the call, if you can win half of your road games, you're going to be good. I mean, if you can. There's no doubt about that. If you. If we were to go 4 and 5 in road games, then that's successful. You know, I said I want to see us go 12 and six in conference. I feel like we'll probably drop one at home at some point, maybe even two. So that means we need to. To win, you know, four or five on the road. Well, you got one, and, you know, you've still got yet to come. A couple. I think you got at Vandy, you got at Missouri. Those are very winnable games. I thought Georgia was one, but you'll have a couple more. I mean, I think the season. This is a big one. You got. You go to Ole Miss. That'll be a big one. You go to Texas and you go to Oklahoma. Those are the ones that I think kind of decide where you are when the season's over. People tell me, Billy, that there's one phone line that when the people talk that are on it, it pops possible.

[Billy Rutledge]

It is very possible. You've been having phone issues, but not on all the lines. So that could be.

[Matt Jones]

Do you know which lines? Which line it is?

[Billy Rutledge]

Well, no, it's got.

[Matt Jones]

It wasn't the last guy, so it had to be one of the first two.

[Billy Rutledge]

Okay.

[Matt Jones]

Do you know what lines those were?

[Billy Rutledge]

Yeah, Yeah, I do.

[Matt Jones]

So just keeping. Just keep that in mind. That. That may be a.

[Billy Rutledge]

Okay. I'll let you know when we go to those lines later in the show.

[Matt Jones]

And we can see if they're popping. All right, who's up next?

[Billy Rutledge]

Quinn is next.

[Matt Jones]

Quinn. Go ahead, Quinn.

[Caller]

Hey, Matt. First time, long time.

[Matt Jones]

What's up, man?

[Caller]

That was a great win. I cannot believe we just beat them after losing Georgia the way we did. And I tell you what, I do not miss Calipari. Now, I was originally thinking it was a mistake to hire Pope, but now I'm just. I'm thrilled with the way this.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. Cows, Owen three. Cows, Owen three. And Tonight, after the game, said he didn't know who they played next or what day. And I was like, yeah, I'm glad we're not listening to that anymore.

[Caller]

Yeah, this. This has made my night. And we're celebrating, so.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, you should be.

[Caller]

I mean, it's the honor to call the Billy Sports Billy.

[Billy Rutledge]

Thank you.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, like, you were doing so well. I appreciate the call. Then you got to throw in all this Billy thing. Let him fix the phone lines first before we start praising him and calling him the Billy postgame show. Also, since it's technically Sunday now. Billy. Yes. My lifelong friend Jerry Lee. It's now her birthday. Jer Lee Sparks. How about that? A lot of birthday shout outs on her entire life. She was actually Billy. My first kiss when I was like, six.

[Billy Rutledge]

How about that? Wait, you were six and you got your first.

[Matt Jones]

I don't know, eight, Something like that was young. I mean, it was. And. And. And I ended up. Since it's late night, I can say this. I ended up getting diarrhea after it. And I thought that. What to me.

[Billy Rutledge]

Yeah, you thought she gave.

[Matt Jones]

I thought. I thought kissing women would give you diarrhea. So I didn't do it until I was like, 23.

[Billy Rutledge]

Is that why you didn't do it for that long?

[Matt Jones]

That's right. Who's up next?

[Billy Rutledge]

Wow, what a piece of news. We could do the rest of the show on this, honestly.

[Matt Jones]

That's right. Who's next?

[Billy Rutledge]

Justin is next.

[Matt Jones]

Justin. Go ahead, Justin.

[Billy Rutledge]

How do you follow that?

[Matt Jones]

You can't.

[Caller]

How's it going, guys?

[Matt Jones]

Good. What's up?

[Caller]

How about Jackson Robinson?

[Matt Jones]

Dude, I love it. Wow. Great.

[Caller]

Was he as consistent as Brian? He's as consistent as Ryan, but you can't help but root for the kid.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I mean, he's been great. He. He's great tonight. You know, he's. I still think sometimes people overreact a little bit in terms of like, talking about his stat. Like he's been some kind of huge bummer. I mean, I think he scored in double digits all but one game, but he has, like, you know, but this was a game where we got to see the star part, which is that what I think people were kind of really hoping for?

[Caller]

Yeah, absolutely. And I found myself rooting for him more than just, you know, as Kentucky. I mean, obviously he has stuff going on off the court, and it's really good to see him have, like a prove it to yourself kind of game. So it was really good to see on both ends.

[Matt Jones]

Totally agree with you. I Totally agree with you. Appreciate the call. Yeah, so, I mean, no, he's, he's. Gordon, he's had. He's had at least eight points in all but two games. The two games he did not have at least eight points were the Duke game, which is I think how people got in their minds that maybe he might be a little. Because he only had one point in that game and then the Georgia game in the last one. But otherwise he's had at least eight points in every game. So I do think people have been overreacting a little, but he still was not. I mean, I will acknowledge not what I thought he was going to be, but he has been. He was tonight. He has. He had 27. He had 20 against Gonzaga. He had 19 against Western, you know, so he's. He's had these games and I think we're going to see more of them as the season goes on. Who's next?

[Billy Rutledge]

Travis.

[Matt Jones]

Travis. Go ahead, Travis.

[Caller]

Hey, Madman. First off, what a amazing character from Mark Pope. You know, going out there after the game, after every game, man, and showing the fans love that. Travel at home and all of that, man, that's amazing.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, just even, just even beyond the video that we showed and that we talked about, just the fact that he even goes out there at all. I mean, I don't like, I know if it was me and I. It's 11, 11:30 at night in Starkville and you still got to fly home. There's gonna be a lot of people that go, can we just get on the plane? The fact that he does that, I do think it's awesome, right?

[Caller]

Man, that's the Kentucky fan in the, man. But second of all, man, I called in on the pre game show, bro, and I said, this is Jackson Robinson's game, man. And.

[Matt Jones]

Yes, you did, you did, you said that. I remember. You're right.

[Caller]

Yeah. Every three he made, man, I was jumping higher and higher every time he made it, man. So that was a great all around team win, man. It was a big first half by Robinson and Albanor and Butler showed up in the last seven, eight minutes, man. It was a great team win.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, totally agree. Appreciate the call. I. He did call in and say that during the game. The moment I got the most excited, Billy, at one point I hit my wall really hard. I. I was worried I'd hurt my wrist again, but I didn't was when Almanor hit his third three. Yeah, I was up pacing at that point and he hit that third three and I hit the wall really hard. And then I went, you got to.

[Billy Rutledge]

Be careful with that wrist.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, you know what though? But I mean, how many times is Almond or going to hit three threes in five plays? Like, you got to celebrate.

[Billy Rutledge]

That's true. Can I give you an underrated moment in the game? The Butler 3 at the buzzer before the end of the first half, right after he gave up that four point play. Right before it. I thought that was great.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, no, that was, that was. Well, it was big. Because for momentum you're. Exactly. Because he had just given up that four point play. And by the way, our guys have to. Look, I know everybody hates the call where a guy goes up for three and then he lands on you and there kicks his leg out and they call foul. But we've now been called on that four times the last two games. We got to stop doing it. I agree it's kind of a weak call, but they're going to call it. It's a point of emphasis in the NCAA this year. You have to give them room to land. And the, the one, they call him Butler, he kicked his leg out a little bit, but in general, like the Garrison one, he didn't let him. You, you got, you have to let him land. So I hate that call. But they're going to keep calling it, so we have to stop doing it, you know, because like it's. They're going to call it. That's just the way that they're calling the Games this year. 859-280-2287. We will take a break, come back. It's a local toy dealers KSR postgame show. Welcome back. It is the Local Toy Dealers KSR Postgame Show. 859-280-2287. One person writes. Matt, is Georgia's win over Oklahoma good for us today? Yeah, but I mean, we're going to play Oklahoma at some point too. So I mean, ultimately, you know, ultimately Kentucky's gonna have an interesting resume because, I mean, we, we have these four wins. We have. There aren't going to be too many teams. I mean, honestly, we have the best wins of any team in the country right now. I mean, we have four wins over teams that are the top 12 in the net. So nobody else has that now by the end of the year because the way the SEC plays each other, they'll probably be a few other teams that have that. But we could like not win one other game against the top 20 team and still have more than almost everyone that will enter the tournament because the good Thing about the SEC is we're going to get lots of chances. Some of these other conferences won't. Like, let's just use Louisville as an example. Louisville got a big win today at Pitt, but they will not play another game this year against the top 25 team. Now, they're going to have a good record because of that, but like, their chances to get great wins are gone. They've already played Duke, Carolina, Pitt and Clemson. That's all the ACC has. Like, they don't have anything else. So that's it, you know, and the sec, they're just. There's a decent chance when the SEC season is over that like 13 of the 16 teams, Billy, will have been ranked at some point.

[Billy Rutledge]

It's unbelievable.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, Basically everyone except LSU, SC and Vandy will probably at some point have been ranked. That's pretty amazing if you think about it. Yeah, even Vandy. I don't think they will get ranked, but they're. They could go to the tournament if they, if they win some games.

[Billy Rutledge]

So very fun. SEC tournament, no doubt.

[Matt Jones]

Oh, the SEC tournament's gonna be stupid. I mean, it's just gonna be stupid.

[Billy Rutledge]

Who's next on a possibly bad phone line? Casey is next.

[Matt Jones]

Okay, so do you think this is the bad phone?

[Billy Rutledge]

Could be one of the.

[Matt Jones]

See, I can't hear this popping, so the listeners will have to tell us, but go ahead, Casey. Casey. So see?

[Caller]

Yes, sir.

[Billy Rutledge]

Oh, there.

[Matt Jones]

Okay, go ahead.

[Caller]

I just wanted to hear you and Big Blue Nation's opinion on the first real road win and the opinions on that road win versus Duke, Zags and Florida. And also did we do a shoot around today?

[Matt Jones]

We did do a shoot around. I appreciate the call. I heard the popping that time. Yeah, I did too. Will you get somebody to look at it right now? Well, not right now, they're in bed, but like Monday or something.

[Billy Rutledge]

I'm on it. Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

All right. All right. So, yeah, let's rank the wins. So if you're going to rank the wins, let's. Our top five wins this year. I think that's a good question. I think Duke is the best win because I think they're going to end up being a one seat. I would then say, oh, you know, I, I was. Gonzaga's better. But I think winning at Mississippi State might be harder, Billy, in that atmosphere, because the Gonzaga atmosphere was like. I don't think it was as wild as this.

[Billy Rutledge]

Yeah, but you've already said it was a road game. Like it was a true road game as well. I mean, even it was a neutral site.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, but it wasn't like they were.

[Billy Rutledge]

Down at half, too.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, okay, that's a good point. All right, so I'll say Duke 1, Gonzaga 2, this 3, Florida 4. I think Florida's better than. Than Mississippi State, but you beat Florida at home, and I think you'll get more credit for beating Mississippi State on the road in the end. So that's what I would say. And then I think Louisville's probably our fifth best win, you know, because that wins looking better because they keep winning. Who's next?

[Billy Rutledge]

Bones?

[Matt Jones]

Bones. Go ahead, Bones.

[Caller]

What's going on, guys? Man, what a great win tonight, man. Just a couple quick things. I know, and I don't mean this in a disrespectful way, but like a lot of the talking heads and you know Kentucky basketball better than the ones but you guys always say, we need a dog. Beat you off the dribble and that. I can't agree with that after watching the women's game the other night. I think what this team needs more than anything is attitude. If they play with an attitude, they're on fire. And then number.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, but I mean, we did need a dog. We didn't. We did need a dog tonight. I mean, if Jackson had not had those first 25 minutes, we don't win. Right. So, like I'm saying, we definitely would. Tonight actually proves, I think, my point, which is Mississippi State played good now. I mean, they scored 90 and. And there. That's not a team that scores 90. That's not how they play. They played really well. We won that game because we had a dude when the rest of the guys weren't playing well. Could go out and get buckets.

[Caller]

Oh, no. That's what I was saying. Like, we definitely need that. But I think if the whole team was to play with an attitude, it kind of covers up that we really don't have that major dude that can go get it. So I thought that helped a lot. And then another reason tonight, like, it's never one person. You can't game plan. Like Arkansas's got boogie SL and you know, they got Cooper flag. But you can't really plan for one person on this team because it's anybody's night anytime or it's nobody's night.

[Matt Jones]

I think there's a lot of truth to that and I appreciate the call. I mean, they. After Robinson hit that seven three, they changed their defense and we're not going to let him beat him. And then other guys did. Right. Almanor hit the shots and Carr got those layups and Butler made a couple big plays away. So, you know, but Jackson Robinson like back to him for a second. I've said over and over, I don't know if we have a pro. If that Jackson Robinson plays, then he's a pro. He's the one guy that can be a pro. If he plays like that, we'll see what happens the rest of the year. But. But he played like that against Gonzaga. Played like that tonight. Like that's a pro if he plays like that. So you know, if, as they said in the post game with Ron Slay and Damian Fishback, if Jackson Robinson plays like that, we can go to the Final Four. He's the most important player on the team to me. As to this team reaching its maximum potential. Who's next?

[Billy Rutledge]

The guy who posted the wheelchair video. Adam is on the line.

[Matt Jones]

Adam, how are you? Adam? I hope first of all, glad you captured that. Explain to people kind of how what happened.

[Caller]

So I stuck around talking to the Mississippi State fans about the game. They are all loving the Kentucky team and I think the Mississippi State team is a good team as well. They have a chance to make a long run. Then, you know, the players come out, a couple of players, you know, do the post game stuff. And then Mark Pope comes out and I mean he's pictures with everybody facetiming somebody, some kids, family.

[Matt Jones]

I saw a FaceTime somebody's grandmother. Right?

[Caller]

Yeah, I mean it was. But it's who he is the way I feel. And so I was. I've been down here for a couple of days. I'm from the home of our walk on Zach Tal and you know Drew Franklin from Madisonville, Kentucky. And I actually got to meet him earlier today, was walking on the campus and saw him when they were coming out of practice, said something to him. He came second picture. He came up, you know, talked to me. It was great. But when he saw this guy, it was straight up there. And like the intentional that he was to this person was what I love. Yeah, I mean, I think that's something.

[Matt Jones]

The thing I like is that he didn't know. He didn't know Adam. He didn't know you were gonna film it. Right. Like that's what. And, and don't get me wrong, if UK had filmed that and put it out officially, it still would have been unbelievably sweet. But what I like even more is he didn't know you were going to be standing there to do that. You didn't know the guy who he did it for. Am I correct?

[Caller]

No, no. I have no clue who he is.

[Matt Jones]

Exactly. So that makes it even better. That means. Hang on just a second. That means, that means he was going to do it anyway and he did it not thinking anybody would find out, which is what I really like about it.

[Caller]

And, and I only recorded it because I want wanted Kentucky fans to understand those. I mean I think most do, but I want all to understand who he is and how he much he appreciates the fans. Like, you know, to me that's a huge thing. And, and so that's, I mean I may have, you know, crept in on a private moment.

[Matt Jones]

His family. Yeah, Adam, I appreciate the call and thank you for doing that. His family already reached out to me and, and thanked me for posting. I didn't do anything. You're the one that did it. So I think they were, they were more than fine with it. Who's next?

[Billy Rutledge]

Sean.

[Matt Jones]

Sean. Go ahead, Sean.

[Caller]

Hey. Hey, Matt. First time, long time.

[Matt Jones]

Who. What's up?

[Caller]

Great game tonight. Super happy to see Jackson play as good as he did. I think we all knew that at some point he was going to kind of come out of his shell. The one caveat that I had for I thought officiating night was pretty good. The Hubbard call or the Perry call against Hubbard? The hook.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, that was, yeah, the Perry got three fouls. I didn't feel like that was fair to him. That was a hook. I, I didn't mind. I mean it was a hook. I, I didn't mind them calling a foul Perry, but giving him the and one was crazy to me in that situation.

[Caller]

Yeah, yeah, terrible. So we've got four left before Cal comes to Lexington. We've got A and M at home, Alabama at home. Yeah, Vandy at home. And then the Vandy.

[Matt Jones]

The Vandy's on the road, isn't it? Vandy's on the road. The first one. Or am I wrong? But we don't, we don't have. You're right. Yeah. Vandy on the road and then Tennessee. Yeah.

[Caller]

So what's, what's your give. You give us your prediction on those four games.

[Matt Jones]

All right, so let me look at this here. Appreciate the call. Yeah. So you know, we go A and M home, Alabama home at Vandy at Tennessee. All right, so I think we lose at Tennessee. I think we probably win at vandy. It's a 2:30 in the afternoon game. They'll probably be just as many Kentucky fans there as there will be Vandy fans. I'm gonna say we win that, you know, I kind of feel like we'll drop one of these to A and M in Alabama. I'm just. If we win them both now, we're cooking with Greece. So I'm gonna say two and two, but three and one would be excellent. Because the thing is, you got to remember the schedule. Let me give you. The schedule opens up for us a little bit towards the end because you've got Vandy coming into Rupp. You feel good about that one. And then we finish the season with LSU at home, at Missouri. Feel good about those. We still play South Carolina at home. Feel good about that. I mean, Arkansas, there's gonna be a ton of hype around that game, but we're better than them, so. But, you know, I mean, look, man, you look at this. That's why this game is important. You just look at these schedule, like you can feel you can lose any of these games. I mean, you sit there and you say, what's a game I know will win? All right, I feel really good we're going to win LSU at home on Senior Night, right? I feel really good. We're going to win South Carolina.

[Billy Rutledge]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

But beyond that, like, you don't know. I mean, I feel good we'll win Vandy at home.

[Billy Rutledge]

How about Arkansas at home? I feel we're gonna be too emotional.

[Matt Jones]

I feel, like, 95% good about it, but there's a lot going on there, right? Like, there's a lot going on, and. And, you know, Cal can put together crazy performances sometimes, so I feel good about it, but I'm not, like, you.

[Billy Rutledge]

Know, does the broom injury damper your excitement for Auburn, or are they still a real good team?

[Matt Jones]

Well, I think they'll still be really good, but they're not. They won't be a national title contender without Merton. So I hope he. I genuinely do hope he's okay, because I think. I think if he's healthy, they're as good as anybody in the country. And I don't want to see a team not have a shot at a title because a guy got hurt. But if. If he's hurt, they're not the same. And if he's hurt, our chances against him are a lot better because, like, he is going to be a horrible matchup for us, but we don't play them till the end of the year. So if he has a chance to get healthy, he might get healthy by the time we play him. 859-280-2287. We will take a break and come back for our Final segment. This is the local Toyota dealers, KSR postgame show. Welcome back. Final segment. Local Toy Dealers, KSR Postgame Show. 859-280-2287. One person writes, matt, you thinking kissing gives you diarrhea makes sense as to why you're the last one still single. That's exactly right. I worry about my stomach health, Billy.

[Billy Rutledge]

Now, how long did a young Matt Jones think that kissing caused diarrhea?

[Matt Jones]

I mean, not long, but a while. But, I mean, I don't want to talk about when my second kiss was, because that was a little while after the first one. You had to go a while. And I think since. I think my second kiss became a lesbian, so.

[Billy Rutledge]

Oh, wow, that's so.

[Matt Jones]

You know, I had a tough start.

[Billy Rutledge]

It was so bad.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Billy Rutledge]

They went to the other side.

[Matt Jones]

Well, yes, I think that's exactly what it said. One person wrote, matt, going by your logic, I now know why I've been constipated all these years. That's funny. See? So people say it did pop. Casey's line did pop, but it wasn't that bad. One person wrote, matt, what about the guy with a 96 Final Four sign at the game? I didn't understand that, Billy. I mean, Mississippi State's only made one Final four. It was 96. So I understand being proud about that, but we were in that one, too, and we won it. So of all, like, I could understand bringing that sign to any game, Billy, except this one. Why would you bring it to the game? That's like Christian Watford injury. Like, you know, Christian Watford energy. Like, it was like, what are you doing? You. I don't get it.

[Billy Rutledge]

They're just glad everybody had fun at that Final Four, I guess. But, yeah, you know, we only had.

[Matt Jones]

Two losses that year, and one of them was to Mississippi State. Did you know that?

[Billy Rutledge]

I did not know that.

[Matt Jones]

We only had two losses that year. We lost to UMass and Cal at the very beginning of the year. And then we lost to Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament. And when the Final Four happened, we had a chance to avenge both losses because we played UMass in the final Four. And then Mississippi State lost to Syracuse. But had they won, we could have potentially avenged that loss, Billy, in the Finals.

[Billy Rutledge]

A loss in the postseason propelling Kentucky. I've heard that before.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I don't buy that. But people believe that. We do have two national championships where we lost in the SEC tournament right before it. I've always thought that was kind of. I don't think there's Any. I don't think in the last minute of the game, they go, we know we lost in the sec.

[Billy Rutledge]

They think about it galvanizes the group.

[Matt Jones]

I don't really think that one person writes. Matt, random thought. What did you think of Mark Pope's quarter zip tonight? People said it had like. I don't think I really noticed it. Let me look at this video. Because if people said it, like, had some, like, denim or something in it. Is that right? Okay, I see it now. Yeah, that is kind of. I like that actually. I'd wear that. He's got good feet. Pretty good fashion. You know, not, not patino cow fashion. Although he's better than the cow fashion now in Arkansas. But he still looks.

[Billy Rutledge]

Yeah. Suits that Rupp arena too. He respects.

[Matt Jones]

I like that. Suits it up. Pullovers on the road. I'm for it. I think that's a, I think that's a good way to go. Who's next?

[Billy Rutledge]

Jen.

[Matt Jones]

Jen. Go ahead, Jen.

[Caller]

Hey, how's it going?

[Matt Jones]

Doing good.

[Caller]

I love, I love your show. It was a great win tonight. I just want to say, you know, I don't know we're talking about players. I really just think that we're. We out coach every team. I don't know. I feel like.

[Matt Jones]

Well, I think, I mean, I think the one dude, I, I think Chris. Jan's a good coach too. I mean, I, I, I think they were well prepared. But yeah, I do think. I mean, Mark Pope, he went. The only criticism I'd have is we. I thought we should have taken a timeout when they went on that run, but otherwise, I mean, he draws up plays. He gets guys good shots. Our teams are prepared. They seem to be well scouted. Jen, I don't know what we couldn't like.

[Caller]

Yeah, exactly, Right.

[Matt Jones]

Oh, okay. Well, we can't cuss. Jen. I'm sorry. I might have to let you go. We can't. Or can we cuss after?

[Billy Rutledge]

No, we can't cuss.

[Matt Jones]

What time is it? We can start. Is it two? You can start cussing.

[Billy Rutledge]

I think 2am it gets a little more lax.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, it's like from 2 to 6.

[Billy Rutledge]

But I'm not that.

[Matt Jones]

That's Joe Biden's American. I hope we got from two to six. Wait till the January 20th. We'll be cussing. We'll do. We got five more and we'll call tonight. Who's next?

[Billy Rutledge]

Okay. Leslie.

[Matt Jones]

Leslie. Go ahead, Leslie.

[Caller]

Have a lot of love. Can I share them with you?

[Matt Jones]

Sure.

[Caller]

Okay. So I love how we have four top 12 wins and no one else does. I love how Amare didn't get into foul trouble yet was still aggressive and how he took the three as a shot clock was running out and Travis Perry got the rebound and shot.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, that was great.

[Caller]

Key three.

[Matt Jones]

Yes. And I also love how Jackson played three. I'm glad Perry has the courage to shoot that. It was. It was perfect.

[Caller]

Yes, absolutely. And then I love. Jackson said he was playing free and he was so smooth. But the one thing he said, he said that they had to be dogs. And I thought he should have said that they got a scratch and claw like cats, because a cat can take a dog any day. And I have a tick tock video to prove it.

[Matt Jones]

All right, well, there you go. Well, thank you, Leslie. I appreciate it. She had a lot of things she loved. I like it. She has a tick tock video. You better watch it now, because in eight days, Billy, it's gone.

[Billy Rutledge]

Yeah, we're getting close. Do the kids know?

[Matt Jones]

I don't know if they know now. I hear, though, like, it. It's not like it'll just shut down. You just won't be able to download it anymore, and then you won't be able to do the update. So it'll kind of like fade away. It won't just go away. It'll fade away.

[Billy Rutledge]

Remember flappy birds?

[Matt Jones]

No, I didn't. I don't do those things.

[Billy Rutledge]

Yeah, that was another app that was kind of banned.

[Matt Jones]

I'm gonna have to try to figure out Blue sky thing.

[Billy Rutledge]

Oh, yeah, get on blue sky, you liberal.

[Matt Jones]

Well, it's fine. I mean, if I'm going to be on the conservative side, then I need to be on the liberal side, right? Sure.

[Billy Rutledge]

Yes. I guess on the conservative side, it's.

[Matt Jones]

I think that's fair to say. Yeah. Who's up next?

[Billy Rutledge]

Joe.

[Matt Jones]

Joe, four more. Go ahead, Joe. Hey, Matt.

[Caller]

I love the parts of this team when they try to stop somebody like Jackson Robinson. It opens up the rest of the floor for everybody else. I love that part.

[Matt Jones]

Yes. You really saw that tonight. You really saw that tonight. They were. They. You got, I think, away especially benefited from it.

[Caller]

Mm. Yeah, That's a hard place to win. I was at that game last year on the Reed shepherd shot, and it was great. This team is growing with. With wind like this. The Gonzaga, the Duke, the Mississippi State is only going to go far in March for us. It's only going to show them, hey, we can do this. We've done it and they've proved it. And then the one thing I've noticed tonight. And then our three losses. I've noticed it. When this team gets behind, the other team goes on a run or they get behind 10 or more points. This team tries to pass their way out of it instead of shoot their way out of it. They'll pass up an open shot and pass another ball and it gets taken away and goes the other way. And they always try to pass too many times because they, they do love to give assists, but I think they need to pull the trigger more when the other team's going on a run so they can get shots at the rim.

[Matt Jones]

I totally agree with you. Totally agree with. You're probably thinking of. I thought a really bad turnover. They'd cut it to eight and then, you know, away. Threw it away trying to get. Rather than just taking the little floater, you know, I'm talking about. And then they tried to throw it cross court once. And you're exactly right. I, I thought this. We talked a lot on the pregame show about how they need to just shoot more, and I thought they were better about that tonight. But you're right. I do think they. Sometimes when the other team's on a run and they're. And it's tense, it's almost like they're trying to look for the perfect shot instead of just a good shot, and that usually causes problems, so.

[Caller]

Or I'm wondering if it's the nerves. They don't want to take that shot. Let somebody else do that.

[Matt Jones]

I don't want to miss it. Butler had a. Butler had one of those. I mean, now he took. He took a big one and hit it later, but he had one wide. He missed the one when we were up 8. And then he had. They. They came down. He had. We were. They were. It was five and he had another one he could have taken. He didn't take it. You could tell he passed it. So I appreciate the call. I think you're exactly right. You just got to keep firing. You got to keep firing because especially. Especially these. I mean, like I said on the pregame, if you. If your name is Jackson, Robinson, Lamont Butler, Otega away, or Kobe Bryant, and you're open from three, I want to see you shoot. Maybe even. I'll throw Almondora in that after this. Three more. Who's next?

[Billy Rutledge]

Grayson is on our bad phone line here.

[Matt Jones]

Grayson, kind of go quick because you may be popping.

[Caller]

Hello?

[Matt Jones]

Hi, how are you? Who. What's up? Billy put you on the wrong line, but go ahead. The worst part about the game was that the Mississippi State team was.

[Caller]

Was always pushing up against Kentucky, and.

[Matt Jones]

It made me mad. Well, I'm sorry it made you mad. I mean, they were kind of physical. There were a couple calls that I think, you know, could have gone the other way, but overall, they. I think they kind of. They kind of let them play more than the Georgia game, which I thought was good. I. I have a Butler jersey.

[Caller]

Number one.

[Matt Jones]

Well, good. Well, yeah, I hope you get him to sign it. He was. He'll be at the bar here in a few weeks and maybe you can come get it signed. Okay. All right. Appreciate the call. There you go. We need to get you a Butler jersey because, Billy, you're number one. By the way, the. The. The officiating crew that we had at the Georgia game, I don't know if you saw. They did. Billy, they did the Alabama game tonight. Okay. Did you hear that? So remember. I did not. I thought they called way, way too many fouls in the Georgia. Yeah, in the. They did the Alabama game tonight and they called. Let me look at this. They called 56 fouls tonight. And there were. Where did I see this? There were. Listen, wait till I tell you this. You want to. How many free throws were shot tonight in The Alabama. Texas. 60. 85 free throws.

[Billy Rutledge]

There were nine reviews in our game versus Georgia.

[Matt Jones]

No, excuse me. 88 free throws in the Alabama, Texas A and M. So. So when you think back to that Georgia game and we were like, why they call so many fouls? That must just, like. That must just be what that crew does. And so if we have them again, we need to recognize these dudes, call fouls. They call all those fouls in the Georgia game. They called. They call. They had 88 free throws tonight in Alabama, Texas A&M, 88.

[Billy Rutledge]

They got to go back to Texas.

[Matt Jones]

A and M. Went 28 for 48 from the line, which is only 58%, which is probably why they lost two more. Who's next?

[Billy Rutledge]

Claude.

[Matt Jones]

Claude. Go ahead, Claude.

[Caller]

Hey, Matt, thanks. First of all, thank you for giving us Sick Sickos a venue at 1 o'clock in the morning to wind down, talk about the Cats.

[Matt Jones]

This is all right. Thank you.

[Caller]

This is great fun. I got. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I gotta say, I'm a Morehead State alumni. I was sad to see Jani Broom go down and prayers out to him. I hope he. Hope he recovers when we play him. We want the best Auburn we can face two things about the Cats. The bench matured tonight. You know, they came in that first rotation and really changed the momentum of the game. That, that's, that's the most confident I felt with our bench in the, in the game tonight.

[Matt Jones]

I agree. You know, normally when that first run of the bench comes in, we've kind of seen a drop off in these other. And tonight you're right. They actually kind of uplifted them.

[Caller]

They did. They really did. And the second point was there was an emotion that the starters had and I had never seen, you know, that Amari Williams was chastising Jackson Robinson because he missed a cut to the basket and they turned the ball over. They were giving each other a little bit of a hard time at missing rotations. They matured emotionally like there was something they wanted. This guy, I never seen this. They're all such nice guys. But there was an emotion on the floor amongst themselves and obviously the result was good. I don't think it was a bad thing. But that was, that was good to see. I was glad to see they actually cared. It seemed like they really cared tonight.

[Matt Jones]

Oh yeah, for sure. I agree with that. And you're right. Amari and Jackson did have. I appreciate the call. They have two different circumstances where actually it was always once in Jackson, once where Amari didn't think they cut the right way. And there was frustration. You know, everybody has on every team, if they're honest, they have one guy that they. It kind of drives them crazy. Billy, you know, I can't always say that in my role. I always say it about the baseball players, but for the Reds. But Amari is certainly that guy. He drives me crazy. But I want to give you. So like everybody knows my frustration about him. He doesn't put his arms up in the air. I don't understand his defensive strategy. I really don't. I don't understand why his hands are down at the side. With that said, four for four from the free throw line until the end. Right. He missed the one at the end, but, you know, that's good. He hit a couple big buckets and he did have a double double. So while he does sometimes frustrate me to no end, he also has good moments. You know, I. But I'll never understand why he keeps his hands down next to the ground when he plays defense. I don't get it. Do you?

[Billy Rutledge]

No, I have no idea. I mean, you know, outsider looking in, it looks like he's just picking and choosing when he wants to give effort, but I don't think that's it. I mean, the guy's a three time defensive player. Of the year. So I just. I don't get it.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I don't either. Who's. All right, let's do one more. Who's next?

[Billy Rutledge]

Kale is our final caller.

[Matt Jones]

Kale. Kale, how are you? Kale?

[Caller]

How you doing, Matt?

[Matt Jones]

I'm good.

[Caller]

Hey, we're down here in the second region. Down here in Drew Franklin's area. Down around Massiveille. Henderson area.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, Line County. Right. Isn't that the second region?

[Caller]

Yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Big Travis Perry fans watch him in high school. Watch him, watch him down here in Henderson. And he gave us some good minutes tonight off the bench. Had that offensive rebound and a put back three and I thought he got the hook on and they counted the basket and he. I thought he got off at the foul and they called the foul on him and they counted the basket.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I thought it was pretty good. It should have been a hook. It should have been a hook. It probably. I could have been a fouled him. That could go either way. But the A and one I just thought was a terrible call.

[Caller]

Ridiculous. Worst call of the game. And if the dudes in Georgia would have been revision again. We've been there for 10 minutes trying to figure that out.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, yeah. No, you're right. Well, listen, congrats to your second week. I got a 13th regioner on the team. You got a second reasoner, so it's perfect. Yeah.

[Caller]

Second region. Second region. Go drew Franklin.

[Matt Jones]

Appreciate the call and see Ryan with his Johnny Rocker role. Player of the game. He didn't curse us because he played pick Trent Noah, who didn't play, didn't.

[Billy Rutledge]

Even get in and then the curse still exists.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, that's interesting about the ball because we, we kept here. We've shot so poorly with this ball over the years. And then tonight. Billy, do you realize that's the second most threes combined hit in a Kentucky game in history? Was tonight.

[Billy Rutledge]

No, no idea.

[Matt Jones]

The only one more. Do you know which one was more?

[Billy Rutledge]

Kentucky. Tennessee.

[Matt Jones]

The Kentucky LSU 31 point comeback.

[Billy Rutledge]

Oh, come back.

[Matt Jones]

Okay. They had 29 combined threes in that game. There were 28 combined threes in this one. Thank you folks very much for staying up. I got to go to bed because I got to get up in the morning and talk about the NFL playoffs. Here's a little secret, really. I'm going on ESPN Radio tomorrow to talk about the NFL playoffs. And I didn't watch one second of either game.

[Billy Rutledge]

Oh, my God.

[Matt Jones]

So I have no idea what I'm.

[Billy Rutledge]

Going to catch the YouTube highlights.

[Matt Jones]

I didn't see any of it. All I know is I think Lamar played really well. By the way, if you all, if any of you watched him, if you want to give me a summary on the text machine, I'd like it. I, I didn't even know who won the Houston game until like an hour ago. So it's going to be hard for me tomorrow to have strong thoughts on those games because I didn't watch them.

[Billy Rutledge]

I'll just set Myron up and knock it out of the park.

[Matt Jones]

Oh, don't worry. I'm going to say something strong like, you know Justin Herbert, he can do it in the regular season, Myron, but in the playoffs, not the same guy.

[Billy Rutledge]

Yeah, it was bad today. Four interceptions.

[Matt Jones]

See, that's the first I'd heard of that right there. Thank you. I'm gonna use that station. Thank you all very much. Big win for the Cats, 9590. Enjoy your night. We will see you Monday morning, by the way, Tuesday morning, or excuse me, Monday morning on the on the Morning show. Willie Collie Stein is going to join us from the bar at 11 o'clock. So if you've ever wanted to meet Willie Collie Stein, you can come see us Monday morning. We'll see you later. This has been the local Toyota dealers KSR postgame show.