Billy Rutledge (3:07)

Well, you're leveling up and as I understand it, you were at the game today, right?

Maggie Davis (3:11)

I was. I was at Rupp arena up in, in my seat up in the upper deck, all the way up top. I did not have to work this game. I'm actually on vacation today. Took the day off of work just to come in and hang out with Billy.

Billy Rutledge (3:22)

How'd you pull that out? Vacation day on the same day you got to host the KSR post game show. I'm sorry for making you work.

Maggie Davis (3:28)

No, I would do this any day and it helps obviously that it comes off a Kentucky win. I was worried I would pull little Ryan Lemon magic and jinx us or something like that and have to come in for my first post game show on a vacation day New Year's Eve and and have to talk about a loss. Thankfully that didn't happen. Obviously. 88 to 54 started off slow but glad to see Kentucky pull away in the second half.

Billy Rutledge (3:48)

Yeah, it will never be as bad as the Ryan Lemon Magic. Some of the losses that he's had to do post game shows for. But it's good to have you alongside on the Billy R. Sports post game show with Maggie Davis today. But let's talk about it. Like you said, 88 to 54, the cats get a win. A little boring game, especially in the first part of it. Another slow start by this team. But Maggie, it was, they were 10 days off before that since their last game. So I think you expected some rust, right?

Maggie Davis (4:16)

A 10 day break, you're coming off a 20 point loss. You've had Christmas mixed in there, a couple of days away from the court I believe. And then you turn around and you do end with a 34 point bounce back. I think that is ultimately all you can ask for. I would have liked to see maybe a little bit better three point shooting in this one. But all in all I think, you know, you leave another game with four Cats and double figures, really good turnover numbers, good steals numbers, points off the bench. I know Goose Givens has really been harping on throughout the course of this season. You saw better bench production in this game and overall you just. I personally needed to see a blowout. I needed a route. I didn't want this to be a 12, 15 point game. It was too close for my comfort in the first half. You started to see him turning the page heading into halftime and then I just thought the energy was different coming out of the break. Ortega away came out hot right after halftime. He had five quick points out of the timeout or out of the halftime I should say. And from there it really was just Kentucky's game and it slowly became a 15 point lead, 20 point lead, 30 point lead and then you win by 34. That's, that's a win every day of the week.

Billy Rutledge (5:22)

Yeah, you know, Mark Pope says they're just collecting data in the first half and then they adjust for the second. But they are going to have to clean up these slow starts events eventually. This one did not bite them in the butt. It was six to four brown with about 15 minutes left in the first half. And then like you said Maggie, it was all Cats. They started to get into a groove. Andrew Carr had a big three pointer, his six of the season. That's a guy that needs to shoot more, you know what I mean? He led all players with 14 points, but I want that guy shooting more than two threes a game. It was good to see him get back in that scoring column like that.

Maggie Davis (5:51)

I totally agree with you. I was sitting there at the game. Andrew Carr hits that three, I'm like, oh, I just need to see a few more of those every game.

Billy Rutledge (5:58)

Right.

Maggie Davis (5:58)

I think he's good for two a game at least and we haven't seen that here recently. So really good to see him get going in the first half. But then we really didn't see him after halftime. All 14 of his points came in the first. Didn't play the final 14 minutes so I don't know what that was about. But he looked really, really strong in the first half. Obviously the triple. We talked about a couple big and ones. Those were obviously huge. Some other, the non conference games, the Duke game obviously comes to mind. But good to see him be physical again. I think Kentucky as a team, not just Carr, but the team as a whole against Ohio State was really lacking that physicality. You know what's around the corner, not just the Florida this Saturday, but the entire SEC slate the rest of the way. You know you're going to have to play teams more physically. So good to see Andrew Carr start to get in that rhythm in the first half. And even guys like Ainsley Almanor I thought played a lot more physically. Ortega away I think has has been that physical presence really probably the most on the entire team. But good to see some of the other guys step up in that way. Even though it was Brown and Kentucky obviously with a big size advantage. And how about Amari Williams?

Billy Rutledge (7:01)

How about Amari Williams? You know, before Amari, I will say Mark Pope kind of talked about how this that was exactly what Kentucky needed, was a wake up call versus Ohio State. He definitely had his players focus over the last 10 days. There's no doubt about that. Jack Givens said that this was just what they needed when it comes to the blowout victory. And I think maybe this could be what Amari Williams needed. This is a guy that I think disappears at times during games, but in this one I thought he played really good defense. Maggie. Him and Lamont Butler who was guarding the Ivy League Iverson and was in held in check for the most part. That's a guy that Lamont as known as a shutdown defender did a good job against. But specifically Amari Williams, he didn't do it defensively but it felt like or rebounding wise. I believe he only had one rebound but he got two. He got one at the end. That's good. But that's a guy. I think there's a lot of question marks around and he had a very solid game tonight.

Maggie Davis (7:51)

He did. And I think his energy was really consistent which has been part of his struggles throughout the course of the season. And energy wise, you mentioned it, a slow start in this one. You want I at least I keep saying we. I don't know. I don't want to speak for anybody else. I wanted to see this team come out, take charge. We haven't seen him in 10 days. They're coming off a loss. I wanted to see him come out with fire and determination and go up 15 to nothing. That would be an ideal world. That obviously didn't happen. Obviously Jackson Robinson did get the scoring started. He had the first three of the game. I was like, okay, high scoring game, first three of the night. How many are they going to hit? And then it just really slowed down after that and he scores five the.

Billy Rutledge (8:29)

Rest of the game after that.

Maggie Davis (8:31)

It didn't really pan out for him in that way. But Kentucky as a whole, I mean let's say three turnovers in the first three minutes. Only five total by the end of the game. So had to work through that a little bit in the game's opening minutes. But I really liked what we saw from the team as a whole once they settled in after those first five minutes or so. And to go back to the energy point, I loved what we saw from an energy standpoint, especially. Especially in the second half. I think that's led by their head coach. We mentioned it. I was there. I was at rup and I. Even when I'm there as a fan, I was not there for work today. And I'm sitting there like a little sideline reporter the whole time, watching the coaching staffs, watching the fans, watching the bench, et cetera. And Mark Pope comes out right out of halftime. The players are getting ready to go tip off again in the second half. And he starts doing these little bunny hops. I don't know how else to describe it. As feet were together like this. Yeah, give him little bunny hands. And he was just doing these small little jumps like he was getting ready to check in. And I was like, what's he doing? What's he doing? And I think he was trying to just reemphasize energy in this half. We need to start off a little better, a little hoppier maybe, than in the first half.

Billy Rutledge (9:36)

Well, whatever it takes, Maggie. I mean, whatever it takes to get these guys in the right frame of mind and ready to go. Yes, you mentioned energy that. You know, I thought the bench played better. I know it's against Brown and Ivy League school, but nevertheless, it's nice to get contributions by an Ansley Almanor tonight. Walker Horn a little nice assist late. Travis Perry shoots a three without a mustache. Maggie. Who would have thought?

Maggie Davis (10:00)

Big story of the game.

Billy Rutledge (10:02)

I mean, probably what we'll remember many years from now when the Kentucky Brown game would be the. The game Travis Perry shaved his mustache off and hit a three.

Maggie Davis (10:10)

I'm dying to know if it was superstitious or not.

Billy Rutledge (10:12)

Now, you were at the game?

Maggie Davis (10:14)

Yes.

Billy Rutledge (10:14)

Did anybody stand in front of you for the entire duration of the game? For any point of the game? Were there any issues at Rep arena tonight?

Maggie Davis (10:22)

No issues by my account. I am not in the troublesome section, though. I am sitting. My seat is really far away from whatever section, the little scuffle or whatever happened a couple of games ago. So, no, I was. I was free and clear of any conflict.

Billy Rutledge (10:38)

Well, good.

Maggie Davis (10:38)

It was fun, though. Shout out Rap arena. It was completely full all the way up student section full. Both end zones full. Really? That's the only section of rep. I felt like there have been some vacancies, if you want to say that, early on in the season. But it was all the way packed tonight, New Year's Eve 2:00 game.

Billy Rutledge (10:54)

Very impressed and I think Pope alluded to that. He's like what other fan base will pack an arena like that at 2pm on New Year's Eve? And into that point there it sounded like a lot of children were there as well.

Maggie Davis (11:04)

Maggie, I know you love that.

Billy Rutledge (11:05)

I, you know, hoping they all call in here and talk to us on the postgame show but overall, Kentucky ends non conference play at 11 and 2 two losses to Clemson and Ohio State. Three big wins with Gonzaga, Louisville and Duke. You know, before we open it we'll take a break and we'll open up to the phones. I mean Maggie, I think that's better than what most people thought Kentucky might do in the non conference this year. Would you agree with that?

Maggie Davis (11:30)

I agree with that. I had coming in maybe two to three losses in the non conference. I obviously did not expect the SEC to be as strong as it ends up being. So I think maybe it'll even out a little bit in SEC play. If you thought maybe four or five SEC losses will get you in the top third of the league, I think that number might be a little higher just with the strength of the SEC this season. But in general you look at just this first half of the year, the non conference schedule, 11 and 2. I'll take that any day of the week, especially when the losses comes. Come to the teams like Ohio State and Clemson and you have big wins over your rivals Duke and Louisville and that exciting overtime win over Gonzaga. Those are three really high quality wins that are going to help you more then those two losses are going to hurt you come the end of the season. Selection Sunday and seating purposes.

Billy Rutledge (12:19)

Well, let's hope they can keep that momentum up because they have a quick turnaround. It's Florida On Saturday at 11:00am I believe is the start time for that. I don't know why it's that reason but I, I guess ESPN's trying to showcase all the SEC teams but we'll be bright and early 11am against a very good top 10 Florida team. And you know, I'll be honest, I'm optimistic, Maggie. I think this team can, you know, Mark Pope, Jack Givens, they talked about resiliency and you know, fighting through adversity and that's what this team has done through those two losses and it seems like they've come out on the other side, the better for it. But there's still a lot of things that need to be cleaned up. Don't get me wrong, this is a very good SEC slate and, and sign me up for four losses now if I can. You know what I mean? You said four or five losses. I think that might even go up with how good this conference is. But we want to hear from you today. 8592-8022-8785-9280. Cats, we're opening the lines now. I believe our part timer Gavin will be in the other room helping us out. Maggie. So it's not just a one man band. We got a couple people here.

Maggie Davis (13:19)

Let's go. Team Gavin. Welcome to the party. Let's do it. New Year's Eve, 5:30. Maggie, Billy Gavin. Who else do we need?

Billy Rutledge (13:26)

That's right. You got big plans tonight. Going to go.

Maggie Davis (13:29)

I'm hosting tonight actually. So I'm hosting a party. Yes. Before the game. I got the, got the house ready. Most of the food is cooked. Husband's making the chili. So I'm, I'm off cooking duty at this point. All the appetizers are done, drinks are done, apartment is clean, all of those things.

Billy Rutledge (13:44)

Very good.

Maggie Davis (13:45)

We're good to go.

Billy Rutledge (13:45)

Very good. There may be a little champagne in my future.

Maggie Davis (13:47)

Just a little.

Billy Rutledge (13:48)

Not sure we'll, we'll see how the night goes. But give us a call. 859-2802-2872. Glasses. I do know it is New Year's Eve. Maybe three.

Maggie Davis (13:55)

Oh, you're crazy.

Billy Rutledge (13:56)

We'll take a break and be right back. This is the local Toyota dealers KSR postgame show. All right, welcome back. It helps when you turn the mic on.

Maggie Davis (14:03)

There you go.

Billy Rutledge (14:04)

This is the local Toyota dealers KSR postgame show recapping the cats big victory over Brown, 88 to 54. I'm Billy Rutledge along with Maggie Davis. You can follow us on Social at Billy R Sports and at Maggie Davis tv. Maggie, normally killing it on the TV side, but switching over to radio for.

Maggie Davis (14:23)

Tonight and having a blast. Like I said, thank you so much for having me. This is super different than tv. Way more laid back, Way more. Just chit chat, fill the time. I don't have to worry about finding appropriate video to match what I think I might say. I don't have to put up any stats on the screen. I don't have to. No easy peasy, nothing.

Billy Rutledge (14:43)

Yeah, TV's very well thought out, written out. A lot of times when it comes to scripts, you just kind of turn the mic on and you start talking.

Maggie Davis (14:50)

It's fun. I'm having a good time. Thanks for having me.

Billy Rutledge (14:52)

Right now we're watching the Louisville Cardinals. Looks like they have a one point lead over Washington after the Huskies went for two in the Tony the Tiger sun bowl with nine seconds left. So it looks like the Cardinals might be pulling this one out after their punter said he would not play because he was not getting paid. Maggie, this is crazy. We live in. In weird times right now.

Maggie Davis (15:10)

I saw that tweet, I guess maybe at halftime of the basketball game, and I was like, man, who is this? I mean, guilty. I don't know the Louisville punter by name or by Twitter handle. So I wasn't sure, you know, what. What level of player it was who was posting that and saw all the replies. It was the punter. So I don't know. It's a tough look. I think that's a tough look. And I think they're going to hang on even without him.

Billy Rutledge (15:30)

One thing they tell you not to do as a broadcaster is speculate, and that's what I'm going to do here. Quickly, before we get to the phones, which Kentucky basketball player do you think makes the most money in NIL this year? Maggie Davis.

Maggie Davis (15:40)

Ooh. I would speculate probably Jackson Robinson.

Billy Rutledge (15:44)

Jackson Robinson.

Maggie Davis (15:45)

I have no basis for thinking that. I just think his decision was kind of the last one to be decided. I think Pope really wanted him here. Not just because of the familiarity with the BYU of it all, obviously, but also the level in which he can play, the interest in going to the NBA. I think athletically he adds a different level to this team. And without him, I just. This team would look totally different without Jackson Robinson. Obviously not his best game today. I still don't think we've seen him at his best this season, but I don't think Mark Pope would have come into this season again, speculating with as much optimism without that piece. And I think early on in the year especially, we heard so much from the other players saying, like, this is a complicated system. We are all learning it as fast as we can. But Jackson Robinson is the player who they called the translator. And if Pope would go, you know, you've heard Mark Pope talk. He's wonderful to listen to, but he can get into the nitty gritty a little bit even when he's just on the radio with people like us. So I can't imagine the degree of just specifics. He breaks down in a team meeting or a film session or something like that. And for all these new guys who are brand new to Lexington and to this program, it was just a lot for them to pick up. Obviously in a hurry. They knew that's what they signed up for. But Robinson was a huge piece of translating what Mark Pope wanted out of this team, especially early on. So I'd say he'd be worth it.

Billy Rutledge (17:07)

And that's why we think they have a high ceiling because, you know, they're still learning the system right now. I'm going to go Lamont Butler as a guy that hit a shot to go to the national championship game was at another school, didn't know Pope. Just as we're speculating here on the local Toyota dealer KSR postgame show, I will go Lamont Butler.

Maggie Davis (17:24)

I love it. Well, we did have I sat down with Pope and then three of his assistants, Feger Brooks and Jason Hart, a couple of weeks ago and this aired on BBN tonight. But we asked about some recruiting stories and this staff working together and how they've gotten this team to gel so quickly with all those new pieces we've talked about. And they brought up Lamont Butler's visit. When they went to visit him, he was one of their first stops on the recruiting trail. Once this staff was assembled, he said it was so funny. It was Alvin Brooks. He said, we went four deep to see Lamont.

Billy Rutledge (17:53)

We all rolled out. Yeah.

Maggie Davis (17:55)

Yep. Knocked on his door at midnight the day the recruiting window opened, 12:01 and said, Good morning. We would like for you to be a wildcat. So it was an awesome story for deep to see Lamont. Very clear that they wanted him to.

Billy Rutledge (18:05)

Love to hear that. You can hear more of Those stories on BBN tonight, weeknights at 7:30, LAX18.

Maggie Davis (18:11)

And all across the UK sports network, look us up.

Billy Rutledge (18:13)

Let's see what the the people have to say. 592-802-2287. Spencer is our first caller tonight. What's up Spencer? You got us.

Caller (18:22)

Hey, what's going on guys? Hey man, great win by the Cat. I just wanted to give a shout out to my buddy Fabian lashawn hooking me up with some tickets. Got to take my daughter to her first Kentucky game tonight. It was awesome to see a dominant win. I thought Amari Williams had a great game. I would like to see some more rebounds out of the big guy, but he did a great job tonight.

Billy Rutledge (18:47)

Yeah, you sure did. How did your daughter enjoy the game? Did you guys get some ice cream or anything like that.

Caller (18:52)

We sure did. Yeah, she got herself some ice cream. It was a little bit too big for, but I thought she needs to finish.

Billy Rutledge (19:01)

Hey. Well, Spencer, sounds like we're losing you a little bit, so we appreciate the call. Glad you and your daughter had a good time at the first game.

Maggie Davis (19:07)

Awesome.

Billy Rutledge (19:08)

You know that sometimes you don't realize that it's. It's a lot of games. It's somebody's first game and a lot of times that's a kid. And it can mean a lot when somebody stops and signs an autograph like Mark Pope or Amari Williams or even the entire team that came out the other night to sign autographs.

Maggie Davis (19:22)

Yes, they showed somebody on the Jumbotron at the game today. The kid was holding the sign and it said, it's my grandma's first game. And so I thought that was a lot of fun. It was awesome. I think I had somebody sitting behind me today who I don't know if it was her first game, but she couldn't have been more than three or four years old and she was so sweet and her mom was just explaining the rules of basketball to her. I don't know how much she was absorbing, but it was so funny. The mom was like, see that line? If you're behind that line, it's three points. If you're in front of that line, it's two points. It was awesome to listen to. It just brought back memories. I mean, I remember my first, you know, early games like that, going to Rupp Arena. It's just such a cool experience and sometimes it's easy to take it for granted. And especially those of us who cover the team or get to go to so many of these great games, you do kind of lose sight of just how unbelievable it is to see that atmosphere and experience a game. And hey, like our caller said, A 34 point blowout. Not bad. I think maybe his daughter's the good luck charm.

Billy Rutledge (20:15)

Yeah, you may be right. I've forgotten what it's like to go to a game. Maggie. I've been locked in this studio for so long.

Maggie Davis (20:20)

I think you need a window in here.

Billy Rutledge (20:22)

Well, you know, we have multiple studios in here and two of them have windows. And I just have always chosen the one without windows because this studio from the beginning has been the one that's worked the best with the less, with the least amount of issues. So we've just, I've just kind of made this my home, Maggie. And that's why those Twinkies over There have been there since Christmas of 23.

Maggie Davis (20:41)

Man of the people, you are putting the lack of technical difficulties above your own sense of enjoyment on a long, long, long day that you spend in a windowless room. I salute you for that.

Billy Rutledge (20:51)

Well, let's knock on some wood about the technical difficulties. We still got about half an hour to go. Lee is on the line. What's up, Lee? How are you?

Caller (20:59)

Hey, what's going on, Maggie and Billy?

Maggie Davis (21:02)

What's up, Lee?

Caller (21:04)

Hey, listen, I, I guess it's a theme today, but I need to give a shout out to my three grandchildren, Cash, London and crew. They went to their first game today. They went up there with my daughter and son in law and they sent back a picture of all of them eating ice cream. But I want to give a couple two thoughts and I want your response to him after I talk to him. And one of them is really proud of what Travis Perry is doing. He seems to be making the most of his, his playing time that he's getting right now, really improving, looking a lot better. And you know, when you're going against Butler every day, I guess you're going to get better.

Billy Rutledge (21:49)

Amen to that.

Caller (21:51)

And then the second thing, and now I hang up and let y'all give responses. It would be nice, sure would be nice to beat Florida and then have three top 10 wins this early on our resume with the difficulties gonna be in the SEC this year, so. And I think they got a good start. I think you said earlier that you really like their chances on Saturday and I do too. And that'll really give them a great resume. And as I always say, go Cats. And thanks for everything y'all do. Ksr. We appreciate you.

Billy Rutledge (22:26)

Yeah, Big thank you, Lee, for calling into the show this evening. Couple things. One, it's not hyperbole to say that that Florida game may be one of the biggest games of the year, Maggie. I mean, I think that this game could dictate your early portion of the conference schedule. You know, continue to build that momentum or is it a full stop and then you have to realize you need to do things much, much differently. You know, the, the season started very strangely for the Florida team. Their coach, Todd golden accused of, I guess, harassment of other UF students that seems to have gone under the rug or is. Is not, you know, materialized into anything of him missing the game. But nevertheless, Maggie, this is such a good conference schedule that, you know, it's important to start out. Want to know, is it not?

Maggie Davis (23:12)

I think so. I also think the way this schedule Breaks is so interesting. And I think we talked about this a lot early on in the year, and then we just get wrapped up in the current game, in the next game, and it's sometimes hard to look too far ahead. And of course, any coach out there who's listening will tell you you can't do that anyway. But now that you do have sort of a second to take a breath and say, we finished this. Now let's look ahead to that. You look at this SEC schedule and January is really fairly manageable. Obviously, it's a tough league. Top to bottom all. Every single SEC team is in the top 85 of the net rankings. Only one team has more than two losses. That's South Carolina. And two of South Carolina's three losses came to ranked teams. So this league, you're not going to have an easy night. I don't want it to sound that way, but when you do look at the January schedule, other than this first game against Florida and then that last game at Tennessee, the games in the middle are really games. You need to take care of it. And maybe you drop one here or there, but the January schedule sets you up to have success if you can set the tone early against the Gators because you have a really, really tough February into March coming up. So you need to stack wins this first month of 2025.

Billy Rutledge (24:20)

Yeah. And Florida is kind of one of those fringe teams of if they're going to make a buy in the SEC tournament. Right. You want to be one of those top four seeds. We'll see if the Cats can become one of those. And also Travis Perry. Yes, it is good to see the guy on the floor making a shot. I think we need to pump the brakes a little bit on Travis Perry at times. He doesn't seem ready, Maggie. But like the caller said, when you're working with Lamont Butler, maybe you can get better very quickly.

Maggie Davis (24:45)

That gets you ready in a hurry. Absolutely. And I will say this about Travis Perry. He looked as comfortable today as we've seen him all season. I think he's been thrown into some situations this year where you could tell almost immediately he's getting picked on by the opposing team. Brown tried to do that today. I think he gave up one pretty blatant three that was over him. And then other than that, he really held his own out there in the minutes that he did come in for Lamont Butler. And especially while Kirk Risa is out and you have guys sort of playing a variety of positions, I thought it was good to see him Come in for Butler, play those minutes well without having to shuffle Jackson Robinson into the point guard position as much as he's had to in a couple of other games. Because clearly that's not where Robinson wants to be. He said that much. He's done it well enough to make do. But you want to ride with Butler, but you need a backup in every situation.

Billy Rutledge (25:31)

Do you mean like when he was at BYU screaming at Mark Pope when he's running down the court, I'll never play point guard again.

Maggie Davis (25:36)

I love that story. I love that story. And then he does sometimes still have to play point guard. And to be honest, he does it pretty well. But I do think for Kentucky to be at its best, they need more scoring from Jackson Robinson. They don't need him to be as much of a facilitator when you have other guys on this team who can do that. And I think today, I mean, that's another part of Amari Williams game we haven't talked about yet. But I thought he was a better facilitator today than we've seen him be in some other games this season where he's made a couple of bad decisions. I think that was a little better today, too.

Billy Rutledge (26:05)

Well, the offense a lot of times starts with him at the top of the key and such a pivotal part of that. Yes, it's just let's keep him engaged right when. When there's luls in the game, that's somebody that needs to be keeping his hands up. You know what I mean? Let's keep Amari engaged because that's when you get the best. Amari, let's take one more call and then we'll take another break here on the post game show. Neil is on the line. Good evening, Neil. How are you doing? Neil, can you hear me? Are you there? Yes, yes. Is this Neil?

Maggie Davis (26:43)

Hey, this is Colton.

Billy Rutledge (26:45)

We need. Hi, this is Colton.

Caller (26:48)

We need to work on rebounding.

Maggie Davis (26:54)

Yes, you're right. Keep going.

Billy Rutledge (26:57)

We do need to work on rebounding. Cole, did you go to the game today?

Caller (27:01)

Yeah. And.

Billy Rutledge (27:03)

But what they're really good at right now is. Yes. What are they good at, Neil? Three point shooting. They are good at three point shooting. Well, we're glad you had a good time at the game today. Make sure you get some ice cream if you go back and give us a big go Cats before you leave.

Caller (27:28)

Go, cat.

Billy Rutledge (27:29)

There you go. Love it, Maggie. How about that?

Maggie Davis (27:33)

Well, listen, I agree the rebounding needs to get better. There is no reason to be out rebounded by six to Brown. There's just no reason for that at all. Unless you have literally made every basket and you have needed no rebounds off the glass. And in that case, maybe we'll take it. That was not the case today. You just, you can't, you cannot lose that to Brown 35 to 29. Although what we haven't talked about, which I think is very impressive, is the turnover numbers and the fact that UK forced 23 Brown turnovers and then scored 33 points off those mistakes. That's an area we haven't always seen this team do well in. And I think today really turning defense into offense was a strength.

Billy Rutledge (28:13)

Yeah, on both of those stats, I believe Brown had six turnovers in the first six minutes of the game and Kentucky kept up that pace. They kept, they kept doing a good job on defense, but rebounding wise, Brown led the rebounding edge 21 to 10 at half.

Maggie Davis (28:27)

No, I hate that.

Billy Rutledge (28:28)

So despite them losing overall, Kentucky did a much better job in the second half. But what the heck happened in the.

Maggie Davis (28:33)

First half has happened too much this year. And you know, I, I'm feeling very positive about this game. I don't want this to overshadow that. But that has been an issue almost all season, especially if you look at just the remounting numbers specifically. There have been a couple games this season with almost identical numbers being out rebounded by 10 or more in the first half and then coming back and making that up in the second. But I think you've been able to find a way to win despite that through these first. What is this, 13 games? I don't think that's always going to be the case in SEC play. I know I'm far from the only one saying enough with the slow starts. But it doesn't just come down to the scoring early on in the game. It's stuff like rebounding to those little, just energy and effort plays that we've talked about can make a big difference. And I would have liked to see more of that specifically in the rebounding numbers early on.

Billy Rutledge (29:23)

Now, do we think that all the children at the Rupp arena today gathered around and said, hey, let's call Billy on the post game show. I've heard he's hosting later today.

Maggie Davis (29:30)

I hope they did. You know what, that's really why I was at Rupp Arena. I didn't watch the game at all. I walked around and I just found every child I could and I gave them your number and I said, call us on the postgame show. Billy, would love to hear from you.

Billy Rutledge (29:42)

Yeah, I'D love to hear from the kids. It sounds like a lot of kids were there having a good time as the Cats beat The brown bears 88 to 54. Got a couple open lines. 859-280-2287. If you'd like to give us a call, we'll take a break and be right back here on the local Toyota Dealers KSR postgame show. All right, welcome back to this Tuesday edition of the local Toyota Dealers KSR Post Game Show. Billy Rutledge and Maggie Davis recapping the big win for the Cats over the Brown Bears. Also getting you ready for the start of 2025. How was your 2024, Maggie?

Maggie Davis (30:16)

It was amazing. Yes. I don't think I'll be able to top it. I'm kind of. I mean, I'm excited for 2025, but I'm a little nervous.

Billy Rutledge (30:22)

You just got married, right?

Maggie Davis (30:24)

Yes, yes. Got married in August. So I really had a full year of all the celebrations leading up to that. A great wedding in August, great honeymoon. Come back right into sports season. Busy, busy, busy. Good times at work. And yeah, here we are, almost 2025 already. How about you?

Billy Rutledge (30:39)

Oh, you know, 2024 was great. I am excited and motivated for a great 2025. Whenever Shannon the dud vacation, the KSR pre show will be back to full strength. You know, there was a funny moment in the post game, speaking of being married, where Andrew Carr's fiance, was it Mark Pope? And he was like, hey, come meet Andrew Carr's fiance. And then she was thrusted in front of all the cameras over there.

Maggie Davis (31:01)

Yes. Kind of how this works for people who haven't been back there or seen too many videos is Mark Pope gives his press conference at a big long table. So envision that everyone is sitting down facing that direction. While he's talking, the players go sit down at three different chairs, different setups, so that the media is not all just glummed onto one at a time. We kind of spread out between the three players of the game, so you get a little sound from everybody, right. And they're almost up on these, like mini podiums, so you can be a little closer, but they still have a little distance and a little height over the reporters. But as soon as Mark Pope is done, everybody races to get ready to talk to the players. And then Pope has to walk out behind us to get back out to the court to do his post game that we play on this here radio network with Tom Leach, the voice of the Wildcats. So when he walks out he likes to mess with the players. Sometimes he'll ask a question. Sometimes he'll stick his phone up like he's a reporter, or he'll just start throwing out some, like, data analytics and see which reporter picks up on it to see if we can ask a question about it. So he has a little fun on the way out. And I guess today the fun was, like you said, thrusting Andrew Carr's fiance up into the spotlight, and she joined him on his little mini podium in front of, I don't know, probably 20 or 30 reporters. So that's sweet, though. It's fine.

Billy Rutledge (32:13)

No, he seemed like he was in a good mood after the win. The way that he was speaking with Tom and. And just the hijinks behind the scenes, it seemed like he was definitely as a good of mood as all the kids that were in Rupp arena today.

Maggie Davis (32:24)

Can I give you another moment? It looked like he was in a good mood.

Billy Rutledge (32:26)

Please.

Maggie Davis (32:27)

Okay. So we talked about the bunny hops, right? That's how we started the second half. That's what I'm calling them. I'm sticking with it. The other awesome moment that I saw happen with Pope once again, very early on in that second half was owe comes out at halftime, right. And scores the first five points of the second half. And really looked his best in the entire game were those first couple of minutes of the second half. And he forced a brown timeout after his fifth point of. Of the second half. And so they called timeout rep goes blue, kind of dark, whatever, Dim the lights. The spotlights are going around and you see always out there kind of celebrating. You know, teammates are pumping them up, like, yeah, man. Like, that was, you know, we got this, like, trying to keep the energy up. Pope comes out almost to mid court and chest bumps him wearing a suit, obviously, as Pope does for most of these games. And it was just hilarious to see. I think we're so used to seeing coaches high five or a slap on the back or even maybe a pat on the head or something like that. But a full chest bump was awesome. And I think that was Pope's way of being like, okay, I started with the bunny hops. We got some great away moments, and we can talk about Ortega away. I mean, he looked great again, for the most part of the game, Kentucky's probably most consistent player. If I had to pick just one. And then Pope comes out with the chest bump, and it really just. The energy stayed more consistent from there. So I will credit the chest bump.

Billy Rutledge (33:41)

And that was good to see. From away, because he didn't have the best first half, I don't think. But it was the second half. He came out really hot and, you know, almost led this team in scoring with 13 points. But that's. That's part of the reason why I think Big Blue nation loves him so much, is he's infectious. The energy, and it's translated to the fans. There's no doubt. So let's get through some of these callers because we've got full lines now.

Maggie Davis (33:59)

Let's do it.

Billy Rutledge (34:00)

Sophia and Beth are on the line. Sophia and Beth. Is it both of you guys or just one of you? Hello, Sophia and Beth. Oh, hey. Were you guys at the game?

Maggie Davis (34:15)

Yes, we were.

Billy Rutledge (34:17)

Yeah. What'd you think?

Maggie Davis (34:20)

It was amazing.

Billy Rutledge (34:22)

I'm from Canada, and it was. It was so much fun. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Maggie Davis (34:27)

Canada. What brought you to Lexington?

Caller (34:32)

Why?

Billy Rutledge (34:32)

Family living in Louisville, so I come here every year. Very cool. So was this your first Cats game or are you. Have you been to a couple before?

Caller (34:43)

I've been to a couple, yeah.

Maggie Davis (34:46)

I love it every time.

Billy Rutledge (34:47)

I've never seen anything like it. Yeah, well, there is a. There are a ton of fans there today, and I'm sure you guys were screaming loud for the Cats. Is that right? We were awesome.

Maggie Davis (34:58)

Well, good. You did your.

Billy Rutledge (35:01)

Well, thank you for calling in, guys. And how about you give us a go Cats, before you leave?

Caller (35:07)

Well, we have a question for you. Oh, we got a question before Kirk reaches back.

Billy Rutledge (35:12)

So it was what? Well, what did you think? Maggie was 4 to 6 week timeline when he got injured. So we could be looking at the end of January.

Maggie Davis (35:20)

I think mid, late January is when I'll really start paying more attention to it. Pope did say on his call in show with Tom Leach last night, gosh, this time of the year. What day is it? Today's Tuesday. So, yes, yesterday, last night, he did say Chris is definitely out this Saturday and for the Florida game. And when I heard that, I was taken aback a little bit because I hadn't even. I was like, man, did four to six weeks go by already? I don't think it had. So I do think that Pope is going to be pretty transparent about it. Chris was at the game today. He did still have a boot on, but he had transitioned from a couple games ago. He's the last few games, I should say. He's been on one of those scooters, and today it was sort of these light, small crutches. So I take that as a sign of improvement. I know he's working really hard in terms of strength and conditioning. Pope's joked about they're making that as hard and as miserable as possible so that he'll want to come back and play actual basketball as soon as physically possible. And just a little bit. I have gotten to know Kirk Risa this season through our work covering the team. Absolutely. That's the kind of guy he is. So. So, yeah, I think my best guesstimate would be the end of January to be safe.

Billy Rutledge (36:23)

All right, well, ladies, we think he's.

Caller (36:24)

The missing X factor. Like a spark plug. He's.

Billy Rutledge (36:27)

He's really the fighting spirit behind the team.

Caller (36:29)

So the sooner we can get him back, the better we're going to do in the sec.

Maggie Davis (36:32)

Totally agree. His energy is infectious. I mean, we were saying that about Mark Pope a minute ago, but Kirk Risa brings another level of it. The trash talk is just next level. Like, I've never seen or heard anything like it, to be honest with you. So. So that's pretty wild. I do think he's doing as much of that as he still can from the bench. I mean, if you watch him during the game, I don't know how much you can see it on tv, but if you're on RUP or if you're in rup, you can see him. He's clapping. He's up and down as much as he can be and is still very much engaged and part of this team.

Billy Rutledge (37:00)

Yeah, I completely agree, and we appreciate the call. Did you really give those kids my phone number? I did the phone number of the show today.

Maggie Davis (37:07)

Sophia and Beth.

Billy Rutledge (37:07)

Personally, I mean, I feel like I'm getting punked. Jalen is on the line. What's up? Jalen, can you hear? Miss, Hello?

Maggie Davis (37:15)

Let's go. Jalen, I knew you would call. I gave you Billy's number. You came through for us.

Caller (37:23)

So I was sitting, like, lower level.

Maggie Davis (37:27)

Like, really close to the court, and I could see everything. I was so happy.

Caller (37:34)

And I thought I was gonna get.

Maggie Davis (37:36)

Mark Pope's signature, but instead, I ended up meeting Lamont Butler, and it made my day, and I was so happy, and I had. It's probably, like, one of the best.

Caller (37:46)

One of my favorite games, just because.

Maggie Davis (37:48)

I got to meet Lamont Butler. I love this story. I am sitting here. Billy can attest to this. I am just smiling from ear to ear right now because I can tell that you are smiling from ear to ear, talking about getting to meet Lamont Butler. And Lamont is just an awesome guy, and so I'm so glad you Got to meet him and have that experience. Yes. It was such a good game.

Caller (38:09)

Thank you.

Maggie Davis (38:10)

Go Cats.

Billy Rutledge (38:12)

Thank you. Thank you, Jalen.

Maggie Davis (38:14)

So fun. You don't like it?

Billy Rutledge (38:16)

No, I love. I love children.

Maggie Davis (38:18)

Billy's just sitting here just. I'm smiling, just like having a grand old time, and Billy is just shaking his fists at the sky like, ugh.

Billy Rutledge (38:26)

More children to clean the slate here. I know this isn't a child. Madison is on the line. Madison, what do you got for me?

Caller (38:34)

Oh, I'm just waiting to see if I can come to get through.

Billy Rutledge (38:38)

Oh, yeah, buddy. You're on the line now.

Caller (38:41)

Oh, I was wanting to know what number you thought we would move up to first question. And what do you think the spread will be for the Florida game?

Billy Rutledge (38:51)

Okay, Madison got your two questions in. We appreciate the call. What is Kentucky at now? What is it, 10? You know, I don't think Brown really moves them up in the. In the standings, Maggie. So let's see what they do against Florida. I think that would be a huge move up if you're able to beat a top 10 team. But if you're asking me what the spread is, it's. It's going to be close. But being at Rupp Arena, I got to give it the Cats edge a little bit, wouldn't you, Maggie?

Maggie Davis (39:16)

I would think so. Just because it is a home game and because we haven't seen either team play an SEC opponent yet. So I think that sort of leaves the line up to question a little bit more. Just because the levels of competition have been so different up and down kind of throughout the season, I don't. I mean, I'm looking at Florida schedule, I don't see an amazing win on this schedule. I mean, they beat North Carolina, they won at Florida State, but there's not a top five Duke on there. There's, you know, there's. There's not an overtime at Gonzaga went on there. So I do think Kentucky will probably have the edge. Even though the Gators are technically ranked a high ahead of Kentucky right now, there's six. UK is 10th. So I think if UK wins that game, Madison, they'll probably move UK up maybe a spot or two. But I think at this point, once you're close or inside the top 10, it depends just as much on what the teams around you do as what you do yourself as well.

Billy Rutledge (40:05)

And Vegas Lines are trying to get money on both sides of the action, not just who do you think is going to win and by how much? So I'd say probably, maybe Kentucky three.

Maggie Davis (40:14)

Or four, probably less than that.

Billy Rutledge (40:17)

Pick them. Maybe.

Maggie Davis (40:18)

Listen, I don't do a sports betting podcast, so I'm the wrong person to ask.

Billy Rutledge (40:21)

Well, do we, Do I really do a sports betting podcast either? I feel like fade. This is anything but sports at times.

Maggie Davis (40:27)

It's sports adjacent.

Billy Rutledge (40:28)

I need to take a deep breath and see how many more kids we have on the line because we need to take a break. And we have one more final segment. Maggie, you're doing a great job.

Maggie Davis (40:35)

Only one more.

Billy Rutledge (40:36)

I know it goes by quick. It does so. 859-280-2287 if you'd like to get in, this is the Local Toyota Dealers KSR Postgame Show. All right, welcome back. It's the final segment of the local Toyota Dealers KSR Postgame Show. Billy Rutledge and Maggie Davis filling in on this one. Tonight, the Cats beat the Brown Bears and they will take on Florida on Saturday. Maggie, in the game tonight, Ansley Almanor hit a three in the first half to make it 22 to 14. Before then, he had missed six of his last seven three pointers. So it was nice not only to see the headband that he was rocking tonight, but for him to make a three. What do you think Ansley's role is down the stretch on the Kentucky team this year?

Maggie Davis (41:18)

I think. Well, one, I think that's a great question. I love to see him hit that three today because I do think early on in the season he was absolutely money from the corner. He got himself open a decent amount and when he was left alone or could come off a screen and get his own shot, he was making like 70% from deep or something ridiculous early on or, you know, like every game I felt like he hit one to two, three pointers. And then like you said, a long stretch here recently where he hasn't been doing that. Today was his first three since the Gonzaga game. But he also played 17 minutes, which is the second most he's played all season. I think that's probably a little higher than what we'll see him play down the stretch. Obviously Andrew Carr didn't play the last 14 minutes of the game, so everybody shifted around a little bit because of that. I think in general you want Almanor to be like a 12 minute a game guy, come in for spurts, bring that energy that we've talked so much about and then take shots. This team has talked a lot about the volume of the shots that they're taking. They haven't been happy with the number of threes that They've been seeing lately. They got, I think. What was it? 28 today.

Billy Rutledge (42:21)

What's that? 28 rebounds.

Maggie Davis (42:22)

Three pointers.

Billy Rutledge (42:23)

Oh, three pointers. Attempts. Attempts, yeah. It was 18 or. No, that's free throw. 10 of 28.

Maggie Davis (42:28)

28, yes. So I mean all, all preseason we heard the number 30 here recently that's been, you know, 20 or below. So I think seeing 28 today was a big part of that. But Almanor took four. One went in. That's not a great look, just percentage wise. But if you watch the game, two of them just rattled out. So I mean, I wasn't unhappy with the shots he did take. And he also had four rebounds, which are just big effort plays. I think that's his role the rest of the way.

Billy Rutledge (42:52)

You're. That's what I was going to bring up was the effort plays that he had in the second half. Those had nothing to do with his three point ability. But. But good to see from somebody that you want on the floor more. The Fairly Dickinson transfer, I think we expected him to be on a lot, but we just have seen him phased out a little bit the last few weeks.

Maggie Davis (43:08)

Well, I want every player on this team to be able to take one to two threes a game. Save Amari Williams. I mean, not Amari Williams. Even Brandon Garrison showed us today. I mean, whatever. If he wants to take one every now and then he goes in. I'm cool with that. Pope has shown that he's cool with that. But everybody else across the board. We mentioned Andrew Carr earlier as a player we'd like to see take more of them. I'm. And I'm the same way about every other guy on this roster because of the way this team was designed, because of the system Pope is running. That's how they want to win games. I'm okay with them leaning into it and having Almanor take four, even if he only makes one or two of them because it spreads the defense out from all those other guys. I want everybody to earn the defense that that helps their teammates get open to.

Billy Rutledge (43:49)

Brandon on X says most nil on UK squad has to be Kobe Braya just because of who the competition was. Yukon, Duke, UNC had to drive his price up and there's probably some truth to that. I mean he was the best three point shooter or best shooter in the portal. Right. And so Kentucky was able to get him from Davidson. Is that where it was?

Maggie Davis (44:07)

Dayton.

Billy Rutledge (44:08)

Dayton, yeah. Okay, Davidson. There's another Davidson shooter back in the day that was.

Maggie Davis (44:12)

Yeah, I think you're Confusing him with somebody else.

Billy Rutledge (44:14)

Yeah. Much shorter, though. I'd say much shorter.

Maggie Davis (44:16)

Only difference.

Billy Rutledge (44:17)

Let's take a couple calls. We've got four people on the line. We'll get through these calls and. And we'll call it a night, Maggie. We'll let you go home and host your New Year's Eve party.

Maggie Davis (44:24)

I know. Let's go. I think my guests might beat me, but that's okay. I love it.

Billy Rutledge (44:27)

Oh, really?

Maggie Davis (44:28)

No, it's okay.

Billy Rutledge (44:28)

Keeping you overtime here. Peggy is on the line. What's up, Peggy? How are you?

Caller (44:33)

Hey, how are you, Bill?

Billy Rutledge (44:35)

It's good to hear from you.

Caller (44:38)

Just, first of all, happy New Year to you both.

Billy Rutledge (44:41)

Yeah, same to you, Peggy.

Caller (44:43)

And now I was gonna say, but I was proud of the Cats tonight. Didn't get to go, but they look sharp in most plays and. But I have a question. I thought Doug Schles was not doing any more Kentucky games, or is that just because a cow?

Billy Rutledge (45:08)

Yeah, you know, I'm not sure about that, Peggy. We have seen him earlier this year, so we may be in him for a full dose of Doug Schalls. But he was. He was on the reference, making me laugh tonight. Oh, what was he doing?

Maggie Davis (45:19)

He just. You know, Doug Shell, he just loves to make a very exaggerated call. It's not even that the call's wrong. I mean, I was. I think it was just possession arrow. And just like the way he points at which side of the court gets the ball, you know, off. A turnover is just. Everything is so dramatic. And the best possession ever. And it just. It's just so funny to me. And it bothers me. In a close game, that matters a lot. But tonight, I found it funny.

Caller (45:43)

Money, right? And this is the second game he's called for us this year.

Maggie Davis (45:50)

Buckle up, Peggy. Here we go.

Billy Rutledge (45:51)

Yeah, get ready. We'll get some more showers. Peggy.

Caller (45:55)

All right. All right. Happy New Year.

Billy Rutledge (45:58)

Yeah. Happy New Year. Appreciate you calling in, Peggy.

Caller (46:01)

Hi.

Billy Rutledge (46:02)

Glad you are not under the age of 10 years old. There we go then. We got a streak going here. Joe is on the line. What's up, Joe? How are you?

Caller (46:10)

Yeah, I'm doing really good. Just enjoying your show. All them young people calling in, Billy.

Billy Rutledge (46:16)

Yeah.

Caller (46:17)

And, yeah, I know you're excited, but I'm excited about West Virginia beating Kansas this afternoon. It really brought a smile to my face. And right before the New year. And just see Mr. Kocell's crying over on his bench, so it was. That. That was enjoyable. And. And you're all spot on about the rebound and it's pathetic. I mean that first half, I don't think any wild put a body on anybody. I mean it was almost to the point where I'm just saying, please. So somebody just try to hit somebody when the ball goes up. But they did not. So hence we got out, rebounded pretty bad in the first half. So until we decided we're going to start putting a body on somebody, it's not going to get any better because Florida is one of the taller teams in the country. So I guess I'm just, I'm just keeping everything cross come Saturday morning that, that we find a way that hit back and start rebounding. That's it. Y'all have a great New Year's. Thanks a lot. Goodbye.

Billy Rutledge (47:15)

Thank you, Joe. We appreciate the call this evening. And to that point, I believe Mark Pope said in the post game press conference afterwards, was that rebounding, it has to be said to these guys. It has to be an emphasis. You know, a lot of times it can be forgotten or swept under the rug. And, and I think that may have been exactly what happened in this game, Maggie, is that you may be worried about so many other things and you, and you forget to put a body on a man. You, you, you forget to rebound with purpose and energy and, and this slow start things has to be figured out. This is the last game. I'm giving him a pass for the slow starts because they had the 10 days off, right? This game was at 2:00pm A little weird. I'm not doing it anymore. Okay, 11:00am they, they better be ready to go. And I don't know if that means practicing earlier or waking up and having a bagel beforehand, but they have got to stop the slow starts or it's really going to burn them eventually.

Maggie Davis (48:02)

I'm writing this down right now. Last game, Billy gives a pass number two, early morning bagels. Okay, we'll see how this goes. We'll keep this in mind. We can revisit these notes later. I fully agree though with the caller. I mean it, it just, you have to be more physical to get a rebound. I was thinking about Mike Pratt the whole first half. So many of those like one handed rebound attempts. And I could just hear Mike's voice in my head being like, Maggie, they've got a rebound with two hands. And it just made me miss Mike Pratt so much first of all. But, but it just, oh, I'm like, we gotta get somebody to just hammer that home. And it makes me think a little bit about, like you said, it is something that has to be thoughtful, it has to be approached. It has to be something you actively do. And I wonder a little bit on a roster of guys who all came from schools where they were the quote unquote shooter, for the most part, that that wasn't necessarily their role on their former teams. They were the guys taking all the shots every single game. And. And just being that designated scorer, they all knew coming to Kentucky, that's not how it was gonna be here. They all signed up to play in a system where everybody was going to take that number of shots. But I do think maybe there's been an adjustment period of, okay, if we're all shooting, we all have to be rebounding. And I think there's been a little bit of a slow adjustment on that.

Billy Rutledge (49:17)

One other thing we probably won't see a lot of is a full court press. And we saw that pretty much the whole game from Brown, old Rick Patino style back in the day. You just don't see that a lot. And the Cats after, after a little bit of a slow start and some struggles, they were able to. To dominate that defense. And the Brown Bears, which they should have. I mean, they have Ivy League Iverson, but this is vastly, you know, Kentucky is vastly superior when it comes to talent level than they were Brown. So Amari Williams, two rebounds has got to be better, too.

Maggie Davis (49:44)

Yeah. I mean, you said they have Ivy League Iverson. That's fine. Florida has Walter Clayton Jr. Who's averaging 17 points a game and wow, shooting 50% floor.

Billy Rutledge (49:52)

So show prep.

Maggie Davis (49:53)

That's a transition.

Billy Rutledge (49:54)

You said you just came in here, turned the mic on. You got notes over there.

Maggie Davis (49:57)

You know, I have notes. I'm like the most type a person, person that has ever typed day. Obviously, I have notes over here.

Billy Rutledge (50:02)

We had one person drop, so we only have one caller left, so hopefully it's a good one. Jeff is on the line. Can you finish us off with a bang here, Jeff?

Caller (50:11)

I can do that. I can do that. First, I want to say the two of you are such young, great talent that you have unbelievable futures. And I listen to you both all the time.

Maggie Davis (50:21)

Well, thank you.

Caller (50:22)

I want you to tell me. I want you to tell me where I'm wrong. Okay. Mark Pope, terrific hire. No doubt about that. All right. We have a team full of mid majors. They bust their tail, but they're mid majors. Jackson Robinson is not the best player on this. On this team. We're going to finish somewhere in the middle of the sec and we're going to be an eight or Nine seed in the ncaa. We've got a great future and I love Pope. So where am I wrong?

Billy Rutledge (51:00)

Well, if Kentucky wants to have more success than what you're predicting, Jackson Robinson does have to be the best player on this team. I mean, I think we need to see a different gear from him when it comes to scoring and also creating his own shot. We've heard Matt preach that for many, many times on this post game show. You know, middle of the pack in the sec. You might be right, Jeff. I mean this is such a tough slate. We've seen Kentucky drop some games to inferior opponents. Maybe that happens to better opponents in the sec. But here's what I guess maybe you're missing in your synopsis here is that this team has such a high ceiling and they have so much potential to get better that I don't think that we've seen their best out of anybody on this team. Not one person. I don't think that we've seen their best from. And so that makes me optimistic that they maybe they are a little bit better in the middle of the pack and maybe Jackson Robinson can be the best player on this team. Maggie, did any of the comments from Jeff stick out to you?

Maggie Davis (51:53)

I think the middle of the pack, the same as what you said, stuck out to me because I think middle of the pack would be, I don't want to use the word disappointment slightly. Disappointment would be a slight disappointment. Not because, okay, if you go back to this summer and you think new coach, new staff, new players, he put it together in whatever four days, you probably would sign up for that and be okay for one year as long as it looked better the next year. And you, you saw that moving forward. But then what we've seen from this team through the non conference, I do think they've played themselves into higher expectations and I don't want to say that middle of the pack is okay with this team. I just don't because I do think, like you said, this team has a high ceiling. Yes, a lot of these guys came from mid major schools, but I think they all came from schools where they were the best player at that mid major. They're coming here and they've played together at a much more efficient pace than I expected coming into the year. I think it's really, really hard to take the best player from 10 different teams and teach them to play together. And I don't think Mark Pope has necessarily gotten enough credit for how he's been able to manage that. Not just on the court but off the court as well. This is a team with very, very little ego, as much as I've been around them this year. I mean, it's, it's a very humble team that, I mean, it's scrappy and it's a hardworking team. It's a very smart team with a lot of basketball IQ on staff as well. So I think the combination of all of that leads to higher expectations, but also higher potential throughout the SEC than what he said in terms of middle of the pack. I think if you're not top five in the SEC by the end of the year, I'll be disappointed.

Billy Rutledge (53:25)

Well, you said higher expectations. I think a lot of people, maybe outside of Jeff, immediately adjusted their expectations after a win versus Duke.

Maggie Davis (53:33)

And how could you not? I mean, you watch that game, your expectations rightfully skyrocket. I'm okay with that.

Billy Rutledge (53:38)

Right. You're just hoping to, you know, make the tournament and maybe win one or two games, get to the second weekend. You're, you're kind of still reeling from the last few years of Cal, and now I think you're bought all the way in with Pope. And here's the, here's the thing. It's not an excuse, but this could be the least talented team that Mark Pope has at Kentucky for a while. I mean, he, he squabbled these guys together in a matter of weeks, and now once he's been able to go out and recruit, which he is proving that he can do, then you got to think it's just going to be more and more talented teams. But we'll have to see how these guys pick up the system. Would you agree with all that, Jeff, or do you disagree with any of it?

Caller (54:13)

No, I, I, I, I agree. And I love watching them play and the future is, is bright, but I don't see them being anywhere but, you know, in the middle of the pack. After that Ohio State debacle, I don't see them being higher than the middle of the pack and eight or nine seed in the, in the tournament. I hope I'm wrong, but either way, I'm thrilled about the team, the coach, and our future.

Billy Rutledge (54:41)

Well, Jeff, we appreciate you calling in.

Maggie Davis (54:42)

Yes, thank you, Jeff. The one thing I will say about that the Ohio State game is it's, you are more than justified in bringing that up. The one thing I've gone back to, and I am an optimistic, glass half full person, so I will freely admit that I do think that I cannot imagine this team looking worse than they did against Ohio State.

Billy Rutledge (55:01)

Yeah, that was, I Think if you.

Maggie Davis (55:02)

Want to see the floor, we've seen it and it was awful. It was a terrible game. Mark Pope has said that. The players have acknowledged it. We've talked about it for 10 days. That was a terrible performance. I don't think we'll see anything worse than that throughout the year. Whether or not that makes you feel good or bad, that's up to you. But to me, I don't think we've seen this team play its best game yet. And I'm pretty content with most of the games we've seen in the middle. So I think that's what makes me optimistic going forward.

Billy Rutledge (55:29)

Yeah, it's just, you know, finding out if this team is a good three point shooting team because I still don't know, Maggie. I know they want to average 30, 35 threes a game, but it just haven't been seeing them fall at a very high clip tonight.

Maggie Davis (55:41)

10 of 28 need a little more from Kobe, Bra. Little more. I think Jackson Robinson takes a lot of heat for, for not playing up to his potential. We need more from Jackson Robinson. He has to be the best player. I agree with most of that. I do think we need some better and just a higher volume of shooting from Kobe. Braya. I think they did a better job tonight of taking the shots that were open, except for maybe there was like, like one Jackson Robinson, one he overlooked, and Andrew Carr, one he didn't take. And some of those. I think this, this staff is really preaching. You have to take it. You have the green light and it's just a mindset of knowing that you are allowed to take a shot like that.

Billy Rutledge (56:16)

And I don't think Lamont Butler is going to score 33 points a night either. How Even though that was fantastic, that was an all time moment in the rivalry, I just, you know, they're guarding him different. You know, they're not letting him have that shot. And we even saw Pope get really careful with him in this game where he had one foul early and he subbed him out just because you saw what happened when he gets in foul trouble. But we've also seen them without Lamont Butler and Kirk Risa and come back 16 points down to beat Gonzaga. So you never know what you're going to get with this team, right?

Maggie Davis (56:46)

Billy, I have a problem.

Billy Rutledge (56:48)

What's the problem?

Maggie Davis (56:49)

I always listen to this post game show on podcast the next day. I really look forward to it. I like hearing what you and Matt discuss, your takeaways from the game, the color, all this stuff tomorrow. Is New Year's Day. It's a pretty chill day anyway. I mean, normally I would be pumped to listen to this post game show. I don't know what I'm gonna do tomorrow. I've already heard it.

Billy Rutledge (57:06)

Well, here's the thing. You go back and listen to it again and you critique yourself. At least that's what I will do. Will you do that after a show? It depends. Not after a loss. I'm not big on going after losses, but like after a win, you know, you watch the highlights, you maybe listen to a show like that again. But most people don't like the sound of their own voice. Are you one of those people?

Maggie Davis (57:26)

I'm not. I don't care. I think it's because I have to hear my voice so much. I mean, probably early on in my career I was like that. Absolutely. I understand that. But. But I mean, I talk for 30 minutes a day, six days a week, so. And I'm like you, I like to critique myself. I'll go back and watch almost every episode of BBN tonight and take little notes and work on improving things, et cetera. So I probably will still listen to this, but we'll see.

Billy Rutledge (57:47)

Well, if you ever want Billy R. Sports to make his TV debut, you just let me know. Maggie? Yes.

Maggie Davis (57:52)

We'd love to have you BBN tonight.

Billy Rutledge (57:54)

And you may be fired for booking guests from now on after that. But hey, this was a lot of fun. Thank you, Maggie, for joining me.

Maggie Davis (58:00)

Thank you so much for having me. And thanks to everybody who called in. That was great. Especially the kids. I appreciate you guys.

Billy Rutledge (58:05)

Yeah, especially the kids. We really loved everybody calling. It looked like a fun time at Rupp Arena.

Maggie Davis (58:10)

It was a great way to end a very eventful year for Kentucky basketball and. And a good sort of starting point for the 2025 to come.

Billy Rutledge (58:19)

Boy, you're right about the eventful 2024 year with the regime changes from Cal to Mark Pope. But the Cats finished their non conference schedule with a win over Brown, 88 to 54. The Cats will next play Florida on Saturday. Our pregame will start at 8:30am get that bagel ready. Not the bagel, the bagel. Some coffee. You're going to need it. It'll be an early one on Saturday, but it'll be a big test. A top 10 Florida team. Maggie Davis has been our guest from BBN tonight. She has done a great job. Follow her on Twitter @ Maggie Davis TV I'm Billy Rutledge. You can follow me on Twitter at Billy R. Sports and this has been the local Toyota dealers KSR post game show. We will talk to you on I guess Thursday next year.

Maggie Davis (59:02)

We'll talk to you next year.

Billy Rutledge (59:03)

We'll talk to you next year. Have a great happy new year from the Delta Sky Club. Welcome back, Ms. Klein to the JetBridge. Delta Air Lines relies on 5G solutions from T Mobile for business to power operations and serve customers faster. Together we're putting 5G into the hands of ground staff so they can better assist on the go travelers with real time information throughout the airport. This is elevating customer experience. This is Delta Air Lines with T Mobile for business. Take your business further@t mobile.com now. Now on BET Wednesdays at 10, 9 Central. BET Original Series Diora from Detroit. From executive producer Kenya Barris and BET Studios comes what variety calls a PI drama with flair. Meet Diara Brickland, a public school teacher turned amateur private eye after the disappearance of a very hot date. With the help of her friends and even her ex husband, Diara's on a mission to find her missing lover. Diara from Detroit is now on BET Wednesdays at 10, 9 Central.