Sidelines

UK-Pikeville post-game

Notes from Kentucky's 99-64 win:

• Stats
  • Kentucky shot 61.8 percent from the floor. Pikeville shot 40.8.
  • Kentucky shot 69.2 percent the second half.
  • The Cats made 11 of 21 three-pointers. They took just five the second half.
  • Jodie Meeks ended up with 34 points after scoring 27 the first half.
  • Billy Gillispie was not happy that Pikeville scored 37 points the second half.
  • Ramel Bradley neded up with nine assists and took just five shots. The senior did have five turnovers, however.
  • UK won the boards, 31-27.
  • Pikeville committed 25 turnovers. Kentucky committed 21.
  • UK's points per possession worked out to 1.248, or an effiency rate of 124.8. That means the Cats would have scored 124 points on 100 possessions.
  • Pikeville's effiency rating was 84.5.
  • Pikeville had 12 offensive rebounds to just nine for Kentucky.
  • Freshman Alex Legion did not score in his 10 minutes on the floor.
  • The attendance was 18,231.
  • Still recovering from shoulder surgery, Jared Carter played but one minute.
  • Still recovering from knee surgery, Derrick Jasper did not dress.

• From Pikeville coach Kelly Wells
  • On UK's Patrick Patterson: "He's a tremendous talent. He is as good as advertised; no question about it. He is a true talent that is going to make Kentucky fans proud of what he can do. He's a man-child and it's hard to do anything with him. We have pretty decent-sized posts and they worked pretty hard. He stepped on to the floor tonight and made some shots that I didn't really think we're in his arsenal. We were going to let him shoot there, but maybe next time we will re-visit that."

• UK player quotes
  • Ramel Bradley on Meeks: "Jodie was on fire tonight and I wanted to keep feeding him the ball. As a point guard, it's easier for me to have a hot shooter because I can get rid of the ball right away. I don't have to bring the ball back out and reset a play."

• Meeks on Patrick Patterson: "He is a workhorse in our eyes. He gets in there and bangs around, gets rebounds and put-backs. I think he will have a very good season."\

• Patterson: "I definitely need to work on my conditioning from a defensive standpoint. I need to be able to move my feet more and knock down a couple more shots. I've been working on coming out from the low post more, because my range is all the way to the three-point line. I just don't shoot too much from out there because I'm not that comfortable."

• Joe Crawford: "I felt pretty good, but I'm not totally healthy. I worked hard every day in practice, but I'm still a little sore. I just need to keep working on my conditioning and my strength. I'm trying to be tough out there, and I'm focusing on staying in front of the ball. I just need to keep getting better."

Audio: Gillispie's post-game press conference

Here is Billy Gillispie's post-game press conference after UK's 99-64 exhibition win over Pikeville College (14:15): Download billy_gillispie_2007_10_31.wav

Liveblog: UK-Pikeville second half

From press row at Rupp Arena:

• Kentucky wins 99-64.
  • Meeks finishes with 34 points.
  • Patterson finished with 21 points and nine rebounds.
  • Ferguson fouled out for Pikeville with 2:11 left. He finished with 22 points.
  • Pikeville picked up a technical foul for calling a time out when the Bears had no time outs remaining.
  • Kentucky shot 62.5 percent for the game. Pikeville shot 39.6.
  • More after the post-game press conferences, etc.

• Kentucky leads 89-58 with 3:43 left.
  
  • Stevenson fouled out with 4:25 left. He finished with 9 points and 6 rebounds.
  • We're well past 9 p.m. and we've still got 3:43 to play.
  • Kentucky is now up to 62 percent form the floor.
  • Meeks has 34 points.
  • Patterson has 18 points and six rebounds.
  • Ferguson, not a bad player, has 22 points for the Bears.
  • Pikeville has committed 24 turnovers.

• E-mailer wants to know if Stevenson has any blocks yet.
  • They don't keep individual blocked shots on the stats monitor beside me but UK has seven as a team.
  • The Cats just forced a 10-second violation, at 7:45 mark, by the way.
  • Feel sure Stevenson has at least one block.

• Kentucky leads 77-47 at 7:56 mark.
  
  • Pikeville went on a 9-0 run to make it 74-47.
  • Meeks has 32 points. He did miss a free throw, so it hasn't been a perfect night.
  • Bradley had back-to-back turnovers. One in backcourt, the other at mid-court.
  • Kentucky is shooting 58.7 percent.
  • The rebound battle is tied at 24.
  • Pikeville has 23 turnovers. Kentucky has 18.
  • Neither Michael Williams nor Jared Carter has played for the Cats.

• E-mailer wants to know if Legion has scored yet.
  • Not as of the 11:47 mark. The freshman is 0-for-2 from the floor. One of his misses was a three. He does have a rebound and an assist.

• Kentucky up 70-35 with 11:47 left.
  
  • Meeks has 31 points, but is getting a rest now.
  • Crawford has 11 points. He's made three three-pointers.
  • UK is shooting 57.1 percent. Pikeville is shooting 32.4 percent.
  • The Cats are 8-of-13 from the floor this half.
  • Bradley is up to nine assists. He's still taken just four shots.

• Kentucky leads 61-32 with 15:43 left.
  • Meeks is up to 31 points.
  • Bradley has seven assists and has taken just four shots.
  • Ferguson leads Pikeville with 17 points.
  • UK is 5-of-6 from the floor so far this half.

• Kentucky leads 57-28 with 18:33 left.
  • Cats open second half with 6-1 run causing Pikeville to call time out.
  • Patterson has hit double figures with 10 points.
  • Should have mentioned that Bradley had six first-half assists.
  • Meeks scored the first basket of the second half giving him 29 points, two more than the Pikeville team.
  • Meeks had 27 points in the first half. Pikeville College had 27 points in the first half.

Liveblog: UK-Pikeville first half

From press row at Rupp Arena for UK-Pikeville College:

• Halftime notes, with UK leading 51-27.
  • Meeks made eight of 10 shots the first half. Seven of those were three-pointers.
  • Patrick Patterson was next with eight points.
  • Jeff Ferguson, a 6-10 senior from Toronto, led Pikeville with 12 points in the first half.
  • Kentucky had 15 rebounds to Pikeville's 13 in the first half.
  • The Cats made 10 of 11 free throws in the first half. Ramel Bradley was 5-for-5 from the line. Meeks was 4-of-4.
  • Stevenson had the only miss from the line. He was 1-of-2.
  • Patterson had eight points and three rebounds in the first half.
  • Fellow frosh Alex Legion failed to score in the first half.
  • Pikeville made 8 of 21 shots in the first half.
  • Pikeville turned it over 15 times. Kentucky committed 10 turnovers.

• Kentucky leads 51-27 at halftime.
  • Meeks leads the way with 27 points.
  • Meeks has made seven three-pointers, missing just two.
  • UK shot 55.2 percent from the floor the first half.
  • Pikeville shot 38.1 percent.

• E-mailer wants to know if Gillispie is shouting instructions.
  • Don't know that he's shouting. But he is doing plenty of instructing.

• E-mailer wants to know about the atmosphere at Rupp.
  • I'd say the atmosphere is good, but not what I think it will be much better at the first official game. This is an exhibition.
  • Meeks now has 20 22 points at 3:17 mark, by the way.

• UK up 38-19 with 3:46 left in half.
  • Pikeville has actually scored the last five points.
  • Meeks leads all scorers with 18 points.
  • Kentucky is shooting 52 percent. Pikeville is up to 35.3.

• Kentucky up 36-14 at 5:39 mark of first half.
  
  • Pikeville scored at 9:25 to break to break a 5:09 scoreless drought.
  • Meeks hit his sixth three-pointer as the shot clock was running down at exactly the 6-minute mark. That put Kentucky up 36-11.

• E-mailer wants to know what Gillispie has been like on the bench?
  • He hasn't been on the bench. Billy G. has been up most of the game. He spends most of his time crouching in front of the bench.

• Cats up 32-11 with 7:51 left in half.
  • UK is shooting 57.9 percent. Pikeville is shooting 23.1 percent.
  • Meeks leads all scorers with 15 points.
  • Freshman A.J. Stewart checked in with 8:31 left in the half.
  • Kentucky has a 10-8 edge on the boards.
  • The Cats have 11 field goals and 11 assists. Bradley leads the way with five.

• Kentucky up 29-9 with 9:45 left.
  • Kentucky is on a 16-0 run.
  • After Patterson scores inside off an assist from a hanging Crawford, Pikeville coach Kelly Wells calls time out.
  • Meeks made his fifth three-pointer with 10:37 left, putting UK up 27-9.
  • Crawford has made two threes.
  • Should have mentioned that Crawford hit a three just 20 seconds after he came off the bench.
  • Pikeville has not scored since the 14:34 mark.

• Kentucky leads 21-9 with 11:33 left in first half.
  
  • Meeks has is 4 of 6 on three-pointers and has 12 points.
  • Kentucky has made 7 of 13 shots. Pikeville is 2 of 9.
  • Pikeville has committed seven turnovers.
  • After Meeks made his third three-pointer, UK pressed and forced Pikeville into a 5-second call.
  • The Cats hit four of their first five shots.
  • Pikeville hit just one of their first six.

• Kentucky leads 10-6 with 15:37 left in first half.
  • Jodie Meeks has hit two three-pointers for the Cats and leads all scorers with six.
  • The pace thus far has been a bit herky-jerkey. No real flow. Or excitement, for that matter.
  • Freshman Alex Legion checked in at 16:20.
  • Freshman Patrick Patterson checked in at 18:26, and scored his first basket at 18:23.
  • The officials are Anthony Jordan, Bert Smith and Antinio Petty.
    

• Pre-game
  • Updated at 7:07 p.m.
  • Billy Gillispie did get a big hand as he was introduced.
  • The starting lineup is indeed Bradley, Stevenson, Meeks, Harris and Coury.
  • Have to say, the music with the film for the opening introductions was pedestrian, at best. What happened to AC/DC?
  • This is also the debut for public address announcer Patrick Whitmer, who replaces Doug Bruce behind the microphone.
  • Remember, UK's Jodie Meeks has switched from No. 20 to No. 23. Michael Porter has switched from No. 1 to No. 13.
  • Megan McCauley from the UK School of Music sang the national anthem, and really stretched out the home of the "fre-e-e-e" much to the amazement of an appreciative crowd.
  • Derrick Jasper, who underwent off-season knee surgery, is not dressed.
  • Ramon Harris is wearing a mask over his face to protect his broken nose.
  • Pikeville College has the right colors for Halloween -- orange and black.
  • WKYT has put booklets in the seats on the lower level celebrating the TV station's 50th anniversary.
  • Didn't see it, but was told that Billy Gillispie was out on the floor watching the early warm-ups. That's a change from the Tubby Era.

Video: UK-Pikeville College preview

Programming note: Liveblogging UK basketball

Basketball live-blogging is back. Or it will be tonight when the Billy Cldye Gillispie Era starts as Kentucky meets Pikeville College in an Exhibition game at Rupp. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Yes, the game is being televised by the Big Blue Sports Network. But you can still follow along on the old computer. It's allowed.

With Woodson, what goes up, must come down

Two weeks ago, after leading Cinderella Kentucky to a three-overtime victory over top-ranked LSU, Andre Woodson was the hot quarterback in college football. Now, after back-to-back losses, the senior has cooled. Instead of picking apart defenses, Woodson is being picked apart.

• The UK quarterback has dropped to 11th in ESPN.com's Heisman Watch. He received just one vote, that a fourth-place vote, from the 15 analysts.

• Steve Muench of Scouts, Inc. writes  that "Woodson's Heisman Trophy chances took a substantial hit after he threw three picks in the fourth quarter" of last Saturday's loss to Mississippi State. (Must be an ESPN Insider subscriber to read the entire story.)

• On cbs.sportsline, Woodson is no better than fourth on the ballots of their panel of experts for the Heisman.

• This Los Angeles Daily News story on the Heisman race doesn't even list Woodson.

• At cbs.sportsline, Dennis Dodd says he needs to see more of Matt Ryan.

• It's Matt Ryan No. 1, Dennis Dixon No. 2 and Tim Tebow No. 3 in latest Scripps News Heisman poll.

UK's steep drop from the AP poll

Kentucky's drop from 14th to out of the Associate Press college football poll after Saturday's 31-14 loss to visiting Mississippi State, is the third-steepest fall from ranked-status to unranked-status this season.

Here's the list:

• 1. Michigan dropped from 5th to unranked after that loss to Appalachian State in the season opener.

• 2. UCLA fell from 11th to out of the poll after a 44-6 loss to Utah on Sept. 15.

• 3. Kentucky dropped from 14th to out of the poll after the 31-14 loss to Mississippi State.

• 4. Arkansas dropped from 16th to unranked after an overtime loss to Alabama the second week.

• 5. Auburn dropped from 17th to out of the poll after losing 26-23 to South Florida in September.

• 6. California dropped from 18th to unranked this week after its third straight loss.

• 6. Illinois dropped from 18th to unranked after a 10-6 loss at Iowa on Oct. 13.

• 6. Louisville dropped from 18th to unranked after losing to first UK and then Syracuse.

• 9. TCU dropped from 19th to unranked after a 34-13 loss at Texas the second week.

• 9. Wisconsin dropped from 19th to out of the poll after a 38-7 loss at Penn State on Oct. 13.

UK-Mississippi State post game

News and notes from Kentucky 31-14 loss to Mississippi State:

• Andre Woodson notes:
  • The senior completed 24 of 42 passes for 230 yards, but with three interceptions compared to two touchdowns.
  • Woodson ended up with a pass efficiency rating of 104.6, his lowest since the LSU game last year.
  • It was his second-lowest since the Tennessee game at the end of the 2005 season.
  • It was the first time Woodson has thrown three interceptions in a game since the 2005 Florida game.
  • Woodson has thrown two touchdown passes in each of his last 10 games.

• Offensive notes:
  • UK turned the ball over six times, all in the second half. That's the most turnovers by a UK team since the '99 team turned it over six times against Tennessee.
  • Kentucky's 319 total yards is the fewest since 227 against LSU last year.
  • Derrick Locke was the leading rusher with 46 yards on 11 carries, but carried the football just once in the second half after hurting an ankle near the end of the first half.
  • Tight end Jacob Tamme lead UK receivers with six catches for 46 yards. The six catches tied his career-high.
  • Wide outs Steve Johnson and Dicky Lyons were held to three catches each.
  • The 14 points is UK's lowest offensive output since scoring 12 at Tennessee in last year's regular-season finale.
  • The seven points was UK's lowest first-half total since last year's LSU game.
  • Kentucky had 89 yards rushing, the second straight game it has failed to rush for 100 yards. (Hurry back Rafael Little.)

• Defensive notes:
  • While Mississippi State sacked Andre Woodson three times, UK did not register a sack.
  • State suffered five fumbles, but Kentucky recovered just one.
  • Wesley Woodyard led UK in tackles with eight.
  • Mississippi State rushed for 200 yards, the most it has rushed against the Cats it rushed for 340 yards in 2004.

• Miscellaneous notes:
  • Kentucky has actually lost three of its last four.
  • After winning eight straight at home, UK has now lost two straight at Commonwealth.
  • UK's 6-3 record now matches the 2002 team, which was 6-3 and ended up 7-5.
  • The Cats are 2-3 in the SEC. They finish up 2-1 against SEC West teams, beating Arkansas and LSU, but losing to Mississippi State.

• Opposing quotes:
  • State coach Sylvester Croom: "Offensively, I think the first drive, normally I would have deferred to the second half, but I thought we had to set the tempo of the game with our offense. We came out the first drive, our offensive staff did a great job with the game plan, Woody (McCorvy) did an excellent jog calling the plays. From our offensive standpoint, that first drive was absolutely critical and was a big, big part of the ballgame because it gave our guys confidence on the road like that."
  • State quarterback Wesley Carroll: "The fact that we kept their offense off the field and our defense off the field was huge. We wanted to keep the tempo and limit the time Woodson had the ball in his hands. We were able to do that today, which was key."
  • State defensive back Keith Fitzhugh: "We knew that if we could create some turnovers our offense would pick us up and execute. Both sides of the ball did what we wanted to do today."

• UK audio:
  • Quarterback Andre Woodson: Download andre_woodson_2007_10_27.wav
  • Defensive end Jeremy Jarmon: Download jeremy_jarmon_2007_10_27.wav
  • UK linebacker Wesley Woodyard: Download wesley_woodyard_2007_10_27.wav

Audio: Rich Brooks post-game press conference

Here's the complete audio from Rich Brooks' press conference after Mississippi State game: Download rich_brooks_2007_10_27.wav