After Kentucky defeated North Carolina on Saturday night, Coach John Calipari said he will be part of a group of people traveling to tornado-ravaged western Kentucky on Sunday morning.
Others making the trip include Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart and former UK players Jack Givens and Darius Miller, he said.
Calipari said the hope is the trip will bring tangible and intangible benefits. The group will be delivering 10,000 pairs of shoes, he said.
Then he added, “You just want people to know we care.”
Later Sunday, the UK team will try to enhance the Christmas holidays for families, said Calipari, who added that he hoped the effort would help players “understand what true joy is.”
COVID a spur?
Kentucky spoke of the new disruptions in college basketball caused by the coronavirus as being a motivation.
“I told them, feel good you’re playing,” Calipari said. “There’s all kind of teams that aren’t playing.”
Sahvir Wheeler echoed the sentiment.
“Some of us were, like, man, this could be our last game for awhile,” he said. “So, just go out there and give it your all.”
Medical advice
Calipari spoke of how Kentucky basketball would try to deal with a new phase of COVID-19.
“My hope is we are able to mitigate,” he said. “Wear a mask. Go get the booster (shot).
Calipari said he had gotten a booster shot.
“But I can’t force them,” the UK coach said. “If anybody doesn’t want to do it, they don’t do it.”
That’s reality
With his team preparing for the game that was not to be, Ohio State Coach Chris Holtmann likened Kentucky’s loss at Notre Dame the previous weekend to Alabama’s loss at Memphis and his Buckeyes’ opening-game loss at Xavier.
“I don’t look at that and say that’s really that abnormal,” he said of UK’s loss. “That’s the reality of college basketball. … Kentucky will get better at playing on the road just like every team will as the year goes on.”
COVID-19 issues within the Ohio State program forced the cancellation of the game against Kentucky. North Carolina, which had its game against UCLA canceled, played UK.
Late-game situations
As Kentucky looked to improve its execution in late-game situations, Holtmann put the learning afforded by possession-by-possession drama in perspective.
“I think you learn, honestly, good and bad,” the Ohio State coach said. “Even in the wins, you learn from errors that you made that you feel like you can do better.”
But what about UK not seeming to learn via losing so many close games last season?
“It’s a better team than last year,” Holtmann said. “A much better team.”
Looking ahead
When asked on Thursday about about UK seeking to create momentum going forward, freshman TyTy Washington made a knowing reference to the team’s game after the CBS Sports Classic.
“The next game after that, we all know who we play,” he said in reference to the Kentucky-Louisville game on Wednesday. “It’s just like building momentum going into that and being back home in Rupp with all the fans being in there. I feel if we take care of business Saturday, our momentum from there is just going to keep going. And I feel our team is going to keep getting better and better every day.
Rebound competition
Washington went into the game with UK’s third-best rebounding average (4.4 per game). He trailed only Oscar Tshiebwe (14.4) and Keion Brooks (4.9).
“Not surprised at all,” Washington said of his standing. “I find rebounding fun. I feel if a guard can grab it off the rim and start the break on his own instead of getting an outlet (pass), it’s probably a little better. … I always take pride in rebounding.”
Washington said he and Tshiebwe have had friendly rebounding competition.
“I tell Oscar, bro, you’re not going to get all the rebounds because I’m down there,” Washington said. “Whenever he gets his hands on it, nobody else is touching it.
“There’s been times when I’m taking rebounds from Keion. And he does the same from me. It’s really like me and Keion against Oscar. If all three of us are competing to see who gets the most rebounds, by the end of the day, I feel like me and Keion are teaming up to outrebound Oscar.”
Substitution made
Alabama is among the college teams forced to find a substitute opponent because what was called “COVID-related concerns” causing the cancellation of a game.
The Tide was supposed to play Colorado State in the C.M. Newton Classic on Tuesday in Birmingham. Colorado State had to drop out because of COVID. Davidson replaced Colorado State as Alabama’s opponent.