This boxing legend is the celebrity speaker at the 2024 KDF 'They're Off Luncheon'
WILDCATS

UK-USC Glance: Cauley-Stein rises, Cal roots for enemy

Kyle Tucker

SOUTH CAROLINA (12-11, 3-8 SEC)

AT NO. 1 KENTUCKY (24-0, 11-0 SEC)

Game time: 2 p.m.

Site: Rupp Arena (24,000), Lexington, Ky.

Favorite: Kentucky by 19

Series: UK leads 48-11. Last meeting: Kentucky won 58-43 on Jan. 24 in Columbia, Mo.

Television: ESPN (Adam Amin, Dick Vitale, Kaylee Hartung)

Radio: WHAS-AM 840 (Tom Leach, Mike Pratt, Matt Jones)

SOUTH CAROLINA

Pos. Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.

G-Duane Notice 6-2 So. 2.5* 11.0

G-Tyrone Johnson 6-3 Sr. 3.5* 9.6

G-Sindarius Thornwell 6-5 So. 5.2 11.5

F-Michael Carrera 6-5 Jr. 5.5 5.7

F-Demetrius Henry 6-9 So. 3.8 6.1

* assists per game

Key reserves – Marcus Stroman, G, 6-2, Fr., 4.8 ppg, 3.6 apg, 3.0 rpg; Laimonas Chatkevicius, F, 6-11, Jr., 8.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.4 bpg; Mindaugas Kacinas, F, 6-7, Jr., 6.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg; Justin McKie, G, 6-4, So., 4.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg.

KENTUCKY

Pos.Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.

G-Andrew Harrison 6-6 So. 3.9* 8.1

G-Aaron Harrison 6-6 So. 2.4 11.1

G-Dominique Hawkins 6-0 So. 0.8* 1.7

F-Karl-Anthony Towns 6-11 Fr. 6.5 9.1

C-Willie Cauley-Stein 7-0 Jr. 6.3 9.2

* assists per game

Key reserves – Devin Booker, G, 6-5, Fr., 10.8 ppg, 1.3 apg; Dakari Johnson, C, 7-0, So., 7.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.0 bpg; Tyler Ulis, G, 5-9, Fr., 5.4 ppg, 3.6 apg; Marcus Lee, F, 6-9, So., 2.8 ppgbpg; Der, 2.9 rpg, 0.8 bpg; Derek Willis, F, 6-9, So., 2.5 ppg, 1.2 rpg; Trey Lyles, F, 6-10, Fr., 7.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg.

STORY LINES

1. Willie Cauley-Stein soaring again. A week ago, the junior 7-footer was slumping. He'd scored in double digits just twice in the previous 11 games, his defense was less dominant and he said he wasn't having as much fun as earlier in the season. Coach John Calipari revealed that his surgically repaired left ankle had been bothering him. Then Cauley-Stein scored 28 points in 47 minutes combined in wins at Florida and LSU. He dunked eight times in those two games, including at least one ferocious, poster-worthy (and SportsCenter Top 10) slam in each.

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"I went on the plane after … and said, 'Geez, your ankle wasn't hurting you today, huh?' " Calipari said, grinning. "I'm trying to get him to understand how good he can be, how you gotta take risks, how you have to work – nothing's going to be given to you – how you have to relish physical play, how you have to get in this gym and spend more time and build your own self-esteem and self-confidence. Why wouldn't you want to be the best player in the country? Tell me. Does it scare you? Is that too hard? 'Ah, let me just be the eighth (best). I'm OK.'

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"Well, he can be as good as he wants to be. And that's the issue that I have with him all the time. And it's not an issue; it's what we talk about. I just want him to be as good as we all see in spurts."

2. Calipari cheering for the enemy? After Karl-Anthony Towns' technical foul for hanging on the rim at LSU resulted in a four-point swing in the Tigers' favor on Tuesday night, cameras caught Calipari pumping his fist in faux celebration. He told the team he hoped they would lose. They didn't, of course, but they got his point.

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"Coach Cal has his ways of motivating us, and that's one of them, so I wasn't surprised by it," freshman forward Trey Lyles said. Added shooting guard Devin Booker: "I think he said he wants us to lose, but I don't think he really meant that. I think he was just trying to get the best out of us."

This apparently wasn't a first for Calipari. "A kid from Syracuse when I was at Memphis was killing us," he remembers. "Johnny. And I said, 'Kill him, Johnny! You just kill him!' And he just looks at me and says, 'You crazy.' "

– Kyle Tucker