TV info, story lines for UK-Missouri
NO. 1 KENTUCKY (19-0, 6-0 SEC)
AT MISSOURI (7-12, 1-5 SEC)
Game time: 9 p.m. ET
Site: Mizzou Arena (15,061), Columbia, Mo.
Favorite: Kentucky by 18
Series: UK leads 7-0. Last meeting: UK won 86-37 on Jan. 13, 2015 in Lexington
Television: ESPN (Adam Amin, Sean Farnham, Seth Greenberg)
Radio: WHAS-AM 840 (Tom Leach, Mike Pratt)
MISSOURI
Pos. Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.
G-Keith Shamburger 5-11 Sr. 3.2* 8.6
G-Wes Clark 6-0 So. 3.2* 9.6
G-Namon Wright 6-5 Fr. 2.0 5.7
F-Johnathan Williams III 6-9 So. 7.1 12.6
F-Keanau Post 6-11 Sr. 3.4 3.6
* assists per game
Key reserves – Montaque Gill-Caesar, G, 6-6, Fr., 10.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg; Jakeenan Gant, F, 6-8, Fr., 5.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg; Tramaine Isabell, G, 6-0, Fr., 4.7 ppg, 1.5 apg; D'Angelo Allen, F, 6-7, Fr., 3.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg; Ryan Rosburg, F, 6-10, Jr., 2.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg.
KENTUCKY
Pos.Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.
G-Andrew Harrison 6-6 So. 4.0* 7.3
G-Aaron Harrison 6-6 So. 2.6 11.6
F-Trey Lyles 6-10 Fr. 5.3 7.6
F-Karl-Anthony Towns 6-11 Fr. 6.3 8.1
C-Willie Cauley-Stein 7-0 Jr. 6.7 9.1
* assists per game
Key reserves –Dakari Johnson, C, 7-0, So., 8.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg; Tyler Ulis, G, 5-9, Fr., 5.6 ppg, 3.7 apg; Devin Booker, G, 6-5, Fr., 10.8 ppg, 1.4 apg; Marcus Lee, F, 6-9, So., 2.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.1 bpg; Dominique Hawkins, G, 6-0, So., 1.9 ppg, 1.1 apg; Derek Willis, F, 6-9, So., 2.8 ppg, 1.2 rpg.
STORY LINES
1. John Calipari: Swoop, there he is. Missouri, where his father was a star, and Michigan, his home-state program, both started recruiting Devin Booker when he was still in middle school. The Tigers were after the son of Melvin Booker, a former Mizzou All-American, so long that two head coaches who've since come and gone both recruited him to Columbia. And Kentucky's first sign of interest? "Right at the beginning of my senior year." Naturally, the McDonald's All-American chose Kentucky.
Just don't expect Calipari to feel sorry for those other programs about his ability to swoop in and steal an elite prospect at the last minute when they've been working on the kid for years.
"I've been on that side," he said. "I've been at Memphis and Massachusetts. I hate to tell you: No one felt sorry for me. When Duke and North Carolina came in … there were kids I recruited and I'd always ask (those two programs), 'Are you recruiting the kid? Do you really want him?' Yeah. 'Staff, go get somebody else. We ain't beating them.' "
Devin Booker, who isn't sure whether his father will wear black and gold or blue Thursday night when UK visits Missouri, said it was tough to turn down programs that put so much time into his recruitment.
"Not only was it hard for them, but it was hard for me also," he said. "I did have those connections with those schools. But at the end of the day, I felt like the best decision for me would be at the University of Kentucky."
2. Another tweak coming? Calipari is famous for his late-season "tweak" that helped ignited UK's run to the NCAA title last March. Facing a new challenge now — keeping an undefeated team engaged — the Cats' coach might be tinkering yet again. He said Tuesday he's "trying some new stuff and messing around and getting these guys to continue to compete against one another."
Whatever the specifics are, which he would not yet reveal, the goal is clear.
"Just energy. Our whole thing is if we'll play with energy, we'll have a chance," Calipari said. "Doesn't mean we win every game. The thought of, 'You have to win every game,' or going undefeated, we're not talking about that. We're talking about, 'How do we come every game with energy so we know we have a chance to win?' How do we do that? How do we sustain that energy throughout a game? How do we come when teams are going to come after us and still have fun? How do we limit our errors so that our errors are forced errors, not unforced errors?' It's all those things we're worrying about, about our team."
— Kyle Tucker