It can be hard to keep up with everything going on in the University of Kentucky's 22 varsity sports. With that in mind, we will highlight the best from around Kentucky sports each week. We'll recognize the best performances from Wildcat teams and players, we'll show you the coolest videos and photos that you may have missed and we'll mix in some new stuff along the way. Here are your award winners for this week:
Co-Teams of the Week: Men's tennis advances to third straight Sweet 16, Baseball regains SEC lead
This past weekend, two Kentucky teams put themselves in advantageous positions for their postseason hopes.
The men's tennis team entered the weekend as the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, hosting a Regional on their home turf. The talented group of Wildcats used its home court advantage to blow past both Radford and Indiana in the first and second round, respectively, with 4-0 victories.
While the tennis team was taking care of business across the street at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center, the baseball team was working on a sweep over Alabama at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Kentucky junior southpaw Taylor Rogers went seven innings of two-run baseball in game one as the Wildcats pulled out 4-2. Sunday's weather forecast forced the hand of each team, eventually causing them to play two on Saturday.
With UK sitting behind both South Carolina and LSU heading into the weekend, Kentucky's sweep of the doubleheader Saturday gave them the slightest lead in the conference heading into next weekend. The Wildcats came back from a 5-1 deficit with a five-run seventh inning in game one on senior day, eventually taking the game 7-6. They then slugged their way to a 7-1 win in the rain that clinched a series sweep over the Crimson Tide.
The sweep over the weekend gives UK the overall lead in the conference and an opportunity to control its own destiny as far as the conference championship and the top seed in the SEC Tournament heading into Starkville, Miss. to face Mississippi State this weekend.
Player of the Week: Quigley sharp in start to NCAA Tournament run
Kentucky men's tennis player Eric Quigley is the third-ranked player in the nation. He showed why this weekend in help leading his team to wins over Radford and Indiana this weekend.
In the first round, Quigley and doubles partner Panav Jha helped earn the all-important doubles point with an 8-5 win. Then Quigley took to singles and, despite some rust from a lengthy layoff, handled an overmatched opponent in Radford's Nick Sayer. It was far from Quigley's best performance, but the 6-2, 6-1 score would suggest he was still rather successful.
In round two, it was more of the same for Quigley and the Wildcats. Quigley and Jha helped grab the doubles point to start the match, 8-3. Then, the third-best player in the country loosened up and dismissed Indiana's top singles player Isade Juneau, 6-1, 6-0. It was a short and sweet victory, and with his teammates taking care of business on surrounding courts, the all-time winningest player in Kentucky tennis history advanced to the Sweet 16.
Game of the Week: Baseball rallies for first of two twinbill wins
The skies were cloudy and Kentucky's chances in game one of Saturday's doubleheader looked grim after falling behind to Alabama 5-1. The big hit eluded Kentucky's bats and UK struggled in the field while Alabama mounted its lead. It was far from the game the Kentucky seniors had hoped for on their Senior Day, at least up until the seventh inning.
Then things got interesting.
The Cats loaded the bags in the bottom of the seventh, trailing 5-1. Cameron Flynn started the chipping away of the Alabama lead with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2. Senior Michael Williams came through with a big single that plated a run. J.T. Riddle laced a two-out, two-RBI double to tie things up at 5. And UK finally regained the lead after Brian Adams grounded to second base, but the second baseman booted it allowing the go-ahead run to score.
After Alabama tied it in the eighth, Williams came through once more with patience rather than his normal aggression, and worked a bases-loaded walk which accounted for the winning run. Trevor Gott, who put out the fire in the eighth inning, worked a scoreless ninth and picked up his third win of the season to help UK take the series win.
Video of the Week - Senior Day highlight package
Picture of the Week - Henderson encourages crowd during Senior Day festivities
Gary Henderson asks the crowd to stand and applaud a senior student manager. (Britney McIntosh, UK Athletics)
Alumnus of the Week: Sean Woods named head coach at Morehead State
A member of the Unforgettables is getting a chance to create another unforgettable experience for himself. Former Kentucky basketball player Sean Woods is set to become Morehead State's 13th head coach in program history with a press conference set to introduce him on Monday at 2 p.m.
Woods is fifth on the all-time Kentucky career assist list with 482 and perhaps had his biggest game in a Wildcat uniform against Duke in 1992, scoring 21 points in the Regional Final.
Woods comes to Morehead State after four years as head coach at Mississippi Valley State University.
It can be hard to keep up with everything going on in the University of Kentucky's 22 varsity sports. With that in mind, we will highlight the best from around Kentucky sports each week. We'll recognize the best performances from Wildcat teams and players, we'll show you the coolest videos and photos that you may have missed and we'll mix in some new stuff along the way. Here are your award winners for this week:
Team of the Week - Kentucky posts crucial sweep of LSU
Going into Friday's opening game against Louisiana State University, the Kentucky softball team knew what it had to do to have the best chance of making the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats have a high enough RPI to be considered, but in order to be selected, UK would have to be either at or about the .500 mark by the time SEC Tournament play was over.
With a 26-27 record going into the series, the goal was to take at least two games from LSU, but ideally sweep the Tigers so that no matter the result in the SEC Tournament, the Cats would be no worse than .500. After winning in extra innings in the opener 4-3, UK got their second win on Saturday, another one-run affair, 2-1.
Kentucky had a chance to get a sweep with the final regular season game of the year awaiting on Sunday. Sunday's game was also Senior Day, and head coach Rachel Lawson decided to bring back her ace, senior Chanda Bell, on the last day of the season. Bell delivered in the grandest way imaginable with a 1-0 no-hitter victory as Alice O'Brien delivered the game-winning hit in the sixth inning.
The win gave UK a 29-27 (15-13 SEC) record. Kentucky will head into the SEC Tournament as the fifth seed to face Georgia in Tuscaloosa, Ala. in the opening round.
Player of the Week - Corey Littrell salvages finale vs. Florida
After Kentucky had fallen to Florida in the first two games of a three-game set, head coach Gary Henderson went to his sophomore stud Correy Littrell to stop the bleeding. The Wildcats had just lost their first series of the season last weekend to Vanderbilt and were on the verge of getting swept for the first time Saturday afternoon against Florida.
Littrell served as the perfect stopper and got UK on the board in the series after throwing eight innings of one-run baseball as Kentucky got an important 2-1 win over the Gators. With the win, Littrell chalked up his seventh victory of the season and has yet to lose a game. He struck out five and did not walk a batter while not allowing a run through eight innings. The sophomore didn't allow a run through 8 innings, but gave up a leadoff homerun in the ninth before being lifted.
Game of the Week - Softball comes back, beats LSU in extras
Kentucky trailed 3-2 in the seventh and was down to its final out in the seventh when senior third baseman Brittany Cervantes stepped to the plate. With the Wildcats needing as many wins as possible heading into postseason play, Cervantes came up with one of the biggest hits of a career. Facing one of the best pitchers in the nation in LSU's Rachel Fico, Cervantes deposited a game-tying solo blast deep over the centerfield fence to send the game to extra innings.
Senior pitcher Chanda Bell posted a scoreless top of the eighth to give UK a chance to walk-off with a victory in the bottom of the frame. Fico then walked Rachel Riley and Ginny Carroll. With one out in the inning, Alice O'Brien sent a frozen-rope line drive to the left fielder. With the play right in front of her, LSU left fielder Ashley Langoni saw that pinch runner Ashleigh Gustafson had taken off for third. Langoni, with a chance to catch the line drive and turn a double play, took her eye off the ball as it glanced off her glove, and Gustafson scampered home for the game-winning run.
It was a huge win for the softball team, which set the tempo for the following games in the series. The 4-3 win was the first of three one-run wins Kentucky would hang on LSU on the weekend.
Video of the Week- Highlights from softball Senior Day
Photo of the Week- UK meets President Obama
Photo by Chet White, UK Athletics
Alumnus of the Week - Phillies' Joe Blanton tosses complete game shutout vs. Atlanta
University of Kentucky product Joe Blanton threw what he called the best game of his career Thursday in a 4-0 complete game victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Blanton blanked the Braves allowing just three hits while striking out six to pull the Phillies (13-13) to .500 on the season. After Atlanta had roughed up Philadelphia the night before, plowing through many of the Phillies' relievers, Blanton knew he had to go deep into the game.
When asked if it was the best game of his eight-year career, Blanton replied, "I think so. Just the fact that we had a lot of guys who pitched a lot of innings last night, so I needed to go deep and I did."
It can be hard to keep up with everything going on in the University of Kentucky's 22 varsity sports. With that in mind, we will highlight the best from around Kentucky sports each week. We'll recognize the best performances from Wildcat teams and players, we'll show you the coolest videos and photos that you may have missed and we'll mix in some new stuff along the way. Here are your award winners for this week:
Team of the Week: Softball wins weekend series over No. 2 Florida
As Kentucky fights for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats did themselves a huge favor by taking two-of-three over the No. 2 ranked Florida Gators on the road this weekend.
The Wildcats started the series off right with a 2-0 win in the opener. Seniors Brittany Cervantes and Chanda Bell did the damage as Cervantes belted her 10th home run of the season and Bell shutout the Gators in the circle.
After the Gators evened up the series in game two, head coach Rachel Lawson sent her ace out again. Bell showed up in a big way. She allowed just one run to keep her team in the game. Then fellow senior Rachel Riley blew the game open with a bases loaded double en route to a four-run sixth inning to help capture the series in a 5-1 victory.
Player of the Week: Chanda Bell delivers two Ws in series win over No. 2 Florida
Senior pitcher Chanda Bell set the tone this weekend in their series win over the Gators. In Kentucky's game one victory, Bell hurled 7 shutout innings, allowing just four hits, walking one, and striking out eight in their 2-0 win. The win bumped her record to 13-10 on the season.
Bell was called upon again in the finale, as the Cats needed a win to take the series. As a true senior leader, with her team grasping to post-season hopes, she delivered once more. Facing one of the most vaunted offenses in the country, Bell shut Florida down. She struck out 13 Gators on her way to seven innings of one-run ball, nabbing her 14th win of the season.
Game of the Week: Orta, Nadzam impressive at Payton Jordan Invitational
Some Kentucky runners had huge days over the weekend in Palo Alto, Cal. In the Payton Jordan Invitational, Luis Orta ran the second-fastest 3,000-meter Steeplechase in UK history with a career-best time of 8:47.52. Orta's time was good for fourth, and he was just one second away from a second-place finish.
Josh Nadzam broke his own personal best in the 1,500m with a time of 3:45.10. Nadzam's previous best of 3:47.07 came in his junior year. It was a come from behind win for Nadzam, coming from fourth place, moving up to second on the last lap, and eventually taking the lead to grab the victory.
Several other runners participated in the meet. Sophomore Matt Hillenbrand ran a career-best 3:47.20 in the 1,500m. Junior Walter Luttrell over came his career-best in the 5,000m, beating his old best by 37.3 seconds with a 14:11.79 time. Freshman Keffri Neal finished second in his heat in the men's 800m with a time of 1:51.04, his career-best. And junior Megan Wright ran a 4:34.81 in the women's 1,500m run, also her career-best time in that event.
Video of the Week - "Born a Champion"
Alumnus of the Week - Bledsoe plays key role in historic playoff comeback
With a 9:30 start on the East Coast and the Memphis Grizzlies up by 27 in the 3rd quarter, not many people got to see the incredible finish to the first-round match-up between the Clippers and the Grizzlies in the NBA Playoffs. They also did not get to see former Wildcat Eric Bledsoe help lead the way.
Though they faced the large deficit, the Clippers never felt they were completely out of it. They used a 35-point 4th quarter to grab a 99-98 win in game one. Bledsoe scored 7 of his 9 points in the fourth quarter, including a big three-pointer, while chipping in two assists and grabbing four rebounds in the comeback win.
It can be hard to keep up with everything going on in the University of Kentucky's 22 varsity sports. With that in mind, we will highlight the best from around Kentucky sports each week. We'll recognize the best performances from Wildcat teams and players, we'll show you the coolest videos and photos that you may have missed and we'll mix in some new stuff along the way. Here are your award winners for this week:
Team of the Week: Baseball wins three of four, takes series from No. 1 LSU
In what could be considered one of the biggest weeks in UK baseball history, the No. 2 Wildcats came through in a big way. After taking down UC earlier in the week 7-0, Kentucky fell to No. 1 LSU in Friday's opener of the three-game series.
Per usual, Kentucky bounced back and took the final two games of the weekend as it has in every SEC series since sweeping defending national champions South Carolina in the opening weekend of SEC play. The Wildcats dominated the top-ranked Tigers 8-1 on Saturday to even the series, and won a nail-biter in the finale, 7-6.
Kentucky (35-6, 13-5 SEC) has yet to lose an SEC series this season, and with the two wins over LSU, holds a one game lead in the conference. The big weekend, despite less than ideal weather conditions, broke a weekend series record for attendance with 9,496.
Players of the Week - Rossi, Jomby named to SEC All-Tournament team
Kentucky junior Anthony Rossi and sophomore Tom Jomby were named to the All-Tournament team this weekend. The Wildcats fell to Georgia in the final of the SEC Tournament, losing their first match in conference play.
Rossi recorded big wins this weekend in the tournament, defeating Jeff Offerdahl 6-4 to take the set and clinch the match against Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals. He was also in position to win his match against Mississippi's Jonas Lutjen, leading 5-1, when play was suspended and Kentucky had clinched a birth into the tournament championship.
Jomby was key in doubles play all weekend, getting wins along side Alejandro Gomez against Vandy and Ole Miss. The sophomore also won singles matches Vanderbilt's Blake Bazarnik (6-3, 7-6) and Mississippi's William Kallberg (6-3, 6-3) before falling in the championship to Georgia's Ignacio Taboada.
Game of the Week - Baseball takes series over LSU with 7-6 win in rubber match
The top two teams in the country and SEC split the first two games of their weekend series in Lexington, Ky. this weekend, forcing a decisive game three for conference superiority. Both Kentucky and LSU entered the series with an 11-4 mark in the SEC, and the winner of Sunday's game would hold a one-game lead in the conference.
In a see-saw battle, the Tigers and Wildcats exchanged jabs with some of the best talent in the country, but despite LSU's best effort, Kentucky came out on top. It was a total team effort for the Cats, as a balanced offensive attack along with a huge bullpen effort staved off the Tigers while earning a 7-6 win.
After Kentucky had fallen behind 5-4 in top of the sixth inning, they answered with three runs on four doubles in the bottom of the frame. Zac Zellers, Matt Reida, J.T. Riddle, and Austin Cousino each recorded doubles that inning. Meanwhile, the bullpen duo of Tim Peterson and Alex Phillips combined for 3.1 innings of one-run baseball to close the game out and finish of the Tigers.
Photo of the Week- Cousino elevates
Photo by Britney McIntosh, UK Athletics)
Video of the Week -Highlights from baseball's series clincher
Alumnae of the Week - Brandon Knight scores career-high 28 in win over Cleveland
Brandon Knight, one of a long line of successful point guards to play for John Calipari, put up a career-high 28 points in a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday night.
In Detroit's 116-77 blowout of the Cavs, Knight shot 11-of-12 from the field while adding 7 assists. In an up and down season for the first-year point guard, Knight is ending the season on a high note. Knight is averaging 18.3 points and 5.5 assists in the last six games and 15.1 ppg and 3.8 apg in his rookie campaign.
It can be hard to keep up with everything going on in the University of Kentucky's 22 varsity sports. With that in mind, we will highlight the best from around Kentucky sports each week. We'll recognize the best performances from Wildcat teams and players, we'll show you the coolest videos and photos that you may have missed and we'll mix in some new stuff along the way. Here are your award winners for this week:
Team of the Week - Men's Tennis captures outright SEC title
For the first time since 1992, the men's tennis team can lay claim to the Southeastern Conference Championship after completing an 11-0 record in the conference for the first time in school history. They finished off their undefeated conference slate with an impressive 6-1 victory over No. 43 Vanderbilt.
The Wildcats dominated in doubles, winning all three matches. Then in singles, only dropped one match and got wins from Eric Quigley, Anthony Rossi, Alex Musialek, Alejandro Gomez and Grant Roberts.
Kentucky has wrapped up the top seed in the SEC Tournament this week, which starts Thursday in Starkville, Miss. The Wildcats have a first round bye and will begin play on Friday.
Player of the Week - Cumbess hurls no-hitter to clinch series win over Georgia
For the first time in her career, Lauren Cumbess threw a no-hitter on Saturday to defeat No. 10 Georgia, 4-0. Kentucky got a big win Friday night on national television, where Cumbess went 2-for-3 on the night at the plate, but it was on the mound Saturday where she made her greatest impact.
Cumbess shut down an impressive hitting Georgia team and struck out seven Bulldogs on the day while allowing just five base runners. The win was important in that it got UK to .500 in the SEC as the Wildcats battle for postseason position in the SEC Tournament.
Game of the Week - Baseball holds on to take series in finale
After dropping a heart-breaking game at Arkansas in the series opener, the UK baseball team rallied on Saturday and swept a double header to take their first series in Fayetteville since 2002.
Kentucky got a 5-4 win in first game of the twin bill, and got involved in another one-run game in series finale. The Wildcats tallied their only runs of the game on Cameron Flynn's fourth inning two-runner homer in the fourth inning. Correy Littrell turned in another stellar outing in the rubber match allowing just one run in 6.1 innings. Tim Peterson, Alex Phillips and Trevor Gott finished things off. Gott came in with two men on and two outs in the eighth inning, and promptly got the final out of the eighth and retired the side in order in the ninth to preserve a 2-1 victory for his eighth save of the season.
Photo - SEC champs
Photo by Steve Harp, UK Athletics
Video -Highlights from Cumbess' no-hitter
Alumnae/Alumnus of the Week - Daniel Orton has best professional game
With All-Star center Dwight Howard out with a herniated disk, the Orlando Magic turned to former Wildcat Daniel Orton for big minutes Sunday. Orton logged over 28 minutes against Cavaliers filling in for Howard and had his best day as a pro. Orton went 5-8 from the field while scoring 11 points, pulling down four rebounds and five steals.
Orton's previous career-high in minutes was 11 on April 9, and his previous high in points was 4. Orton more than doubled both figures in the Magic's 100-84 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It can be hard to keep up with everything going on in the University of Kentucky's 22 varsity sports. With that in mind, we will highlight the best from around Kentucky sports each week. We'll recognize the best performances from Wildcat teams and players, we'll show you the coolest videos and photos that you may have missed and we'll mix in some new stuff along the way. Here are your award winners for this week:
Team of the week - Men's tennis clinch share of SEC title
Dennis Emery's squad continues to roll as the sixth-ranked Kentucky men's tennis team took down No. 14 Ole Miss Sunday in Lexington. The 5-2 victory was good for at least a share of the SEC regular season title, just the second in school history.
Kentucky got huge performances in singles, including the match-clinching point from senior Eric Quigley, who moves to 10-0 against SEC opponents this season. Anthony Rossi, Tom Jomby, and Alejandro Gomez also won in straight sets after Ole Miss had taken the doubles point early in the match.
Sitting undefeated in the conference, Kentucky (22-4, 10-0) needs a win over Vanderbilt this weekend or a loss by Georgia (9-1) to win the SEC title outright.
Game of the Week - Baseball rides Sunday win to yet another series victory over Ole Miss
Staring down a rubber match after No. 1 Kentucky and No. 10 Ole Miss had split the first two games of a weekend set, the top-ranked Wildcats proved their ranking with a dominating 8-3 win over the Rebels Sunday afternoon. Kentucky got a solid pitching performance out of sophomore starter Corey Littrell, who got his fifth win of the season as the UK won their fourth consecutive SEC series to start the season.
Down a run in the sixth inning, the Wildcats (30-3, 9-3) loaded the bases with Cameron Flynn coming to the plate. Looking to do some damage, Flynn blasted a grand slam for his eighth homer of the year as the Cats plated five runs in the inning, giving UK enough cushion to finish off the Rebels.
Player of the Week - Cervantes hits three homers in softball's series win over South Carolina
As the Kentucky softball team looks to make a strong push in its conference schedule down the stretch, senior third baseman Brittany Cervantes is doing all she can to see it through.
The UK record holder for home runs in a season continues to add to her total. In a 2-1 series win over conference foe South Carolina, Cervantes launched three homers, one in each game, to help the Cats capture the weekend set against the Gamecocks. She went 4-8 (.500) with 4 RBI and 3 walks over the three games against USC.
Photo of the Week - Celebrating the title, one more time
Photo by Chet White, UK Athletics
Video of the Week -Coach Cal puts on his dancing shoes
Head over to CoachCal.com to watch John Calipari address his team in the locker room after winning the national championship, then break out a couple dance moves much to the delight of his players.
Alumus/Alumnae of the week - Rajon Rondo in midst of 17-game double-digit assist streak
Former UK point guard Rajon Rondo is having one of his best seasons a pro. Right now, he is red hot with 17-game stretch in which he has accumulated at least 10 assists each contest. The 17-consecutive games with double-digit assist totals is good for the fourth-best in NBA history.
Rondo is averaging 12.1 points and 11.2 assists per game this year, but over the 17 games, he's averaging 13.2 assists per contest, including a couple of 17-assist performances. Three games before the streak began, Rondo reeled off a 20-assist performance that was part of a triple-double against the Knicks in which he scored 18 points and pulled down 17 rebounds.
It can be hard to keep up with everything going on in the University of Kentucky's 22 varsity sports. With that in mind, we will highlight the best from around Kentucky sports each week. We'll recognize the best performances from Wildcat teams and players, we'll show you the coolest videos and photos that you may have missed and we'll mix in some new stuff along the way. Here are your award winners for this week:
Team of the week - Men's basketball one step away
One the most hyped and anticipated teams in Kentucky history, the Wildcats sit just one win away from capturing UK's eighth national championship in school history. After defeating in-state rival Louisville in the Final Four, 69-61, they move on to face the other winner in the semi-finals in Kansas.
It will be another rematch for Kentucky, the third such game for UK in the NCAA Tournament (Indiana and Louisville). The Wildcats defeated Kansas in just the second game of the season up at Madison Square Garden, 75-65. Kansas will have an opportunity to avenge their loss early in the season, while Kentucky looks to finish the mission they started out on almost five months ago.
Player of the Week - Anthony Davis wins Naismith Award, dominates in Final Four
Anthony Davis continues to rack up the hardware while backing up those accomplishments on the hard wood. On Sunday, less than 24 hours after advancing to the national championship game with a win over Louisville, Davis was named the recipient of the 2012 Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T as the Men's College Player of the Year.
Davis proved worthy of the accolade with one of the best games in Final Four history. He posted an 18-point, 14-rebound, five-block game Saturday night, the first such game in a Final Four since 1988. The freshman from Chicago averages a team-leading 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game while blocking 180 shots this season.
Davis won six of the seven major National Player of the Year awards: Adolph Rupp Trophy, USBWA, Basketball Times, Associated Press, Wooden and Naismith.
Game of the Week - Kentucky wins first series at Georgia since 2000
With
an 11-2 win over the Georgia Bulldogs Sunday afternoon, the Kentucky
baseball team (27-2, 7-2) sits alone in first place atop the
Southeastern Conference and has garnered the No. 1 ranking in the
Collegiate Baseball poll.
Facing a rubber
match in the SEC for the second straight weekend, the Kentucky offense
erupted for 16 hits and 11 runs as UK cruised to an impressive win over
No. 18 Georgia on the road. J.T. Riddle led the onslaught offensively
for the Wildcats with a three-hit, four-run afternoon. He blasted his
second homer of the season and had two RBI in a 3-for-3 game with a
walk. Meanwhile, starting pitcher Corey Littrell worked 7.2 innings on
the way to his fourth win of the season. Littrell allowed just eight
hits and one run, walking two and striking out five
Video of the Week - Recap of UK-U of L
Alumnus/Alumnae of the week - Jodie Meeks goes off for a career-high 31 points
Former Kentucky basketball Jodie Meeks has had a really good week. With Sixers teammate Andre Iguodala out for the second consecutive game with a knee injury, Meeks stepped up and delivered the best game of his NBA career, leading Philadelphia to a 103-85 win over Cleveland. While it wasn't quite the 54 points that Meeks poured on Tennessee a few years ago, he was scorching hot from beyond the arc, hitting seven 3-pointers in the game. The seven 3s were as many as he had hit over the last six games combined.
Meeks also posted two other double-digit scoring outputs this week against the Atlanta Hawks and San Antonio Spurs with 12 and 11 points respectively.
It can be hard to keep up with everything going on in the University of Kentucky's 22 varsity sports. With that in mind, we will highlight the best from around Kentucky sports each week. We'll recognize the best performances from Wildcat teams and players, we'll show you the coolest videos and photos that you may have missed and we'll mix in some new stuff along the way. Here are your award winners for this week:
Team of the Week: Men's basketball advances to Final Four
With an impressive 82-70 win over Baylor, the Kentucky men's basketball team has advanced to their second consecutive Final Four. Freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist led the way for UK with 19 points while Anthony Davis notched his 19th double-double of the season with an 18-point, 11-rebound performance. They are averaging a scorching 88 points per game in their first four games of the NCAA Tournament. Davis and Doron Lamb were announced to the NCAA Tournament South Regional All-Tournament Team, while Kidd-Gilchrist was named Most Outstanding Player of the South Regional. Kentucky advances to face in-state rival Louisville next Saturday at 6:09 p.m. ET in New Orleans, La.
Honorable mention: Baseball takes two of three at Tennessee
The Kentucky baseball team dropped their its game of the season Friday night in Knoxville, Tenn., but came back Sunday to win both games of a double header, which included the completion of Saturday's weather-delayed game. UK took the first game 6-2 then shut out Tennessee 6-0 in series finale to win the three-game. Kentucky (24-1, 5-1) also defeated Cincinnati in a mid-week tilt on the road before their second conference series of the season. Monday, the Wildcats moved up in the Baseball America poll all the way up to No. 10, which marks just the second time in program history that they've appeared in the top 10 of the poll.
Player of the Week: Samarie Walker steps up on the big stage
The women's basketball team advanced to the Elite Eight Sunday evening, and they can thank Samarie Walker for much of that. With Kentucky shooting lights out from the perimeter in the Sweet 16 matchup with Gonzaga, Walker owned the paint. She scored 16 points and grabbed 12 boards for a double-double to propel UK into an Elite Eight battle with Connecticut, Walker's former team. Walker has been huge for the Wildcats throughout the tournament and is averaging 13 points, 12.7 rebounds and 2 steals through the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Game of the week: Softball completes Friday comeback
Down 4-0 through four innings on the road against No. 18 Auburn, the Wildcats appeared headed toward a fourth straight loss to open SEC play. They had other ideas. UK scored three runs in the fifth inning and one in the sixth to tie the game and send it to extra innings. With Chanda Bell pitching shutout inning after shutout inning, Alice O'Brien plated the first of four runs in the top of the eighth inning to lift the Cats to an 8-4 win. UK would go on to win on Saturday as well for just the fourth series victory over Auburn in school history.
Photo of the Week: UK Hoops celebrates Sweet 16 berth
Britney McIntosh, UK Athletics
Video of the Week: Fans great Final Four-bound Cats at airport
Alumnus/alumnae of the week: Jacob Tamme, Kelenna Azubuike sign pro contracts
It was a big week for a couple of former Wildcats on the professional level. Former Kentucky tight end Jacob Tamme will be reunited with his old quarterback in Indianapolis, Peyton Manning, after signing a three-year deal with the Denver Broncos. Tamme considered returning to Indianapolis, but felt that following Manning was a better opportunity. Tamme, 27, has appeared in 60 games in four seasons, with 14 starts. He has 92 receptions for 855 yards and five touchdowns, all with Indianapolis.
Former Wildcat basketball player Kelenna Azubuike is looking to make a comeback after a knee injury in the 2009-10 season. Azubuike signed a contract with the Dallas Mavericks last week for the remainder of the season, with an option for next year. He was immediately assigned to Dallas's D-League affiliate the Texas Legends to get him back up to speed and knock off some rust. In his career year in 2008-09, the 6-foot-5 swingman averaged 14.4 points and 5.0 rebounds in 74 games.
It can be hard to keep up with everything going on in the University of Kentucky's 22 varsity sports. With that in mind, we will highlight the best from around Kentucky sports each week. We'll recognize the best performances from Wildcat teams and players, we'll show you the coolest videos and photos that you may have missed and we'll mix in some new stuff along the way. Here are your award winners for this week:
Team of the Week - Gymnastics posts 196.025 score in Senior Day Victory
Kentucky capped off its home schedule and sent their seniors off in style in a tri-meet victory over George Washington and Ball State Sunday. For just the 10th time in school history, the gymnastics team went over a team score of 196 by posting a dominant 196.025, good for seventh-best in school history. UK head coach Tim Garrison becomes the first UK Gymnastics coach to lead a team to a score of 196 or better in their first year.
George Washington and Ball State were no match for the Wildcats who bested both squads in every event Sunday. Individually, Kentucky set or tied eight season highs and seven careers highs in the meet. With Sunday's performance, Kentucky has posted their highest consecutive meet team-scores after earning a 195.95 score in Illinois last weekend since 2002.
Player of the Week - Cameron Flynn slugs Kentucky past Canisius for series sweep
Lexington, Ky. native Cameron Flynn continued his torrid start to the season, his first in Kentucky blue, with another monster week in leading to Kentucky to five wins including a weekend series sweep of Canisius. In just four games, Flynn batted .500 (7-for-14), with two homers and seven RBI, slugging .929 with a .529 on base percentage.
Flynn has been a catalyst for Kentucky's early success in the non-conference and has helped his team to their No. 23 overall ranking in the country as well as the nation's longest winning steak at 16 with a perfect 16-0 record to start the season. Statistically, he leads the team in batting (.441), home runs (4), and slugging (.912) in only 34 at bats which is tied for the lowest among player receiving regular playing time.
He joins Kentucky after transferring from Morehead State to his hometown Wildcats. Flynn was forced to red shirt in the 2011 season with an injury, but he has followed up his redshirt year with a monster beginning to 2012.
Game of the Week - No. 7 men's tennis knocks off SEC foe No 9. Florida
The men's tennis team got a key SEC victory in defeating the ninth-ranked Florida Gators 4-3 Sunday. With the win, Kentucky stays unbeaten at 4-0 in the conference and stays hot with its 11th win over a ranked opponent this season.
The Gators grabbed two doubles matches off the bat, which broke Kentucky's string of four consecutive doubles wins. But Kentucky fought back with Anthony Rossi and Alex Musialek who scored an 8-7 win to grab the lone doubles win for the Wildcats.
Kentucky found great success in singles action, however, sparked by Rossi's 6-2, 6-4 win over Florida's Tripper Carleton. They went on to get three more wins in singles, including a 6-4, 6-4 win by Eric Quigley to give Kentucky their first lead of the day. Grant Roberts then sealed the deal with a three-set winner to give Kentucky the 4-3 victory.
Play of the Week - Maile delivers walk-off win to earn series sweep
Junior catcher Luke Maile stroked a single up the middle in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Matt Reida all the way from second base. The 5-4 victory gave Kentucky a three-game series sweep over Cansius and prolonged their nation-leading 16-game winning streak.
Fast forward to the two-minute mark in the video above to see the walk-off single.
Photo of the Week - Terrence Jones throws down in Kentucky's 71-64 win over Florida
Chet White, UK Athletics
Alumnus/alumna of the week - Sean Woods leads MVSU to NCAA Tournament
Former Kentucky Wildcat and member of the 1992 "Unforgettables" squad Sean Woods has navigated his Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (21-12, 17-1) to the NCAA Tournament after winning the SWAC Tournament. It will be MVSU's first trip back to the big dance since 2008.
Woods took over at MVSU the following season and has his Delta Devils back in the Big Dance for the first time since. MVSU will play their first game this Tuesday against Western Kentucky in the First Four up in Dayton, Oh. The winner of that match up will advance to face Kentucky in Louisville in the second round on Thursday.
Video of the Week - Football holds Pro Day workouts
It can be hard to keep up with everything going on in the University of Kentucky's 22 varsity sports. With that in mind, we will highlight the best from around Kentucky sports each week. We'll recognize the best performances from Wildcat teams and players, we'll show you the coolest videos and photos that you may have missed and we'll mix in some new stuff along the way. Here are your award winners for this week: Team of the week - Volleyball takes No. 1 Texas to the wire in Sweet 16
The result wasn't what the Kentucky volleyball team was looking for, but in a 3-1 loss to top-seeded Texas, the Wildcats proved just how much they belong on the nation's big stage. UK played with the Longhorns point for point, leading UT head coach Jerritt Elliott to call the Cats "the best team we faced all year."
UK won just a single set, but lost the other three by only six combined points. Craig Skinner had four players total at least 11 kills as the Cats hit .279 as a team. SEC Libero of the Year Stephanie Klefot led all players with 21 digs and middle blocker Becky Pavan ended her career with a 12-kill, six-block performance. The match was played in front of a boisterous crowd of 4,022 who nearly cheered the hosts to victory in Memorial Coliseum. Player of the week - Bria Goss scores career high...twice
John Calipari is known for coaching star freshmen, but Matthew Mitchell has himself a pretty good one in Bria Goss. She has been among UK Hoops' most consistent players, scoring in double figures in all but two games. Goss is the team's second-leading scorer at 12.3 points per game and has proven to be an adept rebounder from her guard position, averaging 5.2 boards per game, third on the team.
The Indianapolis native has been good all season, but she had her best two performances of her young career this week in wins over No. 5/6 Duke and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. As the Wildcats scored the upset victory over the Blue Devils in Rupp Arena, Goss scored a career-high 19 points, hitting a pair of 3's and getting to the foul line 10 times. She committed no turnovers and added a steal.
Goss followed up her big game against Duke with another 19 points on Sunday against UAPB, tallying career highs with three 3-pointers and six steals as leading scored A'dia Mathies sat out with a sprained ankle. Goss will play in her first career road game next Sunday against No. 3 Notre Dame and will also be returning to her home state to play at 1 p.m. on ESPNU.
Game of the week - Men's basketball loses in buzzer-beating fashion to Indiana
Generally, I like to make our game of the week one UK wins, but Saturday's Kentucky-Indiana showdown in Bloomington, Ind., simply could not be denied. The Wildcats rallied from a 63-53 deficit with under 10 minutes remaining to take a 72-70 lead with just five seconds left, but Christian Watford's 3-pointer as the horn sounded sent UK to its first defeat of the season. Hoosier fans rushed the floor in celebration of the win and IU's return to national prominence.
The loss was a disappointing one, but the mere fact that UK was able to rally in such a hostile environment says a lot about this team. Marquis Teague played the best half of his young career in the second, scoring 15 of UK's final 35 points on perfect 6-for-6 shooting while Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 18 points and nine rebounds while playing 38 minutes, the most for a UK player in any game this season.
Play of the week - Snowden goes behind the back
In the second half against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, senior guard Keyla Snowden made a steal at mid-court, went behind her back to avoid a defender and finished at the rim with her left hand. Fast forward to the 1:39 mark of the video above to see the play. The most entertaining part of the highlight: Snowden starts smiling at the behind-the-back move she just made while she's still dribbling to the hoop. She clearly enjoyed herself. Photo of the week - UK Hoops celebrates Duke win
Photo by Britney McIntosh, UK Athletics
Alumnus/alumna of the week - Knight, Liggins, Harrellson sign NBA contracts
The last few months have been tough for former Wildcats Brandon Knight, DeAndre Liggins and Josh Harrellson. After being selected in the 2011 NBA Draft, they've been in a state of limbo as league players and owners negotiated a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. All three have spent significant time in Lexington as they waited, but they need bide their time no longer as a CBA has been reached.
Even more importantly for the rookies, all three have agreed to terms with their new teams: Knight with the Detroit Pistons, Liggins with the Orlando Magic and Harrellson with the New York Knicks. Congratulations to all three and good luck as the season approaches.
https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawkfwC-tU7dJKQUs-q-PQqEJVNRbo9JCd_s: All of us at the International Chiari Association (ICA), a nonprofit organization, are so proud of J.B. Holmes. For those read more
david: Awesome young men i wish them the best read more
tuxedo: love the Wildcat! Keep up the good work guys read more
Tammy Jo White: Thank you SO much Anthony and Darrius. All year I have been telling my students that we are going to read more
Matt: I have tried to download the file to show at our school next week, but the download link above leads read more
Wonderlic: I think it is good showing that even student athletes take academics seriously and can encourage their fellow students to read more
Zackery Ehlers : Really good perfromance by the wildcats this season read more
Kamharper: Thank you for this! Love when you can help us get pumped up for football. read more
Don: I have truly enjoyed watching this team more than any other in my 30+ years of watching the CATS. Thank read more
Sue: Wish they would make these kids stay in college at least 2 years if not the full 4. But, best read more
Gary Henderson asks the crowd to stand and applaud a senior student manager. (Britney McIntosh, UK Athletics)
