Wildcats pull off a historic win

Posted at 11:25 p.m. ET – Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

It’s been quite a night here at Memorial Coliseum. The UK women’s basketball team pulled off a historic 66-56 win tonight over No. 13/17 Tennessee, beating the Lady Volunteers in Memorial Coliseum for the first time since 1986.

I had the fine privilege of watching the game courtside tonight for the live blog, and I hope everybody who followed along enjoyed it. If you didn’t get a chance to join us tonight, be sure and check out the game story here.

Practice Report: men's basketball

Posted at 8:00 p.m. ET - Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

Short and sweet today Wildcat fans because of the women's basketball game currently going on. The big news: Patrick Patterson did practice today.

What did you work on today mostly?

“A combination of things, we have so much stuff we have to get better on. We have to learn how to execute better defensively and offensively. We have a long, long way to go. We have to try to rebound a little better; we’ve just got a lot of things to work on right now.”

When you face a team a second time is it a little easier?

“It doesn’t come a little easier at all. Game-planning is really good, but game-planning is not nearly as important as how the players perform. I’m talking about on either side. We went over there and Jodie scored 54 points, the rest of our team scored 36. They had 19 offensive rebounds; they had a guy get seven and a guy get five. Game-planning is game-planning, but it’s all about players making plays. We can tell them where to be, their coach can tell them where to be, but once they get in those spots – we’re responsible for making sure they’re in the right spots – but when they get in those spots, it comes down to your competitive level and your execution and carrying out instructions and carrying out responsibilities. You can only do so much of that stuff.”

What’s in store for tomorrow’s practice??

“I’m fundamentally based – offensively, defensively, transition, press, out of bounds play, we’re always going to work on fundamentals. Hopefully we’re going to start seeing some fruits of our labor.”

Patrick went the whole practice today, how do you feel about him?

“I thought he looked real good early, but I thought he started favoring his ankle late. We’ll see how he comes out after practice.”

Meeks finally becoming a household name

Posted at 4:17 p.m. ET - Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

As this article in the the Los Angeles Times points out, it took a while for Jodie Meeks' name to catch on with fans and basketball experts outside of Kentucky, even after his 54-point performance against Tennessee.

Now, as Meeks continues to torch teams on a nightly basic, Meeks is launching himself into UK lore and forcing the nation's best players to make room in the National Player of the Year race.

Check out the story when above when you get a chance.

Opportunity awaits the Wildcats tonight

Posted at 2:53 p.m. ET - Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

UK's game against Tennessee tonight is fairly huge - just read a little bit below to find out why. Given the magnitude of the game, Cat Scratches will be live blogging the UK-Tennessee game tonight from Memorial Coliseum. The game will be broadcast live on the Big Blue Radio Network and FSN South, but follow along with us for live in-game updates, trends and statistics, and send your questions and comments in throughout the game. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m., but we'll have the live blog fired up by 6:30 p.m.

Anytime Tennessee and Pat Summitt visit Memorial Coliseum, it's like there is a rock show in town.

There is always extra media, TV and radio vans packed on the curbs of Memorial Coliseum, and of course, an extra wave of fans. No surprise there, because it's always a hot ticket when the most successful program in women's basketball and the winningest coach in all of college basketball comes to town.

But besides the usual chance for an upset, tonight means a little bit more the Wildcats (13-12, 3-7 Southeastern Conference) than it might have in years past. It is special anytime you can knock off a program the caliber of Tennessee's, but tonight marks maybe the last small glimmer of hope for a team with fading postseason hopes.

It might be tough to call a game against nationally ranked Tennessee (18-7, 7-3 SEC) a must-win, but there's nothing wrong with calling it what it actually is: the last golden opportunity for UK to right the ship.

"We have a lot to play for and a win over Tennessee (Thursday night) would be tremendous for us," UK Hoops Coach Matthew Mitchell said.

Win or lose tonight, the Wildcats still are in the hunt for an NIT berth. Lose, and well, that's probably the final kiss goodbye to any NCAA Tournament hopes.

With four games to go, the Lady Vols are the last ranked team on UK's schedule.

"We have four games left, and you can drastically improve your position in four games," Mitchell said. "Obviously it starts (Thursday) night so it's critical, critical game for us. It's critically important that we leave everything out on the floor."

And even if hopes of an NCAA Tournament berth are already firmly out the window, if nothing else, tonight's game serves as the possibility of a season-changer. Losers of six of their last seven games, the Wildcats could use a win over the No. 13/19 Lady Vols to springboard into the final stretch of the season.

The task will obviously be tough. While some might perceive Tennessee to be in a so-called "down year," the Lady Vols are still nationally ranked are just two wins short of reaching the 20-win plateau yet again.

Plus, the last time UK beat Tennessee in Memorial Coliseum was 1986. To put that into perspective, the last time the Wildcats toppled Tennessee in Memorial, Mitchell was just learning how to drive and hadn't even graduated high school yet.

Summitt was well out of high school but hadn't even reached the 300-win plateau at that point. She now has 1,001 wins.

I guess there is a reason for the extra media and fan attention after all.

SEC East race remains a blurry picture

Posted at 12:40 p.m. ET - Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

The Southeastern Conference East Division race continues to get crazier and crazier.

Just when it looked like Kentucky might have put itself behind the proverbial eight ball with a loss to Vanderbilt on Tuesday night, South Carolina and Tennessee go out and lose a couple of puzzling games on the road Wednesday night.

That means UK finds itself right back in a tie with three other teams - Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida - for the SEC East lead. That also means Saturday's game between UK and Tennessee just got that much more important.

Both coaches, UK's Billy Gillispie and Tennessee's Bruce Pearl, were on the SEC Coaches Teleconference Thursday morning to talk a little bit about Saturday's game and the race for the top spot in the East. Here are a few highlights:

Billy Gillispie

• UK forward Patrick Patterson is still day-to-day.

• Gillispie said UK's defense has totally changed from that last outing against Tennessee in which Jodie Meeks scored a school-record 54 points. "I don't think too many teams have the capability to change like they have," Gillispie said. "I don't know if it was after our game or whatever, but from then to now, they're a totally different team. It's one of the most athletic teams and always has been. They're very, very long, but they've really developed toughness at all five spots and with guys coming off the bench. Their interior defense was fantastic going into our game and it's continued to be really good for them. Their perimeter defense has really improved."

• Gillispie downplayed the notion that Tennessee might be a little more up for this game after what Meeks did to them by saying that Tennessee's No. 1 goal, as it was last time, is just to win the game. "Definitely everyone has to pay a great deal attention to Jodie," Gillispie said. "He's played very well and he's definitely garnered that respect. He's a hard guy to guard. It just depends on how much help we give him. If we don't give him any more help than we did the other night, then it's going to be a tough night for Jodie as well. "

• Asked if his players were still excited about controlling their own destiny in the East, Gillispie said they haven't talked about it at all. "When you play your first game you have 16 games, and when you play eighth game you still have eight games to go," Gillispie said. "Even though there is a logjam at the top right now, there is still five games to go, which is almost one-third of the conference season left. If you spend all that time worrying about that and using energy like that, I think it can be better spent elsewhere preparing mentally and physically and those kinds of things to win your next game. You can only win one game or lose one game on a particular day. No matter what the outcome is, you have to be ready to play the next four."

Bruce Pearl

• After watching Meeks go for a school-record 54 points on his home court last time, Pearl obviously sounded a little worried about the rematch in Rupp Arena. "We've struggled guarding guards on the perimeter, and he's probably the toughest perimeter to cover in the country," Pearl said.

• Pearl said he anticipates Patterson coming back for the game. "That gives them that inside-outside threat, which makes both of them more effective," he said. "Without Patterson in there, they don't have as much of a post threat. It obviously takes more than one guy to cover Patterson, and it takes a whole team to cover Meeks and that puts your defense at a real risk."

• Pearl did say that his defense has slightly improved since the mid-January game. "Our interior defense is what's been our strength all season," Pearl said. "It's why in certain matchups against certain opponents we are more effective. Our perimeter defense has improved, but it's still not our strength."

• When he was asked what he learned from last game and what his team could do this time to make sure Meeks didn't go off for 54 again, Pearl said the Volunteers fouled him too much and that they have to know where he's at on the floor at all times.

• From looking back at the previous game's tape, Pearl said Meeks scored on seven different Vols in the last matchup.

• Pearl said UK is the most solid defensive team in the league. "They make you beat them from the perimeter, and we are a very inconsistent perimeter shooting team," Pearl said. "Our interior offense is better, and Kentucky's defense does a really nice job of taking our inside stuff away."

New style, same desired results

Posted at 10:20 a.m. ET - Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

Part five of the five-part position preview as well as the season preview can be found on the baseball homepage. The Wildcats begin their season tomorrow in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Two years ago after UK's historic 2006 Southeastern Conference championship season, Kentucky Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart had a brief conversation with Gary Henderson about the head coaching job at UK.

"He said I think you're ready and if we get to that point, we'll have the conversation," Henderson said.

Succinct and to the point, it wasn't a ploy to overtake then-UK Coach John Cohen. In truth, it was a plan of succession.

Cohen and Henderson landed in Lexington with the goals and expectations to turn UK from a perennial bottom feeder into a legitimate SEC title contender, and they achieved those goals faster than anyone could have imagined.

But there was never a guarantee that the success UK experienced over the last three years was going to last. When the legendary Ron Polk decided to step down at Mississippi State at the end of the 2008 season, Cohen, an MSU alumnus, became the Bulldog fans' choice as his replacement.

The question in Lexington then arose: If Cohen took the job in Starkville, Miss., would that put the brakes on UK's recent historic run?

Not quite. While Cohen was the face of the turnaround, he wasn't necessarily the part that turned the UK baseball program into a machine. Those parts were guys like recruiting coordinator Brad Bohannon, Henderson, and of course, the players on the field.

So when Cohen ultimately left for Starkville, there was never any panic or waver in Barnhart's decision. Remembering back to his conversation he had with Henderson two years ago, Barnhart named Henderson the 25th baseball coach at UK.

"We're not going to miss a beat," Barnhart proclaimed in his introductory news conference. "We're going to go on and keep this program moving along where we want to go. We're going to go to regionals and continue to compete for championships. We felt like we didn't have to look very far to find the guy that can lead our program."

On the surface it seemed like a no-brainer, and by all intents and purposes it was. Henderson was the orchestrator behind UK's pitching success in the most successful three years in the program's history, and he was one of the masterminds in piecing together some of the most heralded recruiting classes in UK history.

"There's no more deserving guy in the country to run a show," said Barnhart, who knew Henderson from his days at Oregon State University when Henderson served on the Beavers' coaching staff.

In short, the move wasn't a leap of faith. But there was no hiding that there was a change in coaching styles.

Cohen had gained a reputation for being a fiery, animated skipper who wouldn't hesitate to come from the dugout to argue a call or toss his baseball cap in protest. Henderson, who would often times fill in for Cohen after the occasional ejection - Henderson was a flawless 7-0 in those games - has been described as more low-key and reserved.

"John and I talked all the time about how people thought that we were drastically different - and there are certainly some differences - but there are also a lot of similarities" Henderson said. "I don't know if I'll turn my hat backwards or put my hands behind my back. I'll try and keep my composure as best as I can, but maybe we'll have a visit or two with the umpire."

Put them in opposite dugouts and it'd be puzzling to figure out the coaches ever worked so well together. Henderson said the key was and still is balance.

"John and I worked together very well and still do," Henderson said. "We balanced each other out pretty well. A better barometer of that is probably the kids. Within every team you want a balance of personalities.

"We'll find that same balance with the evolution of assistant coaches (Brad) Bohannon, (Brian) Green and (Keith) Vorhoff and their roles," Henderson said. "Anytime you have a successful team, in my opinion, you've got to have balance in basically all areas. That's what we'll strive for."

That in itself is where nothing has changed. Winning SEC championships and making it to Omaha, Neb., for the College World Series are still the goals. Whether that takes a demonstrative approach or a laid back style to get there doesn't matter.

"I don't think you're going to see any difference in that," Henderson said. "All you have to do is look to the NFL or basketball coaches that we all see on TV every week. You can see dramatically different personalities being successful.

"Some guys are a little more quiet, some guys are louder, some guys talk more than others," he said. "But the bottom line is your relationship with the players and whether you are able to communicate and reach those guys, and whether you are able to get a group of kids moving in the right direction, in the same direction."

When Henderson initially took the job in June 2008, the skipper said that direction was "nowhere but forward."

Placed on the job in the middle of the second day of the MLB Draft, Henderson wasted no time in taking Cohen's work in progress and moving it closer to the ultimate goal.

Almost immediately, Henderson and Bohannon hit the road recruiting to secure the 2009 recruiting class, an ensemble of talent that eventually garnered a top-five ranking of most baseball analysts and experts.

When Henderson wasn't recruiting, he was busy talking to assistant coaches to fill a vacant spot, a job he gave to Green in the end.

"What (Bohannon) allowed me to do was focus on hiring an assistant coach and he handled the recruiting for a few weeks," Henderson said. "Brad completely organized that, ran that, directed that and told me where to go and when."

One thing Cohen was when he was at the helm of UK was hands off when it came to recruiting. He knew he had a pair of the nation's best recruiters in the nation in Henderson and Bohannon, so when Cohen left, little changed on that front.

With Henderson and Bohannon still in Lexington, recruits knew that coaching styles aside, the program had never derailed or wavered from its foundation of winning.

Once the recruiting end was tied up, the full-time responsibilities of the head coaching job kicked in. Henderson admitted there were several changes, none of which he couldn't handle. Certain responsibilities - media, budget, personnel and so forth - come with becoming the head coach at a program like Kentucky's.

But Henderson handled them smoothly and without hesitation. After much anticipation and wait, the next thing was addressing his team and his role as the new skipper.

Practices have certainly been different for Henderson. Just because of the sheer numbers of UK's loaded roster, it's nearly impossible to get around to each player on a daily basis and talk with them.

What has and probably will never change as long as Henderson is at Kentucky is his role as the pitching coach. In 2008, Henderson's pitching staff was the best in the SEC with a 3.71 team ERA. Even though his title and responsibilities have grown in stature and numbers, respectively, he will be as hands on as ever with the pitchers.

"That part won't change," Henderson said. "It's not like I'm re-inventing the wheel over here. There are several head coaches that have been very successful in college baseball as the pitching coach. It's not as common as the other way, but there's a model for it."

Henderson also inherits a club whose cabinet is far from bare, albeit young. The Wildcats lost first-team All-Americans Sawyer Carroll and Collin Cowgill, but they return a potent lineup of Keenan Wiley, Chris Wade and Chris McClendon, plus a veteran pitching staff led by Chris Rusin.

"A lot of times when you get your opportunity, you're in the middle of a complete do over," Henderson said. "Obviously I've been fortunate that we're not in the middle of that. We've got a great group of kids and we're looking forward to keeping this thing going."

On Friday in Myrtle Beach, S.C., the baseball season, under the new tutelage of Henderson, will finally get going. Henderson said he would be lying if he didn't say he's been waiting for this day not only for months, but for years. It's been his dream job after all.

But Henderson would be the first one to tell you that it isn't about him. It's about the players that make up the team and it's about the collective goal of winning. The leader has changed and the personalities are different, but the SEC title remains the goal and Omaha is still the destination.

"What I learned under John was just the satisfaction of knowing that we could create the mindset necessary and recruit and coach the players necessary to win an SEC championship," Henderson said. "To me, that is one of the satisfactions of getting those things done. If you can do it once, you can do it again."