Wildcats expect more of the same in first game as new No. 1 John Calipari's reaction to the news his team would almost certainly take over the top spot in both major polls wasn't exactly what you expect.::Read More [+]

UK Hoops happy to be learning from wins By this point in the season, Matthew Mitchell normally has a conference loss from which he can teach. In fact, every coach in the 38-year history of Kentucky women's basketball has had at least one Southeastern Conference loss to teach from seven games into conference.::Read More [+]

After early struggles at the line, Cats hit 'em when they count With missed free throws stacking on top of missed free throws, the groans among the 24,246 fans in attendance in Rupp Arena were becoming louder and louder. In spite of hitting just 12-of-22 shots from the line late in the second half, Kentucky maintained a tenuous three-point lead over visiting Alabama. To hold onto that lead, it was plainly clear the Wildcats would need to convert from the stripe to defeat a physical Crimson Tide team.::Read More [+]

Robic's Riddle: Double-double edition It's time once again for our regular trivia contest before men's basketball games: Robic's Riddle. Assistant coach John Robic has supplied us with yet another question from the annals of Kentucky basketball history. The first fan to submit a correct answer via email to catscratches@uky.edu will receive a prize.::Read More [+]

UK making last year's late-game worries a distant memory This time last year, the questions were already swirling. Could the 2010-11 Kentucky Wildcats win a close game? Could they answer the bell in a raucous road environment? Did they have the necessary toughness to make a run in March?::Read More [+]

Notes: First SEC road trip upcoming for UK It was relatively quiet at Tuesday afternoon's men's basketball media availability, as John Calipari and select players spoke before Kentucky (15-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) heads south for the Wildcats' first SEC road game against Auburn (10-5, 0-1 SEC)::Read More [+]

Notebook: Calipari, Cats open road SEC schedule John Calipari and the other 11 coaches from around the Southeastern Conference joined the league weekly teleconference on Monday. Here are some notes from Calipari's comments as well as those from a few other SEC coaches::Read More [+]

Wildcats 'back to Kentucky basketball' in win over Mississippi State Kentucky had won its first two Southeastern Conference games, but Matthew Mitchell couldn't help but feel his team hadn't played its best basketball in nearly a month::Read More [+]

Jones shakes off struggles, leads UK in league-opening win With the way Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had played of late, it was easy to point to the pair of freshman as Kentucky's two best players::Read More [+]

Robic's Riddle: SEC opener edition It's time once again for our regular trivia contest before men's basketball games: Robic's Riddle. We have yet another question from the annals of Kentucky basketball history. The first fan to submit a correct answer via email to catscratches@uky.edu will receive a mystery prize::Read More [+]

Calipari measuring team by more than wins and losses heading into SEC play John Calipari makes no effort to hide his distaste for losing. It's probably close to impossible for a coach to rise to the pinnacle of the college ranks as Calipari has without that kind of hatred of falling short on the scoreboard, but the third-year Kentucky head coach is finding himself battling his instincts::Read More [+]

Bishop boosts Wildcats in hard-fought defeat of Arkansas Azia Bishop certainly got her money's worth on Thursday night. Due to foul trouble and her team's depth in the post, the freshman played limited minutes in Kentucky's 84-73 win over Arkansas in Memorial Coliseum. In fact, she was on the floor for just two minutes in the first half. However, she wasn't about to let that her affect her approach::Read More [+]

With SEC slate underway, the training wheels are off for UK Hoops Kentucky's Southeastern Conference opener was not for the faint of heart. Baskets were at a premium as the Wildcats prevailed 59-56 in a physical and low-scoring affair against Florida. Each and every loose ball was contested as the two teams grabbed a nearly equal share of the 86 rebounds that careened off the rims in Gainesville, Fla.::Read More [+]

Davis, Kidd-Gilchrist doing the bulk of UK's dominant board work It was just a week ago that John Calipari lamented the fact that his team was too reliant on Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to rebound. The two highly touted freshmen were fresh off a game in which they combined to grab 19 of Kentucky's 36 rebounds. Calipari issued a call to the rest of the Wildcats to step up::Read More [+]

As Camp Cal enters final week, Cats still focused on improving For two solid weeks, it's been all basketball, all the time for John Calipari's Kentucky Wildcats, as they've capitalized on a break from classes and lifted restrictions on practice time. Unquestionably, UK has benefited from the time, but with a week left before the start of the spring semester, the work is far from complete. ::Read More [+]

Davis shakes off fouls, provides second-half boost in win over Louisville For the majority of the first half, Anthony Davis was just like the 24,387 fans in Rupp Arena: a spectator. He watched as Kentucky grabbed a 15-point lead with just over five minutes left in the first half, only to see archrival Louisville storm back to close the deficit to 36-33 at halftime. He watched as Michael Kidd-Gilchrist dominated to the tune of 16 points and eight rebounds::Read More [+]

Robic's Riddle: Double figure scorers edition It's time once again for our regular trivia contest before men's basketball games: Robic's Riddle. Assistant coach John Robic has supplied us with yet another question from the annals of Kentucky basketball history. The first fan to submit a correct answer via email to catscratches@uky.edu will receive a mystery prize::Read More [+]

UK working to keep Louisville game in perspective Dec. 3 was the last time Rupp Arena played host to a matchup of top-five teams. Kentucky-North Carolina was billed nationally as a potential preview of the national championship game and was as well attended by NBA personnel as by the Big Blue Nation::Read More [+]

Kentucky-Louisville by the numbers Pick a school at random from the 13 that have won multiple national championships and there's a pretty good chance you're going to find one of Kentucky's non-conference opponents from this season::Read More [+]

UK Hoops not letting disappointing performance linger Matthew Mitchell freely admits that he's prone to a bad mood, even going so far as to say he actually gets a bizarre sense of satisfaction from being miserable on occasion. If ever there were a time for one of those foul moods, you would have thought it would be in the wake of his team's disappointing defeat this week on the road against Middle Tennessee State. The Blue Raiders upset the sixth-ranked Wildcats in a decisive 70-58 win in which UK failed to bring the necessary intensity and effort to make its high-pressure style of play successful::Read More [+]

The Scratchies (Winter 2011) While occupying his post in charge of Cat Scratches, Eric Lindsey debuted the Scratchies, a set of awards given for the best performances in UK Athletics for the preceding semester. I wasn't sure at first whether I would continue the tradition, but once I found just how quiet it gets around here during the holidays, I decided it was time to give out some hardware (or maybe I should say "software", since there are no physical awards to be given)::Read More [+]

Calipari can't afford to sit Kidd-Gilchrist John Calipari is steadfast in enforcing his rule of sitting a player who picks up two early fouls for the balance of the first half. Superstar or role player, Calipari refuses to put anyone in a position to pick up a third foul before halftime, regardless of the situation::Read More [+]

Robic's Riddle: Lamar edition It's time once again for our regular trivia contest before men's basketball games: Robic's Riddle. Assistant coach John Robic has supplied us with yet another question from the annals of Kentucky basketball history. The first fan to submit a correct answer via email to catscratches@uky.edu will receive a prize::Read More [+]

Wildcats directing full focus to Lamar With the release of the latest polls on Monday, it became official. For the first time in the history of the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry, the annual matchup will feature two top-five teams, but even if UK and UofL weren't ranked in the top 105, the hype already would have started::Read More [+]

Wiltjer's offense spurs UK in victory, defense still a work in progress A few minutes into the second half in a game against Loyola (Md.), Kentucky held a slim five-point lead. The crowd of 22,774 in Rupp Arena was beginning to get a little anxious as UK played a rare mid-week early afternoon game and the visiting Greyhounds were showing no signs of fading::Read More [+]

Best of Blue Weekly Awards (week of Oct. 31) 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::Read More [+]

Notebook: Phillips discusses his quarterbacks at Monday press conference Joker Phillips held his weekly press conference on Monday as Kentucky begins to prepare for a home matchup against Ole Miss on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The UK head coach addressed a number of different topics, ranging from this week's opponent to his team's injury situation to keeping his Cats confident and motivated. Here are a few of the most prominent storylines:Read More [+]

Volleyball makes presence known in SEC race with upset of No. 13 Florida Midway through the fifth set, there was no separating Kentucky and Florida. The No. 24 Wildcats and No. 13 Gators had played to a near standstill, with the two teams splitting the first four sets and tied 7-7 in the decisive fifth.

It was then the Cats found a gear they didn't even know they had.

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Big Blueprint: Cats fall short in hard-fought 28-16 loss to Mississippi State Missed the game? Watched it but can't get enough or can't believe what you saw? Cat Scratches will break down the nuts and bolts from each and every game, including some postgame reaction and comments from the players who made the difference.Read More [+]

UK looking to take next step against Mississippi State Kentucky's performance against Jacksonville State was unquestionably the Wildcats' best of the season on both sides of the ball. Offensively, UK had a season-high 445 total yards, including 340 on the ground. On defense, the Cats forced three turnovers, scored a defensive touchdown and allowed less than 300 yards.Read More [+]

Crucial SEC weekend ahead for UK volleyball Following a stretch of three consecutive road games, the Kentucky volleyball team returns home for a pair of key matches in Memorial Coliseum against SEC East foes South Carolina and No. 13 Florida.

The road trip that just wrapped up began inauspiciously, as UK fell to Mississippi State in front of a record crowd. With only a few days to prepare for matches at Georgia and Auburn, head coach Craig Skinner was concerned about the confidence of his team, especially when the Cats lost their opening set against the Bulldogs.Read More [+]

UK Hoops practice report: Physical play a focus Matthew Mitchell and the Kentucky Wildcats are in the middle of preparation for the 2011-12 season. With 16 days before UK's season opener against Morehead State in Memorial Coliseum, the Cats went through a grueling and physical two-and-a-half hour session. Read More [+]

Broderick tries new sport, runs to new heights For four years, Megan Broderick was the best player on the Kentucky tennis team. She played No. 1 singles each season, winning 64 matches and ranking as high as No. 55 in the nation before concluding her tennis career in the spring of 2011. Read More [+]