Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET the Kentucky Wildcats (4-1) will host the Cleveland State Vikings (3-2) in the annual Keightley Classic at Rupp Arena on ESPN3. Live stream the game free by clicking this link; Vikings fans can find the radio broadcast on WHK 1420 AM, while Wildcats fans can listen to the action on WKYM 101.7.
Julius Randle is leading the way for Kentucky so far this year, dropping 20.8 points and grabbing 13.4 rebounds per game. There are a lot of high-profile mouths to feed in Lexington this season, however, so head coach John Calipari's job at this point in the season isn't so easy despite a 4-1 record. His players are trying to be unselfish, however, which should help Coach Cal figure out a rotation and plan of attack.
"We have a lot people who score, so if it's somebody's night we just try to give him the ball as much as we can," said freshman forward James Young.
Scoring isn't the problem anyway for Kentucky. In fact, they really don't have any problems at the moment, but Michigan State scored too easily on them for Calipari's liking in the Wildcats' lone loss of the year.
"We're trying to get them to play through a whole possession, stay in a stance," Calipari said. "Someone said, 'Wow, you guys got beat on the dribble.' Yeah, if you're standing straight up and down, it's pretty easy to get beat on the dribble. So we did a lot of things of keeping them in a stance. But again, when I watched the tape there's just not the effort."
Kentucky surrendered 42 percent shooting from beyond the arc to Texas-Arlington, and Calipari said that mark came from the Mavericks' effort level. "If a team's effort level is far beyond yours, it will smash a talented group. Just will," he said. "A less talented team that just fights like crazy will beat the talented team. So, my job right now is to get these guys to understand how hard they've got to play, what it's got to look like, and we're just not there."
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