Today at 4:00 p.m. ET the freshmen-powered Kentucky Wildcats (5-1) will host the undefeated Eastern Michigan Eagles (5-0) in an afternoon showdown at Rupp Arena that can be live streamed here for free. Eastern Michigan fans may listen to the game on 89.1 WEMU, while Kentucky fans can hear the game on WKYM 101.7.
Kentucky's assembled an incredibly talented core of freshmen this season, and routinely fields a starting five consisting solely of first-year players, but head coach John Calipari isn't impressed that the youngsters have compiled a 5-1 record so far.
Their play has been up-and-down, and they found themselves trailing Cleveland State in their last game by four points at halftime. "It was a game we needed," said Calipari. "Close wins are better learning experiences. We fought, which was a good thing. We learned about our team."
They may have blue-chippers at every position, but Calipari wants drastic improvement from every man on the roster. "We're still not a good team," he said. "We're just not. I keep telling them. They're all into their own thing. When you're into your own thing, it's really hard to play basketball. But they're young. It's what we're fighting. It's what we're battling."
Andrew Harrison, a freshman guard, agreed with his coach's assessment of the team. "This is definitely, hopefully, a turning point," Andrew Harrison said. "You never want to lose, no matter who you play. We could have played better. We're just going to go to practice and start getting better."
On November 18th, Eastern Michigan got their own shot at Cleveland State and routed them by 12. "Eastern Michigan is the next step," Calipari said. "When we go farther (into the schedule), every other team takes us to another level."
Kentucky will have to control Karrington Ward in order to dodge an upset here; Ward leads the Eagles in scoring (18.2 PPG) and rebounding (6.2 RPG).
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