Wildcats

Andy Kennedy doesn't think top-ranked Kentucky has a weakness. The Ole Miss coach has been searching for a loophole as his team prepares for the Wildcats this week. The two teams will meet at 4 p.m. Saturday at Rupp Arena and Kennedy isn't looking forward to the contest. “I think they're scary good,” Kennedy said earlier this week. “When you look for holes maybe that you can have an opportunity to exploit, they don't have many. They're tremendous defensively. I think they play as a cohesive unit, which is really a tribute to (John Calipari)

LEXINGTON - Ronnie Sneed has an idea what his last football game at Kentucky is going to be like. “I think it is going to be crazy. I know the guys are going to be juiced up and ready to go. Fans who are going to be in the stands, get ready for a great game because the Wildcats are coming out,” said Sneed, a senior middle linebacker who hopes to help the Wildcats beat Tennessee on Saturday for the first time since 1984. Sneed says there's only one way for him to approach this game.

Kentucky extended its Georgia football pipeline Monday when Riyahd Jones of Columbus, Ga., verbally committed to play for coach Joker Phillips and the Wildcats. Jones plays at Carver High School, a school that consistently produces Division I players. Jones told Chad Simmons, south recruiting manager for Scout.com, that he got his scholarship offer from wide receivers coach Tee Martin after attending UK’s camp and he quickly accepted the offer since he had already been to Lexington twice.

LEXINGTON - Avery Williamson is focused on the task ahead. Williamson, a sophomore linebacker, is confident Kentucky can build on last week's 38-14 victory over Jacksonville State, ending the Wildcats' four-game losing streak. After stepping out of the Southeastern Conference for the last time this season, Kentucky returns to league play against Mississippi State on Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium. Both teams are winless in the conference, but Williamson hopes the Wildcats can notch their first league victory of the season against the Bulldogs, who have won the two games between the two SEC foes.

LEXINGTON - Terrence Jones, a preseason Associated Press All-America pick, was not overly dominant in Kentucky's exhibition victory over Transylvania, especially after his 52-point outing in the Blue-White Game a week earlier. Yet he still had 22 points (on 9-of-13 shooting), 12 rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes during the Wildcats' 97-53 win Wednesday. Still, the sophomore thought the Wildcats, ranked No. 2 in most preseason polls, gained some needed experience in the game, and he shared these thoughts on the team's play as well as his play: Question: What did you think about the way the team played against Transylvania?

LEXINGTON - Patrick Towles said everyone got a fresh start when the new Kentucky coaching staff came aboard, and he's hoping that will give him his chance to show he should be the Wildcats' starting quarterback this season. “It's what sport is all about. You want to come out here and prove to whoever you need to prove it to that you're better and you deserve to play. And we're all out here trying to show coach (Neal) Brown and coach (Mark) Stoops we deserve to play,” Towles said Wednesday after Kentucky's practice.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky football coach Joker Phillips knows his team needs a lift. Nothing would give his team more of a boost than an upset over top-ranked LSU on Saturday in Baton Rouge, La. The Tigers (4-0) snatched the top ranking from Oklahoma following a 47-21 victory at West Virginia last weekend in Morgantown. “It would be huge for our program if we could somehow put together a clean game (on) both sides of the ball, which is what it will take to beat those guys,” Phillips said.

If all had gone as planned, this would be Darius Miller’s team at Kentucky this year. With five teammates from last year gone after being NBA first-round draft picks, Miller was UK’s top returning scorer and most experienced player. He was being counted on not just for leadership, but also for consistent scoring and playmaking. Eight games into the season, Miller has not been bad. He’s made a 3-pointer in every game this year and his 15-for-28 (53.6 percent) from 3-point range.

LEXINGTON - This had all the makings to be a game where Kentucky might struggle to extend its unbeaten Southeastern Conference record and home win streak. No, Mississippi is not that good, but the Wildcats roared out to a 16-5 lead in less than five minutes and then hit neutral - or maybe reverse after Anthony Davis got his second foul with 10 minutes, 7 seconds left in the first half and UK¿leading 22-14. Ole Miss got physical, tied the game 34-34 and really seemed to have UK¿reeling when Michael Kidd-Gilchrist got his second foul with about six minutes to go in the half.

During his collegiate head coaching career, former Kentucky standout John Pelphrey has never beaten Kentucky. He didn’t play the Wildcats when he was coach at South Alabama, and he has been unable to beat UK during his three previous seasons at Arkansas. He’ll get another chance to beat the Wildcats when Arkansas hosts No. 22 Kentucky tonight. “Obviously we want to win them all. Every time we get ready two or three days in advance that is the goal. It will be a big challenge on Wednesday,” Pelphrey said.