UK vs. KU, No. 1 vs. No. 2
Big basketball game on TV Tuesday night has the two winningest college programs of all-time – No. 1 UK with 2,446 wins against No. 2 Kansas, with 2,440, in the Champions Classic on ESPN from Chicago at approximately 9:30 p.m.
Of special interest to those of us here is that Kansas freshman guard Taylen Kinney, out of Newport High, has the second-most playing time for Kansas with 22.4 minutes a game although he’s averaging just 4.0 points a game as he goes into this contest against his home state Wildcats, one of the three finalists for his services along with Louisville and Kansas.
Also in the game for Kansas will be another freshman from Kentucky, 6-foot-8 Tyran Stokes, out of Louisville, who is averaging 11.5 points a game, third best for KU.
Speaking of Kentucky freshmen
How about the work of NKU freshman guard Willie Foster. Not only does the 6-2 guard from Lima, Ohio, have the most points in the entire nation through Monday with 69, he’s also the Horizon League Freshman of the Week for his 23-points-a game average in two wins over UTEP and South Dakota and a loss at Texas A&M, all on the road.
Here’s the entire line for the flying freshman who opened his college career with a double-double against UTEP. He’s averaging 4.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.7 steals while shooting 48.9% from the field, 38.9% from three, and 94.7% from the free throw line. He’s seventh in the nation in made field goals with 22, 17th in the nation in made free throws with 18 and 34th in points-per-game with his 23.0 average.
And he’ll be on display Tuesday night on the road again as NKU heads to Saint Louis for a matchup with the 2-0 Billikens out of the Atlantic 10. Saint Louis has beaten Missouri and Lehigh. Game time is 6 p.m. on ESPN+. NKU radio will be The Project, 100.7 FM while you might be able to catch 50,000-watt KMOX, 1120 AM, for the Saint Louis broadcast.
Nice comeback by NKU women
After getting absolutely destroyed, 79-28, by UK’s No. 14-ranked women last Thursday in Lexington, the NKU women bounced back Saturday for a 61-58 home win over Kent State thanks to the double-double of freshman guard Gaia Castelli, whose 15 points and 10 rebounds clearly made the difference for the Lady Norse. Castelli, just 5-7, is from Castenaso, Italy, near Bologna. She has four nicknames and her favorite food is . . . pizza, the NKU media guide tells us.
And she headlines a new-look women’s basketball roster with eight international players, one more than the men’s team. And she gives the Norse the kind of pickup that freshman guard Foster offers the men. Countries represented on coach Jeff Hans’ NKU women’s roster in addition to Italy are Bosnia & Herzegovina, Israel, Serbia, Uruguay, Latvia and Sweden with two.
Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X @dweber3440.