Thanks to North Carolina’s loss last weekend against UNLV, the University of
Kentucky is the top-ranked team in the nation for the second time in the past
three years. Now UK has a “bigger target” on it, according to coach John
Calipari, as the Cats host a rebuilding St. John’s team tonight in the Big
East/SEC Challenge. UK is a 23-point favorite on Bodog’s NCAA basketball
odds.
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Kentucky was last voted No. 1 in the
weekly poll on Jan. 25, 2010. In its next game, South Carolina beat undefeated
Kentucky 68-62. And it’s possible that UK could be looking ahead to Saturday’s
mammoth clash with those former No. 1 Tar Heels. . St. John's has taken down the
nation's top-ranked team five times, though the last time was during its Final
Four season of 1984-85. While at UCLA, St. John's Coach Steve Lavin's
teams defeated four No. 1 opponents (more on him below). This is
Kentucky's 90th week at No. 1, fourth on the all-time list behind UCLA (134),
Duke (122) and North Carolina (108).
St. John’s (4-3, 2-3 ATS) lost
10 seniors off last year’s team and Lavin has been recovering from cancer
surgery. The Johnnies haven’t looked good lately, losing three of four. On
Saturday they fell at home to Northeastern 78-64. That’s not a good omen
considering the Huskies are picked to finish near the bottom of the mid-major
Colonial Athletic Association. Lavin sat out that game and won’t be in
attendance for this one. It will be the third straight game and fourth this
season he’s missed while recovering from prostate cancer surgery. Lavin is
cancer free but his stamina has not improved enough for him to coach in games.
He said there is no date for him to return to the bench with the Red Storm.
Assistant Mike Dunlap will again serve as interim
coach.
Kentucky (6-0, 3-2 ATS) has been nothing short of dominant in
winning every game by double digits, including a 10-point win over ranked
Kansas. The Cats also played Saturday, throttling Portland 87-63. Star freshman
Anthony Davis continued his strong start with 13 points and 12
boards. If the NBA draft were held tomorrow, he might be the No. 1 overall pick.
Kentucky had just four turnovers against Portland, its fewest since committing
two in a win against Utah in the second round of the 1993 NCAA
tournament.
Kentucky owns a 154-24 all-time mark as the top-ranked team
(AP)?in the country and has won eight of its last 11 games as the AP's No. 1
team. UK coach John Calipari is 42-6 as the top-ranked coach in
the country. He tallied a 32-4 mark at UMass when the Minutemen were No. 1 and
he was 9-1 at Memphis when he had the Tigers at the top of the rankings. The
Cats haven’t played St. John’s since 2000.
The stars of tomorrow
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