College Sports Thursday Recap/Weekend Preview

>>College Football Roundup

(Athens, GA)  — A marquee matchup headlines local college football action tomorrow.  The top-ranked Volunteers head to Athens to play Number-3 Georgia.  Five-and-3 Kentucky is on the road playing 4-and-4 Missouri while 4-and-4 Memphis hosts 25th-ranked UCF.  Louisville sits at 5-and-3 and welcomes 5-and-2 James Madison to Cardinal Stadium.  The 3-and-5 Commodores host 5-and-3 South Carolina.

>>Louisville, Pitino Escape Additional Penalties

(Louisville, KY)  — Louisville and former men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino are dodging a big penalty from an NCAA investigation.  The case involved a secret six-figure deal from Adidas in the nationwide college basketball pay-for-play scandal.  The NCAA commissioned an independent accountability review panel which announced it wouldn’t be imposing additional major penalties against the school.

Van Lith Rated No. 9 in ESPN’s Top 25 Players List

ESPN listed the top 25 women’s basketball players in the country this week and University of Louisville guard Hailey Van Lith was ranked ninth this season. It is the second-straight year Van Lith has made the Top 25 list as she was listed No. 18 prior to last season. She is one of three ACC players listed in the Top-10.

Racers Advance to MVC Championship with Win Over Top Seeded Valpo

Murray State women’s soccer kept their magical postseason run going on Thursday with a 1-0 win over top seeded Valparaiso at Brown Field in Valparaiso, Indiana to advance to the Missouri Valley Conference Championship game. The Racers will face Missouri State in the title match on Sunday afternoon.

MVC to Air Men’s Basketball Preseason Special on Bally TV

Bally Sports is set to get fans into the 2022-23 Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball season with multiple airings of The Valley preseason special. The Murray State Racers play in their first campaign in the league and 98th in school history. The hour special airs on Bally Sports Chicago, South, Midwest, Indiana and Kansas City a total of 23 times from Nov. 5-13. The special includes a look at each of the 12 MVC teams with interviews of each head coach, schedules and a look ahead to the State Farm MVC Tournament that takes place in St. Louis at the Enterprise Center (March 2-5).

Cats Cruise Past Kentucky State

Kentucky has a number of players out of the lineup due to injuries. Among those are defending National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe and preseason first-team All-SEC point guard Sahvir Wheeler. UK would place six players in double figures on its way to a convincing 111-53 victory over KSU on Thursday night at Rupp Arena. Antonio Reeves paced the Cats with 23 points, hitting five of 10 from beyond the arc. Jacob Toppin had 21 points, while CJ Fredrick and Chris Livingston each had 14. Cason Wallace scored 12 points and Lance Ware added 10 points and nine rebounds.

Ellis, Cardinals Push Past Chaminade in Exhibition Finale

El Ellis scored 28 points, and the University of Louisville men’s basketball team made 26 of 32 free throws Thursday on its way to an 80-73 exhibition win over Chaminade at the KFC Yum! Center.

Balanced attack propels Govs to dominant exhibition win

Four Governors scored in double-figures as the Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team earned an 80-47 exhibition victory against Tusculum, Thursday, in the Winfield Dunn Center. Despite four lead changes and seven players in the scoring column, Austin Peay trailed the Pioneers 16-15 following the first quarter. The deficit, however, was the final of the night for Austin Peay.