2018-2019 Kentucky @ Vanderbilt (Game 20)

okay thank you welcome everyone to super tuesday it's presented by boost mobile they may not be the best team in the country but nobody's playing better than kentucky january 19th the win over a ranked auburn team three nights later a win over a ranked mississippi state team and then the statement came this weekend against kansas they win 71-63 the wildcats are rolling and now they are in vanderbilt where last week vanderbilt hosted the number one team in the country winless in conference they took the balls to overtime the belief right now can we really take down the number one team they're hitting their shots down the stretch upgraded to an f1 a huge call and it rolls in to tie the game we'll go to overtime locked at the rim what a play move baseline and tennessee will survive tennessee picked up a convincing win tonight and we'll have more on that on the halftime report coming up jimmy dykes chris button i'm carl ravitz welcome everyone to memorial gymnasium we are underway and kentucky controls the basketball [Applause] so if you're bryce drew and vanderbilt can you get your guys to believe one more time they can take down a top 10 team because the belief was there last wednesday when you and i were in the building sure was then they kind of laid an egg on saturday that's pj washington's first shot no good they crashed the offensive glass never went out and that one did on the sideline so bryce drew pregame and he gave great speeches against tennessee here's what he said before this one when we go through this door and we go 12 strong once one guy walks through 11 are running after him when we go on the court and one guy runs back on defense there's four guys running after him we are one unit tonight we are one strong unit we win this game by winning for the guy next to you you can see too in the background all those white papers with inspirational messages on them as into this afternoon with he and his team and all those words are about toughness and effort and accountability and doing everything he can to motivate a team right now that is winless in the sec all right both teams struggle early each team's taking a couple of shots and both have missed them and now ashton hagin's pushes and higgins has been really the superstar of this team both these teams lost point guards for different reasons quad a green he left kentucky transferred darius garland just withdrew from school with a knee injury so he could prepare for the nba draft and the impact on both teams has been the polar opposite kentucky has sort of come together while vanderbilt hasn't as a program changing kid darius garland and a season-changing injury when he went down contact out top no foul call does simi shittu had the ball sabin lee will fire that'll find the bottom of the net and that's a three and he opens up offensively in that same elbow series that we watched tennessee struggle with on wednesday evening last week showed you the ranked victories overall kentucky's won six in a row their defense has been outstanding and they have won nine of their last ten the game of checkers to start the game defensively vanderbilt opens up man-to-man they played 36 minutes of zone against kentucky and rupp and really disrupted their offensive rhythm with it held in johnson way off we'll see if we can what kind of impact that victory over kansas and combine the three wins we talked about at the top have cumulatively on kentucky ryan in and out good three-point shooter transfer out of syracuse university not from notre dame i should say they double three this looked like a travel instead a layup at the other end for pj washington you see the defensive game plan by vanderbilt right off the bat on any touch by reed travis and i expect pj washington the same thing the hard fast conviction double team get that ball off the box it's not an easy offensive fan those elbow touches and so many actions off of him ravi very difficult for kentucky saban lee will get the foul and he'll go to the free-throw line chris budden's joining us say chris hey you mentioned the confidence this vanderbilt team played with a week ago against tennessee but then went to go play oklahoma didn't play with that same chemistry aaron neisman told me today that he didn't know where that came from that honestly they played well the first 10 minutes and then we're just flat the rest of the time he said part of that was on me my knee was not at 100 after banging it in that tennessee game he said he's feeling much better he also says there's been a big change in practice the last two days a lot more energy a lot more chemistry between the teammates yeah i mean look they're all at six in conference to me and ultimately you have games like tennessee like kentucky which are season if not saving those are what you're now playing for yeah absolutely and it's a you know every game's a one-game season in the eyes of a head coach and i love this knee smith kid i think he's got the character the toughness the work ethic the talent to be a terrific building piece for bryce drew this program going forward what a shot in traffic he is a baller i'm telling you right now if we say let's play shirts and skins for the next two hours he would be my number one pick out of everyone in the bill that dude is a ball who would be your second pick i had first uh pj that's a good call yeah [Applause] donnie webster with two big bodies banging there he kicks it to knee smith his first shot of the night rattles in and out and a couple have gone halfway down and then come back out hagen's the pull-up no good in the uh defensive rebound to vanderbilt good push though by hagin's get that ball to the elbow within the first four seconds of the possession there's a steal [Applause] washington all the way to the bucket he lays it up and plays it in his play has continued to get better and better this season yeah back-to-back 20-point games he actually handled a bad pass that time hero in transition through it at knee level a really good soft set of paws by washington to control it early pace favor either team okay kentucky wants to get the thing going back and forth and at vanderbilt that's not how they're built not right now without darius garland for the rest of the season back door inside pass to wetzel who uses his left to get it up and get it in yani wetzel the 610 235 pounder grabby's not easy for him against traffic i talked about last week he has short arms for kids 6-11 but that time the quickness off the floor offset the lack of length hero off but not a great game but the offensive rebound for pj washington if you don't box off kentucky you don't win the game they're one of the top five teams in the country right now at offensive rebound percentage washington reed travis those guys are monsters when the ball's on the glass first meeting between these two teams was pretty close you could argue one of the biggest differences was the rebounding kentucky out rebounded him 38 21 and had 12 offensive rebounds in the first meeting double comes quick hero will launch a three you notice anything with a stroke he's been off lately oh it's uh he's shooting it with conviction he's shooting it quick did a good job of getting in the slot this is trouble for vanderbilt hero the run out and he gets that to go no foul will get a timeout for vanderbilt a lot of wildcat fans in the house coach calipari he's got a team of stars he'll talk about one of them pj washington when we come back this is the sec on espn pj washington a dominant player right now back-to-back 20-point games he's only made five threes however in the last eight games don't overreact to him at the three-point line he is a left-block left shoulder monster right now his drive assist ratio he drives nine times he only gets an assist one time off of it he's driving to score that six foot jump hook is money push him off p.j washington hard to guard hard to guard and getting a lot of confidence recently after those back to back 20 plus point games part of that is because of how john calipari has pushed him he wanted him to play less tentative more aggressive which has resulted in the confidence for washington he said the last element of his game that calipari has really been pressing on him is to play more physical in the second half that washington sometimes has kind of a flat demeanor in the second half he said i want you to continue to play with that same kind of intensity all right kb thank you 12-7 here and he's responsible for a half dozen of those 12. take a look at the indeed player resume for pj against mississippi state and kansas those are the back to back 20 plus and a pretty good shooting percentage the 13 rebound stands out and a little later you'll hear cal i think in jess is why aren't you getting 35 and 20 every night out of the break the three-pointer goes for knee smith guys at practice about a month ago when john calipari pulled pj do you want to be a dominant college basketball player or just a pretty good one if you want to be a dominant player these are the things you need to start doing on a nightly basis and pj right now playing as well as anybody at that 3-4 position in college ball what pass nick richards with the basket and the foul and you're starting to see this kentucky team develop a four-headed monster down low with washington you see nick richards here reed travis and when e.j montgomery comes in that's 20 fouls and a whole bunch of size and skill kansas in the review in that game saturday night and their interior passing is terrific they throw through double teams as much as they throw over them i know they have a couple of guys that are 6-11 but those are powerful kids that just eat up and power through a double team for those interior passes and i'll tell you what those are big hands on nick richards yes they are you found it out today right show you that a little later on huge hands look at kentucky pushing that elbow touch out about another four or five feet that is critical to push it out leave on ground 15 into the game for vanderbilt almost feels like they got to make their shots every time down the floor we're going gonna get a foul and that's a push from behind on joe toy vanderbilt got the switch that they wanted to save it lee up top but a good job defensively by the pigs to not give ground and keep their heels right on that three-point line manual quickly the second point guard on the team comes in higgins goes out john's johnson's on the bench getting a little rest as well i think the sub comes in now because vanderbilt goes zone and higgins is not a three-point shooter where quickly yesterday in practice made 73s in a five-minute drill he was clipping them off about one every four seconds number five in blue calipari wants us to shoot hiro access tonight at the rim good block there by brown ball back to kentucky and pj washington has eight early points left block left shoulder that is money for pj washington seven point lead largest of the night for kentucky as you see kelvin johnson step to the scorers table he's going to come back in and a foul on vanderbilt tyler hero drove that last ball right down the slot right down the seam and got chewed up by the blocked shot and then the save right to pj washington not much defense on him but again he is money turning to his left shoulder and using that right paw about that six foot jump mark kentucky has dominated the paint in their recent victories they're doing it again tonight you see that 14 points in the paint as johnson misses and a rebound margin of plus three so we'll keep an eye on those two numbers over the course of this game [Applause] vanderbilt so many times in that tennessee game in which they took the balls to overtime scored with about five seconds or less on the shot clock they're in that situation again as toy drives went to throw it down it's going to be a shot clock violation as the ball rolls towards us we take a timeout good start for kentucky something they've improved on after some slow starts to start the season they lead by seven espn's exclusive presentation of college basketball is presented by boost mobile boost makes it easy to switch switching makes it easy to save and advil you'll ask what paid with advil welcome back to nashville on this on this floor not only do players have to play well the head coach has to have a good game as well john calipari can come to the 38 foot mark to get closer to his guys here in the first half on that end of the floor the problem is now he's about 38 40 feet away from his bench five six maybe ten times a game as a head coach you're relying on your assistance to say coach get him out of the game foul trouble coach we have a matchup changer out of bounds plays the head coach in this configuration you have to have a good night have some communication with your bench but john calipari has got to call a good game ravi hi jd wants to be closer to his players take a look at rick barnes when tennessee was here last week you can see how he roams just so he can communicate with his players and he's roughly 31 feet away from his bench in a sense letting the assistant coaches know my priority is to be near my players that all changed in 2015 and 16 chris used to be the coaches couldn't roam the sidelines that was the year they decided to change it well he really likes the change i know you have the issue if you can't talk to your assistant coaches but with the young players that he has the ability to communicate he said well you guys don't realize also is this place is always packed when we're here so if i'm down on the baseline my guys can't hear me at all with the fans in this place big barn 67 years old it was built in 1952 and it is one of the more unique venues in all of college basketball you know ravi i learned that when i was here twice as a head coach and you just completely are disengaged from your assistant coaches it might only be five or six times a game but it's amazing how much information you're processing into one minute as a head coach and how five or six times a game that assistant will bail you out so the head coach just has to think a little different tonight right let's see he's moved back towards his bench hagen's going to come in looks like baker is going to come out after the foul he committed like out of bounds plays let's say the assistant coach normally is the one telling you what out of bounds played to run well now tonight john calipari on the fly is going to have to be called just a just a little different look at through the eyes of what a head coach goes through here on this floor sami shittu with the ball scoreless so far in the early going that three is off rebound out of nowhere comes clivon brown who's getting more minutes over 20 in the last two games that'll be a substitution by kentucky no box off sit down and think about it look where hagin's is playing he's the point guard but they moved him off the point to let him be a passer from the baseline in the wings that's such a small thing but a huge move by john calipari to take his point guard and let him be a playmaker no doubt about it he finds quickly the three-point shooter who knocks it down lead is eight blue nation that's in the house thought that ryan may have gotten away with a walk to look up from behind higgins went there to pick it and it led to some disruption and the ball will be turned over to kentucky hey boys and girls our women's thursday night showcase this week number two yukon they're in louisville to take on the third ranked cardinals huskies have won 17 in a row against the cardinals that goes back to 1993. louisville actually won the first game of this series i haven't won since that's thursday seven eastern espn the espn app you can watch anywhere about north carolina taking care of notre dame that two versus three match up the reason is number one is baylor the first time for ken mulkey squad to be ranked in that top slot in the past six years she has a heck of a ball club this year [Applause] there's your point guard again trying to make plays off of a position somewhere other than the top ravi that's such a key move for kentucky in their zone offense shinto picks up his first take a look at this followed by clevon brown nick richards is just in no man's land he has no awareness where cleveland brown is the shot goes and richard just ball watches he's supposed to go hit someone with a gold jersey first hit finding fetch and he didn't do any of the three so you mentioned richards didn't block out richards comes out of the game and calipari has done that jim calhoun used to do that what do you make of that style where literally mistake made instinct is you're coming out of the game well first of all you have to have the depth to do it and as you said earlier calipari's got 20 fouls to give he he doesn't care who plays it's who plays the best and who's doing what you're supposed to do and that is in nick richard's job description every time the ball is shot hit a body go find it for us but you're good zero tolerance policy uh it depends on your team ravi i think and your personalized coach but his guys respond to that style that's how he's always been since he's been at kentucky he's a low maintenance to what we ask you to do type guy and he has the depth to get away with it [Applause] sixth turnover for vanderbilt and this game was once tied 10-10 of the 13-49 mark it's a 12-2 run for kentucky there's hagen's penetrating and a good kick to quickly no good they're going to call that one on e.j montgomery would you be shocked if i said that ashton higgins is a zone buster because no because it doesn't have to be the guy that makes the shot no i would not yes you'd have to do a little more than that to shock me he breaks that zone down though as a passer and and driving gaps [Applause] i want you over the course of the game to try to come up with something that would be slightly more shocking than ashton hagen zone buster but he's not a shooter you know what i'm saying of course i gotcha hey okay i'll give you one right now you know we have we're now approaching almost 11 000 views on our super tuesday breakfast does that shock you even more it does me we didn't have laura rutledge with us today not now chris is part of our breakfast group chris did you like it this morning with us are you saying that i don't bring the page views no you do yeah absolutely if it wasn't for you it's just robbie and i would have about 734 views a little biscuit love at national hosted the super tuesday crew speaking of twitter love duke basketball 453 000 interactions in the month of january the most for all college hoops teams tennessee 314 000 interactions in kentucky 266. the power of social media these days and the awareness of these programs to get involved with it i mean they all have their own internal groups doing those things they're they're entertaining and they're uh they're really a good inside look at the program that you're generally not getting but these programs are all over it nic smith off she too there to help but no doesn't it feel like vanderbilt almost has to score in every possession yes kelden johnson drew some contact and a chance here to run saban lee can fly she too was asking for the alley-oop but instead lee keeps it himself nice move the son of former florida state nfl running back amply yeah we you and i visited with amply on wednesday walking out of the building that was a terrific move this kid's got blazing speed but to kind of downshift and get that speed under control that was very well done hiro fires a three again tyler heroes outside shooting which when he's hot is as good as anybody in the country off tonight [Applause] he kind of lifted his head and got his shoulders fading back on that one two of seven from the floor for tyler hero you don't mess around with hakenzu you do not run dribble handoffs against kentucky when higgins is on the floor he will blow it up better than anyone else in college ball abby saving lead man that last basket to push the speed is the blow by speed but he just leaves higgins standing now watch this downshift man well done zero in gold what dad used to do on the football field scoring touchdowns now we're scoring layups [Music] we're back kentucky has done it uh on both ends and certainly with their brakes they haven't really been a lot of outside shooting tonight jimmy no that's how they're built that's their dna their personality right now their offensive identity to pound that thing in the paint they did it against kansas on saturday night that that's who they are and it all starts with those touches for pj washington and they kind of feed off of those but that's a kid right there that again if he decides he's gonna be a dominant player for the next seven or eight weeks kentucky could very well find himself in the final four i didn't think i would say that in november but they are a legitimate final four contender now yeah i agree one turnover 14-6 in the paint how would you answer the question if your coach said to you you want to be a dominant player you just want to be a regular player i would be shocked first of all but well i think that's uh that's the magic of calipari to know how to push the right buttons she too had that blocked how about that not something that uh reed travis does often he may have tweaked his shoulder there as he got tied up with too on the other end washington no good but he'll go to the free-throw line it would make me think about it absolutely would make me think about it do i want to be a dominant player or just another guy and here's what kentucky has done this year you see back there in week six or seven we were kind of discounting the kentucky wildcats but for having you and i the last couple of weeks we've been talking about how bullish we are with tennessee kentucky's now starting to come come right at their heels i agree tennessee with a huge one tonight grant williams is he's a nerd but he's a hooping nerd he can flat out ball man can he he's unbelievable 23 and nine tonight tell you who showed up tonight for tennessee admiral schofield went for 24 and nine rebounds they beat south carolina 92-70 tonight and it seems like tennessee [Applause] shoots way more over 50 than they do under tonight 56 from the floor 21 points off 14 turnovers and look south carolina lost one game in conference before tennessee showed up number one played like number one tonight on the road there's a collision there with hero and ryan and both seem hurt [Applause] ryan may have lost his breath you can see him deep breathing that was two guys meeting at the [Applause] intersection yeah it's just a hard contact can occur in a basketball game there's no foul there that's just part of the game sometimes [Applause] get the win knocked out of you most likely what happened to ryan back to grant williams the two most difficult things to defend in this league right now grant williams with a basketball around the free-throw line in the middle part of the floor and pj washington read travis on the left block our score 24-14 here nba wednesday the indiana pacers the more you think about victor oladipo's injury the more you realize just how talented that team is and the fact that they may be able to withstand not having him as great as he is and about the trailblazers not steph but seth curry the other night drops in 22 here 27-14 james harden may go for 30 in one of those two games and he doesn't even play for any of those teams that's how good he's been lately wow elbow series is kentucky's done a good job of defending that time lee got to the basket with a hammer pass just can't make the shot you wonder what the impact of ryan in that gut shot he took was he just threw up an air ball for a guy that's really good from the outside hagins buries the three and kentucky hammering vanderbilt here that memorial gymnasium now up 30 to 14. is that his second three-point make in conference play big blue clicking on all cylinders carl ravaged quiz button so ashton hagan's about a 17 percent three-point shooter coach calipari has implored him when you're open shoot it man well he has to if not defense is just going to sag back off of him especially when they're in the zone up top and nothing wrong with the stroke that's a very good look at it from behind the basket the ball stayed on the shot side of his body the entire time the elbow was underneath the wrist counted about two and a half three rotations and if he just gets to a 25-28 three-point shooter watch out where does vanderbilt get their points from start with wessel at the top five on the shot clock joe toy [Applause] now wetzel in trouble launches one off the iron and the hero touch that he did that'll be vanderbilt ball well kentucky defensively and cal told us today they probably have another 25 30 in them defensively in terms of room for improvement if they get to that this is a young team that could very well be in that elite eight game when 40 minutes away from a final four first right i asked coach cal earlier today relative to how your team's gel usually it's somewhere in february would you say this group is ahead and he said yeah he actually would say that this group is ahead he loves the idea that he's got some experience on this team and washington and having read travis very different than what they're used to hiro able to turn around and stay in bounds he's got somebody in reed travis he could talk about the office and seinfeld shows that they actually both understand yeah kentucky just a little bit of screening action with washington up top kentucky's not moving enough to know if it's against man or zone as it gets manned but they're standing around like it's zone three on the shot clock hero pulls up floater good shot that's my guy in a shirts and skins game i'm taking tyler hero first he does so much a man of impact in the sec for kentucky going forward [Applause] look out hero a throw down a 12-0 run and the lead jumps to 20 like that you know in pickup games it's make it take it and you it winners stay my team's staying my team's winning with hero kentucky fighting hard on every catch they are there on the touch alert active westbrook in that ball screen up top by hero into row number three for pj washington [Applause] all wildcats tyler hero was two of seven at one point in this game he's just made two in a row including the little floater in a lane and then the steal and the flush they have won six in a row their defense has been dynamite we are in nashville music city and we're singing the blues right now on super tuesday and i know you keep those sheets that you write those notes down on i know how you work during the break the vanderbilt women's soccer team the sec regular season champions came out they threw out some women's soccer t-shirts i think the soccer goalie punted it into the stance dykes was looking for a shirt didn't get one cricket stick didn't get one no love but kentucky taking care of the ball ravi only one turnover very clean game for them offensively pj washington off the front of the iron what do you think about what jay williams said there they play defense this way they're a national championship contending team yeah absolutely they're uh boy they they fight each other don't they on the offensive glass kentucky has the mentality i'm rebounding against the other nine guys on the floor you know what i'm saying they're not rebounded against vanderbilt they're rebounded against the other four teammates i mean that's how dominant rebounding teams think watch how the blue jerseys are fighting each other for this one pj went up for a dunk he missed it then watch nick richards crash and they call the travel on vanderbilt kentucky with their own elbow series that one's going to be on nick richards [Applause] that's a dominant defense by by kentucky they have the link to really push your offense out disrupt your passing lanes give you one on the offensive end because they get after the defensive glass for the vengeance remember they lost to duke 118 to 84 in the champions classic and there is nothing at all about this team that resembles that resembles nothing nothing [Music] reach in on emmanuel quickly and that will send vanderbilt to the line they will shoot one on one speaking of duke they get st john's noon eastern time as we bring you jimmy a quintuple header you know what that is and how many games that is quite tough well right now there's three on the on the graphics gonna change the page so what is it it's five five here you go tennessee off that win tonight gets texas a m a m tomorrow night espn2 will host lsu how about lsu and then tennessee the two toughest teams by record in the conference and of course kentucky would be in that conversation the way they're playing but lsu has been outstanding all season long and they get a m tomorrow night ap top 10 tennessee back there again and no let down against south carolina tonight i thought navy michigan state after their loss to purdue would drop a little further but kentucky stitch right behind them nevada north carolina marquette round off the top 10. washington show in the left now he goes right shoulder with a left paw still and bullish the best two teams my estimation tennessee volunteers under virginia cavaliers virginia's already gone over 80 points six times this year pushed tonight though against nc state there's a meeting at the rim and a hard foul and cleveland brown looks like as i may have gotten poked a little bit talking about pj washington going left block left shoulder now he's going to go to the right block and a little bit of a face up game but watch at the end he goes to his right shoulder with that soft left paw you have to push him off six feet and then is money for this kid at the nine-foot mark that ball starts to miss more than it goes in [Music] pj's got 12. brown's first free-throw rattles around and drops understand when they had knee smith on the floor she too on the floor and darius garland the whole recruiting class for christ drew was really a good class and you don't want to belabor the point about the garland loss uh but he's a lottery pick he's certainly a first round pick of the nba draft absolutely it would have been a real tough decision between he and john moran at murray state in terms of the next nba draft who's the best point guard and he's going to probably still be a lottery pick that's how good he was in those first four films that we have to judge him by it completely changed the direction of this vanderbilt team this year gravity 13-5 won the league last year co-champions between tennessee and auburn right it won't happen this year i i think it's gonna take 14 and four to win it it could make it could take 15 and three i'm not sure tennessee is going to lose more than three or four games i'm not sure kentucky's going to get that either i know they've got one right now but i don't think the sec champion this year regular season is going to have five losses they got two against each other obviously home and home still to be played as nick richards steps in travis goes out [Music] there's no feel right now for vanderbilt like where's the offense going to come from trying to go one-on-one with saban lee throws it away i just get sped up you can't get back in the game going one on one against ashton higgins ashton higgins can dominate the ball as an on-ball defender and you've got to get that ball moving and make kentucky work and see if they're going to break down 13 turnovers in the game for vanderbilt jamal baker pj's worked on his three-point shot he buries that what a half for pj washington tonight he's got 16. gravity if we look at it he caught that ball and without hesitation it went from the catch spot up into the release spot and a year ago he would drop it i know 10 12 inches and it really threw off his rhythm not anymore they're having a lot of fun now the wildcats their lead jumps to 27. and vanderbilt just looks beaten i think that tennessee game may have taken him out of them than we even thought they were at the magic level that night and did everything they could it's the best vanderbilt could play and it still wasn't good enough and just wonder the gas in the tank right now for this team says let's set up the play we've got about a three second differentiation between end of half and shot what's the play coach probably a sprint out ball screen for hagins i think it's good enough to just go one on one it's gonna be a sprint-out ball screen with shooters at the top of the screen throwback option money why not yep 45 in the first half for kentucky i say calipari's had a pretty good game as a head coach right and i challenge him at the timeout you got to call a good game so far coach cal has called a pretty good game as dominant a performance as we've seen from the wildcats this season let's go to chris coach up by 30 at half what have you seen from your guys so far great defense bench play jamal and emanuel bench play last game maybe what in their game but we're so happy we won those two had a great attitude about it now this is their game that's how this season goes kelden wasn't into it all right you're not playing as much this game i want to get nick going i'm trying everything i can he pushes on free throw or on rebounds we got to get for us to be special nick got to be playing got to block shots but if he doesn't rebound he got tip dumped on can't help you on that thank you proud of the guys though a silver lining i'm proud of them we got an opportunity to play nick we're up by 30. p.j washington scored 18 in the first half vanderbilt scored 15. jeep halftime report at nnj comes up following the commercial break welcome back everyone espn super tuesday is presented by boost mobile first half that guy pj washington made seven field goals vanderbilt made five as a team he just keeps getting better pj washington dj in the end of the game that's who he should be the whole game why aren't you getting 35 and 20. [Applause] people should be talking about him as one of the best players in the country pj washington to me is one of the best players in the country and he has been really in the last couple of weeks he's just been dominating he's a monster wrapping around that rim and he's shown a little bit of everything tonight his ability to knock down long twos and pick a three every now and then but drives the ball with power and he's a one-man wrecking crew right now and again if pj washington continues to play like this all it does is just continue to solidify in my mind and yours as well that kentucky has gone from a team in november that we thought they're just not very good this year they're too young it's not clicking to they could win the whole thing yeah that was that was an unreal defensive performance that they put on vanderbilt in the first half they shot five at 20. pga already has a double double and the challenge from coach calipari and even himself when he went to some of those nba camps without uh committing to the draft what he discovered about himself and the guy who was left there read travis what he discovered about himself and the things that they needed to improve on uh both are working hard to do that so that they can perform at the next level in the nba on the other side obviously a brutal first half and let's go to chris you've got a chance to speak with a head coach bryce crew well he didn't have a lot of answers they are going to try and start smaller spread things out so they can't compete with the length that kentucky has around the rim he did say at this point it's just about respect to go out there and fight it's the same thing he said in ou that they're just going to play guys because they need the experience you can't really get that any other way than just trying to go out there even down 30. so they're going to try and change things up but at this point he said i don't have a lot of answers i just need more experience they've lost seven in a row coming into this their longest losing streak since 2014 and 15. a really tough spot for bryce drew it's an unforgiving league and he took me in his locker room about three o'clock this afternoon and showed me all the stuff up there they're just trying to get his guys to stay focused and determined to to play through things and those are all toughness things that he put up on the wall and i'm sure he talked about it again at halftime but they're just up against kentucky team tonight that they're really kentucky's playing as well as anyone in college basketball right now kelden johnson believe it or not those are his first points of the game you go through a first half in which kelden johnson and reed travis throw up two donuts and you're still up by 30. think about that that's the power of kentucky right now and tennessee can do the same thing they can go with grant or admiral not having a great night that's why i'm not as high on kansas as a lot of people they're too reliant on dietrich lawson and you're gonna make a deep run you're gonna have to find a way to win those three four games in a row to get to the final four right through foul trouble or somebody not playing well or kentucky is doing that right now kansas a loser again tonight they lost to texas this is their worst eight start since joining the big twelve they're five and three in conference the udoka asabuki injury appears to be a lot more significant to the overall team play than perhaps even when it happened another turnover for vanderbilt the frustration continues but what a change from two and a half three weeks ago when these two teams met early kentucky had a season low 56 points and only shot the ball 44 times now they go on the road and just completely flip it getting anything they want what an efficient first half for kentucky had 34 possessions had 11 assists only one turnover in the opening 20 minutes for big blue [Applause] another telling statistic from that first game vanderbilt led 16-4 they had 16 points in the first five minutes they just got their 16 point and we're a minute into the second half this is the 2-3 zone that really bothered kentucky in rupp arena and will move off of that point guard spot that's when they're better in their offensive zone sets right now poor pass by two in blue that time [Applause] about four five times a game over the last two or three i know he's had eight assists but at times a little careless without basketball why do you think coach cal is so insistent given they were up by 30 and to single out we need nick if we want to be special in a half in which they were as special as they've been why the emphasis on richards what does he mean to this group because he gives them something that no one else does rather he can he can really guard the paint and he can really protect the rim and he has terrific recovery length and recovery speed when somebody gets beat and that energy level and that seven foot four wingspan that he plays with it's something that kentucky doesn't have and kentucky moves that ball higgins is against so good at getting separation from from shooters and coming one way and throwing back to shooters johnson and hero are the primary targets johnson had some big threes at the end of that kansas game didn't he oh he's uh you know it's really amazing like you said for him to not even show up in the first half kentucky up 30. that ball stay with kentucky how about the battle that they all face trying to get better individually which is the goal that's why travis is here i want to be better i want to be in the pros washington all these guys have pro aspirations and you combine that with the goal of the team which is clearly to get better sometimes the numbers won't be there right that you'd like to see there like a you get a lot of people in your ear hey you didn't get 25 tonight we really need you to do that in order to get get drafted higher gravity i i coached at kentucky for two years with eddie sutton that maybe is the most difficult thing as a coach in kentucky to avoid the noise and for your players to avoid the noise because they are bigger than life in lexington in the bluegrass state that's a as passion of a fan base as there is but you have to avoid the noise and listen to one voice and that one voice is cow there's that really groove three-point shot by pj washington that when that thing starts going down at a high clip like it has he now becomes a valuable asset to some nba team because he can stretch the floor and just he touches the game in so many years and in your coaching experience did you have somebody where you as a coach saw the light go off where it feels like pj is recognizing this light's going off like i actually can be a dominant player i mean you're just witnessing sort of a blossoming further blossoming of kate for pj i i go back to when i was assistant coach in kentucky rex chapman is a fresher you know it took him about five or six games i remember having a conversation with him in coach's office one day and said listen you're a difference maker you play the game a different way than anyone else we have and we're freeing you up to do it and the boy rex at that point just kind of took off and i see a lot of rex chapman and tyler hero in terms of the bounce and the swagger and the dog competitor that that this kid is he is to me the the guy that you have to keep an eye out for kentucky going forward as they chase tennessee right now i i i feel pretty good about what kentucky's gonna get from those other spots this hero kid though is a difference maker for kentucky because of that ability to jump up and knock down threes if it goes into the 40 clip look i love tyler hero but in our little game of shirts and skins uh my dude tonight got 21 and 10. his team's staying on the floor [Music] [Applause] the hero got flipped gave up a three because of it just a little bit late [Applause] you're chasing the shooter rabbi let the shooter determine your path you don't choose your own path just get on his numbers and follow his steps hero got off that path and got clipped he's so quick he saw that quick move the wisconsin high school star who scored over 40 in high school eight times shot 40 percent from three in high school he's worked a heck of a lot on his defense here i love what he told us earlier today the wind chill in his his hometown tonight is going to be like -58 school got cancelled up there because of how cold it is that's crazy what's going on up there everything should be canceled yes let's just cancel everything [Applause] the drive and the slot by pj but i go back to that deep corner three watch this boom in and out of the hands doesn't drop it nice rotation nice release nice result for pj washington and tyler hero the quickness the side step in this jump shot gets his feet balanced very well done 14 in blue [Music] or kentucky and kentucky at times this one had like a man crush on hero well i don't know i don't know if i go that far or not but i think he's a huge guy because kentucky if they get in a game where the ball's not going in he's got to hit those 38-40 percent three-point like the stroke looks like but he does so many other things he's a he's a gambler defensively he makes plays on both ends he drives and finishes he's got the pull-ups and he's got that swagger now that's why absolutely washington's free throw gives him 23 points on the night and they've now subbed all five out montgomery on the floor hagins baker nick richards is in emmanuel quickly as well right when i look at talent across the country right now and the coaches that are attached to that talent and if they're going to be tested i i think we're down to seven teams that could win the whole thing two of them out of the acc duke in virginia i believe there's two out of the sec tennessee and kentucky i believe michigan and michigan state out of the big ten and i think gonzaga out west is the seventh team i think your national champion is going to come from one of those seven ball clubs [Applause] those teams are got future pros they're tested they're tough they're getting it done offensive the defensive efficiency numbers are well i think a lot of times you can say that at the beginning of the season as quickly gets fouled and he flexes on the ground a lot of times you can say that at the beginning of the season after watching that duke kentucky game i think a lot of people wouldn't have yet put them in even if they were to improve the improvement has been so rapid this season and you can just see the depth that they have yeah this is a kid quickly that john calipari says if you shot fake tonight you're coming out of the game i want you shooting the ball and that time you read his defender well and took a hard hit at the at the rim kentucky has won the collisions at the rim in this ball game freshman guard grew up playing the saxophone the piano the drums and obviously a lot of basketball [Applause] you're an instrument growing up uh yeah a little bit you know i i lived in nashville for about nine months trying to make it as a country singer one time no yes i did it didn't go too well because i'm sitting here by you but actually wrote songs and wait a minute yes we we got to get some of these you haven't so you have no we don't have to oh yeah we got to get something rigged like a lovely love song guy like what kind of community i wasn't a love song guy i was single at the time i was just trying to make it so give me some lyrics rocking a little heartbeat i wrote a wrote a song with a guy that had a lot of number one hits we wrote a song called rock and little heartbeat never quite made it on the charts but yeah got to rock a little heartbeat see we're learning that's tremendous more than we need to know right now but it you know oh wait a minute it is six so you so nine nine months and you said no and we're out yeah pretty much i was scouting in the nba at the time right so during the off season i was over here and uh obviously it didn't work out that well i loved it what a terrific town this is got to meet a lot of the stars at the time one of one of the great opens of all time occurred 11 years ago vince gill and i at ryman auditorium doing an open for sec tuesday night super tuesday game now was it because obviously you're in nashville here and wherever you look you're probably looking at an aspiring musician yes did you recognize at that point that what certain people had was a little different than what you had yeah i will tell you this this town is loaded loaded with talent i mean they're playing everywhere just waiting for a break waiting for the waiting for the hit song to get handed to him waiting for a record deal but it is loaded with talent [Applause] [Music] is this is this right no that's no the rocky little heartbeat had a fashion how did we get on this how did we get on this uh we didn't kentucky brought us here at 62-29 but are you kidding i didn't know i'll tell you more [Applause] gonna get a hole up there kentucky they've really grown up defensively just watching them sit in those gaps they open up they keep vision of the ball they're they play with really big active hands when they're guarding the ball get on the white line and like cal said they still probably have 25 30 percent improvement when you break down their film defensively it's a lot of growth still ahead of jordan bowden didn't play tonight for tennessee tweaked his knee at some point when you're in a game like this the big picture is you got to make sure everybody stays on the floor right and you get a guard against that tough shot from the baseline for me smith should do blocked by nick richards there's your answer to why calipari needs nick richards to be that 12-15 minutes a game guy [Applause] [Music] circle series for tyler hero to work off of those baseline screens heroes gonna have to launch this one with three in the shot clock will get a foul so nick richards goes up and blocks that and obviously he's got tremendous height but that right paw there i want to show you something jimmy that's your hand that's behind his and nick richards that's twice as big as your hand one of those hands looks normal i mean the other one looks like e.t did you see how big his hand was how many shots did you block as a player not enough not enough did i tell you i was once trying to make it as a country singer never as an nba or college basketball player i told you i would shock you more than i did in the first half you succeeded there you go we got there dominant performance by kentucky when you can protect the rim with size off the bench like kentucky does and then you can light up the point of attack like higgins does and be a disruptive defender those other three guys who just kind of lock in and do what they're supposed to do penetration there and a good penetration led to a layup for vanderbilt as if the rest of the second half they're going to let pj or travis sit they're both sitting here ready to go into the game there you go ej montgomery gets on the board and the big blue nation enjoys that well maybe not pj washington has been sent back to the bench maybe it was that rebound and bucket by ej montgomery said you know what let's let's let this go a little bit let him get going instead he goes euro step and lays it up and lays it in there's a high level play by hero as an off ball defender to stay open up in his stance and keep vision of where the pass is going to come from he's another really long he's a legit 6'5 long wingspan defender that his constant energy level what you recognize about hero2 he is one of those there's another block that time montgomery and richards is there after the foul called he misses a shot he's going to keep shooting break it down what do we got i'm not sure climbing the charts like kentucky exactly in nashville how about alabama huh last year obviously sexton carried them in that sec tournament right now putting it to mississippi state back here 66-31 if you're just flipping over it was 45-15 at the half [Applause] in favor of kentucky and nothing has changed here in the second half except the discovery of aspiring country music star jimmy dice i love that and i am really really uh proud and happy for you that you did that you tried that that's amazing that's tremendous the whole truck is working hard out there right now i can't believe this this is tremendous seriously this is it this is the song they found the songs [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] i absolutely will that was tremendous yes i haven't i seriously have not heard that song in probably 10 years well done by somebody out there i thought it was really good it sounded really good no of that's not easy ask about half the people in this place right now it's not easy good on you wow okay 68-31 where were we back into jimmy dykes coach mode i did not wake up this morning thinking rock and little heartbeat's going to be played on national tv i can tell you that much beauty that's the beauty of it talk about alabama either saturday for alabama against auburn alberta team that fall down the top 25 but they can get hot and start knocking down shots and all of a sudden you look up and they're in that sweet 16 elite eight type game as well sportscenter john anderson michael leaves they follow us they'll have an inside look at hardin's historic run with the rockets more on the anthony davis saga with the pelicans highlight some college hoops top games and the latest from the past and the ram sports center next right here on espn on the espn app of course anthony davis played in kentucky so i did ask coach cal what's up with a.d what's the end game here is it a laker thing what's the play and uh i assume he was telling the truth he said he does text with davis a lot but he wasn't quite sure what this you know other than leaving new orleans and not having a chance to compete for a championship was about he didn't give any insight or shed any light on this is a laker play or or something else well they've had seven years to put a team around to yeah to be a title contender how about scott drew the coach at baylor bryce's brother just sent me a text that that is really impressive i will buy the record rocking little heartbeat so we we sold one so far we've sold one we sell more records than views we had from our tuesday breakfast how about scott drew's team of baylor they lose the clark kid and just man they're smoking people right now yes they are there's he came down to us last wednesday after the game and said that that's as good as we can play they had tennessee there it just couldn't finish it off you do have to wonder given what kansas is doing and the injury they sustained if this is the year that the streak of winning conference titles ends yeah if you're in the big 12 this this has to be the year that you get it done this is not a typical kansas team at all they're injured they're banged up they're relying on one guy know iowa state maybe could do it i thought kansas state until he went to a m and just completely disinterested in the big 12 sec challenge what a difference a week makes when we had all the orange here last week with tennessee that one did cross the half court line we had all the orange here and the crowd on both sides was so into it even tonight given the score you know what you see from big blue nation and certainly the black and gold very quiet a lot of black and gold seats you can see now behind the baskets but last week this place was on fire just some bad luck has come across bryce drew they got to go the ncaa tournaments first year did a terrific job of changing his offense about halfway through that season the garland kid i'm telling you i i i think vanderbilt would be like right there as maybe a couple three losses in the league right now probably have their own 12 13 wins and fighting for an ncaa tournament appearance in year three but that garland kid was a he was a difference maker steven lee's not a point guard he's having to play that position garland made everything click you go back and watch the first four games that vanderbilt had with him on the floor they were the real deal in so many areas it's amazing what the loss of board kid can do to a season and it has done that for vanderbilt this year yeah it has you see him at the next level in the nba so rex chapman says i won't buy rocket little heartbeat but we'd love a live performance here at rook when you're in town next and what else does it say what else that's so awesome that's speak up on things like that because your friends all wish that they had the ability to do that [Applause] keep texting we'll keep reading for higgins is so good in and out of his step back that's a pro step back move by a kid it should be in high school how cute keep texting how long in kentucky they can play bully ball about around the rim and those big broad shoulders chris i know that you're impressed with this game as well tonight right i am but calipari wanted to change a little bit of his game he wanted to play him a little more quicker he adds some perimeter shooting it's also some of the feedback he got from the nba scouts but in order to do that he had to drop some weight so since he left stamford he was 260. he's now here's how he did it every morning he wake up first thing he'd do he'd get on the treadmill you wanted to work up that metabolism before you even ate breakfast do a little anti-gravity work on the treadmill fewer weights he's also really strict about his diet so in the mornings egg whites and oatmeal and then for lunch and dinner it's like a salmon and broccoli mix which i have to say the the egg whites is a stark contrast from the double order of french toast sorry kids french toast wait what the ravioli wait what for breakfast yes a double order of kids french toast that's what she ordered this morning i was a little confused as to what were you thinking adult order was versus kids it turned out to be two little squares but boy they were delicious you broke the rules it set for 12 and under only please what part for kids didn't you understand kid at heart that didn't count no i i really like knee smith i know the game's completely out of hand in a number of different areas but neither smith from muscled up freshman just shoots a really good ball you know he works his tail off every day he's really good building piece going forward pj washington fires another three let's say during chris's story which was terrific insight into reed travis and then she digressed it to just tearing me about the biscuits and french toast you saw on the baseline nick richards made a little jump hook with his right hand we'll show you coach cal's reaction to that i mean it literally was as if he had seen something that he's been waiting to see all season long his his reaction to the little nick richards baseline jump hook was indicative of how badly he wants nick to perform for this team nick richards could be the difference of kentucky winning two or three games and not winning two or three games over the next seven or eight weeks and it's an unblockable shot and it's there's no real hesitation he felt the double team on the high shoulder so he goes low shoulder and watch cal that's it like yeah that is great action yes what he wants catch and shoot with confidence because he looks really good in drills every day when yeah in the craft center watching him shoot that shot over and over and over [Applause] i think john calipari should be in the conversation for coach of the year from where yeah where he's brought him yeah i think this is a similar conversation that we had in baseball with manager of the year there seems to be this because your team is talented you you sort of get discredited as a manager alex core i thought should have been the manager of the year okay with the red sox 100 and some odd games the world series never never trailed the american league eastern yet he didn't win the manager of the year because well the payroll was high the team was good and they had just hired him to be the first year manager okay won a world series but no because of the talent on the team and the payroll he's not going to get considered in the coat case of cal isn't that the same deal too much talent how can he be the coach of the year when you see what's happened here in in a month how quickly this team has come i am on board with what you say i agree that he certainly should be in that conversation and i know there's a lot of people out there who are listening to saying what are you crazy anybody can coach that team wrong i'll ask you about that in a minute uconn and louisville speaking of great coaches two of them in this game and the hall of famer gino auriemma seven o'clock eastern time the huskies have been terrific they've won 17 in a row against the cards dating back to 1993 durr back and playing really well and see ms samuelson shoot from the outside both of them shooting over 35 from three but yeah is that a fact like hey can anybody coach duke can't anybody coach carolina kentucky michigan state what makes them so special they have the best players well first of all can you recruit them and get them on your campus let's start with that so that has to factor in how good of a coach you are wrapping you understand how hard it is to take guys and put them together for a short period of time one first year players freshman a kid that's a should be a senior in high school right now and and to put this thing together it took them a while to regroup after the after after the duke lost yeah this guy just refused to say anything other than we can still get there magnificent job [Applause] how good are the two games between kentucky and tennessee right now how good are they monster matchups you know i'm glad they play each other home at home this year they're they're built similar it's very physical they give you nothing in the paint and they get the ball to the paint regardless of what you do defensively that ball is gonna get a paint touch about two out of every three possessions [Applause] [Applause] now richard's lookout he got met there by wetzel and they look at each other briefly we'll take a timeout less than four to go all kentucky here in music city 77-43 espn's exclusive presentation of college basketball is presented by boost mobile boost makes it easy to switch switching makes it easy to save welcome back pj washington the dominant performer tonight other than jimmy in his music rendition but on the floor pj has been the difference maker he has he shot a really nice ball from the three-point line a couple of times in this game and that's about as good of a rotation that you'll see on a three-point jump shot from the college level and he's a monster on that left block left shoulder he gave you some right shoulder stuff and finished with the left paw as well he's a downhill driver doesn't drive to assist as much as drive to score and look what this big cat's done now the last three games against mississippi state auburn and and uh yeah tonight well in terms of flipping the switch and the kansas numbers aren't in there but that's brought to you by boost mobile consider too last year that uh pj was not an outside shooting threat in fact last year pj washington's attempted attempted 21 threes he's up over 40 attempts this year and he's obviously making them at a much higher percentage so when you think about next level what do we need to do to get there obviously outside shooting for a guy that size he's gonna have to be able to shoot from the outside yes you have to uh you have to be able to stretch the floor from your position you have to be able to guard multiple positions which i think you can with the pg you can slide him up or sliding down at times i think he gets it that's a big thing with nba scouts i talked about it during the texas tech game on saturday about jarrett culver guys that get it in terms of embracing the role and high character working their tails off pj probably needs to go another level there at times but the tremendous upside with his kid credit nick richards with another block he and wessel battling underneath another chance for a block he came down with his arm that time and that generally ends up in a foul being called and it was on nick richards all right sonic blockbuster take a look at what uh the kansas kentucky result was for washington reed travis and kelden johnson they all went for double doubles at the bottom ravi points in the paint kentucky almost plus 20. and they just they punked kansas around the rim during that ball game kansas is really good i'm not saying that they can't get to the final four but this is a kentucky team that has grown up in a hurry and john calipari is he's coaching his tail off i think he would say now that he no longer has to drag his team across the finish line yes and it wasn't that long ago that he was saying it and he was having a dragon this team now has embraced each other they're they're self-coaching themselves i thought they asked good questions today in their shoot around their walk through [Applause] i know where they're ranked right now seventh in the country but they're playing as well as anybody in college ball tennessee virginia included in that conversation richard's oh we almost have that emphatic dunk on the alley-oop sean farnam chimes in called it tv gold and now as you're trending on twitter is there anything jimmy dykes can't do forget the victory cigar the game is over when you hear a jimmy dyke song if i'm not available next tuesday with you and lexington is because [Music] let's set it up we have to let's get a band here yeah it won't take him 15 minutes to learn that song as good as they are here make it a fundraiser for something rocking little heart has never had the exposure ever tonight that is a true statement our producer says it's actually pretty good that in a shocking statement a shocking statement we have shocked each other more than we ever thought tonight coming [Applause] in i got to go to dinner mcintyre's house one night this is during this period of time in your life period of time in my life it's a wonderful wonderful gracious lady and um faith hill got to watch her at her they have parties over here when a new artist is coming out and they have a kind of a coming out party form they get to sing a couple of songs i was there that that night to watch faithful kind of break through was there ever any uh representation any agent any any label no there was none of the above i was hooked up with one of the one of the strongest record producers and songwriters at the time a guy named mark wright and people in nashville know you i know mark right he's produced a lot of albums going back to clint black and even randy hauser and he couldn't get it on the charts you know we actually that that song tracy bird i don't know if you know tracy byrd but there's some talk about him wanting to put it on an album and he said no let's let's make it our own number one hit right it just took us 20 years to get it there it's the number one hit right now no doubt it is fastball right through the uh glove of the catcher wetzel he couldn't hold on to it speaking of fastballs and vanderbilt's baseball team's ranked number one preseason right baseball america has them number one in the preseason of course their great coach tim corbin kentucky just redid their entire baseball facility it's fantastic sec as a conference obviously we've seen what florida has done recently but boy that is a power conference arkansas nearly won the whole thing last year foul ball catch away from winning it yeah heartbreak city there for the razorbacks but they'll be back the sec is is obviously loaded when it comes to all sports but baseball in particular they are that sec tournament hoover alabama is as good a spectacle for baseball as you can see ravi i still believe and calipari is the one that says it he's the one that counts but this is his best three-point shooting team maybe the numbers so far haven't backed it up but they've got multiple guys that shoot a really good ball kelton johnson baker quickly hero pj washington right now reed travis can make a deep corner three so it's going to be very difficult to zone them and now he moves hagen off the point against zone to be a playmaker there's their upcoming schedule lsu kentucky february 12th and then the saturday game that's a that's a tough little back to backer lsu and then at tennessee february 16th lsu is loaded i'm telling you they walk onto the court with that purple and gold you think it's the lakers coming in they've got size they've got depth they're young but man when they get it rolling the comeback they had at missouri the night was phenomenal down 14 with under two minutes to go yes water is great may's terrific in overtime that's a super tuesday game lsu and kentucky the athletes on lsu i know there's not a lot of teams that can compete with kentucky athletically lsu can they are right there they are right there with him and it took tremont waters about a month to figure out how to play with really good players around him and now that he has he's you know he gets his three steals a game kind of like as hagin's kid does from kentucky watch out for lsu going forward i've had a number of coaches comment on will wade saying that guy has got great sets he can coach big win for alabama tonight they knock off the mississippi state squad and an alabama auburn game on saturday that the jungle will be lively for bruce pearl and the auburn tiger there you go nick what a pass huh six eleven to six eleven well done big hands [Applause] give him the guitar let's see what he can play you got to have a huge guitar with hands that size what a performance by big blue tonight in nashville they were dominant in every area a very clean game how many turnovers of kentucky have tonight ravi not very many it's single digits right jd seven that's yeah very clean game 52 points shooting percentage obviously really bad for vanderbilt throw it up again nick at night ravi i want you to remember the number one team in the country came in here last week had to go to overtime what do you say you better watch out for kentucky kentucky's better than the seventh in the country i believe they are i sure do wow checked all the boxers tonight and so to kentucky and coach john calipari 87.52 our final score come on we gotta go to tootsies i'm on in 30 minutes i love it dykes breaks out richards breaks out kentucky rolls for jimmy dykes our entire crew great job finding that song in the truck as well i'm carl ravage it's time for sportscenter

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Views: 4,113

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Id: H3GsCCY8NSQ

Length: 79min 58sec (4798 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 13 2020