The 2013 NBA season is almost at the All-Star break which means some of the funner basketball to watch in person or on TV. With the festivities closing in fast, the NBA has announced the guys who will play in the BBVA Rising Stars game with three former Wildcats making the roster. Anthony Davis and former UK teammate Michael Kidd-Gilchrist along with 2011 Cat and Rising Stars member as a freshman Brandon Knight will all make the trip to Houston on February 15th to participate.

Currently, Knight leads the three in scoring with 14 a game, Davis follows with 12.9 and MKG at 9.9. Rebounding goes to Davis of course at 7.9, MKG brings down 6 a game while Knight totals up 43 assists. Congrats to the former Cats!

The Southeastern Conference named their players of the week earlier today and Kentucky big man Nerlens Noel claimed the fresham of the week award. Noel averaged just under a double-double last week against Alabama and LSU with a 9.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and seven blocks. This is the second time he has won the SEC weekly award and will look for number three tonight as the Cats head to ranked Mississippi at 9:00pm.Go Big Blue!

In some very positive news after a not so good UK men’s loss to Alabama, Kentucky women’s guard A’Dia Mathies was named to the Wooden Award List. The final count has 20 women from various schools who will battle it out for the prestigious award. Currently Mathies is averaging 15.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.6 steals a game for her top five UK Hoops team.

The winner will be announced Friday April 12th at the 36th John Wooden Award Gala. If you remember, Anthony Davis took home the award this past season on the men’s side. Congrats and good luck to A’dia on the award and the rest of a what could be magical season! #40Minutes

Kentucky took on Alabama tonight and started out what seemed to be one of their better halves of basketball all season before giving away a 9-point halftime lead to loss in Tuscaloosa 59-55.

UK shot the ball very well in half one at 48% while knocking down three’s by Julius Mays and Kyle Wiltjer who continued his good play with 11 first half points. The offense really did look like it was beginning to finally get it, or click. Fast breaks were moving fluently, guys were in the right place and the speed of play was what Big Blue Nation likes to call “Kentucky Basketball.”Then the second half began and it was like another day. The ball would not and could not go in the hoop. The Cats shot 8-27 in the final 20 minutes which allowed Bama to fight back, take a lead and win this game in front of a packed house.

One of the few positive things from tonight’s game was what I mentioned in Kyle Wiltjer continuing to grow his confidence back as well as Nerlens Noel. He once again filled the stat sheet and set a career high in blocks with eight. His final numbers of 8 points, 8 blocks and 13 rebounds once again show the kid has heart and is always going 110%. Here is a look at the stats from tonight’s game as UK drops to 12-6, 3-2 in the Southeastern Conference. Next stop will be back in Lexington Saturday when LSU comes to town.

It seems like every day since Mark Stoops has taken over for Kentucky football, good news has came out. Since Friday, we have seen a commitment from a player almost every 12 hours, and again, today, another talented player who visited campus over the weekend has committed to UK.

Cape Coral Florida lineman Regie Meant made it official earlier today that he would be bringing his talents north to Lexington. Now the seventh recruit to commit to the new staff. He is a 6’5, 271lb defensive end who is mobile and obviously blessed with size. With his size, he has been able to play multiple positions on the defensive line which is always a positive with the high risk of injuries in the box. Meant is currently rated as a 2-star by Rivals.com, he chose the Cats over Kansas State, Iowa St, Washington St and many other smaller schools.

Today brings BBN a second basketball game in three days as Texas A&M will make their first trip to Rupp Arena as a member of the Southeastern Conference at 4:00pm. The Aggies bring to Lexington a deceiving 11-3 record as they have bad losses to Saint Louis and Southern but did begin SEC play out with a victory over a young but talented Arkansas team. During that game, the Aggies out rebounded ARK 47-25 in which they have not been a very dominant team on the glass, as UK has not so today’s match up could come down to who owns the boards. They are lead by Elston Turner who scores over 15 a game while Ray Turner(not related) and Fabyon Harris both add double figure scoring.

I see this game as a pretty easy UK victory after looking over the stats and chatting with David Sandhop of Aggies Websider(scout.com) this morning on The Weekend Sports Buzz, who basically told us they have no shot. Kentucky is to long and athletic on the defensive side of the ball that will allow them to hold Texas A&M to minimal buckets. The offense should be able to run fluidly with Ryan Harrow back to his old self and the inside game is to big for the Aggie team to hold up with. Expect a 15+ victory this afternoon unless that middle school team from the second half against Vanderbilt shows up, which I do not think will being a fluke 20 minutes.

You can catch today’s game on the SEC Network at 4:00pm. Here is a look at the team comparisons. Go Cats!