Kentucky remains number one in both major college basketball polls this week.  The Wildcats are number one in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.  Kentucky hosts Georgia for senior night Thursday night, with pre game coverage at 6:30 on Lite 98.7.

Murray State is 9th in the ESPN/USA Today poll and 12th in the Associated Press poll.  The Racers return to action Friday night in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament in Nashville.

Louisville is ranked 18th in the ESPN/USA Today poll and 19th in the Associated Press poll.  The Cards are back in action Wednesday night hosting South Florida.

Western Kentucky University athletics director Ross Bjork says the Lady Topper basketball program will be evaluated at season's end.  The Bowling Green Daily News reported Monday Bjork saying the school has to find a way to restore the confidence in the program.  Bjork stopped short of commenting on the future of head coach Mary Taylor Cowles.

The Lady Toppers have lost 20 games this season for the first time in program history and are 6-7 in Diddle Arena this season, a place where Western has never had a losing record in 32 seasons.  The Lady Toppers begin play in the Sun Belt Conference tournament Saturday against Louisiana Monroe in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

High School Basketball

Girls regional tournament action gets underway across the Commonwealth this evening.

2^nd region at Christian County: 8^th district runner up University Heights meets 5^th district winner Livingston Central at 6, followed by 7^th district winner Caldwell County and 6^th district runner up Webster County. Coverage of the UHA game with the Heritage Bank pre game show at 5:45 on Newstalk 95.3 FM/1230 AM WHOP and whopam.com.

8^th district champion Hopkinsville opens play tomorrow night against 7^th district runner up Madisonville at 6, followed by 6^th district winner Henderson County and 5^th district runner up Lyon County.

4^th region at WKU:   Todd Central meets Metcalfe County at 6:30, followed by Glasgow meeting Greenwood.

1^st region at the CFSB Center:   Graves County meets Lone Oak at 6, followed by Marshall County and Hickman County.

3^rd region at the Owensboro Sportscenter: Ohio County meets Hancock County at 6, followed by Grayson County and Owensboro Catholic.

The 2^nd region boys tournament begins Wednesday at Madisonville, with 8^th district runner up Christian County playing Webster County at 7:45, with 8^th district winner Hopkinsville meeting Caldwell County Thursday evening at 7:45.

College Basketball

Kentucky coach John Calipari has his weekly call in show this evening at 5, followed by Big Blue Insider at 6 on Lite 98.7. The top ranked Wildcats return to action Wednesday night hosting Georgia, with pre game coverage at 6:30 also on Lite 98.7.

Sunday’s scores:   Loyola, MD defeated Manhattan 62-60, with former Christian County standout Donovan Kates scoring two points and getting a rebound. Manhattan is now 20-11 on the season.   17^th ranked Louisville edged Pittsburgh 57-54, as the Cards improved to 22-7 on the season.

Women’s scores: Middle Tennessee rolled over Western Kentucky 77-62, 10^th ranked Kentucky defeated Mississippi State 76-40 clinching the SEC regular season championship, 9^th ranked Tennessee rolled over Florida 75-59 and 24^th ranked Vanderbilt defeated Alabama 67-54.

The brackets have been set for the Ohio Valley Conference basketball tournament beginning Wednesday at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville.

Men’s: Austin Peay plays Jacksonville State at 8 pm Wednesday. Should the Governors win, they would face Morehead State Thursday night at 8pm.

Murray State is the top seed and has a double bye and will play either Southeast Missouri, Eastern Kentucky or Tennessee Tech in the first semi final game Friday at 6 pm.

Women’s: Austin Peay faces Morehead State at noon Wednesday. Should the Lady Governors win they would face Murray State at noon Thursday.

The Lexington Herald Leader reports University of Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart is beginning work on renegotiating women’s basketball coach Matthew Mitchell’s contract. Mitchell led Kentucky to its first SEC women’s regular season championship in 30 years Sunday.

Two years ago, Mitchell was given a significant pay raise and a five year rolling contract. Barnhart says he has changed his mind on the rolling contract and wants to lock in Mitchell for a long term deal.

College Baseball/Softball

Baseball:   Austin Peay fell to Georgia State 9-7, with Murray State defeating South Dakota State 12-4.

Softball: Murray State loses to Bowling Green 6-4 in the Hilltopper Spring Classic in Bowling Green.

NHL

The Nashville Predators are back in action this evening, hosting the Los Angeles Kings at 7 in Bridgestone Arena.

The Tennessean reports as the NHL trade deadline comes to fruition today, the Predators are will to make a deal for the right player that can help them make a playoff run.

Pairings for the 2nd region boys and girls basketball tournaments are set.

Girls at Christian County High School

Monday Feb. 27th

6:00 pm   Livingston Central (21-10) vs. University Heights (22-6)

7:45 pm   Caldwell County (16-12) vs. Webster County (17-12)

Tuesday Feb. 28th

6:00 pm   Hopkinsville (28-4) vs. Madisonville (11-21)

7:45 pm   Henderson County (24-3) vs. Lyon County (15-16)

Friday March 2nd:    Semfinals at 6:00 and 7:45 pm

Saturday March 3rd:   Championship game at 7:00 pm

UHA and Hopkinsville first round games will be heard on Newstalk 95. 3 FM/1230 AM WHOP and whopam.com.

Boys at Madisonville North Hopkins

Wednesday February 29th

6:00 pm  Madisonville (21-8) vs. Lyon County (15-16)

7:45 pm  Webster County (20-10) vs. Christian County (8-21)

Thursday March 1st

6:00 pm  Livingston Central (21-10) vs. Henderson County (17-14)

7:45 pm  Hopkinsville (29-2) vs. Caldwell County (4-24)

Monday March 5th:   Semifinal games at 6:00 and 7:45 pm

Tuesday March 6th:  Championship game at 7:00 pm

All games in the boys tournament can be heared on Newstalk 95.3 FM/1230 AM WHOP and whopam.com with the Heritage Bank pre game show at 5:45 the first three nights and 6:45 the night of the championship game.

8th District Finals

Hopkinsville won both games in the 8th district finals Friday night at Christian County High School. The Lady Tigers defeated University Heights 51-30. The Lady Tigers were led in scoring by Haley Cook with 19 points, Christy Soldo added 14 and Ashlee Cole had 11. University Heights was led by Cache Richardson with 10, Denayia Holmes and Dannika Prater each scored 8. Hopkinsville goes to the regional tournament beginning Monday at Christian County with a 28-4 record, while UHA heads to regional play 22-6.

The girls all 8th district team is as follows: Haley Cook, Ashlee Cole, J' Lynn Majors and Christy Soldo of Hopkinsville, Cache Richardson, Dannika Prater and Denayia Holmes of UHA, Martessia Williams and Desherica Edwards of Christian County and Angie Rangel along with Alli Tellez of Fort Campbell.

Hopkinsville won the boys title for the first time since 2004 with a 75-58 win over Christian County. The Tigers got 33 points from Jordan Majors, Jaqualis Matlock added 16 and Lawrence Smith added 12 for the Tigers who improved to 29-2 with the win. Christian County got 17 from CJ Cotton, Jarvis Irby added 14 and Korey Mosley added 10 for the Colonels who head to the regional tournament beginning Wednesday in Madisonville 8-21.

The boys all 8th district team is as follows: Jordan Majors, Tre Edwards, Jaqualis Matlock and Lawrence Smith of Hopkinsville, Quan Poindexter, CJ Cotton and Jarvis Irby of Christian County, Quadre White and K'Quan McNeese of University Heights and from Fort Campbell, Kyle Bryant and Mark Tucker.

Pairings for the 2nd region tournaments will be announced this morning in Madisonville. Look for them on our websites later in the day.

College Basketball

Top ranked Kentucky is back in action hosting Vanderbilt at Rupp Arena, with pre game coverage at 9:30 on Lite 98.7. Elsewhere in the SEC: LSU takes on Ole Miss and Tennessee meets South Carolina.

In the OVC: 12th ranked Murray State plays at Tennessee Tech, while Austin Peay hosts Southeast Missouri in men's action, with the same schools also meeting in women's action.

Western Kentucky plays its home finale against Middle Tennessee as Ray Harper looks to go 2-0 as the official head coach of the Hilltoppers.

NHL

The Nashville Predators are back in action this evening hosting the San Jose Sharks in Bridgestone Arena. Coverage of the game at 7 on Newstalk 95.3 FM/1230 AM WHOP.