Reed Sheppard's GF, Brailey Dizney, gushes over Kentucky guard's performance against Arkansas, bagging 63-57 win

Kentucky Wildcats guard Reed Sheppard took a while to get warmed up against the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday night but when he got a hot hand, he just kept going and was key in the 63-57 win.

Sheppard registered all 14 of his points, four of his five assists, two of four steals and three of four rebounds after halftime to lead the comeback charge.

His girlfriend, Brailey Dizney, joined the Wildcats fans who expressed their love for the maverick guard by echoing their sentiments on her Instagram stories with the caption:

"Word."

Instagram of Brailey Dizney

Reed Sheppard gets praise from CBB fraternity

Kentucky coach John Calipari said that after Reid Sheppard's difficult first half, he asked him to stick with him in the second half, and that's when he exploded.

“I told him, ‘You come up to me in the game and you say stick with me coach. Just stick with me,'” Calipari said. “Because in South Carolina, he had the deer in the headlights look, and I didn’t go back to him. If he had come up to me and (said), ‘Just stick with me. I’ll be fine,’ I probably would have played him."

Calipari compared the freshman guard to his mother, Stacey Sheppard, who is a Kentucky women's basketball legend. His father, Jeff Sheppard, won two national titles at UK.

“That’s who he is. He’s just like his mother. That’s how she played. His dad shot it every time,” Calipari said. “His mother: assists, deflections, and still scored and ran the team.”

On X, longtime college basketball commentator Dick Vitale had a suggestion of how the Kentucky Wildcats should use Reed Sheppard:

"Reed Sheppard @KentuckyMBB many will say is the best SHOOTER in the nation - check out the # of shots the last 5 games - not more than 4 a game. To me he should get a minimum of 10 shots per game . Reed is so UNSELFISH !"

ESPN analyst Jay Bilas talked about the strategy he thinks the Wildcats would implement.

“He’s one of the best five or 10 freshmen in the nation,” Bilas said. “In late-game situations, you have to have Reed with the ball. Calipari just has to tell his team to get the ball to Reed.”

Dan Shulman, an ESPN announcer, paid Sheppard perhaps the biggest compliment of the night.

“He never appears to sweat. He looks the same at the end of a game that he does at the start,” Shulman said.

The consistency in Reed Sheppard's game has started to get noticed as the sample size of games increases and his draft stock rises.