Through the first 16 games of his young career, Davis has already blocked 74 shots — good for sixth most of any player in a complete season in program history. If Davis keeps up is current 4.6 blocks per game average, he’ll break Andre Riddick’s single-season UK record 83 blocks on Jan. 17 versus Arkansas.
If UK plays 38 games this season — the same number it played in each of head coach John Calipari’s two seasons at UK — Davis would finish the season with 174 blocks at his current pace.
Those 174 blocks would rank him at No. 5 on UK’s career blocks list. No player currently in the top 10 on the list played fewer than two seasons at UK.
Despite his record-setting pace, Davis has paid little attention to the his accomplishments.
“I actually never look at it or thought about it,” Davis said after UK’s most recent win of the record. “Coach Cal tells me what he wants me to do. That’s what I try to do. I don’t try to worry about all the stats or anything. Just go out there, have fun and play hard.”
Through games on Jan. 8, Davis leads the nation in blocks per game. His blocks per game average also has him on pace to break former Mississippi State center Jarvis Varnado’s Southeastern Conference record of 170 blocks in a season.
Davis has also flirted with some single-game UK history this season.
On Dec. 1, Davis finished with eight blocks against St. John’s — just one block shy of the UK single-game record of nine. In that game, Davis totaled 15 points and 15 rebounds, leaving him two blocks from the second triple-double in UK history.
Davis has blocked at least six shots five times this season and has tallied multiple blocks in all but one game.
Despite his record-setting pace, the Wildcats and their fans may be taking Davis for granted.
“When we’ve got those other guys, we’re not talking about Anthony,” Calipari said following his team’s win versus South Carolina on Jan. 7. “The guy just goes and gets his double-double, and Michael (Kidd-Gilchrist) dunks on people and guards and comes up with the rebound. We don’t even say anything about those two. Those two are like two warriors that we have right now.”
