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Five Kentucky players earn preseason All-SEC accolades

Five Kentucky players were honored with preseason All-Southeastern Conference honors by the league’s coaches it was announced by the league office on Friday.

Five players were honored with preseason All-Southeastern Conference honors by the league's coaches it was announced by the league office on Friday. Freshman was tabbed to the league's first team, while sophomores and along with freshmen and claimed second team accolades.

Seven different schools are represented on the two teams with Kentucky having five selections while Tennessee had three and Florida, LSU and Missouri each have two selections. In all, 37 different players received votes for the coaches' teams.

The coaches' preseason All- first and second teams consist of a minimum of eight players on each squad, voted on by the SEC Head Men's Basketball Coaches. No ties were broken and no predicted order of finish was made.

Randle averaged 18.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game in 's two exhibition contests. He notched a double-double in both victories. The Dallas native previously earned All-SEC preseason first team honors by the league's media voting panel and was tabbed the early season favorite to win SEC Player of the Year accolades.

Cauley-Stein and Poythress are UK's top-two returning scorers from the 2012-13 squad. Both players earned distinction on the All-SEC Freshman team a season ago. Cauley-Stein logged 9.5 points and seven blocked shots in Kentucky's two preseason victories. Poythress averaged 8.5 points in the two outings.

Andrew Harrison who is a Bob Cousy award watch list candidate earned preseason All-SEC second team honors by the media as well. Harrison did not suit up during exhibition play. Young was UK's second-leading scorer in exhibition contests averaged 12.5 points per outing. He also dished out seven total assists and accounted for four steals.

The Wildcats open the 2013-14 campaign with a home contest Friday against UNC Asheville. Tip off is slated for a 7 p.m. ET start.

First Team All-SEC

Trevor Releford – Alabama, G, 6-0, 190, Sr., Kansas City, Mo.
Patric Young – Florida, C, 6-9, 240, Sr., Jacksonville, Fla.
Julius Randle – Kentucky, F, 6-9, 250, Fr., Dallas, Texas
Johnny O'Bryant III – LSU, F, 6-9, 256 , Jr. , Cleveland, Miss.
Marshall Henderson – Ole Miss, G, 6-2, 177, Sr., Hurst, Texas
Jabari Brown – Missouri, G, 6-5, 214, Jr., Oakland, Calif.
Jordan McRae – Tennessee, G, 6-6, 185, Sr., Midway, Ga.
Jarnell Stokes – Tennessee, F, 6-8, 260, Jr., Memphis, Tenn.

Second Team All-SEC

Scottie Wilbekin – Florida, G, 6-2, 176, Sr., Gainesville, Fla.
Willie Cauley-Stein – Kentucky, F, 7-0, 244, So., Olathe, Kan.
Andrew Harrison – Kentucky, G, 6-6, 215, Fr., Richmond, Texas
Alex Poythress – Kentucky, F, 6-8, 239, So., Clarksville, Tenn.
James Young – Kentucky, G, 6-6, 215, Fr., Rochester Hills, Mich.
Anthony Hickey – LSU, G, 5-11, 182, Jr., Hopkinsville, Ky.
Earnest Ross – Missouri, G, 6-5, 228, Sr., Cary, N.C.
Jeronne Maymon – Tennessee, F, 6-8, 260, Sr., Madison, Wis.

On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 28, 1992, in what many called the “best NCAA Tournament game ever,” Kentucky takes defending NCAA champion Duke into overtime before losing 104-103 in the East Regional finals in Philadelphia. A last-second shot by Christian Laettner sends Duke to the Final Four, and breaks the hearts of Wildcat fans everywhere. It is Cawood Ledford’s last game as the “Voice of the Wildcats.”

 

On March 28, 1998, against Stanford, Kentucky rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, then grabbed a 5-point overtime lead, before fending off the Cardinals to advance to the title game for the third straight season. Jeff Sheppard canned three long-range three-pointers - two in the final three minutes and one in overtime - en route to a career-high 27 points.

 

On March 28, 2014, unranked Kentucky beat No. 5 Louisville 74-69, in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.  Aaron Harrison buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 39 seconds left that put UK ahead to stay before 41,072 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

On March 28, 2015, No. 1 Kentucky defeated No. 8 Notre Dame, 68-66, in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.  With its 37-0 record on the line, Kentucky trailed Notre Dame 59-53 with 6:14 left. UK rallied in front of 19,464 fans in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and preserved its perfect season thanks to a crucial blocked shot by Willie Cauley-Stein and two game-deciding free throws from Andrew Harrison in the final seconds.

 

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