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Kentucky Basketball

Boxscore and Game Notes: Kentucky vs Louisville

Julius Randle of Kentucky turned in his national-leading 23rd double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

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  • improves to 27-10 overall, while concludes the year at 31-6.
  • Kentucky now leads the all-time series with Louisville, 32-15 including 4-2 in the NCAA Tournament.
  • is 33-11 all-time in Regional Semifinal matchups.
  • The Wildcats lead the nation with a 114-46 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament.
  • Kentucky is 4-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in the city of Indianapolis.
  • UK is 16-2 in NCAA Tournament games under .
  • With today's victory, Kentucky has now advanced to 33 NCAA Regional Finals in school history.

Team Facts

  • Kentucky's starting lineup consisted of five freshmen in Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, ,Julius Randle and . That lineup improves to 11-4 on the season.
  •  was the first sub off the bench for UK. It was his 16th time being called upon first this season.
  •  hit a 3-pointer at the 9:22 mark of the first half to extend UK's 3-point streak to 896 consecutive games. It is the second-longest streak in the country.
  • John Calipari coached teams are now 127-38 in the months of March and April.
  • Calipari is 41-13 all-time as a coach in the NCAA Tournament.
  • Kentucky improves to 6-8 this season when trailing at the half, but is 2-0 in the NCAA Tournament.

First Half Facts

  • The teams traded points to open the half before the Cardinals were able to get four-straight points to take an 8-4 advantage into the first media timeout.
  • A 14-1 run by the Cardinals lifted them to an 18-5 run with 12:27 remaining in the half.
  • Kentucky chipped away at the lead and got to within one at 32-31 with under a minute remaining on three-straight Randle free throws. Louisville responded with a running-floater from Russ Smith to take a 34-31 lead into halftime.

Second Half Facts

  • The Wildcats again pulled to within one at 36-35 on a pair of  free throws, but the Cardinals responded with a dunk on the other end to recapture a three-point advantage.
  • The first tie of the game since early in the first half occurred at 38-38 on a Randle driving-spin with 14:44 remaining in the second half.
  • A 4-0 spur by the Cardinals enabled the designated home team to recapture a two-possession advantage at 48-42 with 12:30 to go.
  • A Randle floater with 3:12 remaining made it a one possession game at 66-63 once again.
  • A 7-0 run capped by a traditional three-point play by  with 2:13 remaining tied the score at 66 apiece.
  • Kentucky took its first lead of the game since the score was 2-0 with a Poythress free throw at 1:26 to make the score 67-66 in favor of UK. Louisville answered on the following possession to take back the lead.
  • An Aaron Harrison 3-pointer with 39 seconds remaining gave UK a 70-68 lead it would not relinquish. Both Harrison and Randle would sink four game-clinching free throws to make the final margin.

Individual Notes

  • Aaron Harrison finished with a team-high matching 15 points and added a trio of rebounds.
    • Has a team-high 18 games with 15 or more points.
    • Reached double-figure scoring in every postseason game this season including the SEC Tournament.
  • Andrew Harrison scored 14 points and had seven assists and five rebounds.
    • Has five or more assists in five of UK's last seven games.
    • Notched 18 double-figure scoring games on the season.
    • Moved past Marquis Teague (401) for 18th on the single-season freshman scoring list with 409 points on the season.
  • Dakari Johnson matched his career-high with 15 points and added six rebounds in the win.
    • Notched his third double-figure scoring effort of the season and first during the postseason.
    • Scored 11 points in the second half.
    • Played a career-high 31 minutes.
    • Had his second traditional three-point play of the season.
  • Julius Randle turned in his national-leading 23rd double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
    • With 557 points on the season he moved past Tony Delk (551) for 37th place on UK's single-season scoring list.
    • Has registered 12 double-doubles in his last 14 games.

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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