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- Kentucky ends the season 29-11 overall, while Connecticut improves to 32-8.
- UConn leads the all-time series the series 4-1.
- The Wildcats lead the nation with a 116-47 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament.
- UK is now 18-3 (.857) in NCAA Tournament games under John Calipari.
- UK has amassed 18 tournament victories under Calipari which is the most of any school since 2010. Florida, Kansas and Louisville are next with 11 each.
- Kentucky has appeared in 12 national title games. UK is 8-4 in such contests.
- Tonight’s attendance of 79,238 is a national title game record. The total number of 158,682 fans over the two-day event is an NCAA record.
Team Facts
- Kentucky’s starting lineup consisted of five freshmen in Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, Dakari Johnson, Julius Randle and James Young. That lineup is 13-5 on the season.
- Alex Poythress was the first sub off the bench for UK. It was his team-leading 24th time being the first called upon.
- Andrew Harrison’s 3-pointer in the first half extended UK’s 3-point streak to 900 consecutive games. It is the second-longest streak in the country.
- John Calipari coached teams are now 129-39 in the months of March and April.
- Calipari is 43-14 (.754) all-time as a coach in the NCAA Tournament. His career winning-percentage is the first among active head coaches.
- Kentucky had won 11-straight NCAA Tournament games entering tonight’s contest. That’s the most consecutive victories for a team in the NCAA Tournament since Florida won 12-straight en route to its national titles in 2006 and 2007.
First Half Facts
- UConn raced out to a 6-2 lead to open the half following consecutive fast-break opportunities.
- A 7-0 spurt in under a minute of action gave UConn a 13-6 lead midway through the half. The lead extended to nine at 17-8 with 13:08 remaining.
- A Shabazz Napier 3-pointer with 8:31 left gave UConn it’s largest lead at 24-12, but Andrew Harrison followed with a 3-pointer of his own on the following possession.
- UK stared at its largest deficit of the NCAA Tournament when the Huskies went up 30-15, but a quick 5-0 run quickly cut the lead to 10 at 30-20 with 5:13 remaining in the half.
- The Wildcats closed the half on a 16-5 run to cut the double-digit deficit to just four, 35-31, going into the break.
- UK is 6-9 on the year when trailing at the break, but 3-1 during postseason competition.
Second Half Facts
- An Aaron Harrison 3-pointer on the first possession of the second half cut the UConn lead to 35-34.
- After cutting it to just a two-point lead at 41-39, the Huskies scored nine-straight points to recapture a three possession lead at 48-39 with 10:59 to go.
- An 8-0 run, over a 3:16 span, by the Wildcats made the score 48-47 with 8:17 to go. But Connecticut got back-to-back 3-pointers from Napier and Niels Giffee and UK got no closer than four points the remainder of the game.
Individual Notes
- James Young led the Wildcats with 20 points and seven rebounds.
- It was his ninth 20-point game this season.
- Earned Final Four All-Tournament team honors.
- Andrew Harrison had eight points, a game-high five assists and three steals.
- Dished out four or more assists in 11 of UK’s last 13 games.
- Pushing through on a gimpy ankle, Julius Randle totaled 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.
- Randle got 417 rebounds this season and passed Anthony Davis (415) for the most rebounds by a freshman in single-season school history.
- Earned Final Four All-Tournament team honors.
