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Kentucky Basketball

Boxscore and Game Notes: Kentucky vs Texas

Kentucky defeated an undefeated team for the second-consecutive game after knocking off Providence on Sunday.

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  • Kentucky is 8-0 and Texas is 7-1.
  • Kentucky defeated an undefeated team for the second-consecutive game after knocking off Providence on Sunday.
  • Kentucky leads the series 2-0.
  • Kentucky is 186-27 all-time when ranked No. 1 and has won 26 of the last 28 games as The Associated Press top-ranked team.
    • Coach has led three teams to a No. 1 ranking (Massachusetts, Memphis, Kentucky) and has a 70-9 record as the top-ranked coach, including 29-4 at .
  • Kentucky returns to action Sunday at home against Eastern Kentucky. Game time is 6 p.m. and it will be televised on the SEC Network.

First-Half Facts

  • Kentucky's opening lineup featured , , , Karl-Anthony Towns and for the sixth time this season.
  • The game stayed tight early. Tied at 13 midway through the period, Texas went on a 7-1 run to take the largest lead of the half at 20-14.
  • Towns sparked a 6-0 Wildcat surge by making two free throws on a flagrant foul, taking the inbounds pass and sinking a jumper, then grabbing a defensive rebound and feeding for a fastbreak jumper that knotted the game at 20. Willie Cauley-Stein made it an 8-0 run and 22-20 UK lead with a jump hook.
  • Texas rallied to re-take the lead, then Cauley-Stein canned another jump hook in the final minute of the half, sending the teams to intermission tied at 26.

Second-Half Story

  • Kentucky started the second half with Tyler Ulis, , , Willie Cauley-Stein and .
  • The Wildcats scored on five of their first six possessions to take a 36-26 lead.
  • Texas tallied its first basket of the half at the 14:24 mark on a dunk by Prince Ibeh. UK responded with eight more points, outscoring the Longhorns 18-2 in the first 8:40 of the period to make it 44-28.
  • Texas responded with runs of 7-0, 6-0 and 5-0 to get within five at 51-46.
  • UK got its first 3-pointer of the game, by Andrew Harrison with 2:45 to play, making the score 56-47.  Harrison's three extended UK's streak of 908 games with at least one triple.
  • Texas got back within 56-51, but Cauley-Stein clinched the win with a foul shot, alley-oop dunk and two more free throws in the final two minutes.

Team Notes

  • Texas was limited to 29.8 percent from the field.  UK entered the game holding opponents to just 27.9 percent from the field, leading the nation in that category.
  • Kentucky has held all eight opponents under 40 percent shooting, including five games under 30 percent.
  • Key stat for Kentucky was turnovers. UK won that 22-8, leading to a 19-7 edge in points off turnovers.
  • Kentucky won points in the paint 28-16.
  • UK was outrebounded tonight, 42-31, first time that has happened this season.
  • UK won bench points 17-16 and has won bench points every game this season.
  • Kentucky is now 45-0 under Coach Calipari when holding the opponent to 55 or fewer points.

Player Notes

  • Willie Cauley-Stein totaled a career-high 21 points and a season-high 12 rebounds, his first double-double of the season.
    • WCS added a season-high five steals along with three blocked shots.
    • He also played 33 minutes, the first Wildcat to reach 30 minutes in a game this season.
  • Dakari Johnson had 11 points, his sixth double-figure game of the season, and added six rebounds.
  • Karl-Anthony Towns had 10 points, his third straight game in double figures, including a career-best 6-of-6 at the free-throw line.

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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