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Kentucky Basketball

Kentucky’s big men got the first 5 assists of the game plus boxscore and other game notes

Kentucky big men passed the ball well early, getting all five of the team’s assists in the first 10 minutes.

Go here for boxscore.

  • is 17-0, 4-0 in the Southeastern Conference. is 12-5, 2-2 in league play, and ended its 14-game home winning streak.
  • Kentucky leads the series 104-37, including 29-23 in Tuscaloosa. The teams have a rematch two weeks from today, Jan. 31 in Lexington.
  • Along with Virginia, Kentucky is one of two undefeated teams in NCAA Division I.
  • With 17 consecutive victories to begin the season, is off to the fourth-best start in program history.
  • Kentucky is 195-27 all-time when ranked No. 1 and has won 35 of the last 37 games as The Associated Press top-ranked team.
  • Calipari has led three teams to a No. 1 ranking (Massachusetts, Memphis, Kentucky) and has a 79-9 record as the top-ranked coach, including 38-4 at UK.
  • Kentucky returns to action Tuesday at home against Vanderbilt. Game time is 9 p.m. EST and it will be televised on the Network.

Team Notes

  • Kentucky made 50 percent from the field, 23 of 46, the sixth time this season the Wildcats made at least half their shots.
  • UK made 8 of 17 (47.1 percent) on 3-point shots today. Over the last seven games, Kentucky has shot 44.2 percent on 3-pointers, 61 of 138.
  • For the second consecutive game, Kentucky shot a season-best at the free throw line. After making 80 percent of their foul shots vs. Missouri, the Cats canned 88.9 percent today (16 of 18).
  • UK has made at least 70 percent of its foul shots in five straight games.
  • In a mostly halfcourt game, UK averaged 1.25 points per possession.
  • Kentucky dominated bench points, 37-16.
  • Second year in a row that UK held Alabama to 48 points. UK won 55-48 last season in Lexington.
  • UK is 101-5 in the John Calipari Era when holding opponents to 63 or fewer points, including 13-0 this season.
  • UK is 51-0 in the John Calipari Era when holding opponents to 55 or fewer points, including 13 times this season.
  • No drama today in extending Kentucky's streak of 917 consecutive games with a 3-pointer as  connected a triple at the 16:24 mark of the first half.

First-Half Facts

  • Kentucky's opening lineup featured , Aaron Harrison, , Karl-Anthony Towns andWillie Cauley-Stein.
  • Kentucky big men passed the ball well early, getting all five of the team's assists in the first 10 minutes.
  • Kentucky had three big runs on the first half:
    • Trailing 4-2, UK jumped ahead with a 10-0 run
    • With the score 13-9, the Wildcats put together an 8-0 run for a 21-9 advantage
    • At 21-14, a 10-0 spurt gave the Cats a 31-14 lead.
  • UK's largest lead of the half was 18 on two occasions — at 33-15 and the halftime score of 35-17.
  • It is the 14th time this season that Kentucky held an opponent under 20 points in a half.

Second-Half Story

  • Kentucky started the second half with the same lineup that opened the game.
  • Switching to a man-to-man defense, Alabama scored the first seven points of the second half.
  • Alabama eventually got as close as 39-30 before the Wildcats put the game away with a 16-2 run to make it 55-32.
  • Kentucky's largest lead was 28 points at 68-40 with 4:09 to play.

Player Notes

  • led the Wildcats with 13 poinst, including three of six on 3-point shots. He has made 20 of 28 3-pointers (71.4 percent) over the last seven games.
  • Tyler Ulis tallied 11 points, including 3 of 4 on 3-pointers. It's his third double-figure game of the season.
  • also had 11 points, his first double-figure game since notching 11 vs. Texas on Dec. 5.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein, Karl-Anthony Towns and Dakari Johnson shared game-high rebounding honors with five caroms each as the Wildcats won the rebounding, 30-21.
  • sat out the game because of a medical procedure earlier this week.

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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