Walter's Wildcat WorldSince 1998, honoring Kentucky basketball history, players, teams, moments, and traditions.

This was Kentucky’s best defensive performance of the season plus boxscore and other game notes

Go here for boxscore.

  • Kentucky is now 16-4 on the season, 6-2 in Southeastern Conference action. is 8-12 overall, 1-6 in league play.
  • Kentucky leads the all-time series 9-0.
  • Next for the Wildcats: travels to Kansas on Sat. Jan. 30 as part of the -Big 12 challenge. The game will be at 7 p.m. EST and televised on ESPN.

In the First Half

  • Kentucky started with the lineup of , , , and for the third game in a row.
  • Missouri got the first basket but Willis countered with a 3-pointer at the 19-minute mark, starting a 20-0 run that gave the Wildcats a lead they would not relinquish.
    • The 20-point run is UK’s best spurt of the season.
    • It was accomplished on UK’s first eight possessions of the game and took less than four minutes of playing time.
    • Willis began the run with a 3-pointer and had two more triples in the 20-0 stretch.
  • UK took a 47-20 lead into intermission, the Wildcats’ largest halftime advantage of the season. The previous high was the 46-22 lead over Ole Miss.
  • Kentucky is now 14-1 when owning a halftime advantage.

 In the Second Half

  • Kentucky extended its lead to as many as 41 points at 68-27.

Team Notes

  • Kentucky extended its home-court winning streak to 32 games.
  • Kentucky’s 88 points tied the season high set on Dec. 9 vs. Eastern Kentucky.
  • Kentucky shot 52.3 percent from the field, back-to-back games over 50 percent. UK is 10-0 this season when shooting at least 50 percent.
  • Kentucky shot 78.6 percent from the foul line tonight. UK has made 76.1 percent over the last five games.
  • Kentucky won the rebounding 47-28. UK has a 15-1 record this season when winning or tying the rebounding but is 1-3 when losing the carom gathering.
  • UK tied a season high with 18 assists.
  • UK had 11 turnovers tonight. UK has averaged just eight miscues per game during the current three-game win streak.
  • UK held Missouri to 54 points, the Wildcats’ best defensive performance of the season. UK is 61-0 under Coach when keeping the opponent to 55 or fewer points.
  • UK limited Missouri to 31.6 percent from the field. The Wildcats are 8-0 this season when the opponent shoots less than 38 percent on its field-goal attempts.
  • UK had a season-high 11 blocked shots.
  • The 34-point margin of victory is the fourth-highest against an SEC opponent in the Calipari era.
  • UK has had a player score at least 20 points in all eight SEC games this season.
  • Kentucky extended its streak of 959 consecutive games with at least one 3-point basket.
  • Calipari has a 651-182 (.782) all-time record, including a 206-42 (.831) mark at Kentucky.
  • Calipari is 114-4 (.966) in Rupp Arena. Calipari has two of the longest three win streaks in Rupp Arena history – 54 by Calipari, 33 by Rick Pitino, 32 by Calipari.

 Player Notes

  • Sophomore Tyler Ulis totaled game highs with 20 points and eight assists.
    • It is Ulis’ eighth 20-point game of the season and third in a row.
    • He is the first Wildcat with at least four assists in 13 consecutive games since Sean Woods in the 1990-91 season.
    • Ulis has eight games with at least 20 points and five assists this season, most by a Wildcat in any season with assist statistics available since 1972-73. Kyle Macy had seven 20/5 games in 1979-80 and Jamal Mashburn had seven 20/5 games in 1992-93.
  • Junior Derek Willis had a career-high 18 points and a career high-tying 12 rebounds, his second double-double of the season.
    • Willis’ scoring featured a career-best four 3-pointers.
    • Willis made both of his free throws and is now 16 of 16 at the foul line this season.
    • Willis scored 77 points in his first 40 games as a Wildcat; he has now scored 94 in his last 14 games.
  • Freshman Isaiah Briscoe notched 15 points, six rebounds and six assists tonight. It is his 10th double-figure scoring game of the season.
  • Freshman tallied 12 points, tops for him against an SEC opponent. It is the second time in the last three games that he has landed in double figures. UK is 7-0 this season when he scores in double figures.
  • Freshman Jamal Murray had 11 points, his 18th consecutive double-figure game.
    • He has made at least one 3-point shot in every game this season, the first player in program history to make a triple in each of his first 20 collegiate games