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Dontaie Allen puts on a performance for the ages plus boxscore and other game notes

Dontaie Allen, after logging just a minute over the previous three games, came off the bench to lead the Kentucky comeback with a career-high 23 points.

Go here for boxscore.

Team Records and Series Notes

  • improves to 2-6 overall and 1-0 in Southeastern Conference play.
  • is now 6-4 overall, 1-1 in the conference.
  • now leads the series 99-20, including wins in 15 straight vs. the Bulldogs.
    • Kentucky leads 37-12 in games played in Starkville, Mississippi.
    • The Wildcats have beaten the Bulldogs in every game of the John Calipari era, the only team yet to register a victory vs. UK with Calipari at the helm.
  • Next: UK will host Vanderbilt on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center for UK’s SEC home opener. It will be the Wildcats’ first game at home since Dec. 12, a total of 24 days since the last game. The game will be televised by SEC Network.

Player Notes 

  • put on a performance for the ages. After logging just a minute over the previous three games (two DNPs), the redshirt freshman came off the bench to lead the Kentucky comeback with a career-high 23 points.
    • Allen played 32 minutes and made 8 of 13 shots and 7 of 11 from 3, plus five rebounds. All were career highs.
    • The seven 3-pointers are the most by a Wildcat since Immanuel Quickley made eight at Texas A&M on Feb. 25.
    • Trailing 50-41, Allen hit three key 3-pointers to turn the nine-point deficit into a 56-55 UK advantage.
    • Allen also hit a 3 with 1:34 left in regulation to tie the game and a 3 in the first overtime that gave Kentucky a three-point lead and eventually sent the game to a second overtime.
    • He scored five straight points in the second overtime to extend UK’s 71-70 lead to 76-70.
  • notched the second double-double as a Kentucky Wildcat and the 13th of his career with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
  • played a career-high 35 minutes and grabbed a career-best and game-high 13 boards.
  • Jr. extended his double-figure scoring streak to eight games with 11 points. He’s the only Wildcat to score in double figure in every game.
  • had a strong game defensively with four blocks and a career-high three steals in 19 minutes. His four swats were his most since blocking eight vs. Kansas on Dec. 1.
  • had another strong game with 11 points, a game-high six assists and four rebounds.
  • did not play for the first time this season. He’s day-to-day with a right ankle injury.

 Coach John Calipari

  • Calipari improves to 332-83 at UK.
  • He now has a 777-223 all-time on-court record.
  • Calipari has a perfect 16-0 record vs. Mississippi State in his career with 15 of the victories coming as head coach at Kentucky.
  • UK is 269-48 under Calipari against Associated Press unranked teams.
  • Kentucky is 56-18 under Calipari following a loss. Five of those losses occurred during the now-extinct six-game losing streak.
  • UK is now won 10 of 12 SEC openers under Calipari and nine of 12 road SEC openers.
  • Saturday’s game marked the 1,000th college game of Calipari’s 29-year college head coach career. Calipari is 777-223 in those games. The only coach in NCAA history with at least 189 on-court victories at three different schools, only two coaches (Adolph Rupp with 824 and Roy Williams with 790) have won more games than Calipari through their first 1,000 career games.

Team Notes

  • UK snapped a six-game losing streak, its longest since Feb. 5-22, 1989.
    • It was tied for the second-longest losing streak in school history. The 1923 team dropped nine in a row.
  • UK, which leads the league with 49 regular-season SEC titles, nearly as many as the rest of the league combined, is 68-19 all-time in SEC openers.
    • The Wildcats are 10-2 in SEC openers under Calipari.
    • Kentucky is 9-3 in their first SEC road game of the season under Calipari.
  • The Wildcats have now won three straight games decided in overtime after winning both overtime games last season.
    • It was UK’s first double-overtime game since winning at Texas A&M 70-64 in two overtimes on Jan. 10, 2015.
  • Kentucky lost the battle of the boards 49-48, only the third time this season UK has been outrebounded.
  • The Wildcats dished out 17 assists, their dimes most since the season opener vs. Morehead State when they had 18.
  • UK blocked 10 shots, the most the team has totaled since 12 vs. Kansas on Dec. 1.
  • Led by Allen’s seven 3-pointers, Kentucky sank a season-high 11 from long range.
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Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter’s Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.

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