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Keion Brooks Jr enjoys one of the best games of his career plus Boxscore and Other Game Notes

Keion Brooks Jr. scored 22 points to lead No. 13 Kentucky to a 77-59 win over Ohio on Friday night.

Go here for boxscore.

MEN'S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
OHIO at
RUPP ARENA | LEXINGTON, KY.
NOV. 19, 2021
ATTENDANCE: 19,045

Final Score: No. 13/11 Kentucky 77, RV/- Ohio 59

Team Records and Series Notes

  • Kentucky is on its first official winning streak of the season with its third consecutive victory to get to 3-1 on the year. Ohio suffered its first loss to fall to 3-1.
  • UK now leads the series 15-1, including 7-0 in games in Lexington, Kentucky.
    • It was the Wildcats' eighth straight victory in the series.
  • This was the final game for Kentucky in the Kentucky Classic, a multi-team event. The Wildcats went 3-0 in the event.
  • There were a season-high 19,045 fans in Rupp Arena on Friday.
  • Next up: Kentucky will continue its season-long seven-game home stand on Monday when it hosts Albany at 7 p.m. in Rupp Arena. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network+/ESPN+.

Team Notes

  • Tied at 48 with 14:07 remaining, Kentucky went on a 29-9 run for a 77-57 lead. Ohio did not get a 2-point basket or free throw for 14 minutes before ending the game with a breakaway dunk.
  • Limiting Ohio to 59 points, UK is now 191-9 (95.5%) under John Calipari when holding opponents to 63 points or fewer, including all three games of the Kentucky Classic.
  • Kentucky dominated the rebounding 53-17 for a plus-36 margin, leading to a 17-6 advantage on second-chance points.
    • The plus-36 margin was not only the most of the Calipari era, surpassing a plus-31 margin vs. NJIT on Nov. 14, 2015, it's the largest rebounding margin since the Wildcats outrebounded Vanderbilt by 39 (57-18) on Jan. 3, 1998, in a 71-62 win.
    • The 53 boards for the Wildcats are the eighth most during the Calipari era and the most since snagging 54 vs. Richmond on Nov. 29, 2020.
    • Kentucky grabbed more offensive rebounds (19) than Ohio did total rebounds (17).
  • UK made 16 of 17 at the foul line, 94.1%. UK is now 86.4% for the season.
  • Outlasting the Bobcats in the second half, bench play proved decisive as the Wildcats won bench points 24-9.

Player Notes  

  • , . and Jr. were named to the Kentucky Classic All-Tournament Team.
    • Tshiebwe was tabbed the MVP after averaging 12.7 points and 15.3 rebounds during the three games. With 10 rebounds tonight, he has double-figure boards in all four games this season.
    • Brooks averaged 15 points and 5.3 rebounds during the tournament.
    • Washington averaged 15.3 points and 5.7 rebounds during the event.
  • Brooks enjoyed one of the best games of his career with 22 points and eight rebounds in 37 minutes.
    • His 22 points were one shy of his career high (23 on Feb. 6, 2021).
    • He was 9 of 18 from the floor, making several mid-range jumpers.
  • Washington was sensational Friday with his first career double-double, scoring 20 points and 11 rebounds while adding five assists – season highs in all three categories.
    • According to ESPN Stats & Info, he became the third Wildcat under Calipari to amass 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a game, joining Isaiah Briscoe and James Young.
  • reached double figures for the second time this season with 12 points to go along with a career-high-tying nine rebounds, plus three assists.
  • provided a great spark in the first half with seven points and seven rebounds.
  • Jacob Toppin (shoulder) and Lance Ware (ankle) did not play because of injury. Both are day-to-day.
    • Toppin has missed three straight games and Ware has missed the last two.
    • CJ Fredrick also missed and is likely to miss the 2021-22 season after undergoing surgery on Tuesday to repair a hamstring injury.

Coach Calipari

  • Calipari improved to 342-94 at UK.
  • Calipari has a 787-234 all-time on-court record. 
  • UK is 278-55 in games vs. unranked Associated Press competition.
  • Calipari notched his first win in his first career meeting vs. Ohio.
  • Kentucky is 191-17 in Rupp Arene under Calipari.

In the First Half

  • Kentucky started , TyTy Washington Jr., , Keion Brooks Jr. and Oscar Tshiebwe for the fourth straight game and is now 3-1 with that lineup.
  • Brooks scored on the game's opening possession after the Wildcats won the tip.
  • Tshiebwe, Kentucky's leading scorer and leading rebounder entering Friday (18.3 points and 18.7 rebounds per game), picked up two fouls on the game's second and third possessions and had to go to the bench early. He did not play the rest of the first half.
    • immediately subbed for him as the first sub of the game and then quickly picked up two fouls of his own before the first media timeout, severely testing Kentucky's front-court depth early in the game with Toppin and Ware out with injuries.
  • Ohio played with a purpose from the start. With Tshiebwe on the bench and making five of their first six shots, the Bobcats raced to an 11-4 lead.
  • Just as the Wildcats clawed back within 12-10, Ohio outscored Kentucky 8-2 over the next two minutes to take a 20-12 advantage going into the under-12 timeout.
    • Jason Carter had seven of Ohio's first 20 points.
  • Down 22-14, UK reeled off eight straight points over the next three minutes to draw even at 24-24 with 8:11 left.
  • UK took its first lead at 26-25 on a pair of Brooks free throws at the 7:02 mark, the Wildcats' first lead since 2-0. With another bucket, UK completed a 14-3 run to get to 28-25.
  • Right back came Ohio, most notably Ben Vander Plas. The stretch forward continued to torch the Wildcats from 3 with two more treys to take a 38-34 lead with 3:37 left in the half.
    • Vander Plas scored 13 points in the first half with three 3-pointers and five rebounds.
  • Kentucky finished the half on a 6-0 run to take a 40-38 lead into the halftime locker room.
  • Brooks was the veteran the Wildcats needed with UK's first-half foul trouble. He posted 12 points and five rebounds in 18 minutes before halftime.
  • Hopkins, who entered the game having played 29 combined minutes in the first three games, contributed 14 important minutes in the first half with the Wildcats in foul trouble. He posted seven points and seven rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
  • Despite the first-half absence of the nation's leading rebounder (Tshiebwe) for virtually all of the first half, the Wildcats still outrebounded the Bobcats 26-11.

In the Second Half

  • Kentucky started the second half with the same starting five: Wheeler, Washington, Grady, Brooks and Tshiebwe. 
  • Ohio scored six straight points to start the half and retook the lead, 44-40.
  • Brooks picked up right where he left off in the first half and scored six straight points during an 8-0 run – all three jumpers from the left corner – to put Kentucky up 48-46 with 14:31 to play.
  • The Wildcats took their largest lead of the game with the biggest run of the game, a 9-0 spurt midway through the second half.
    • The defining sequence that sent Big Blue Nation to its feet was an offensive rebound by Davion Mintz for a kickout 3 to Washington.
    • After a quick shot and miss by Ohio at the other end, Mintz grabbed the defensive rebound and raced the length of the court for a 57-48 lead with 11:11 left, forcing Ohio to call timeout.
  • Up 61-54, Washington reeled off five straight points, followed by another Brooks jumper for a 7-0 run to take a 68-54 lead with 6:53 to go.
  • All totaled, after being tied at 48 with 14:07 remaining, UK went on a 29-9 run and did not allow a two-point basket or free throw until Ohio got a breakaway dunk to end the game.
  • Tshiebwe grabbed 10 rebounds in the second half, while Washington and Brooks scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.

 

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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