KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
UNITED CENTER | CHICAGO, ILL.
NOV. 14, 2023
ATTENDANCE: 18,780
Final Score: No. 1/1 Kansas 89, No. 17/16 Kentucky 84
Team Records and Series Notes
- In a game that featured eight ties and 10 lead changes, Kansas outlasted Kentucky, 89-84, in the Champions Classic in Chicago.
- Kentucky is 2-1 on the season, Kansas is 3-0.
- Kentucky leads the all-time series 24-12, but trails 3-2 vs. Kansas in the Champions Classic.
- The Wildcats return to action Friday at home against Stonehill in the second game of the Wildcat Challenge. Game time is 7 p.m. ET and it will be televised on SEC Network+.
Team Notes
- Kentucky is 5-8 all-time in the Champions Classic.
- Kentucky is 9-16 all-time against a No. 1-ranked team.
- UK is 23-13 all-time in games played in the metro Chicago area. The last 11 of those games have been played in the United Center, with UK holding a 7-4 mark in that arena.
- Despite a fast-paced game, UK had only eight turnovers, and all three games this season have been single-digit miscues by the Wildcats.
- Kentucky made 12 of 38 3-pointers, marking the most 3-point attempts of the Calipari era. The previous mark was 33 long balls attempted on three occasions.
- Kentucky led by as many as 14 points. The Wildcats are 331-15 (95.7%) in the Calipari era when leading by as many as 10 points at any time during the contest.
Player Notes
- Antonio Reeves led UK with 24 points, giving him back-to-back 20-point outings.
- Rob Dillingham had a season-high 18 points and has hit double-digits in all three games. He also tied for the team lead in assists with three.
- After missing the previous game because of concussion protocol, Adou Thiero posted his first career double-double, and UK’s first double-double of the season, with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
- Reed Sheppard had a season-high 15 points, making 4-of-5 from the field, featuring 3-of-4 on 3-pointers. He also had four steals.
Coach John Calipari
- Calipari has an 834-254 all-time on-court record and a 389-114 mark at Kentucky.
- Calipari is 69-50 at UK against ranked competition.
- Calipari is 6-5 in his career against No. 1-ranked teams, including 3-3 while at UK.
- Calipari is 83-34 at Kentucky in games played at neutral sites.
In the First Half
- Kentucky started D.J. Wagner, Antonio Reeves, Justin Edwards, Adou Thiero and Tre Mitchell.
- Kansas jumped out 9-0 before Thiero rattled home a 3-pointer at the 16:57 mark.
- Jordan Burks and Rob Dillingham were UK’s first substitutions with 15:35 remaining.
- An 8-0 run tied it at 11 and a pair of Reed Sheppard 3-pointers gave UK a 17-16 lead.
- Trailing 25-21, Dillingham hit four straight 3-pointers and Reeves added another long ball as UK went ahead 36-30. A Mitchell free throw extended it to 37-30.
- UK got its largest lead of the half at 48-36 but Kansas got the last five points to narrow the gap to 48-41 at intermission.
- The 48 points represent UK’s most ever in the first half against a No. 1-ranked team.
- Thiero led UK with 13 points and nine rebounds – both career highs – in the first half.
In the Second Half
- Kentucky began the second half with the starting lineup.
- Kentucky lengthened the lead to 58-44, its largest of the game, at the 15:14 mark.
- Kansas rallied with a 21-4 run, retaking the lead at 65-62 with 10:53 to go.
- Trailing 72-71, a putback by Thiero, a fastbreak basket-and-one by Reeves, and a driving layup by Sheppard shoved the Wildcats back on top, 78-72, at 5:43 on the clock.
- With the Wildcats still ahead 83-78 with 3:12 to play, Kansas closed the game on an 11-1 spurt to claim the win.
