KENTUCKY WILDCATS (12-10, 6-3 SEC)
at LSU Tigers (9-14, 2-7 SEC)
Saturday, Feb. 16 ? 1:00 p.m.
Baton Rouge, La. – Pete Maravich Assembly Center (13,215)
TV: Raycom
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Kentucky finishes up a February road swing with a trip to SEC West foe LSU Saturday. It will be the 100th meeting in the series, which UK leads, 77-22. It is also UK?s fourth away contest in five games this month.
The Wildcats are coming off their worst loss in 18 years, losing to Vanderbilt Tuesday night in Nashville, 93-52. It was also the largest SEC loss in school history. The Cats scored just 11 first-half points, the fewest UK has scored in a half in the shot-clock era.
Meanwhile, LSU pulled off an 85-73 upset in Gainesville Wednesday night, giving interim head coach Butch Pierre his first win. The Bayou Bengals also took league-leading Tennessee to the wire last Saturday at home before falling, 47-45.
CAT SCRATCHES
Kentucky is the all-time NCAA leader in wins with 1,960. UK boasts three of the SEC?s top 10 scorers: Patrick Patterson (7th, 16.6), Joe Crawford (8th, 16.3) and Ramel Bradley (9th, 16.2). Kentucky leads the SEC and ranks 13th nationally at the foul line, shooting 75 percent. UK ranks second in the SEC in FG percentage defense (.396) and third in FG percentage (.473). In league play, UK ranks third in rebounding margin (+3.8). Ramel Bradley, the SEC?s top foul shooter (.868), has made 41 of his last 44 free throws. Patrick Patterson ranks in the SEC?s top 10 in both scoring (7th, 16.6) and rebounding (6th, 7.8). Mark Coury was named first-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District. UK has allowed more then 70 points in regulation only once in SEC play. UK has held its last 13 of its last 14 opponents under 50 percent shooting. In SEC action, Patrick Patterson is averaging a league-high 39.6 minutes. Ramel Bradley is averaging 36.8 minutes, and Joe Crawford is averaging 36.1 minutes. Joe Crawford is shooting 55 percent (11-for-20) from three-point range over his last five games. Joe Crawford (1,242 career points) is currently 31st on UK?s all-time scoring list, and Ramel Bradley (1,188) is 38th.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES FEB. 15
Kentucky Head Coach Billy Gillispie
Opening Statement ?
?We?re excited about going over to play LSU and I know they?ll be excited. They are a totally rejuvenated team and had a great win on the road on Wednesday night. They are a very athletic team. They are experienced in some spots and have youthful exuberance in other spots. They?ve been good defensively all year long and Wednesday night they were playing a good and efficient offense. It will be a very difficult matchup. It?s hard to score at the basket because of their size and they are a sound defensive team.?
On LSU?s play this season ?
?They played extremely hard last Saturday and they?ve played hard all year long, but they did have a difficult time scoring. One of the biggest things that affected their team is the return of Chris Johnson. They?ve had a lot of injuries and when he?s out there on the court, it makes a major difference. As far as attitude, it?s been a major improvement because they have one of their major players back on the court.?
On Coach Brady leaving LSU ?
?When a coaching change within a season happens, it is usually because the team hasn?t been performing very well, generally speaking. If a team hasn?t been performing well, and there is a coaching change, then sometimes players get a free pass to play differently. That can be a problem and I don?t mean any disrespect against any particular coach when there is a coaching change. It relieves some pressure for the players and the longer they go in a new system then players usually come back to play the way they were before the coaching change. All coaches try to coach the best they can and try to utilize their personnel to be the best they can be no matter if it is a interim coach or a coach that has been somewhere for 55 years.?
On LSU?s success since Coach Pierre took over ?
?They have had some success against two good teams. They almost beat Tennessee and they got a win at Florida. It?s a young team but they do have some guys who played in the Final Four, there are just not a lot of them there. It?s a team who got a breath of fresh air.?
On LSU?s Chris Johnson ?
?He?s 6-11. He can shoot it, score around the basket, and defend the basket. He?s very athletic and it will be a difficult matchup because of his ability to score close and away from the basket.?
On UK?s loss to Vanderbilt ?
?The biggest problem was how well Vanderbilt played. We didn?t play very well but when one of those things happen, you need to make sure you give proper credit to the team that whipped you. Vanderbilt was fantastic that night and we didn?t play very well. But I think it had to do more with how they made us play that anything else, so let?s give proper credit to Vanderbilt.?
On Jodie Meeks ?
?Jodie (Meeks) is practicing like a guy who hasn?t played in a long time, but his health seems to be improving. Until he gets some practice time, it?s going to be difficult for him and he has to work himself into shape. It will take some time for him to understand how to play with these guys. That doesn?t happen overnight, even though he?s familiar with them and has been watching them. It changes the way our team played defense and offense when he?s out there with them.?
On Perry Stevenson ?
?I think they have all improved and that Perry (Stevenson) hasn?t played as well as he did. Hopefully he understands that there is a big difference. It?s the same guy who was here last year but when you go from playing 10 minutes to playing 20 plus minutes, you?re going to be a totally different player. One of the biggest steps Perry has to take next is facing the responsibility of being a main player. There is pressure involved in becoming a starter and playing 30-plus minutes. We need him to be consistent and we?re looking for him to accept responsibility.?
