KENTUCKY WILDCATS (9-9, 3-2 SEC)
at Georgia Bulldogs (11-7, 2-3 SEC)
Saturday, Feb. 2 ? 1:00 p.m.
Athens, Ga. – Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)
TV: CBS
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Kentucky begins a stretch of playing four of its next five on the road by travelling to Athens and taking on the Georgia Bulldogs. UK is seeking its first win away from Rupp Arena this season.
The Wildcats have won two-straight in the SEC, the most recent victory coming last Saturday at home against South Carolina, 78-70. Ramel Bradley led the Cats with his second career double-double, recording a game-high 26 points while pulling down 10 rebounds. Freshman Patrick Patterson also contributed 22 points and nine rebounds in the victory. For their efforts, Bradley and Patterson were named the SEC?s Player and Freshman of the Week respectively. It was Bradley?s first ever SEC weekly honor and Patterson?s second this season.
Georgia, 10-0 at home this season, lost 62-56 at South Carolina Wednesday night.
CAT SCRATCHES
Kentucky is the all-time NCAA leader in wins with 1,957. UK boasts three of the SEC?s top 12 scorers: Patterson (7th, 17.1), Bradley (8th, 16.7) and Crawford (12th, 16.0). Kentucky leads the SEC and ranks sixth nationally at the foul line, shooting 77 percent. The Wildcats rank second in the SEC in field goal percentage defense (.391). In league play, UK leads the SEC in rebounding margin (+7.0). Ramel Bradley had his streak of consecutive free throws made end at 25 against South Carolina. He has made his last 29 of his last 30 free throws. Patrick Patterson ranks in the SEC?s top 10 in both scoring (7th, 17.1) and rebounding (5th, 8.1). UK has held its last 10 opponents under 50 percent shooting. In SEC action, Ramel Bradley is averaging 42.8 minutes, Patrick Patterson is averaging 41.8 minutes, and Joe Crawford is averaging 38.3 minutes. Joe Crawford (1,172 career points) and Ramel Bradley (1,148) have become UK?s 54th and 55th members of the 1,000-point club, respectively, this season. Crawford is currently in 37th place on UK?s all-time points list, while Bradley is 43rd.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – FEB. 1
Head Coach Billy Gillispie
Opening Statement?
“We?re excited to go down to Georgia to face a really tough, defensive-minded, and undefeated team at home. It seems like we?ve been off for a long time, and I know the players are excited to play. We had a really good week of work, the best we?ve had and hopefully that continues to allow us to improve.?
On improving practices?
?They (the team) have really grown to like each other. They have always been unselfish but they are really embracing extremely hard work and practices. It?s just fun and that?s the way it should be. It?s a lot of fun to be at practice every single day now.?
On improving players?
?I think they are maturing. We have a lot of inexperienced players and they have gotten a lot of playing time. They are doing the little things. We have a long way to go. But, they?ve always tried hard but they are playing at a different level. They are playing at a different level because their practices have been good, they?re competitive every single play at practice, and that hasn?t always been the case. They are doing things that they probably didn?t believe they could even do. I think a lot of it has to do with conditioning. They understand what fantastic condition they are in, for the guys who have been out there all season. Conditioning gives you an opportunity to do some things you thought you may have had limits on before getting into that kind of condition. Striving to do more and not putting limits on yourself. They?ve gotten out of their comfort zone and that?s the sign of a maturing group.?
On believing in players?
?I never put any limits on anyone, either individuals or teams because you?ll never know how the chemistry is going to work out. We?ve always been lucky and we?ve always had fantastic chemistry, as this team has developed. When we talked last year I thought this team had the ability to have great intangibles. They are starting to show me those great intangibles on a daily basis. Sometimes it just takes time. Sometimes you have some factors that go beyond your control and we?ve had some of those things, mostly the injuries. I never want to put a limit on a player. That?s why I don?t number players and I don?t care to put a position on a player. Why does a tall guy have to be a post player? Players determine what they are. So many times in life someone tells us what we are and that?s what we become. You limit yourself when you do those kinds of things. But the sky is the limit for each player and team, and that?s the way to go about it.?
On Georgia?
?I think they?ve been good on the road and it?s difficult to win on the road, but they?ve had the opportunities to win. They got beat pretty good at Tennessee, but a lot of folks are going to get beat pretty good at Tennessee. They?ve been right there just about every single time. They have an experienced point guard who?s one of the best ones in the conference and across the country. They have really good athletes and they have good interior players who are very physical. They have been perfect at home, an 11 game winning streak and that?s a hurdle we need to jump over.?
On Kentucky?s improvement?
?It doesn?t matter where we play, we need to continue to get better. I think that we are continuing to get better and I think we?re going to be there every single time we play, either at home or on the road. When you get to that make or break point you need to make some plays, and hopefully we?ll make some plays.?
