Kentucky Men’s Basketball Postgame Notes
Georgia vs. Kentucky, Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals
Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.
March 12, 2016
Attendance: 19,108
Final Score: #16/16 Kentucky 93, Georgia 80
Team Records and Series Notes
• Kentucky is 25-8 and has won four in a row. Georgia is 19-13, ending a five-game winning streak for the Bulldogs.
• Kentucky leads the all-time series 121-26.
• UK has won six in a row vs. Georgia.
• UK is 10-1 vs. Georgia in the SEC Tournament.
• Next for the Wildcats: UK plays Texas A&M in the finals of the SEC Tournament on Sunday at 1 p.m. EDT (noon CDT in Nashville).
In the First Half
• Kentucky started with the lineup of Tyler Ulis, Jamal Murray, Isaiah Briscoe, Alex Poythress and Skal Labissiere for the seventh time this year and fourth game in a row. UK is 6-1 with this lineup.
• On Kentucky’s second possession, Murray extended UK’s streak of 972 games with a 3-pointer.
• Georgia came out hot, jumping out to 10-point leads at 15-5 and 19-9.
• Kentucky climbed back in the game, taking a 34-32 lead when Murray swished a 3 from the right corner.
• Georgia immediately replied with five straight points to go back ahead 37-34.
• The Bulldogs stayed ahead the remainder of the half and went to intermission ahead 49-44. It is the most points scored by Georgia in the first half this season and most allowed by UK in the first half.
In the Second Half
• Trailing 67-63 with 10 minutes remaining, Kentucky scored on eight straight possessions for an 81-72 lead.
• Trailing 67-63 with 10 minutes remaining, UK outscored Georgia 30-13 the rest of the way for the victory.
Team Notes
• Kentucky overcame a 10-point deficit to win. Prior to this game, UK’s largest comeback this season was six points against three opponents – NJIT, Illinois State and the home game vs. LSU.
• UK’s 93 points was one shy of its season high of 94, set one week ago vs. LSU.
• UK’s 93 points is their most in an SEC Tournament game since a 99-74 semifinal win over Arkansas in 1998.
• UK shot 50 percent from the field, the 18th time this season the Wildcats have hit at least half of their shots. UK is 16-2 this season when shooting at least 50 percent.
• UK made 26 of 30 foul shots, good for a season-high 86.7 percent.
• Kentucky won the rebounding 31-29. UK is 22-1 this season when tying or outrebounding opponents.
• Georgia had 12 turnovers and UK only five, leading to a Wildcat advantage of 20-8 in points off turnovers.
• Kentucky had 10 assists and five turnovers. UK has had more assists than turnovers in 16 consecutive games against SEC opponents.
• This is the 23rd-straight game that a Wildcat has scored at least 20 points, the longest such streak a Cat has scored 20 or more in all 28 games of the 1969-70 season.
• Coach John Calipari has a 660-186 (.780) all-time record, including a 215-46 (.824) mark at Kentucky.
The Southeastern Conference Tournament
• Kentucky is 126-25 (.834) all-time in the SEC Tournament, including 40-2 (.952) in semifinal games.
• UK is 19-2 (.905) in SEC Tournament games played in Nashville, including 16-2 (.889) in Bridgestone Arena.
• Looking ahead to Sunday, Kentucky is 29-10 (.744) all-time in SEC Tournament finals.
• Kentucky will be making its third-consecutive appearance in the Tournament’s Championship. UK has advanced to the SEC Tournament Championship in six of seven seasons under Calipari.
Player Notes
• Freshman Jamal Murray had 26 points, including 3 of 7 on 3-pointers, adding six rebounds.
• He has 665 points this season, breaking the UK freshman single-season record of 657 by Brandon Knight (657 in 2010-11).
• It is his 18th game this season with at least 20 points, his 12th game in a row. It’s the longest streak since Kevin Grevey had 12 consecutive 20-point games in 1974-75.
• His 18th 20-point game extends his UK freshman record for 20-point games.
• It is his 31st consecutive double-figure scoring game, the most since Jodie Meeks had a 32-game double-figure stretch in 2008-09.
• He has scored at least eight points in all 33 games this season, extending his school-record for most consecutive games with 8 or more points at the start of a career.
• He has made at least one 3-point shot in every game this season, the first player in Kentucky history to make a triple in each of his first 33 collegiate games.
• It’s also a school record for most consecutive games with a 3 to begin a season, regardless of year in school.
• He broke Tony Delk’s school record of 32 straight games with a triple.
• He has 107 3-pointers this season, most ever by a Southeastern Conference freshman.
• He has 19 games with at least three 3-pointers, most by any player in the Calipari era.
• He has made two or more 3-pointers in 15 straight games.
• Overshadowed by his prolific scoring, the 6-4 Murray has become an aggressive rebounder. He had six rebounds today and 33 rebounds over the last five games, averaging 6.6 boards per game during that span.
• Sophomore Tyler Ulis totaled 25 points and five assists.
• The 25 points was two shy of his career high and his four 3-pointers tied his career best.
• Has the UK single-season record of 13 games with at least 20 points and five assists.
• He extended his school-record streak of 26 consecutive games with at least four assists.
• Ulis leads the SEC and is sixth nationally in assists, 7.2 per game. He’s on pace to break the school record of 6.5 assists per game by John Wall in 2009-10.
• He now has 366 assists as a Wildcat, moving past Saul Smith (363) for 10th place on the Kentucky career list.
• Freshman Isaiah Briscoe totaled 12 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
• Has scored double figures in 17 games this season.
• Junior Derek Willis totaled 14 points and seven rebounds.
• He had career highs by making eight of eight at the foul line.
• He tied his career high for blocked shots with four.
• Saddled by foul trouble, Alex Poythress managed 10 points and two rebounds in 19 minutes.
• He has scored double figures in five of six games since returning from injury, averaging 11.3 points during that span.
• Has made 28 of 42 shots (.667) since returning from injury.
