No. 13 Kentucky Looks to Bounce Back Sunday vs. No. 22 Tennessee
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Looking to shake off dropping its Southeastern Conference opener Thursday at No. 4 South Carolina, the No. 13 University of Kentucky women’s basketball team returns to Memorial Coliseum for the first time in nearly a month as it faces No. 22 Tennessee on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.
Fans are encouraged to take advantage of $3 general admission tickets using the promo code FAMILY at ticketmaster.com. The special $3 ticket price is only valid online and will end at 2 p.m. ET Sunday. Young fans are encouraged to take advantage of the Kid Zone pregame with games, poster making stations, coloring stations and more. Sophomore guard Rhyne Howard is scheduled to sign autographs on the concourse following the game.
The game vs. Tennessee will be broadcast on ESPN2 with Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck on the call. The action can also be seen through WatchESPN on computers, smartphones or tablets. Darren Headrick will have the call on the UK Sports Network on 630AM WLAP in Lexington. Live stats and free live audio will be available online at UKathletics.com.
Spectator parking is located in all E-lots surrounding Memorial Coliseum and are off control 3 hours prior to tip. Additionally, the South Limestone Garage (PS#5) and the Rose Street Garage (PS#2) are available 2 hours prior to tip. The Bill Gatton Student Center is available as a pay-to-park option. Availability is based on the Gatton Student Center Event Schedule.
Parking is prohibited in any R (Residential) lots. Vehicles parking in R lots without a proper permit, along yellow curbs, grass spaces, or other non-specified and unapproved areas may be subject to ticket and/or tow. Disabled spectator parking is available with a valid, state issues disabled hangtag in the E lot North of the Craft Center. These spaces are available on a first-come, first-served basis until full.
Shuttles are available beginning 2 hours prior to tip off and pick up and drop off near the South Limestone Garage (PS#5) and the High Street Lot. Shuttles will start back up after halftime to return guests to their parking areas, the shuttle will discontinue service 1-hour post-game.
Kentucky (11-2, 0-1 SEC) is coming off a loss to No. 4 South Carolina on Thursday, falling 99-72 to the highly ranked Gamecocks, who shot over 60 percent from the field while the Wildcats hit 40 percent. Offensively, Kentucky was able to score in the second half, posting 44 second-half points with its 72 point total being the highest it has scored on the road this season and the most points South Carolina has allowed in a game this season. Sophomore guard Rhyne Howard paced Kentucky by scoring a game-best 28 points adding six rebounds and two assists. Junior guard Chasity Patterson scored a career-best 15 points with three steals while senior guard Amanda Paschal had 13 points and three steals.
The UK defense has been fantastic to start the season and currently ranks top-10 nationally and first in the SEC allowing just 52.5 points per game. UK also ranks high nationally in turnover margin at +9.6. Howard leads Kentucky this season by averaging 21.5 points per game with 5.5 rebounds per game. The sophomore has scored 25 or more points in each of the last three games becoming the first UK player to accomplish that since Sara Potts in 2004-05. Howard ranks ninth nationally and second in the SEC in points per game, while she is 14th nationally in field-goals made and fifth nationally in total points scored.
Several other Wildcats are having great seasons, including senior guards Sabrina Haines and Jaida Roper. Haines is averaging 10.1 points per game with 4.5 rebounds per game and has hit 24 3-poitners, while Roper leads the team with 49 assists and is averaging 8.4 points per game. Patterson, who has played in two games after sitting out the fall semester due to NCAA transfer rules, is averaging 12.0 points per game and has led UK in steals both games she has played in. Sophomore guard Blair Green is averaging 7.1 points per game while junior forwards KeKe McKinney and Tatyana Wyatt are averaging 6.6 points and 6.9 points per game, respectively.
Tennessee (11-2, 1-0 SEC) enters Sunday’s game on a three-game winning streak after starting league action with a 77-66 home win against Missouri on Thursday. In the game, the Lady Vols shot 50 percent from the field and were 5-of-11 from long range with senior forward Lou Brown hitting three of those from distance. Junior guard/forward Rennia Davis led the way scoring 19 points with 12 rebounds for a double-double, while freshman center Tamari Key had 16 points going 8-of-11 from the field. Freshman guard Jordan Horston had 13 points while sophomore guard Jazmine Massengill had 12 assists. The Lady Vols turned the ball over 126 times and Missouri scored 12 points off those miscues.
Overall this season, Tennessee is averaging 74.7 points per game while limiting teams to just 54.7 points per game. The Lady Vols rank first nationally in rebounding margin at +16.6 and top the SEC in rebounds per game at 51.5. As a team, UT is shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from long range with a -3.1 turnover margin averaging 16.7 turnovers per game.
Davis leads the Lady Vols this season averaging 16.7 points per game with 9.0 rebounds per game and hitting 45 percent from the field. Sophomore guard Rae Burrell is averaging 10.5 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game while Horston and Key are both averaging double figures at 10.5 and 10.2 points per game, respectively.
Tennessee leads the all-time series in games played against Kentucky, 55-12, including a 22-9 mark in games played in Lexington. UK’s last win at home against Tennessee was a 64-63 victory in Memorial Coliseum on Jan. 25, 2016. The Wildcats won the last meeting between the two teams, earning a thrilling 73-71 win in Knoxville last season. The Lady Vols have won six of the last eight meetings in the series but half of Kentucky’s all-time wins against the storied UT program have come under Mitchell.
Since SEC play began in the 1982-83 season, the Wildcats are 18-20 in SEC openers all-time, including Thursday’s loss at South Carolina. Kentucky is 24-13 all-time in SEC home openers, including a 9-3 mark under Mitchell.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
KENTUCKY WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
PRE-TENNESSEE NEWS CONFERENCE
FRIDAY, JAN. 3, 2020
JOE CRAFT CENTER – LEXINGTON, KY.
Kentucky Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening statement…
“Well, we didn’t do very well last night. We have a tough day here of trying to get back on track before we can turn our attention to Tennessee, because if we don’t play our guts out every night in this league, we’re going to have a hard time, and you saw that last night. So, we’ve got to get in here after the press conference today and work on playing with greater toughness. I did a poor job of getting the team prepared. We did not show up anywhere close to the way we needed to last night, and South Carolina is a very talented team, but we’ve got to come out and play like our hair is on fire. We didn’t do that. We’ve got to try to get that straightened out today. Tennessee is, I’m sure, a real talented team. But, we’ve got to get the focus on Kentucky right now.”
On what went wrong from the beginning of the South Carolina game…
“Just fundamentally unsound in every phase of the game. We did not do one thing that we were supposed to do, and that all falls on me for not having the team ready to go. It’s real disappointing, and we will work hard like heck for that not to happen again. The very first free throw that they took, we didn’t box out, we got trapped, didn’t come back with the ball, didn’t meet passes, didn’t set up screens, didn’t set screens, didn’t use screens – it was just a fundamental breakdown. So, that’s my direct responsibility to have the team ready to go. So, we’ve got to get in here and get it fixed today.”
On showing the South Carolina tape to the team…
“No, no. You definitely have to show what is going on there. I think it is very important to see it, rather say you’re just not going to do that anymore. I think everybody learns a little differently, and we definitely want them to have that idea, and use it as a way of showing them what they’re not doing, and showing them how to correct it and what to do. So, we need to own this one. We need to do better.”
On the differences between South Carolina and Tennessee…
“They’re both real similar as far as very talented and very big, and we’re not very big. So, we’ve got to fight like crazy. So, Tennessee probably has a little more size in some spots than South Carolina. They really hurt us with that last night. So, we’ve got to be tougher earlier in possessions and that’s what we’ll have to do Sunday, I’m sure.”
On scoring 72 points against South Carolina, the most Kentucky has scored against a top-five team in 20 years…
“That’s a very positive spin on last night.. thank you to whoever dug up that little nugget of information… Offensively, when we got out of screening action, South Carolina was doing a great job, and we were just wilting under the pressure. Then, we started to get out of some screening action and really tried to cut hard and spread the floor a little bit. They were very aggressive. We just got into our motion offense and started driving the ball and made some plays. But, we didn’t make near enough when we needed to. So, it is something that we know we are better capable of, that’s why I’m disappointed, and I’m sure the players are, too, for their performance because we can play better than that. But, we didn’t last night, so we’ve got to own that. We’ve got to get in here and fight like crazy this afternoon and see if we can get better and get back on track for a big challenge on Sunday.”
On Chasity Patterson being an additional scorer along with Rhyne Howard…
“She is a talented scorer, and you have to have a good balance of pushing in areas where she has to come along, and patience also, knowing it was just her second game of the season, and that’s a difficult spot to be in. So, definitely showing the ability to score, she has done that since she got on campus. But, we’ve got to get her going defensively because she is capable of doing it. Just have to crank up the entire team in that areas.”
