UK MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
OHIO at KENTUCKY
RUPP ARENA | LEXINGTON, KY.
NOV. 19, 2021
ATTENDANCE: 19,045

Final Score: No. 13/11 Kentucky 77, RV/- Ohio 59
 
Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is on its first official winning streak of the season with its third consecutive victory to get to 3-1 on the year. Ohio suffered its first loss to fall to 3-1.

• UK now leads the series 15-1, including 7-0 in games in Lexington, Kentucky.
  • It was the Wildcats’ eighth straight victory in the series.
• This was the final game for Kentucky in the Kentucky Classic, a multi-team event. The Wildcats went 3-0 in the event.
• There were a season-high 19,045 fans in Rupp Arena on Friday.
• Next up: Kentucky will continue its season-long seven-game home stand on Monday when it hosts Albany at 7 p.m. in Rupp Arena. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network+/ESPN+.

 
Team Notes

• Tied at 48 with 14:07 remaining, Kentucky went on a 29-9 run for a 77-57 lead. Ohio did not get a 2-point basket or free throw for 14 minutes before ending the game with a breakaway dunk.
• Limiting Ohio to 59 points, UK is now 191-9 (95.5%) under John Calipari when holding opponents to 63 points or fewer, including all three games of the Kentucky Classic.
• Kentucky dominated the rebounding 53-17 for a plus-36 margin, leading to a 17-6 advantage on second-chance points.
  • The plus-36 margin was not only the most of the Calipari era, surpassing a plus-31 margin vs. NJIT on Nov. 14, 2015, it’s the largest rebounding margin since the Wildcats outrebounded Vanderbilt by 39 (57-18) on Jan. 3, 1998, in a 71-62 win.
  • The 53 boards for the Wildcats are the eighth most during the Calipari era and the most since snagging 54 vs. Richmond on Nov. 29, 2020.
  • Kentucky grabbed more offensive rebounds (19) than Ohio did total rebounds (17).
• UK made 16 of 17 at the foul line, 94.1%. UK is now 86.4% for the season.
• Outlasting the Bobcats in the second half, bench play proved decisive as the Wildcats won bench points 24-9.

 
Player Notes  

• Oscar Tshiebwe, Keion Brooks Jr. and TyTy Washington Jr. were named to the Kentucky Classic All-Tournament Team.

  • Tshiebwe was tabbed the MVP after averaging 12.7 points and 15.3 rebounds during the three games. With 10 rebounds tonight, he has double-figure boards in all four games this season.
  • Brooks averaged 15 points and 5.3 rebounds during the tournament.
  • Washington averaged 15.3 points and 6.0 rebounds during the event.
• Brooks enjoyed one of the best games of his career with 22 points and eight rebounds in 37 minutes.
  • His 22 points were one shy of his career high (23 on Feb. 6, 2021).
  • He was 9 of 18 from the floor, making several mid-range jumpers.
• Washington was sensational Friday with his first career double-double, scoring 20 points and 11 rebounds while adding five assists – season highs in all three categories.
  • According to ESPN Stats & Info, he became the third Wildcat under Calipari to amass at least 20 points, at least 10 rebounds and at least five assists in a game, joining Isaiah Briscoe and James Young.
• Davion Mintz reached double figures for the second time this season with 12 points to go along with eight rebounds, plus three assists.
• Bryce Hopkins provided a great spark in the first half with seven points and seven rebounds.
• Jacob Toppin (shoulder) and Lance Ware (ankle) did not play because of injury. Both are day-to-day.
  • Toppin has missed three straight games and Ware has missed the last two.
  • CJ Fredrick also missed and is likely to miss the 2021-22 season after undergoing surgery on Tuesday to repair a hamstring injury.

 
Coach Calipari

• Calipari improved to 342-94 at UK.
• Calipari has a 787-234 all-time on-court record. 
• UK is 278-55 in games vs. unranked Associated Press competition.
• Calipari notched his first win in his first career meeting vs. Ohio.
• Kentucky is 191-17 in Rupp Arene under Calipari.

 
In the First Half

• Kentucky started Sahvir Wheeler, TyTy Washington Jr., Kellan Grady, Keion Brooks Jr. and Oscar Tshiebwe for the fourth straight game and is now 3-1 with that lineup.
• Brooks scored on the game’s opening possession after the Wildcats won the tip.
• Tshiebwe, Kentucky’s leading scorer and leading rebounder entering Friday (18.3 points and 18.7 rebounds per game), picked up two fouls on the game’s second and third possessions and had to go to the bench early. He did not play the rest of the first half.
  • Daimion Collins immediately subbed for him as the first sub of the game and then quickly picked up two fouls of his own before the first media timeout, severely testing Kentucky’s front-court depth early in the game with Toppin and Ware out with injuries.
• Ohio played with a purpose from the start. With Tshiebwe on the bench and making five of their first six shots, the Bobcats raced to an 11-4 lead.
• Just as the Wildcats clawed back within 12-10, Ohio outscored Kentucky 8-2 over the next two minutes to take a 20-12 advantage going into the under-12 timeout.
  • Jason Carter had seven of Ohio’s first 20 points.
• Down 22-14, UK reeled off eight straight points over the next three minutes to draw even at 24-24 with 8:11 left.
• UK took its first lead at 26-25 on a pair of Brooks free throws at the 7:02 mark, the Wildcats’ first lead since 2-0. With another bucket, UK completed a 14-3 run to get to 28-25.
• Right back came Ohio, most notably Ben Vander Plas. The stretch forward continued to torch the Wildcats from 3 with two more treys to take a 38-34 lead with 3:37 left in the half.
  • Vander Plas scored 13 points in the first half with three 3-pointers and five rebounds.
• Kentucky finished the half on a 6-0 run to take a 40-38 lead into the halftime locker room.
• Brooks was the veteran the Wildcats needed with UK’s first-half foul trouble. He posted 12 points and five rebounds in 18 minutes before halftime.
• Hopkins, who entered the game having played 29 combined minutes in the first three games, contributed 14 important minutes in the first half with the Wildcats in foul trouble. He posted seven points and seven rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
• Despite the first-half absence of the nation’s leading rebounder (Tshiebwe) for virtually all of the first half, the Wildcats still outrebounded the Bobcats 26-11.

 
In the Second Half

• Kentucky started the second half with the same starting five: Wheeler, Washington, Grady, Brooks and Tshiebwe. 
• Ohio scored six straight points to start the half and retook the lead, 44-40.
• Brooks picked up right where he left off in the first half and scored six straight points during an 8-0 run – all three jumpers from the left corner – to put Kentucky up 48-46 with 14:31 to play.
• The Wildcats took their largest lead of the game with the biggest run of the game, a 9-0 spurt midway through the second half.
  • The defining sequence that sent Big Blue Nation to its feet was an offensive rebound by Davion Mintz for a kickout 3 to Washington.
  • After a quick shot and miss by Ohio at the other end, Washington grabbed the defensive rebound and passed to Mintz, who raced the length of the court for a 57-48 lead with 11:11 left, forcing Ohio to call timeout.
• Up 61-54, Washington reeled off five straight points, followed by another Brooks jumper for a 7-0 run to take a 68-54 lead with 6:53 to go.
• All totaled, after being tied at 48 with 14:07 remaining, UK went on a 29-9 run and did not allow a two-point basket or free throw until Ohio got a breakaway dunk to end the game.
• Tshiebwe grabbed 10 rebounds in the second half, while Washington and Brooks scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.