UK MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
FLORIDA at KENTUCKY
RUPP ARENA at CENTRAL BANK CENTER | LEXINGTON, KY
FEB. 12, 2022
ATTENDANCE: 20,383 – season high

Final Score: No. 5/4 Kentucky 78, Florida 57
 
Team Records, Series Notes, Etc.

• Kentucky is now 21-4 on the season and has won six in a row. UK is 10-2 in the Southeastern Conference.
• Florida ended a four-game win streak and is 16-9 overall, 6-6 in the SEC. 

• UK leads the series, 106-41, and the teams have another meeting March 5 in Gainesville.
  • UK leads 54-11 in games played in Lexington.
• Next for UK: the Wildcats are at Tennessee on Tuesday for the 9 p.m. game on ESPN.

 
Team Notes

• Kentucky has won 16 in a row in Rupp Arena, including 15-0 this season.
• Kentucky limited Florida to 57 points. UK is 201-9 (95.7%) under Calipari when keeping the opponent to 63 points or less, including 13-0 this season.
• Kentucky tied a season low for turnovers with only five miscues.  UK turned a 10-5 difference in turnovers into a 17-4 advantage in points off turnovers.
• Kentucky dominated the rebounding 41-25, collecting 18 offensive boards that led to a 20-7 gap in second-chance points.
  • The +16 margin ties the largest margin this season against an SEC opponent.
• Kentucky’s largest lead was the final margin. UK is 306-13 (95.9%) under Calipari when leading by at least 10 points at any time in the contest.

 
Player Notes  

• Oscar Tshiebwe totaled 27 points and 19 rebounds.

  • It is his seventh-straight double-double, first Wildcat to do that since Julius Randle in 2013.
  • It is his 19th double-double of the season, ranking second in the nation in that category.
  • It is his team-leading eighth 20-point game of the season and fifth game with at least 20 points and 15 rebounds.
    • He’s the first UK player to achieve the feat since Kenny Walker had five such games in 1984-85.
    • According to the SEC Network, Tshiebwe is the only SEC player to have five 20-point, 15-rebound games in the last 25 years.
  • The nation’s leading rebounder has grabbed double-figure boards in all but two games this season.
  • He has 12 straight games with double-figure rebounds, first Wildcat to do so since Dan Issel had 12 in a row in the 1969-70 season.
    • Issel and Tshiebwe now have the longest streaks in program history dating back to the 1967-68 season with complete game-by-game rebounding records
    • It is the longest streak of any SEC player since at least 1996-97
  • He added two assists and three steals.  He has had at least two steals in nine straight games.
• Kellan Grady tallied 15 points, primarily on the strength of four 3-pointers.  
  • Over the last 16 games he is averaging 13.8 points per game while shooting 45.5 percent (55 of 121) from 3-point range.
  • Has made a 3-pointer in 18 straight games, most since Jamal Murray made a 3 in all 36 games of the 2015-16 season. 
  • Grady has made at least two 3-pointers in seven straight games.
  • Playing 39 minutes today, he has led the team in minutes played in the last eight games.
• TyTy Washington Jr. assembled 10 points, five rebounds and six assists.
  • He has averaged 14.2 points in the 20 wins in which he has played this season, vs. 6.0 points per game in UK’s four losses.
  • He left the game in the second half with a lower-left leg injury and did not return.
• Making three 3-pointers, Davion Mintz notched 11 points.
  • Over the last four games, he has averaged 12.3 points and made 11 of 22 from long range.
• Sahvir Wheeler, the SEC leader in assists, had six tonight while adding nine points.  
  • He has had 18 games this season with at least six assists.
  • After going 0-for-17 from the field in the previous three games, he rattled home a 3-pointer on his first try today and made 4 of 7 shots for the game.
• Lance Ware continued to provide quality production off the bench.  He had four points and a season-high seven rebounds in 14 minutes today.

 
Coach John Calipari

• Calipari is now 360-97 at UK.
  • UK is 294-56 against unranked competition under Calipari.
• Calipari has an 805-237 all-time on-court record. 
  • He moved into tie for 13th place on the all-time on-courts win list matching Rick Byrd’s total
• Calipari has tallied a 377-118 all-time record within conference play as a head coach and owns a 169-52 record since joining the SEC.
• Calipari is 21-9 against Florida.  

 
 
In the First Half

• The starting lineup was Sahvir Wheeler, TyTy Washington Jr., Kellan Grady, Keion Brooks Jr. and Oscar Tshiebwe for the 21st time this season. That lineup now has a 17-4 record.
• Davion Mintz was the first Kentucky substitution at the 13:32 mark, fifth time this season that he has been first off of the bench.
• Ahead 8-6, UK went on a 12-0 run for a 20-6 lead, coaxing Florida’s second timeout at 14:25.
• However, UK went on an eight-minute cold spell and Florida’s 15-2 spurt cut it to 22-21 at 6:43.
• UK steadied with an eight-point string, highlighted by two layups and a dunk by Tshiebwe, to make it 30-24. 
• With Tshiebwe totaling 13 points and nine rebounds, UK went to halftime ahead 33-28.
• Key stats of the first half:
  • UK made 8 of its first 10 shots of the half but only six of the last 24.
  • UK had only three turnovers and led points off turnovers 9-0.
• UK is 20-2 this season when leading at intermission.

 
In the Second Half

• Kentucky began the second half with the starting lineup.
• With Washington getting eight points and an assist, Kentucky opened with a 13-2 run in the first 3:36, giving the Wildcats their largest lead at 46-30.
• However, as they did in the first half, the Gators quickly rallied with a 12-4 run, pulling within 50-42, and UK called timeout at 13:21.
• And again, as it happened in the first half, Kentucky steadied with six straight points by Tshiebwe to re-establish the double-digit advantage.
• With Florida hovering within 65-55 with 4:47 left, UK put the game away with a 7-0 run.
• Tshiebwe again played a dominant half with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the final stanza.