Kentucky-Buffalo Postgame Notes

Nov. 16, 2014

Kentucky is 2-0 and Buffalo is 1-1.
This was the first meeting between the schools in men’s basketball.
Kentucky has won 20 of the last 22 games as The Associated Press top-ranked team.
- Coach John Calipari has led three teams to a No. 1 ranking (Massachusetts, Memphis, Kentucky) and has a 64-9 record as the top-ranked coach, including 23-4 at UK.
Kentucky returns to action with a neutral-site contest on Tuesday as the Wildcats take on Kansas in Indianapolis as part of the Champions Classic. Game time is 9 p.m. and it will be televised by ESPN.

Kentucky’s opening lineup featured Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Alex Poythress, Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein for the second consecutive game.
The teams battled closely in the first half with four ties and nine lead changes.
No more than five points separated the squads during the opening period.
- UK largest lead was four points at 20-16.
- Buffalo scored the final six points of the half to take a 38-33 advantage at intermission.

UK started the second half with Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker, Marcus Lee, Trey Lyles and Dakari Johnson and began with a flurry.
- Lyles hit a 3-pointer on the first possession, followed by his own steal and dunk to tie the game at 38 and force a Buffalo timeout at 19:10.
- Lyles grabbed a defensive rebound and Ulis converted a 3-pointer.
- Lyles hit a foul shot to extend the run to 9-0 and make it 42-38 in favor of the Wildcats.
The Bulls bounced back with five straight points to re-take the lead at 43-42.
Trailing 45-43, during the final 14 minutes of the game, UK closed the contest with a 28-7 run.
UK regained the lead for good, 46-45, on a post-up layup by Johnson with 13 minutes remaining.
Poythress followed with a pair of spectacular dunks and a free throw by Johnson completed an 8-0 spurt and a 51-45 lead.
Buffalo went more than 10 minutes without a basket, from the 10:45 mark until three seconds remained.

Kentucky is now 40-0 under Coach Calipari when holding the opponent to 55 or fewer points.
Kentucky limited Buffalo to 34.8 percent from the field, including 21.1 percent in the second half.
- UK has held both opponents this season under 35 percent.
UK dominated the rebounding 45-25, including a pair of double-figure rebounders – Dakari Johnson (12 boards) and Willie Cauley-Stein (10).
UK won bench points 45-18.
- UK’s top four scorers today all came off the bench – Trey Lyles (12 points), Tyler Ulis (12), Devin Booker (10) and Dakari Johnson (9).

Trey Lyles and Tyler Ulis led the Wildcats with 12 points each, with Ulis getting his first double-figure game as a Wildcat.
- Ulis also paced the Cats in assists with six.
Devin Booker had his first double-figure game as a Cat with 10 points.
Dakari Johnson had 12 rebounds, one shy of his career high set Friday against Grand Canyon. It is his third double-figure rebounding game at UK.
- Johnson had four blocked shots, tying his career best for rejections.
Willie Cauley-Stein’s 10 rebounds represented his 14th double-figure board game at UK.

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