Jan. 18, 2000
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Ole Miss Rebels (12-5, 0-4)
vs.
Kentucky Wildcats (11-5, 2-1)
Jan. 19, 2000 – 7:30 p.m. ET
Rupp Arena (23,000) – Lexington, Ky.
UK Faces Ole Miss in Cats’ Den
After picking up its first road win this season, Kentucky takes a breakfrom its five-game tour to put its 13-game home winning streak on the RuppArena floor against Ole Miss. Following the Ole Miss game, UK will visitVanderbilt, Georgia and Miami (Fla.) to complete its January schedule. TheWildcats have won seven of their last eight games, and against Ole Miss,Tubby Smith will be looking for his 75th victory as the Wildcats’ coach.Meanwhile, the Rebels are looking for their first Southeastern Conferencewin of the season (0-4) after losing two at home and two on the road. In itslast outing, Ole Miss lost at Tennessee on Saturday, 98-60.
For the second time this season, UK shot better than 50 percent fromthe field when it canned 51.0 percent against the Gamecocks. The Louis-villegame was the only other time this season that UK converted a higherpercentage, canning 59.6% of its shots. Much of the credit for Saturday’sperformance goes to Jamaal Magloire (6-8) and Jules Camara (5-6). SinceSEC play began, UK is tied for fifth in the league in field goal percentage,shooting 43.3 percent.
In both RPI polls released Monday, UK owns the nation’s toughestbasketball schedule. CollegeRPI.com and College Basketball News bothlist UK’s schedule No. 1 in games played through Jan. 16. The Wildcatshave played seven ranked opponents this season including three top-10teams. Overall, CollegeRPI.com and CBN rank UK fourth and sixth, respec-tively.
Kentucky continued its climb up the national rankings ladder thisweek, moving two spots in the AP poll, and five positions in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. The Wildcats are ranked 18th in both polls. Ole Miss isunranked.
Kentucky is ranked ninth nationally in scoring defense, allowing 57.4ppg. Eight opponents have been held to 53 points or less, including SouthCarolina on Saturday (48), and only three teams have scored more than 70points against the Wildcats.
The Cats’ next contest will be at Vanderbilt, the teams’ second meet-ingin two weeks. UK won the first game on Jan. 8, 72-52. While the Catsplay Ole Miss prior to the Music City visit, Vanderbilt has an “open date” andwill not be in action until Saturday. Tipoff is 3 p.m. ET.The Skinny on the Rebs
Ole Miss began the season winning 12 of its first 13 games. The loneloss was an 81-73 setback at Oklahoma. But times have changed with thestart of league play. Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi State and Tennesseehave all earned wins over the Rebels the past two weeks, sending Ole Misson a four-game losing streak.
The Rebs start two seniors, two juniors and onesophomore in their lineup, none taller than 6-8. But OleMiss has two players, 7-0 John Engstrom and 6-11 JohnGunn who have seen action. Starting point guard Ja-sonHarrison is the league’s smallest player at 5-5, andaverages 7.3 ppg and 4.1 apg. Senior Marcus Hickshas led Ole Miss in scoring eight times this season,averaging 14.2 ppg. Junior Rahim Lockhart is secondon the team in scoring, averaging 13.5 ppg, and sec-ondin the SEC in rebounding, averaging a team-best9.2 rpg.
Kentucky and Ole Miss have not played a com-monopponent this season.
Series Facts
Overall Record: UK leads 85-10
In Lexington: UK leads 43-2
In Oxford: UK leads 22-7
At Neutral Sites: UK leads 20-1
This is the 96th meeting between the two teams.The Wildcats have won the last two games against OleMiss, a 63-57 decision in Oxford last January, and an83-73 win over the Rebels in the SEC Tournament last March. UKhas won 10 of the last 12 meetings but only three of the last fivecontests.
Ole Miss won on its last visit to Rupp Arena. The Valentine’svictory in ’98 featured the Rebels battling back from an 11-pointhalftime deficit to win, 73-64, picking up their first win in Lexingtonsince 1927. The Cats rebounded from that loss to win their final 13games of the season, including the 1998 NCAA Championship.
Tubby Smith is 3-2 against Ole Miss, including a 1-1 markagainst the Rebels while coaching at Georgia. Second-year coachRod Barnes is 0-2 against the Wildcats.Rupp Arena
The Kentucky Wildcats, in their 24th season of basketball atRupp Arena, are 310-35 (89.9%) in the facility. UK has recordedseven perfect home seasons and four years with only one defeatsince Rupp Arena opened in 1976-77. The Big Blue earned its 300thvictory in the 23,000-seat gymnasium on Jan. 30, 1999, an 86-62win over LSU. Kentucky was 12-1 in the facility last year.
With a 7-0 record at Rupp this season, the Wildcats have won13 straight games in the facility. Kentucky’s next home game isTennessee on Feb. 1.
With Kentucky’s win over Alaska-Anchorage, the Cats finishedthe ’90s with a 54-2 record at home against non-conference oppo-nents.
D-E-F-E-N-S-E
Eight of the 16 teams UK has played this season have scored53 points or less against the Wildcats.
UK is 10-0 when holding opponents under 60 points.
Tubby Smith’s famed “ball-line defense” has held nine oppo-nentsto less than 40 percent shooting this season, including a 27.1-percent effort by South Carolina, a season low for the Gamecocks.Only three teams have shot better than 45.0 percent from the fieldagainst the Wildcats — Auburn (47.5 %), Dayton (46.3%) and Indi-ana(54.7%).
The Cats have allowed 38.5 percent shooting from the field,the third straight year UK opponents have shot less than 39 percentfrom the field. The Wildcats have allowed only 57.4 ppg this sea-son,which ranks ninth nationally.
Did You Know?
Did you know that UK’s 16 Division I opponents thus far, in-cludingOle Miss, have a combined 160-68 record (70.2%) against Div. I teams?
coaching comparisons
Orlando “Tubby” Smith (High Point ’73)
Overall (9th year) 198-80 (71.2%)at UK (3rd year) 74-18 (80.4%)SEC Tournament (4 yrs.) 10-2 (83.3%)NCAA Tournament (6 yrs.) 15-5 (75.0%)vs. Ole Miss 3-2
Rod Barnes (Ole Miss ’88)
Overall (2nd year) 32-18 (64.0%)at Ole Miss (2nd year) samevs. Kentucky 0-2
KENTUCKY
probable starters
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Ppg Rpg Hometown21 Tayshaun Prince G/F 6-9 215 So. 14.4 6.1 Compton, Calif.32 Desmond Allison G/F 6-5 214 So. 6.0 2.9 Tampa, Fla.42 Jamaal Magloire C 6-10 260 Sr. 12.6 7.6 Toronto, Ontario11 Saul Smith G 6-2 175 Jr. 6.2 *3.5 Athens, Ga.10 Keith Bogans G 6-5 205 Fr. 9.1 2.6 Alexandria, Va.
Key Cats Off The Bench
3 J.P. Blevins G 6-2 181 So. 4.2 1.4 Edmonton, Ky.40 Jules Camara F 6-11 223 So. 7.8 4.4 Dakar, Senegal24 Marvin Stone F/C 6-10 256 Fr. 5.1 4.9 Huntsville, Ala.
OLE MISS
24 Marcus Hicks F 6-6 205 Sr. 14.2 5.6 Jackson, Tenn.44 Rahim Lockhart F 6-8 250 Jr. 13.5 9.2 Mendenhall, Miss.25 Lataryl Williams F 6-7 205 Sr. 9.6 2.9 Oxford, Miss.22 Jason Flanigan G 6-1 175 Jr. 8.2 2.9 Little Rock, Ark.11 Jason Harrison G 5-5 150 So. 7.3 *4.1 Little Rock, Ark.* Assists per game
team stats comparison
UK UMRecord 11-5 12-5Scoring Off. 67.2 74.2Scoring Def. 57.4 64.4Scoring Margin +9.8 +9.8FG % 42.1 46.3Def. FG % 38.5 42.23FG % 27.0 33.8Def. 3FG % 32.7 31.3FT Pct. 71.8 66.1Reb. Avg. 38.7 39.5Opp. Reb. Avg. 33.1 30.5Rebound Margin +5.6 +9.0TO Avg. 15.6 17.8Opp. TO 17.4 16.8TO Margin +1.8 -1.0Blocks Avg. 6.0 4.7Steals Avg. 7.6 8.1
The Senegalese Super Sub
No, not a sandwich, a sixth man…
Jules Camara, who started the first seven games, has sincefound his role as a key reserve. In the past four games, the sopho-morefrom Dakar, Senegal has averaged 11.0 ppg and 6.8 rpg andtallied eight blocks. He recorded his first double-double of the sea-son,the second of his career, with 12 points and 10 rebounds againstSouth Carolina.
Against SEC opponents only, Camara (pronounced ka-MAR-a)ranks sixth in the league rebounding (7.3 rpg) and first in blockedshots (2.3 bpg).
Smith Settles In
Saul Smith has settled intothe point guard role at UK, dish-ingout 20 assists in the last fourgames. After his seven-assistperformance against SouthCarolina, Smith has moved intosecond place on the SEC assistchart, averaging 5.3 apg againstleague competition. Even moreimpressive, he’s turned the ballover only five times in the lastfour games.
Cheerleader Champions VI
The University of Kentuckycheerleaders make their firstappearance inRupp Arena sincewinning their sixthconsecutive na-tionalchampion-ship10 days ago inOrlando, Fla. Over-all,its the group’s10th UCA title inthe last 16 sea-sons.
Squad members
Brooke Davis and Tim Passalalqua also won the partner competition. The teamhas won titles in 1985 ,’86, ’88, ’92 and 1995-2000.
The cheerleaders are led by fourth-year coach Saleem Habash.
The event will be televised by ESPN next month.
cats vs. rebels — last season
#6 Kentucky 63 – Ole Miss 57
Jan. 16, 1999 – Oxford, Miss. – Att: 8,304
Scott Padgett scored all 13 of his points in the second half and SaulSmith added a career-high 17 points as No. 6 UK rallied from a halftimedeficit to win its third SEC road game in as many tries, 63-57.Out of the gate, the Rebels fell behind by five, 21-16. Smith scored13 in the period, but with mounting foul trouble for the Wildcats, Ole Missbattled back to take a 34-31 lead at the break. Keith Carter scored 13 ofhis game-high 18 points before halftime.
In the second half, UK held the Rebels to two field goals for morethan 17 minutes while building a 55-46 lead. Padgett, who was benchedearly, poured in 10 points in the final 10 minutes. Ole Miss cut the lead tofour with 52 seconds remaining, but UK hit six free throws for the win.
#14 Kentucky 83 ? Ole Miss 73
Mar. 5, 1999 – SEC Quarterfinals – Att: 25,127
UK overcame first-half foul trouble behind a career-high four three-pointersfrom Wayne Turner for an 83-73 win in its SEC tourney opener.The Wildcats were called for 18 fouls in the opening period, 30 for thegame, as the two teams combined for 65. Turner scored 21 of his career-high24 points in the second half. Heshimu Evans added 16 points andsix assists, and hit 11-of-20 free throws.
UK overcame 21 turnovers by blocking nine Ole Miss shots and hold-ingthe Rebels to 36.1 percent shooting.
Free Throws Fanatics
Kentucky has improved its season free-throw shooting to 71.8percent after hitting 26 of its last 28 attempts the past two games.Overall, it’s the best percentage in the Tubby Smith era. AgainstSEC competition, UK has shot a league-leading 82.1 percent fromthe line, thanks in large part to Keith Bogans‘ 14 consecutive freethrows in the three games (SEC leader) and Jamaal Magloire, whois 14 of his last 16 (3rd vs. SEC teams) and 37 of 42 in his last eightgames.
For all games, UK is ranked second in the league behindVanderbilt.
SEC Stat Highlights
For the season, Kentucky is averaging 6.0 blocks per gamewhich ranks second in the SEC this season behind Tennessee (6.9bpg). There are three Wildcats ranked in the league’s top 10 — No.5 Jamaal Magloire (1.8 bpg), No. 6 Tayshaun Prince (1.4 bpg) andNo. 7 Jules Camara (1.3).
In key SEC stats, UK’s rankings are different in comparing allgames vs. SEC games only. For instance, the Cats are 12th in fieldgoal percentage for the season (42.1%) but tied for fifth in leaguegames (43.3%). In the 10 categories listed below, UK has improvedits ranking in six areas, remained unchanged in two and declined intwo. Here’s the breakdown:
Category All Games SEC Only
Scoring Offense 11th (67.2) 6th (66.3)Scoring Margin T7th (9.8) 2nd (11.0)FG % 12th (.421) T5th (.433)3FG% 12th (.270) 12th (.216)Scoring Defense 2nd (57.4) 2nd (55.3)FT % 2nd (.718) 1st (.821)FG% Defense 2nd (.385) 4th (.382)3FG% Defense T6th (32.7) 9th (.368)Rebounding 9th (38.7) 6th (34.7)Assist-TO Ratio 11th (0.78) 4th (0.87)
SEC Marks
UK has won 56 of its last 67 (83.6%) regular-season SECgames. The Cats were 14-2 in 1995, tallied the league’s first per-fectrecord in 40 years, 16-0, in 1996, and went 13-3 and 11-5 thelast two seasons.
The Wildcats are playing their 67th season of SEC basket-ball.The league kingpin has won 39 SEC Championships and 22SEC Tournament titles, more titles in each category than all theother league teams combined. Kentucky is 748-199 (.790) in regu-lar-season conference play. Last season, the Cats finished secondin the SEC Eastern Division with an 11-5 record, but rebounded towin their seventh SEC Tournament in the last eight years.
Power Rankings
Poll Ranking Schedule StrengthCollegeRPI.com 4th 1stCBN RPI 6th 1stSagarin 13th 2nd
Ole Miss is ranked 74th by Sagarin with a strength of schedulerated No. 203.
Y2UK Trends
Only one team in 11 has come back to win against Kentucky thisseason when the Cats entered the final five minutes of the contestwith the lead — Auburn. In addition, UK is 8-1 when leading at halftime.Since Tubby Smith made a lineupchange against Louisville — inserting KeithBogans at guard — UK has won seven of itslast eight games. Ten opponents have hitmore threes than UK, but the Cats have wonall but two of those meetings.
The one glitch has been offensively,where UK has shot better than 50 percentfrom the field only twice this season — 59.6%vs. Louisville and 51.0% vs. South Carolina.
UK vs. Top 25
Kentucky is 3-4 against teams rankedin the AP Top 25 this season, and 1-2 vs.top-10 teams. UK has wins over No. 16Utah, No. 24 Maryland in the Preseason NIT,and No. 5 Michigan State. The Cats havelost to No. 8 Arizona, No. 23 Indiana, at No.21 Maryland (Dec. 11) and at No. 4 Auburn.AP rankings were current at the time of thegame.
While Kentucky has played six non-con-ferenceteams ranked in the Top 25, all theother Southeastern Conference teams havecombined to play 10. Auburn lost to No. 2Stanford, Florida lost to No. 24 Purdue inMaui, Georgia fell to No. 8 Kansas and beatNo. 25 Wake Forest, and South Carolinahas lost to No. 5 Michigan State, No. 19DePaul and No. 7 Syracuse. Arkansas lostto No. 23 Wake Forest, Mississippi Statefell to No. 1 Stanford and LSU beat No.11Oklahoma State. Alabama, Ole Miss, Ten-nesseeand Vanderbilt did not face aranked opponent prior to the league sched-ule.In the 10 games the SEC teams haveplayed against ranked opponents, they havea combined record of 2-8.
Back in the Top 25
The Wildcats are 18th in both major pollsthis week.
In the AP poll, UK has been ranked in eightof the 11 polls. On Dec. 13, UK was out ofthe AP poll for the first time since Dec. 4,1990. The streak ended at 164 consecutiveweeks in the rankings, the fifth-longest streakon record. UCLA owns the most consecu-tiveweeks in the poll with 221 between 1966-80, followed by North Carolina’s currentstreak of 172, North Carolina’s previousstreak of 171 weeks (1972-82) andMarquette’s mark of 166 weeks (1969-79).
Lineup Changes
Three times this season Coach TubbySmith has altered the starting lineup. AgainstLouisville, he went small, inserting freshmanKeith Bogans at shooting guard, movedDesmond Allison to small forward andTayshaun Prince to power forward, andbrought Jules Camara off the bench. Themove paid off with six straight victories.Against Indiana on Dec. 4, Nate Knightearned the start at power forward and J.P.Blevins got his first start against Missouri.Both moves were in response to disciplin-arymeasures.
Youthful Contributions
Sophomore Tayshaun Prince is theWildcats’ leading scorer, averaging 14.4ppg. If Prince finishes the season as the topscorer, he’ll become the fourth UK sopho-morein the last decade to accomplish thatfeat, joining Jamal Mashburn, Tony Delk andRon Mercer. He’s led UK in scoring in sevengames and on three occasions tallied at least20 points this season.
Freshman Keith Bogans is third on theteam in scoring averaging 9.1 ppg. The 6-2guard could become the first frosh sinceJamal Mashburn to finish in the top three inscoring at UK. Mashburn averaged 12.9 ppgduring his first season in 1991, good for thirdon the team.
Associated Press — Jan. 17
1. Cincinnati (61) 16-1 1 2. Arizona (4) 15-2 2 3. Stanford (1) 14-1 3 4. Auburn (3) 15-1 4 5. Duke 13-2 6 6. Syracuse (1) 14-0 7 7. Kansas 14-2 8 8. Connecticut 12-3 5 9. Florida 13-2 1010. Michigan State 12-4 1111. Indiana 13-2 912. Oklahoma State 13-1 1413. Ohio State 11-3 1714. Texas 11-4 1515. Tulsa 16-1 1916. Tennessee 15-2 1217. Oklahoma 14-2 1618. Kentucky 11-5 2019. St. John's 12-2 --20. Vanderbilt 12-2 --21. North Carolina 11-6 1322. Utah 13-3 --23. DePaul 12-4 2124. Maryland 11-5 1825. UCLA 10-4 --
USA Today/ESPN — Jan. 17
1. Cincinnati (30) 16-1 1 2. Arizona (1) 15-2 2 3. Stanford 14-1 3 4. Auburn 15-1 5 5. Syracuse 14-0 6 6. Duke 13-2 7 7. Connecticut 12-3 4 8. Kansas 14-2 8 9. Florida 13-2 910. Michigan State 12-4 1111. Indiana 13-2 1012. Oklahoma State 13-1 1313. Texas 11-4 1514. Tennessee 15-2 1215. Ohio State 11-3 1816. Oklahoma 14-2 1717. Tulsa 16-1 2218. Kentucky 11-5 2319. UCLA 10-4 2520. Utah 13-3 2421. North Carolina 11-6 1422. DePaul 11-4 1923. St. John's 12-2 --24. Vanderbilt 12-2 --25. Illinois 9-6 21
weekly basketball polls
UK Week-By-Week
Date AP/USAPreseason 14/1211/15 14/NA11/22 11/1011/29 13/12 12/6 23/2212/13 --/--12/20 --/--12/27 --/25 1/3 25/24 1/10 20/23 1/17 18/18
uk career blocked shots
1. Jamaal Magloire (1997-00) 2392. Melvin Turpin (1981-84) 2263. Sam Bowie (1980-81, 84) 2184. Andre Riddick (1992-95) 212
’99-2000 southeastern conference standings
As of 1/17/00
EASTERN
SCHOOL SEC ALLTennessee 3-1 15-2Vanderbilt 3-1 12-2Florida 2-1 13-2Kentucky 2-1 11-5South Carolina 1-2 9-7Georgia 1-3 8-8
WESTERN
SCHOOL SEC ALLAuburn 3-0 15-1Arkansas 2-1 10-6Mississippi State 2-2 10-6Alabama 1-2 8-7LSU 1-3 13-3Ole Miss 0-4 12-5
double-doubles
The following Wildcats have recordeddouble-figure points and rebounds in the samegame this season:
Jules Camara
Opponent Date Pts.-Rebs.South Carolina 1/15/00 12-10(Career Total: 2)
Opponent Date Pts.-Rebs.Maryland 12/11/99 12-16Louisville 12/18/99 12-10Michigan St. 12/23/99 18-11Missouri 12/30/99 21-13Vanderbilt 1/8/00 15-10(Career Total: 10)
Opponent Date Pts.-Rebs.Georgia Tech 1/5/00 21-10(Career Total: 1)
Opponent Date Pts.-Rebs.UNC Asheville 12/7/99 12-10(Career Total: 1)
Consecutive Threes
The Cats have hit three-pointers in 389consecutive games. The last time UK washeld without a three-point field goal was Nov.26, 1988, a “three-point” loss to Seton Hallin the Great Alaska Shootout (63-60). UK’scurrent streak ranks fourth nationally. UNLV,Vanderbilt and Princeton have had a three-pointerin every game since the rule wasimplemented in 1986-87.
SEASON REVIEW
Prince Named Player of the Week
UK forward Tayshaun Prince won his first SEC Player of the Week award after lead-ingthe streaking Cats to wins over GeorgiaTech and Vanderbilt. It was the second timein two weeks a UK player won the honor.Jamaal Magloire captured the award theprevious week.
Prince recorded his first double-double –21 points and 10 rebounds — against Geor-giaTech while shooting 3-of-6 from three-pointrange. He followed up with a career-highfive three-pointers and 17 points againstVanderbilt, becoming only the second lead-ingscorer from an opponent to top his sea-sonaverage against the Commodores. Forthe week, the 6-9 sophomore averaged 19.0ppg and 7.5 rpg and shot a blistering 61.5percent from three-point range (8-13).Magloire Earns First League
Honor of 2000
University of Kentucky center JamaalMagloire was named the Southeastern Con-ferencePlayer of the Week on Jan. 3 afterleading the Wildcats to wins over Louisville,then-No. 5-ranked Michigan State, Alaska-Anchorageand Missouri.
Magloire averaged 15.3 points, 9.3 re-boundsand 2.3 blocks per game over theholidays, tallying four double-doubles in fivegames and becoming the first Wildcat since1990 to string together three double-doublesin a row. The Toronto native had 12 pointsand 10 rebounds vs. U of L, 18 points and11 boards against Michigan State, 10 pointsand three rebounds vs. Alaska-Anchorageand a career-high 21 points and 13 rebounds against Missouri. He shot 52.5 percent from the field and 86.4 per-centfrom the foul line while becoming the school’s all-time leader inblocked shots.
It was Magloire’s first SEC Player of the Week honor and UK’sfirst since Wayne Turner and Heshimu Evans won back-to-backawards in December ’98.
Cats in the ’90s
While Kentucky completed the decade with 282 wins (NCAArecognizes 1989-90 thru 1998-99), the Wildcats were 285-62(82.1%) between Jan. 1, 1990 and Dec. 31, 1999.
Knight Leaves UK Program
University of Kentucky junior Nate Knight left the Wildcats’ bas-ketballprogram on Jan. 4.
Knight, a 6-9 forward from Sandy, Utah, had transferred to Ken-tuckylast summer from Utah Valley State (Junior) College after aone-year Mormon mission and one season at Oregon State.For the Cats, Knight appeared in nine games, averaging 8.8minutes per game. He scored 15 points (1.7 ppg) and grabbed 20rebounds (2.2 rpg).
Three Straight Doubles
Jamaal Magloire’s three consecutive double-doubles in Decem-berwas a rarity. Not since Reggie Hanson accomplished the feat10 years ago has another Wildcat had at least three straight in aseason. Hanson had 24 points and 14 rebounds vs. Ohio, 13 and11 vs. Indiana, 19 and 10 against Mississippi State and 18 and 10against Tennessee Tech to start the 1989-90 season, reeling offfour consecutive double-doubles.
Magloire followed up with a 21-point, 13-rebound performancevs. Missouri in the Sugar Bowl Classic to run his streak of double-doublesto four in five games.
“Show Me” Magloire
After UK beat Missouri on Dec. 30, Jamaal Magloire said, “Maybethey should join the SEC.” The senior had just tallied a career-high21 points and 13 rebounds in UK’s 17-point victory. Two years ago,at the start of his sophomore season, Magloire tallied a then ca-reer-high 18 points and 17 rebounds against the Tigers in Maui. Histwo-game Missouri averages: 19.5 ppg and 15.0 rpg.
Preseason NIT Final Four Results
Kentucky earned wins over Penn, Utah and Maryland beforelosing in the championship of the Preseason NIT to Arizona. It wasthe “western” Wildcats third straight win over UK, dating back to anovertime win in the 1997 NCAA Championship game. UK finishedsecond in the 16-team tournament field that included Ohio State,Notre Dame and Tulane. The final four results from New York’sMadison Square Garden:
Nov. 24
Arizona 76, Notre Dame 60
Kentucky 61, Maryland 58
Nov. 26
Maryland 72, ND 67
Arizona 63, Kentucky 51
Prince Makes All-Tourney
Tayshaun Prince, UK’s leading scorer and rebounder, had acareer-high 21 points and nine rebounds in the Cats’ win over Mary-landin the semifinals and followed up with an 18-point, five-reboundperformance against Arizona to earn All-Tournament team honorsat the Preseason NIT.
Joining Prince on the All-Tournament team were Notre Dame’sTroy Murphy, Maryland’s Lonny Baxter and Arizona’s Jason Gardnerand Richard Jefferson. The MVP was Arizona’s Gilbert Arenas.
America’s Team Wins #1,750
The Wildcats became the first team torecord 1,750 wins with their victory over Utahon Nov. 19.
UK is in its 97th season of college basketball,and its record number of victoriesinclude seven NCAA Championships, two(postseason) NIT titles, a record 84 NCAATournament victories and 39 SoutheasternConference Championships, more than allthe other league teams combined.
November Blues
For the fifth consecutive year, UK losta game in the month of November. In 1995,UK lost to UMass in the Great Eight. In ’96,the Cats fell to Clemson in the BCA Classic.In ’97, Arizona knocked UK into the loser’sbracket of the Maui Invitational. Last sea-son,Pittsburgh sent the Cats to the third-placegame of the Puerto Rico Shootout.This November, Arizona earned a win overUK in the Preseason NIT final before theCats fell to Dayton.
For the 11th time in the last 12 sea-sons,the Cats lost one of their first fivegames of the season. The dubious streakbegan in 1988-89 with a loss to Duke in theTip-Off Classic.
Home In November
Since 1980, Kentucky has lost only onehome game in November, establishing amark of 18-1 during the past two decades,including its victories over Penn and Utah.The only defeat? To Pittsburgh in the sec-ondround of the Preseason NIT in Nov.1991.
All-time in November, UK is 45-10, in-cludinga 28-1 mark at home, a 3-0 recordon the road and a 14-9 slate at neutral sites.
December Results
At home in December, the Wildcatswere 4-0 this season and 271-37 all-time, awinning percentage of 88.0 percent. Over-all– home, away and neutral — UK is 418-98 (81.0%) in December.
Season Openers
With the Penn win, Kentucky has nowwon 10 of its last 11 season openers. UK’sone defeat came at the hands of Clemson,a 79-71 overtime loss in the BCA Classicdouble-header at the RCA Dome in India-napolison Nov. 15, 1996.
UK has not lost a home opener sinceNorthwestern State upset the Cats in 1988-89, a streak of 11 consecutive victories.
Milestone Watch
Coach Tubby Smith willbe looking to win for the 75thtime as UK coach when histhird set of Wildcats battleOle Miss. Smith is 74-18 inhis third season in Lexing-ton.Overall, a victory overthe Rebels would be Smith’s199th victory since he be-gancoaching nine seasonsago.
Smith Thru 92
Through his first 92 games at Kentucky,Tubby Smith has the second-best record ofany Wildcat coach since 1930. Smith is 74-18which trails only Hall of Fame coach AdolphRupp, who was 81-11 through his first 92 gamesspanning 4-plus seasons.
Thru 92 games:
Adolph Rupp 81-11Tubby Smith 74-18Eddie Sutton 72-20Rick Pitino 64-28Joe B. Hall 63-29
SEC Record
As an SEC coach, Tubby Smith has a 46-20 regular-season mark against league oppo-nents.It’s the best winning percentage of anyactive league coach (69.7%) and he ranks thirdamong current SEC coaches for total wins.Smith has coached two years at Georgia andthree years at Kentucky.
SEC Coach Years Record (Pct.)
Nolan Richardson (9th) 88-43 (.672)Eddie Fogler (11th) 85-81 (.512)Tubby Smith (5th) 46-20 (.697)Cliff Ellis (6th) 43-40 (.518)Jerry Green (3rd) 24-12 (.667)
Smith’s Overtime Success
With an exciting 92-88 victory over Kan-sasin the second round of the 1999 NCAA tour-ney,the Wildcats won all three overtime gameslast season. UK also defeated host Georgia,91-83, and Indiana, 70-61.
The Cats are 5-0 in overtime games sinceTubby Smith took over as coach. In ’98, theWildcats earned overtime victories over Arkan-sas,80-77, and Stanford, 86-85. The Cats hadlost seven of their last eight overtime gamesprior to the five-game win streak.Overall, UK is 42-33 in overtime games,dating back to Feb. 12, 1907.
Smith is 13-3 in overtime games during hiseight-year coaching career. He’s 5-0 at UK, 2-1at Georgia and 6-2 at Tulsa, which includes a2-1 mark in double overtime. His one overtime
america’s team of the century
The Wildcats own an unparalleled tradi-tionof success. Since 1903, the University ofKentucky has fielded 97 basketball teams.The first national championship was an NITtitle in 1946. The first NCAA Championshipcame in 1948 and the latest, No. 7, occurredin 1998. No other program can claim the un-paralleledsuccess that matches the Wildcats’efforts throughout the century.
Highlights include:
Seven NCAA titles (1948, ’49, ’51, ’58, ’78,’96, ’98),
The all-time winningest team in college basketball.
1. Kentucky 1,7592. North Carolina 1,7443. Kansas 1,703
The highest all-time winning percentage in college basketball — 76.4%(1,759-543-1),
Three NCAA runner-up trophies,
13 Final Four appearances,
A national-record 40 NCAA tournament ap-pearances,
39 SEC Championships,
22 SEC Tournament titles,
10 30-win seasons,
37 players chosen All-American 54 times,
86 Wildcats drafted by the NBA.
’99-2000 Trends
9-1 When leading at halftime 0-0 When tied at halftime 2-4 When trailing at halftime11-2 When UK scores first 0-3 When opponent scores first11-1 When leading with 5 minutes to play 0-3 When trailing with 5 minutes to play 0-1 When score tied with 5 minutes to play11-0 When leading with 2 minutes to play 0-4 When trailing with 2 minutes to play 0-1 When score tied with 2 minutes to play 2-2 In games decided by three points or less 2-2 In games decided by 4-10 points 0-0 When UK shoots 60% or better FG 2-0 When UK shoots 50% or better FG 9-5 When UK shoots less than 50% FG 2-3 When UK shoots less than 40% FG 2-1 When UK makes more 3FG 8-2 When opponent makes more 3FG 1-2 When 3FG made are the same 7-4 When UK outrebounds opponent 4-1 When opponent outrebounds UK 0-0 When rebounds are the same 7-5 When playing on national TV 2-0 When playing on regional TV 2-3 When playing on the weekend 8-3 When playing on a weekday 0-0 When starting after 10 p.m. ET 1-3 When starting after 9 p.m. ET 7-1 When game starts between 7-9 p.m. 3-1 With an afternoon start 0-0 In overtime games 3-2 In November 5-2 In December 3-1 In January 0-0 In February 0-0 In March10-2 In home white uniforms 1-3 In away blue uniforms
Wildcats vs. Conferences
0-1 vs. Atlantic 102-1 vs. Atlantic Coast1-0 vs. Big 121-0 vs. Big South1-1 vs. Big Ten1-0 vs. Conference USA1-0 vs. Ivy1-0 vs. Mountain West0-1 vs. Pac-101-0 vs. Pacific West2-1 vs. SEC
Record vs. Lineup
4-3 Prince, Camara, Magloire, Smith, Allison0-1 Prince, Knight, Magloire, Smith, Allison6-1 Prince, Allison, Magloire, Smith, Bogans1-0 Prince, Allison, Magloire, Blevins, Bogans
Overall 11-5Home 7-0Away 1-2Neutral 3-3SEC 2-1
UK Radio Network — 6 p.m. ETTom Leach, Sam Bowie, Dave Baker
UK Television Network — DelayedRob Bromley, Martin Newton, Dick Gabriel
To follow the Wildcats in cyberspace, log ontowww.ukathletics.com . Live stats, notes andinformation on this year’s team is available.
