Nov. 23, 2001
LEXINGTON, Ky. –
Macy Returns to Alma MaterMorehead State Coach Kyle Macy will return to Rupp Arena to play the Wildcats for only the second time as a collegiate head coach. Macy made his debut as MSU’s coach in Rupp Arena on Nov. 20, 1997, an 88-49 loss to Kentucky’s new coach, Tubby Smith.The two-time All-American enjoyed a successful career at UK from 1978-80, finishing with 1,411 points which ranks 7th on UK’s all-time scoring list. He also enjoyed a seven-year NBA career with the Suns, Bulls and Pacers before serving a four-year stint on the UK basketball broadcast team.Macy’s 2001-02 squad is off to a 2-0 start, defeating IUPU-Fort Wayne in its season opener before taking down Shawnee State on Tuesday, 103-78. Ricky Minard leads five Eagles averaging in double figures with his 16.5 ppg.
Tickets Available
Tickets to the games against Morehead State (Nov. 24), Virginia Military Institute (Dec. 5), Kentucky State (Dec. 15) and Tulane in Louisville’s Freedom Hall (Jan. 2) are now on sale.Seats for Morehead, VMI and Kentucky State are on sale for $17 each at the Coliseum’s ticket office, by phone with a Visa or MasterCard (800-928-CATS) or on the web at UKathletics.com.The Tulane tickets are $22 each and available by mail only. Make check or money order payable to UKAA, c/o Memorial Coliseum Ticket Office, Rm. 111, Lexington, KY 40506-0019 and add $2 to each order for postage and handling.
Series History
This will be the seventh meeting between the in-state rivals with UK holding a 6-0 advantage in a series dating back to March 17, 1961, a 71-64 win in the NCAA Tournament.Coach Tubby Smith holds a 1-0 record against the Eagles, earning his first win as UK’s new head coach on Nov. 20, 1997, a season which saw the Cats claim the NCAA title.Former UK star Kyle Macy has been at the helm of the Morehead program for five seasons.
Series Record: UK leads 6-0
In Lexington: UK leads 4-0
In Morehead: 0-0
At Neutral Sites: UK leads 2-0
Last Game: 11/20/97 – UK 88, MSU 49
Website: www.morehead-st.edu/athletics
UK vs. OVC
The Wildcats are a perfect 21-0 all-time against the Ohio Valley Conference. UK has a combined 13 wins over instate rivals Eastern Kentucky and Morehead, in addition to perfect records against Austin Peay (3-0), Tennessee-Martin (1-0), Tennessee State (2-0) and Tennessee Tech (2-0).
Macy’s Kentucky Highlights
* Scored 1,411 career points.* Dished out 470 assists in his three-year career.* Earned All-America honors twice.* Was the starting point guard for the 1978 National Championship squad.* Three-time All-SEC selection.* SEC Player of the Year in 1980.* Named Academic All-America in 1979.
Orlando “Tubby” Smith (High Point ’73)
Overall (11th year)235-96 (70.9%)at UK (5th year)111-34 (76.6%)SEC Tournament (6 yrs.)13-3 (81.3%)NCAA Tournament (8 yrs.) 18-7 (72.0%)vs. Morehead State 1-0
Kyle Macy (Kentucky ’80)
Overall (5th year)39-72 (35.1%)at MSU Samevs. Kentucky0-1
catseagles
Record1-12-0Scoring Offense71.092.5Scoring Defense68.575.5Scoring Margin+2.5+17.0FG %37.748.8FG % Defense41.442.63FG %23.934.83FG % Defense27.836.5Free Throw %60.081.9Rebound Average42.038.0Opponent Avg.41.532.5Rebound Margin+0.5+5.5TO Average14.517.0Opponent TO21.023.0TO Margin+6.5+6.0Blocks Average2.52.0Steals Average7.511.0
UK in November
After going 1-1 in last week’s NABC Classic, the Cats are now 47-14 in the month of November, including a 29-3 mark at home.The .770 winning percentage in November is the second highest of any month next to a stellar .808 mark in December.
Within the Borders
UK will face four Kentucky colleges during the 2001-02 season, the most since the 1920-21 season.The Cats take on Western Kentucky, Morehead State, Kentucky State and Louisville. They faced Kentucky Wesleyan, Cumberland, Georgetown and Centre during the ’21 season, posting a 5-1 record in the meetings.
Countdown
UK needs four wins to become the first Division I school to reach 1,800.
Records Watch
UK junior Keith Bogans needed only four points in Friday’s game with Marshall to become the 49th member of UK’s 1,000-point club. He got those four and 18 more to move into 46th place on the prestigious list.Tayshaun Prince hit the mark last season and continues to climb, moving up to 29th place with his 1,236 career points.
Last Time Out
Keith Bogans posted a team-high 22 points in UK’s 90-73 win over Marshall in the consolation game of the NABC Classic.Marquis Estill shot 8-of-11 from the field for 21 points off the bench. Chuck Hayes looked strong on the glass, pulling down 10 rebounds to add to his eight points.
Injury Updates
Prior to the first exhibition game, Rashaad Carruth suffered an ankle sprain in practice and is listed as day-to-day.J.P. Blevins sprained his ankle against Athletes in Action and is listed as day-to-day as well.
Three Mania
Kentucky’s streak of hitting a three in consecutive games sits at 443 games, the second-longest among teams who have failed to make a three in every game since the rule was adopted in 1987.Overall, it’s the nation’s fourth-longest streak, trailing UNLV, Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech. UNLV, Vanderbilt and Princeton have hit a three-pointer in every game since the rule was adopted. The Wildcats’ last game without a three-pointer came against Seton Hall on Nov. 26, 1988, a “three-point” loss in the Great Alaska Shootout.
SEASON NOTES
Season Openers
Kentucky is 81-18 in season openers after its loss to Western Kentucky in the NABC Classic. Last season, the Cats were upset in New York by St. John’s, 62-61. It was the first season-opening loss during the Tubby Smith era at UK. Smith is 8-3 in season openers during his head coaching career.
Home Openers
Kentucky is 84-15 all-time in home openers after the loss to WKU. Nine of those losses occurred before Adolph Rupp began coaching in 1930. The Cats are 65-6 since 1930, losing the home opener in 1955 to Temple, 1962 to Va. Tech, 1972 to Iowa, 1988 to Northwestern State, 2000 to Penn State and this season to Western Kentucky.UK now stands at 23-3 in home openers at Rupp Arena.
PRESEASON NOTES
AP Names Prince All-American
Forward Tayshaun Prince added yet another honor to his resume in November as he was named to the The Associated Press Preseason All-America team, the only senior on the list.Prince joined Duke’s Jason Williams, Stanford’s Casey Jacobsen, Missouri’s Kareem Rush and Illinois’ Frank Williams.Prince is just the second Wildcat to earn the preseason honor from the AP since the national news organization began naming a preseason team in 1985. Jamal Mashburn was a preseason All-American prior to the 1992-93 season.Prince also was named first-team Preseason All-America by collegeinsider.com, Athlon Sports, Blue Ribbon Basketball, The Sporting News and Basketball News.He was a second-team selection by AP at the end of last season.
Conference Supremacy
Kentucky was picked to finish first in the SEC by a media vote at the conference’s annual media day on Nov. 1.Tayshaun Prince also was predicted to repeat as SEC Player of the Year, while he and Bogans both were named first-team Preseason All-SEC.Men’s Basketball Predictions
Champion - Kentucky (20), Florida (3).
Eastern Division
1. Kentucky (20)262. Florida (3)433. Tennessee764. South Carolina985. Georgia1056. Vanderbilt123
Western Division1. Alabama (15)332. Arkansas (5)603. Ole Miss (2)664. Auburn (1)785. LSU1216. Mississippi State125
All-SEC First Team
G – Brett Nelson, Florida17G – Keith Bogans, Kentucky15C – Udonis Haslem, Florida22F – Tayshaun Prince, Kentucky22G/F – Rod Grizzard, Alabama11
Prince, Bogans on Wooden List
Tayshaun Prince and Keith Bogans were both named to the preseason Wooden Award Candidate list for 2001-02.Only 50 college basketball players make the prestigious list, which culminates in the presentation of the Wooden Award for the nation’s best collegiate basketball player each April.The award was started in 1976 and has seen past winners that include Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Tim Duncan. No Kentucky Wildcat has ever claimed the honor.
Parker Injury
Jason Parker underwent his second ACL surgery on his right knee in four months when he had a patella tendon autograft performed by team physicians Darren Johnson and Scott Mair on Nov. 1. Parker injured the knee June 24 in a pickup basketball game and had his initial surgery July 2. He retore the ligament prior to introductions for Big Blue Madness on Oct. 12.Parker will miss the 2001-02 season as a redshirt. He will have three years of eligibility remaining.
Production Returning
Kentucky lost one senior from last year, returning 12 lettermen and four starters from a team that finished as co-champions of the Southeastern Conference and won the league tournament. With the loss of Jason Parker for the season, the numbers change to three returning starters. The statistics below reflect the returning production, excluding Parker:
Points80.6%Rebounds82.4%Assists71.4%Blocks83.4%Steals72.1%
Their Old Kentucky Home
This season’s roster boasts six products from the Bluegrass State, the most since the 1991 season.J.P. Blevins (Edmonton), Marquis Estill (Richmond), Cory Sears (Corbin), Matt Heissenbuttel (Lexington), Josh Carrier (Bowling Green) and Adam Chiles (Louisville) all hail from within the state’s borders.In ’91, Reggie Hanson, Richie Farmer, John Pelphrey, Deron Feldhaus, Michael Parks and Todd Bearup all came from Kentucky. Much like Sears and Heissenbuttel, Parks and Bearup were both walk-ons 11 seasons ago.
Face Lift
Fans attending UK home games will recognize changes at floor level. In addition to the new floor that was purchased last summer, courtside fan seating has been added as well. Currently, 20 new “scholarship seats” have displaced some traditional media seating and been installed on press row. The 20 seats were sold for $313,000 a pair and the revenue generated will go to endow all 13 men’s basketball scholarships. There are still four pairs remaining to be sold.Kentucky celebrated its 25th season in the first built-for-basketball arena last year, playing for a quarter of a century on the original floor. Pieces of the original floor were auctioned off prior to the charity game, “A Night of True Champions,” on Aug. 11, raising more than $38,000. The money was split between the UK Basketball Museum, the KHSAA and the Lexington Civic Center for the purchase of the new floor.The new floor was designed by UK in conjunction with Lexington Civic Center officials. It was constructed by Robbins, Inc., in Cincinnati, Ohio at a cost of $125,000.
BIG BLUE MANIA
Keightley Enters 41st Season
Kentucky equipment manager Bill Keightley enters his 41st season in the UK program. The beloved Mr. Wildcat has served UK since 1961-62, watching the Cats roll to a 945-290 record during that era.Keightley, who has a jersey retired in the rafters of Rupp Arena, has worked under five different head coaches at UK — Rupp, Hall, Sutton, Pitino and Smith.
Wiggins Keeps on Coming
Big Blue fan Bob Wiggins continues his amazing streak of following the basketball Cats. Wiggins, who is retired and lives in Falmouth, Ky., saw 615 consecutive games — home and away — from 1977 until he suffered a heart attack just before the 1996 Great Alaska Shootout. It’s the second-longest streak on record at UK.The illness forced him to miss four games, but he has since returned to see every contest in person, a streak of 179 games.Meanwhile, his home court streak is still intact. Wiggins has not missed a home game in 41 years, a streak spanning 577 games. During that period, which dates back to 1960-61, UK has a home record of 513-64.In all, he’s in his 49th season watching the Cats in person and through his own record keeping, has attended 1,193 UK games.
UK No. 2 with Most NBA Players
To start the 2001-02 NBA season, the following Wildcats were active:
Derek AndersonPortlandTony Delk PhoenixWalter McCartyBostonJamaal MagloireCharlotteJamal MashburnCharlotteRon MercerChicagoNazr MohammedAtlantaScott PadgettUtahMark Pope MilwaukeeAntoine WalkerBoston
In addition, former UK assistant coach Jim O’Brien is the head coach of the Boston Celtics while the Cats’ all-time leading scorer Dan Issel coaches the Denver Nuggets and former UK All-American Pat Riley coaches the Miami Heat.
— Go Cats —
