Dec. 14, 2001
LEXINGTON, Ky. –
Wildcats Welcome Bennett Back to Rupp Arena
After taking off this week for final exams, the Wildcats resume play against Division II Kentucky State. Former UK letterman and assistant coach Winston Bennett brings his Thorobreds into Rupp Arena as the teams meet on the hardwood for the first time. The game was scheduled after Georgia Tech decided not to renew its series with Kentucky early last summer.
Bennett is in his second season in Frankfort. He enjoyed a winning campaign with his 17-13 record in 2001 as the Breds finished second in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and won the league tournament for the first time. The squad advanced to the NCAA DII Tournament but was defeated in the first round.
Sporting a five-game win streak, this game marks the Cats’ last chance to sharpen their claws before taking on No. 1 Duke Tuesday in the Jimmy V Classic. The defending champion remains undefeated entering the weekend and will play North Carolina A&T on Sunday. UK battles K-State, Duke, Indiana and Louisville in the two-week span beginning Saturday.
Series Information
Series Record: 0-0
In Lexington: 0-0
In Frankfort: 0-0
At Neutral Sites: 0-0
Last Game: First Meeting
Tickets Available
Only a few tickets remain for the Kentucky State game on Dec. 15. In addition, tickets can be ordered for the Indiana game played in the RCA Dome at Indianapolis on Dec. 22.
Seats for Kentucky State are $17 each while the IU tickets are priced at $30 apiece. Tickets to both games can be purchased at the Memorial Coliseum ticket office (M-F, 9-4 p.m.), via phone with a Visa or MasterCard (800-928-CATS) or on the web at ukathletics.com.
Tulane tickets for Jan. 2 at Freedom Hall 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.
No. 1,800
Kentucky won its’ 1,800th game, the first college basketball team to accomplish the feat, when it registered a 79-59 victory over North Carolina. Ironically, UNC is the nation’s No. 2 winningest program with 1,782 victories.
The Wildcats also have the nation’s best winning percentage — 76.3%.
Series History
Despite being just 30 minutes apart, the two teams have never met on the hardwood. They have no common opponents. This also marks UK’s first meeting with a Southern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference opponent. The Thorobreds’ hometown is Frankfort, the Kentucky state capitol.
Bennett’s UK Highlights
Winston Bennett both played and coached at Kentucky. He’s given considerable credit for the development of Nazr Mohammed, who went from a 300-pound high school senior to a NBA first-round selection thanks to a tremendous work ethic and Bennett’s help in individual instruction. Other Bennett notables include:
* still ranks 18th on UK's all-time scoring list with 1,399 points,* Named All-SEC in 1986 and 1988. Missed the '87 season with a torn ACL,* Named to the 1986 NCAA All-Region team,* Named Academic All-SEC in 1985,* Served as an assistant coach for the Wildcats from 1995-97 and was a member of the UK staff that coached the 1996 national champions.
TREY-shaun
Tayshaun Prince’s streak of five three-pointers on five straight possessions to start the North Carolina game were the first of a team-high seven for the game, all coming in the opening half. His fifth, just a few inches past the “U” at center court, measured nearly 30 feet.
His seven 3FGs in a half tied Derrick Miller for the most threes recorded in a half at Kentucky. Miller drained seven in the Cats’ 150-95 loss to Kansas on Dec. 9, 1989 before finishing with eight threes in the game.
Prince’s seven, however, were the most treys recorded by a Wildcat in Rupp Arena in a half as Miller’s came in the Jayhawks’ storied Allen Field House.
Other great three-point shooting performances by UK include Tony Delk’s school-record nine against TCU in 1996 and Jamal Mashburn’s five first-half three-pointers against Wake Forest in the 1993 NCAA Tournament.
TREY-mendous Effort
Tayshaun Prince’s effort against UNC won’t soon be forgotten. Along with his three-point shooting display, Prince totaled 31 points, 11 rebounds and four steals. He matched his career scoring total and his steals total. It was his second consecutive double-double, the ninth of his career.
In the two wins over VMI and UNC last week, the 2001 SEC Player of the Year shot 52.6 % from the field and 56.3 % from 3FG range to average 26.5 ppg and 10.5 rpg. The numbers were almost impressive enough to garner SEC Player of the Week honors. But Ole Miss’ Justin Reed had 17 points and seven rebounds in the Rebs’ upset of Memphis after a 17-point, 8-rebound effort against La.-Monroe last week to capture the league award.
Within the Borders
The game with Kentucky State is the third of four Kentucky colleges on the 2001-02 schedule, the most since the 1920-21 season.
The Cats have already played Western Kentucky and Morehead State, and will battle Louisville later this month. They faced Kentucky Wesleyan, Cumberland, Georgetown and Centre during the ’21 season, posting a 5-1 record in the meetings.
The Road to Head Coaching
The Wildcats will face five coaches this season who own playing or coaching ties to Kentucky. Kyle Macy, a former UK All-American, coached Morehead State against the Cats last month, Winston Bennett, who played and coached at UK, leads Kentucky State, Rick Pitino, who onced coached at Kentucky, has landed at archrival Louisville, Shawn Finney, a former UK assistant, leads a 6-1 Tulane squad that will face the Cats in Louisville next month, and Billy Donovan, another former UK assistant, coaches Florida.
D2 Schools
Kentucky has not played a Division II school since Alaska-Anchorage visited Rupp Arena on Dec. 27, 1999. It was a return engagement after the Cats played in the 1996 Great Alaska Shootout.
UK in December
The Wildcats hold a 424-100 record in the month of December for a stellar .809 winning percentage. The mark is the best of any month for the Cats. Last season, UK was 4-2 during December. At home, the Cats are 275-37 (88.1%) all-time during the year’s 12th month.
Prince Has CLASS
Tayshaun Prince is on the watch list for yet another honor this season as he is one of 30 seniors nominated for the Kansas City Club’s Senior CLASS Award. CLASS is the acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School.
Ten finalists will be selected by the Nomination Committee in February to be placed on the official ballot.
One male and one female will be awarded the honor during Final Four weekend.
Some players joining Prince on the list include Maryland’s Lonnie Baster, UNC’s Jason Capel, Missouri’s Clarence Gilbert, Florida’s Udonis Haslem, WKU’s Chris Marcus, Iowa’s Luke Recker, Marshall’s Tamar Slay and Tennessee’s Vincent Yarbrough.
Walk-on Wonder
After relinquishing his scholarship in June to keep the Cats compliant with the NCAA limit of 13 scholarships, Marquis Estill grabbed national attention.
Once he moved into the starting role at power forward against Morehead State, Estill again earned notice. Of the school’s listed in this week’s AP Top 25, Estill is the ONLY walk-on starter. He’s averaging 11.0 ppg and 4.2 rpg.
Offensive Production
Kentucky has increased production on the offensive end this season. After the disappointing 52-point performance against Western to open the season, UK has averaged 88.8 ppg. During that five-game win streak, the Cats have allowed just 66.4 ppg by opponents.
Overall, UK has averaged 82.7 ppg which ranks second in the SEC while Tayshaun Prince leads the way with 18.8 ppg to rank fourth in the league. Thus far, it’s the most points averaged by Wildcat since Jamal Mashburn tallied 21.0 ppg in the ’93 season.
Cats on the Glass
Kentucky has hit the boards thus far this season, outrebounding opponents by an average of 11.7 rpg, which leads the SEC. UK has averaged 45.0 rpg, also first in the league, while opponents have grabbed 33.3 rpg. UK also leads the league in offensive rebounding, averaging 18.5 per game.
Defense Improving
Coach Tubby Smith has always made solid defense his top priority and this year is no different. In the first six games, no team has shot better than 43.6% from the field (Western Ky.) and four teams have failed to top 40% shooting. In his four previous years at Kentucky, opponents have combined to shoot less than 40% from the field three seasons and currently have combined to shoot 38.6% this season.
Did You Know?
Did you know that as of Monday, every team in the Southeastern Conference owned a winning record?
Next Game
Kentucky revisits perhaps its most intense rivalry on Dec. 18 when it travels to East Rutherford, N.J., to face No. 1 Duke in the second game of the Jimmy V Classic. Alabama and Temple square off in the night’s first contest at Continental Airlines Arena. UK captured the 1996 NCAA Championship at the site, but fell to Duke in this same event in Dec. ’98, the teams’ last meeting.
December to Remember?
Kentucky kicked off a highly anticipated December schedule of great rivalries on Dec. 8 with a 79-59 victory over North Carolina. After the matchup with Kentucky State, the Wildcats will battle No. 1 Duke in the Meadowlands, Indiana in the RCA Dome and Louisville in Lexington within a 12-day period. The Duke game is a double-header at the Jimmy V Classic where Alabama faces Temple in the opener while the Indiana game will be played in front of nearly 40,000 fans, half dressed in IU red, the other half in UK blue. The U of L game marks the naming of the Rupp Arena playing court after UK’s legendary radio announcer Cawood Ledford, who passed away after a long battle with cancer in September.
National Exposure
The CBS game with North Carolina marked UK’s first appearance on national television this season. The Cats will appear on national television 13 times, including four games in December.
Kentucky will appear on CBS seven times while its other six appearances will be on ESPN. According to highly acclaimed CBS Sports producer Bob Dekas, its the most any school has ever been on the March Madness network in a single regular season.
Records Watch
Tayshaun Prince’s seven three-pointers against the Tar Heels catapulted him into fifth place on UK’s all-time made 3FG list. He currently has 157 in his career and needs three more to take over fourth.
Both Prince and Keith Bogans continue to climb UK’s list of all-time scoring leaders. Prince is 23rd with 1,328 points, while Bogans is 41st with 1,075.
For the updated lists, see page 6.
Last Time Out
Tayshaun Prince scored Kentucky’s first 15 points with three-pointers on five consecutive possessions to lead Kentucky in a 79-59 rout of North Carolina.
Prince finished the game with 31 points, which tied his career high, and 11 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double and the ninth of his career.
The Cats played arguably their best defensive game of the season as well, holding UNC to 36.2 percent shooting from the field and 22.7 percent from three-point range.
National Polls
UK began the season ranked fourth in both major polls.
After dropping in the polls two consecutive weeks following its season-opening loss to Western Kentucky, the Cats have steadily climbed two spots in each of the past two weeks and sit at ninth in the AP and 10th in the Coaches poll.
Three Mania
Kentucky’s streak of hitting a three in consecutive games has reached 447 games, 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 in 1987.
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.
Double-Doubles
Tayshaun Prince earned his second consecutive and ninth career double-double of the season when he tallied 31 points, tying his career high, and grabbed 11 boards against North Carolina. It was Kentucky’s second double-double performance of the season.Other current Wildcats who have recorded double-doubles in their career include:
CatCareer DoublesKeith Bogans2Jules Camara3Marquis Estill1Gerald Fitch1Jason Parker2Marvin Stone1
SEASON NOTES
Queen City Mark
In November, Kentucky played its fifth consecutive season at the Firstar Center in Cincinnati, defeating Kent State, 82-68. The Wildcats are now 6-1 all-time in the arena.
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. Tubby 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. Vanderbilt123Western Division1. Alabama (15)332. Arkansas (5)603. Ole Miss (2)664. Auburn (1)785. LSU1216. Mississippi State125
All-SEC First TeamG – 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 Return
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
Chapman Makes Dunk List
Former Wildcat Rex Chapman made the list of Slam Magazine’s top-50 dunkers of all-time. Chapman, who played two seasons (1987-88) before becoming a first-round draft pick of the Charlotte Hornets, was No. 35 on the list.
The top five were Vince Carter, Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Julius Erving and Jackie Jackson. Not on the list was former Cat Kenny Walker, who won the NBA’s slam dunk contest in 1993.
Keightley In 41st Season
Kentucky equipment manager Bill Keightley is in his 41st season in the UK program. The beloved Mr. Wildcat has served UK since 1961-62, watching the Cats roll to a 949-290 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 183 games.
Meanwhile, his home court streak is still intact. Wiggins has not missed a home game in 41 years, a streak spanning 580 games. During that period, which dates back to 1960-61, UK has a home record of 516-64.
In all, he’s in his 49th season watching the Cats in person and through his own record keeping, has attended 1,197 UK games.
UK No. 2 with Most NBA Players
To start the 2001-02 NBA season, the following Wildcats were active:
Derek AndersonPortlandTony DelkPhoenixWalter 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 —
