Dec. 5, 2009

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No. 4 Kentucky 68, No. 10 North Carolina 66

Team Records and Series Notes

• With the win Kentucky improves to 8-0, and with the loss, North Carolina falls to 7-2.
• Off to an 8-0 start, UK has jumped out to the best start to a season since the 1992-93 campaign when UK opened 11-0.
• UK owns an 11-21 all-time record against North Carolina with a 6-6 mark against the Tar Heels in Lexington.
• The Wildcats have a 122-61 record against teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
• UK has a 43-31 all-time record against teams from the state of North Carolina.
• UK will return to action, facing Connecticut in the DirectTV Big East/SEC Invitational, at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. The game will be televised by ESPN, with a tipoff on Dec. 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET.

First-Half Notes

• Kentucky used the starting lineup of John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, Darius Miller, Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins for the seventh consecutive game. UK owns a 7-0 record with this lineup.
• UK and Cousins won the tip for the seventh time in eight games.
• UNC’s Will Graves opened the scoring with a three-pointer from the corner, putting UNC up 3-0 early.
• Cousins’ put-back under the basket put the Wildcats on the board with 19:04 left in the half.
• At the 15:28 mark of the first period, North Carolina held a 9-6 lead, with UK getting four points from Wall in transition.
• Ramon Harris and Daniel Orton were the first UK players to check in off the bench, coming in with 16:46 left in the half. That is the team-best fifth time Orton has been the first sub and the third time Harris has checked in off the bench first.
• Patterson’s jumper in the paint gave UK its first lead, a 10-9 advantage with just under 14 minutes left in the half.
• Miller’s three-pointer with 12:36 remaining in the half extended UK’s streak to 719 consecutive games with a three-pointer made. UK’s 719 consecutive games with a three-pointer ranks third in the NCAA.
• At the 12:36 mark of the first half, UK was in the midst of a 16-0 run to take an 18-9 lead.
• Cousins’ two points gave UK its first double-digit lead of the game, a 22-11 advantage with 10:52 remaining in the half.
• With just under nine minutes in the first half, UK was in the midst of a 28-2 run, owning a 30-11 lead with 8:25 remaining in the first period.
• After UNC hit a three to cut the lead to 30-14, Darnell Dodson drilled his second trifecta of the half to put UK up 33-14 with 8:05 left.
• Wall connected on 1-of-2 free throws with 3:06 left in the half, with UK holding a 40-23 lead.
• At the end of the half, UK held a 43-28 lead, with the Wildcats shooting 57-percent (16-for-28) from the field and 67-percent (6-for-9) from behind the arc.
• North Carolina won the battle of the boards, totaling 17 rebounds to UK’s 16. UK had nine assists and nine turnovers in the first half.
• UK’s 43 points in the first half are the fourth-most points for the Wildcats in the first half this year. Kentucky’s 53 points against Sam Houston State is the most in the first stanza this season.
• Wall led the Wildcats with 13 points, three rebounds, five assists and two steals in 19 minutes. Patterson totaled 11 points, five rebounds, a block and a steal in 17 minutes.

Second-Half Notes

• UK started the lineup of Wall, Miller, Bledsoe, Patterson and Orton in the second half. This is the second time this season that UK opened with this lineup in the second period.
• Wall found Harris for a dunk with 19:15 left in the game, getting UK’s first points of the half and putting the Wildcats up 45-28.
• With a three-point play, North Carolina cut the UK lead to single digits, with UK holding a 45-36 lead with just under 17 minutes left in the game.
• Eric Bledsoe’s two points in transition advanced UK’s lead back to 49-38 with 15:17 left in the contest.
• Patterson netted four consecutive points to give the home team a 53-40 edge with 13:25 remaining.
• Crossing the 10 minute mark in the game, UK held an eight-point lead, 54-46.
• UNC freshman forward Travis Wear sank a three-pointer from the corner with 9:25 left in the game to cut the UK lead to 54-49.
• At the under-eight timeout (7:29 left in the game), UK held a 56-49 advantage, with Wall totaling 13 points and Patterson registering 19 points.
• Graves hit a free throw for UNC, cutting the UK lead to 59-54 with 5:26 remaining.
• At the under four-minute timeout, UK was holding a 59-56 lead with 3:34 left in the game.
• Two free throws from Bledsoe extended UK’s lead to 61-56 and then he connected on an up-and-under layup to make it 63-56 with 1:52 remaining.
• UNC immediately countered with a three-pointer from Graves, cutting it to 63-59 with 1:45 left.
• Deon Thompson sliced the UK lead to 63-61 with a basket with 32.4 seconds remaining.
• Bledsoe was fouled with 30.5 seconds remaining and connected on both free throws to extend the lead to 65-61.
• Bledsoe was fouled with 16.5 seconds left and made the first of two free throws, making it 66-61. His miss on the second free throw snapped 11 consecutive made free throws by Bledsoe.

Team Notes

• Kentucky is the NCAA’s all-time wins leader with 1,996 wins. UK needs just four more victories to become the first team to eclipse 2,000 wins in college basketball history. North Carolina sits in second place all-time with 1,991 total wins.
• A crowd of 24,468 fans filled Rupp Arena for the game, setting a new Kentucky record. The attendance surpassed the previous record of 24,465 fans on Feb. 10, 2007, a 64-61 loss against Florida.
• The Wildcats have out-rebounded their opponent in all eight games this season, besting UNC by just a two-point margin at 39-37.
• UK finished the game shooting 44-percent from the field and 38-percent from behind the arc. UK has shot over 44-percent in each game this season.
• Kentucky held North Carolina to 39-percent shooting from the field and 35-percent from three-point land. UK has held each of its opponents to under 50-percent shooting from the field.
• UK won the points in the paint, 30-28, also getting 18 points in fast break situations, with UNC totaling eight fast-break points.
• After forcing North Carolina into 16 turnovers, the Wildcats have now forced each opponent into at least 11 turnovers in each game this year.

Individual Notes

• Patterson totaled a game-high 19 points in 37 minutes, adding a club-best seven rebounds.
  • Patterson has now scored in double figures in seven of eight games this season.
  • He added one blocked shot, giving him one block in each game this year.
  • After connecting on his lone three-point attempt, Patterson has made a three-point shot in six of eight games.
  • In three career meetings with the Tar Heels, Patterson has totaled 19 points in each game. Patterson is averaging 19 points and nine rebounds in his career against North Carolina.
• Wall charted 16 points, adding five rebounds, seven assists and three steals in 32 minutes of action.
  • Wall has scored in double figures in each game of his UK career.
  • After setting the UK freshman record with 14 assists in the win over UNC Asheville Monday, his seven assists now give him at least five assists in each game this year.
  • Wall’s five rebounds are one shy of his career high, when he snagged six in a win over Rider.
  • With three steals, Wall has swiped three or more steals in four games.
• Miller blocked a season-high two shots, adding eight points, four rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes.
  • Has made a three-pointer in seven straight games after a 2-for-5 outing from behind the arc in today’s contest.
• Cousins had five points and five rebounds in 15 minutes.
  • Cousins has now totaled four or more rebounds in each game this season and has at least one block in each game.
• Bledsoe finished with nine points and two assists in 17 minutes.
  • Bledsoe made 5-of-6 free throw attempts until missing the back-end of a two-shot foul. Previously he had made 10 consecutive from the charity stripe.
• Dodson came off the bench to score nine points and grab a career-high five rebounds.
  • In five games this year, Dodson has scored nine or more points in four games.