Men's Basketball

Jan. 9, 2010

Recap | Box Score | Quotes | AP Photo Gallery media-icon-photogallery.gif | Photo Gallery media-icon-photogallery.gif

Team Records and Series Notes

  • Kentucky is 16-0 while Georgia is 8-6. This was the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
  • Kentucky’s 16-0 start is its best since the 1965-66 squad opened with 23 consecutive wins.
  • This is the only the fourth time in school history that the Wildcats have begun a season with at least 16 straight wins.
  • John Calipari’s 16-0 start is the best start by a UK coach in his inaugural season in UK history.
  • This is the sixth time in John Calipari’s collegiate coaching career that he has had a winning streak of at least 16 games.
  • Kentucky leads the Georgia series, 111-24.
  • Kentucky is 60-17 in SEC openers.
  • Kentucky returns to action on Tuesday at 9 p.m. at Florida. The game will be televised by ESPN.

First-Half Notes

  • Kentucky used the starting lineup of Eric Bledsoe, John Wall, Darius Miller, Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins for the 14 th time this season.
  • Trailing 6-4, Kentucky went on a 9-0 run for a 13-6 lead.
  • Some players are known as “instant offense.” DeAndre Liggins has been instant defense. Entering the game at the 13:05 mark, he contributed two steals, two free throws, a basket, a rebound and took a charge before leaving the game three minutes later.
  • Kentucky extended its lead to as many as 11 at 21-10.
  • Georgia bounced back with a 21-5 run to take a 31-26 advantage. The Bulldogs extended the lead to six, 35-29, with 1:39 left in the half.
  • The Wildcats scored the last five points of the period, leaving Georgia ahead 35-34 at halftime.  

Second-Half Notes

  • The teams battled back and forth in the second half, with UK having season highs for ties and lead changes.
  • Kentucky got its first three-pointer of the game with 14:46 to go when Wall connected from the left wing, putting the Wildcats ahead 46-44.
  • Trailing 59-57, Kentucky took the lead for good with an 11-3 run, giving the Wildcats their biggest lead of the half at 68-62.
  • Leading just 70-68 with one minute to go, UK scored the last six points on the game on a basket by Cousins, two foul shots from Wall and a game-sealing dunk by Wall with 10 seconds left.  
     

Team Notes

  • Key stats for the Wildcats:
    • UK won points in the paint, 46-28
    • UK forced 26 turnovers and won points off turnovers, 25-15.
  • This game featured nine ties and 12 lead changes, UK’s most of the season in both categories.

Individual Notes

  • Patrick Patterson had 17 points and six rebounds.

    • Patterson has scored in double figures in 11 straight games and all but one this season.
    • Patterson moved past Jim Master for 30 th place on the UK career scoring list. Patterson has scored 1,284 points as a Wildcat.
  • John Wall had 17 points and a game-high five assists.
  • DeMarcus Cousins totaled 16 points, seven rebounds, two blocked shots and a career-high three steals.

    • Once again, Cousins turned in a strong performance in the second half. Sidelined by foul trouble in the first half, he scored 12 of his 16 points in the final period. For the season, Cousins is averaging 15.4 points per game, 9.3 of which are coming in the second half.
    • Cousins broke a string of four-consecutive double-double games.
  • DeAndre Liggins provided a spark off the bench, tallying six points, three steals, one rebound and one charge taken in 14 minutes of action.

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