Jan. 15, 2010
Kentucky Runs Streak to 17-Straight
The Wildcats stretched their season-opening winning streak to 17 after picking up an 89-77 win over Florida, the program’s first win in Gainesville since 2004.
Kentucky was led offensively by freshman Eric Bledsoe who recorded a game-high and career-best 25 points to go along with seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. John Wall (19), Patrick Patterson (15) and DeMarcus Cousins (13) all joined Bledsoe in double-figures.
| Gameday Information | |
|---|---|
| Game Notes |
UK Notes  | AU Notes |
| Date & Time | Sat., Jan 16, 4:00 p.m |
| Coverage | TV: SEC Network Radio: BBSN GameTracker  Online Audio  Live Video via ESPN360 |
| Location | Beard-Eaves Coliseum Auburn, Ala. |
| Auburn Tigers at a Glance | |
|---|---|
| Head Coach | Jeff Lebo |
| Overall Record | 205-147 |
| 2009-10 Record | 9-8, 0-2 SEC |
| Ranking | nr |
| Series Record | Kentucky leads 83-17 |
| Last Meeting | Kentucky def. Auburn 73-64 last season in Lexington, Ky. |
| 2009-10 Team Stats | UK | AU |
|---|---|---|
| Scoring Offense | 82.8 | 76.4 |
| Scoring Defense | 65.2 | 72.5 |
| FG Percentage | 49.9% | 45.0% |
| 3-point FG Percentage | 39.1% | 31.9% |
| FT Percentage | 68.9% | 64.1% |
| Rebound Margin | +10.2 | +1.4 |
| Assists | 16.4 | 14.1 |
| Turnovers | 15.1 | 15.2 |
| 2009-10 Stat Leaders | |
|---|---|
| Scoring | UK: John Wall (17.3) AU: DeWayne Reed (16.1) |
| Rebounding | UK: DeMarcus Cousins (9.2) AU: Lucas Hargrove (7.4) |
| Assists | UK: John Wall (7.1) AU: DeWayne Reed (4.5) |
| 3-point FG Percentage | UK: Eric Bledsoe (47.8%) AU: Tay Waller (39.2%) |
| Blocks | UK: DeMarcus Cousins (1.7) AU: Brenden Knox (0.8) |
| Steals | UK: John Wall (2.1) AU: Frankie Sullivan (2.0) |
Daniel Orton pulled down a game-high and career-high, nine rebounds while also tallying four blocked shots, tying his personal best.
As a team, the Wildcats shot 51.4 percent from the field.
Pregame Quotes
Head Coach John Calipari
On Darius Miller…
“He has to play, not defer. He slows down in the game, has the opportunity to dunk balls and he doesn’t. He dunked it last game and we were doing back flips on the bench. He is doing some good stuff.”
On Auburn…
“I watched the first half of (Auburn’s game against) Tennessee. I saw them beat Virginia. Every time I see a tape I get scared, because whatever you see in that team, you have to take it up two notches. They are a team that is going to shoot 30-35 three’s. If they make 20, it’s been a nice start to our season. They are going to shoot them and it’s not like we are going to stop them from shooting them. We saw Florida make some ridiculous shots and get back in the game. For the game they shot 29.6%, but they hit three or four in a row to get them back in the game. They may double team, they may make us shoot three’s or they may play zone. They played a lot of man against Tennessee, but they may come at us like everybody else and play 40 minutes of zone.”
On the closeness and youth of the team…
“This team has been pretty close. Out of (347) teams, we are the 15th youngest team in college basketball. We are young. We aren’t using it as an excuse, but that’s what we are. We are a young team. You never know. Right now, we’ve responded pretty well, but you don’t know. On the road, they don’t get it.”
On Darnell Dodson…
“It’s more about are you willing to guard people, get rough, go get rebounds and play a tough game. If you do that, you don’t worry about that other stuff. It’s all a toughness you must play with, and if you don’t, you aren’t going to play here. He is doing it. Last game he played tougher, he came up with balls. He got a little lazy on some passes and stuff. But, he is playing. Every day, I either make him guard John Wall or Eric (Bledsoe). I tell him if he can guard those two, he can guard anybody we play.”
On losing leads and letting teams come back…
“I showed them tape of three games where we let people back in the game. I showed clip by clip, and then I went to where we made runs. There is a market difference in their defensive intensity, shot selection, aggressiveness in attacking defense. They see the difference and they need to carry it over. They are a young team.”
On the telethon for Haiti…
“On Sunday, with WKYT, we are going to do something for Haiti. We are going to do a telethon for about four-and-a-half hours. The television part will be one-and-a-half hours, and then they’ll check back in. People in the community are going to match dollars of what is raised. It’s going through the United Way to the American Red Cross, which means it is going directly to Haiti. It’s going to be immediate funds, not for six months from now. We are going to try to get former players, see how we can use our players, and get people from around the country to call in and donate. We want to get our state energized and get the Commonwealth to understand this stuff down there is crazy. We are going to spend our Sunday as a staff and hopefully we’ll get the other coaches involved here. We’ll get our players involved to the level they are allowed to be involved. It’s about young people and young kids who lost everything, and probably in some instances, their whole family.”
#1, Darius Miller, So., G
On what to expect as far as attendance at the game…
“I think it will be packed. We think it will be a good atmosphere, like most of the games we have played so far this season. I think we will be ready for it, and be prepared. It is fun to play in an atmosphere like that.”
On Coach Cal saying he should be more aggressive…
“It hasn’t been real tough or anything, and no one has been real negative, coach has just been telling me what he needs me to do.”
On contributing at a crucial time during the Florida game…
“We all just try to take advantage of our opportunities. A lot of the time John (Wall) and DeMarcus (Cousins) are getting double-teamed, and we just happen to be open because somebody forgets about us, so we just have to be ready to play every time the opportunity hits us.”
On if he finds himself saying he needs to get out of John’s way…
“At times, because I think he does a great job helping us out when they are being aggressive and scoring a lot of points, so when that does happen I think it is better for all of us.”
On if it is tough to defer to someone else when he is not showing as much aggressiveness that coach wants…
“Yes at times it is tough, especially with the amount of talent we have on this team. Patrick (Patterson) is an All-American, John (Wall) too, and DeMarcus (Cousins) has been doing a really good job scoring and dominating in games. So at times it is tough to get out of that habit.”
On if some of the guys play better when their back is against the wall…
“Definitely, I think Eric (Bledsoe) always steps up when we need him to. If we are down and we need a bucket that is when we see Eric (Bledsoe) at his best.”
#3, Darnell Dodson, So., G
On if he’s used to coming off the bench …
“I’m used to starting, but it’s something I’m getting used to. It took a little time to adjust to not starting, but I’m doing a lot better with it now. Not starting, there is the anticipation of waiting to come off the bench and get into the game.”
On Coach Calipari’s demand for a different level of defense…
“He wants us to play the entire time, and not rest on the defensive end. I’m getting used to doing that, so I’ve gotten better and I’ll begin to play more.”
#24, Eric Bledsoe, Fr., G
On if he’ll have a lot of family and friends at the game playing in his home state…
“I will have some people there, but not a lot.”
On if he likes playing on the road…
“Yeah I like playing on the road a lot because the fans go crazy when the No. 2 team in the nation comes into their gym, and everyone wonders what John (Wall) is going to do. Then that is when everyone else on the team steps up.”
On what it was like in Gainesville to play…
“It was fun, because all their players were sagging, and that let us have a chance to penetrate and do what we can do.”
On coach having him bring the ball up, and if it affects the play of everyone else …
“It doesn’t affect us that much, I just learn from it. Bringing the ball up is part of my position, so I do what I need to do to try to help lead the team. When John (Wall) isn’t in, I do my best to help lead the team.”
