Men's Basketball

Dec. 4, 2012

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

Team Records and Series Notes

  • Kentucky is 5-3 on the season and Samford is 2-8.
  • Kentucky leads the series 2-0, with both games in Lexington.
    • UK is now 20-0 all-time against teams from the current alignment of the Southern Conference.
  • UK continues its five-game homestand Saturday against Portland. The game will be at noon and will be televised on ESPN2.

First-Half Facts

  • Kentucky started with the lineup of Archie Goodwin, Julius Mays, Alex Poythress, Kyle Wiltjer and Nerlens Noel for the seventh-consecutive game.
  • Alex Poythress opened the scoring with a 3-pointer from the right corner, the second time this season that UK got a three for the first basket.
  • Kentucky scored the game’s first seven points, keeping Samford off the board until 15:37 when Tim Williams tallied.
  • Kyle Wiltjer notched a five-point play with 5:20 remaining in the first half. Wiltjer scored a basket and was fouled, followed by Samford coach Bennie Seltzer being assessed a technical foul. Wiltjer made both free throws on the technical, then made the free throw on the regular foul to complete the five-point play.
  • UK had runs of 11-0 and 12-0 in the first half.
  • The Wildcats went to intermission ahead 45-14, UK’s largest halftime lead of the season.
  • UK is 5-0 this season when leading at halftime.

Second-Half Story

  • Samford scored the first nine points of the second half to make it 45-23. That was as close as the Bulldogs got as the Wildcats coasted to the victory.

Team Notes

  • Kentucky shot 55.7 percent from the field, the fourth time the Wildcats have made at least half their shots.
  • Six Wildcats scored in double figures, first time that has happened since the 2012 NCAA Tournament vs. Indiana.
  • Kentucky used its size advantage to win points in the paint, 46-26.
  • UK turned 17 Samford turnovers into 28 points.
  • UK won bench points 21-5 and fast-break points 17-2.

Individual Notes

  • Archie Goodwin led all scorers with 18 points, adding four assists and a season-high three steals.

    • Goodwin has at least four assists in five-straight games.
  • Alex Poythress scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

    • He is now shooting 68.5 percent on the season.
  • Nerlens Noel tallied 13 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots.

    • Noel has at least six rebounds in every game this season.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein had 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.

    • First Kentucky player this season with a double-double
    • Also tied his season high with four blocked shots and had a season-best three steals
  • Julius Mays had 10 points, five assists and three rebounds.

    • Fourth time in the last five games he has scored in double figures
  • Kyle Wiltjer had 10 points and a season-high seven rebounds.
  • Playing in a season-high 21 minutes, Ryan Harrow had a season-high four assists.
  • Jon Hood nailed a pair of 3-point shots, the first multi-three game of his career.
  • Jarrod Polson had a career-high four assists and tied his career-best for steals with two.

Related Stories

View all