March 29, 2014
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery
Team Records, Notes
- Kentucky improves to 27-10 overall, while Louisville concludes the year at 31-6.
- Kentucky now leads the all-time series with Louisville, 32-15 including 4-2 in the NCAA Tournament.
- UK is 33-11 all-time in Regional Semifinal matchups.
- The Wildcats lead the nation with a 114-46 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament.
- Kentucky is 4-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in the city of Indianapolis.
- UK is 16-2 in NCAA Tournament games under John Calipari.
- With today’s victory, Kentucky has now advanced to 33 NCAA Regional Finals in school history.
Team Facts
- Kentucky’s starting lineup consisted of five freshmen in Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, Dakari Johnson, Julius Randle and James Young. That lineup improves to 11-4 on the season.
- Willie Cauley-Stein was the first sub off the bench for UK. It was his 16th time being called upon first this season.
- Aaron Harrison hit a 3-pointer at the 9:22 mark of the first half to extend UK’s 3-point streak to 896 consecutive games. It is the second-longest streak in the country.
- John Calipari coached teams are now 127-38 in the months of March and April.
- Calipari is 41-13 all-time as a coach in the NCAA Tournament.
- Kentucky improves to 6-8 this season when trailing at the half, but is 2-0 in the NCAA Tournament.
First Half Facts
- The teams traded points to open the half before the Cardinals were able to get four-straight points to take an 8-4 advantage into the first media timeout.
- A 14-1 run by the Cardinals lifted them to an 18-5 run with 12:27 remaining in the half.
- Kentucky chipped away at the lead and got to within one at 32-31 with under a minute remaining on three-straight Randle free throws. Louisville responded with a running-floater from Russ Smith to take a 34-31 lead into halftime.
Second Half Facts
- The Wildcats again pulled to within one at 36-35 on a pair of Andrew Harrison free throws, but the Cardinals responded with a dunk on the other end to recapture a three-point advantage.
- The first tie of the game since early in the first half occurred at 38-38 on a Randle driving-spin with 14:44 remaining in the second half.
- A 4-0 spur by the Cardinals enabled the designated home team to recapture a two-possession advantage at 48-42 with 12:30 to go.
- A Randle floater with 3:12 remaining made it a one possession game at 66-63 once again.
- A 7-0 run capped by a traditional three-point play by Alex Poythress with 2:13 remaining tied the score at 66 apiece.
- Kentucky took its first lead of the game since the score was 2-0 with a Poythress free throw at 1:26 to make the score 67-66 in favor of UK. Louisville answered on the following possession to take back the lead.
- An Aaron Harrison 3-pointer with 39 seconds remaining gave UK a 70-68 lead it would not relinquish. Both Harrison and Randle would sink four game-clinching free throws to make the final margin.
Individual Notes
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Aaron Harrison finished with a team-high matching 15 points and added a trio of rebounds.
- Has a team-high 18 games with 15 or more points.
- Reached double-figure scoring in every postseason game this season including the SEC Tournament.
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Andrew Harrison scored 14 points and had seven assists and five rebounds.
- Has five or more assists in five of UK’s last seven games.
- Notched 18 double-figure scoring games on the season.
- Moved past Marquis Teague (401) for 18th on the single-season freshman scoring list with 409 points on the season.
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Dakari Johnson matched his career-high with 15 points and added six rebounds in the win.
- Notched his third double-figure scoring effort of the season and first during the postseason.
- Scored 11 points in the second half.
- Played a career-high 31 minutes.
- Had his second traditional three-point play of the season.
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Julius Randle turned in his national-leading 23rd double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
- With 557 points on the season he moved past Tony Delk (551) for 37th place on UK’s single-season scoring list.
- Has registered 12 double-doubles in his last 14 games.