Nov. 7, 2014

Kentucky welcomes Georgetown to Rupp Arena for an exhibition game on Sunday, November 9. The game will be televised on the SEC Network and tip is set for 7 p.m. ET.

Gameday Information
Kentucky vs. Georgetown (exh) Sunday, Nov. 9 – 7:00 p.m. ET Lexington, Ky. Game Notes: UK | GC
Coverage
TV: SEC Network Radio: UK Sports Network Live Video via SEC Network+ Live Audio Live Blog Live Stats Text Updates
UK	2014-15 Team Stats	GC
116.0	Points	108.7
68.0	Opp. Points	68.7
.653	FG%	.523
.348	Opp. FG%	.349
.222	3-FG%	.289
.429	Opp. 3-FG%	.250
.700	FT%	.694
49.0	Rebs	52.0
25.0	Opp. Rebs.	43.7
29	Assist	52
13	Turnovers	48
10	Blocks	24
8	Steals	41

Cat Scratches: UK still finding form entering last exhibition

Barry “Slice” Rohrssen is a man of many talents.

On top of being a respected coach and recruiter, Rohrssen has famously dabbled as an actor, starring alongside the likes of Al Pacino and Kevin Spacey.

Nonetheless, one subject escaped him in school.

“You know, for some people, even like myself, chemistry was the hardest subject,” Rohrssen said.

The same is true, though not in quite so literal a sense, for the Kentucky basketball team. The Wildcats, set for the second of two exhibitions on Sunday at 7 p.m. against Georgetown (Ky.), are still in the process of figuring out exactly how they fit together. … read the full preview

This Week’s News

Pikeville Game Recap

• Kentucky captured a 116-68 win over Pikeville in the season’s first exhibtion contest.
• UK improved to 52-4 all-time in preseason exhibition games and has won 23 in a row.
• The Wildcats debuted their platoon system to much success:
  • No player logged more than 20 minutes
  • Six players reached double-figure scoring
  • UK shot 81 percent from the field in the first half
  • Team assisted on 29 of 49 made field goals
  • 83.7 percent of UK’s made field goals were either lay-ups or dunks
  • UK was sparked by a 21-0 run late in the first half
  • The largest lead was 49 at 114-65
  • Kentucky won the battle of the boards 49-28

Point Guards on Cousy Award Watch List

• Andrew Harrison and Tyler Ulis were among 36 candidates for the Bob Cousy Award watch list.
• UK was one of two schools with multiple selections.
• List will be cut to 20 in early February, with a final five in early March.

Preseason All-America Honors Roundup

• Two Wildcats have been named to preseason All-America teams by various publications.
• Aaron Harrison was a first-team selection to the Sporting News All-America squad.
• Karl-Anthony Towns was a third-team All-America selection on both the Sporting News and CBSSports teams.

Strength of Schedule

• Preseason top-10 teams will meet six times in the non-conference portion of the schedule this year.
• UK will appear in four of those six matchups:
  • UK vs. Kansas – Nov. 18
  • Wisconsin vs. Duke – Dec. 3
  • UK vs. Texas – Dec. 5
  • Kansas vs. Florida – Dec. 5
  • UK vs. North Carolina – Dec. 13
  • UK at Louisville – Dec. 27

Kentucky Assistant Head Coach Barry Rohrssen – November 7, 2014

On response from recruits when discussing platoon system …

“In recruiting these guys, they’ve been very receptive. It’s nice when you’re ranked number one in the polls. It’s a nice way to have a conversation going into somebody’s home.”

On current recruits concerns with playing time …
“You don’t exactly know if it’s going to be limited. That’s to unfold next season. If we’re talking about this season, Kentucky is very well received no matter where you go and whom you speak with. It’s nice to have that royal blue “UK” on your chest when you’re walking into a high school or a home.”

On what he wants to know most about the team before exhibition play is over …
“Chemistry and combinations. For some people, even like myself, chemistry was the hardest subject. You want to continue to work on that and improve on that, just the blend of new players and the guys that have returned.”

On natural team quickness and pushing the ball up the floor …
“We do have some very fast players. Their strength is getting the ball up the court. Offensively any team could push the ball up the court and beat your opponents down court and have an advantage numbers wise. Any time you can play two against one, three against two, five against four, or something like that, you want to do it. These guys take it upon themselves to do it and it really is being encouraged by Coach Cal to get the ball up court quickly.”

On which freshmen who have impressed and improved since the Bahamas trip …
 “Well one guy that’s improving rapidly and on a day-to-day basis is Devin Booker. He’s really made some very good strides since he’s been here on campus like most of the freshmen. It’s really nice to add Trey Lyles to the mix as well. Devin is just finding things a bit more comfortably now like getting up and down the court a lot quicker, using some of his athleticism, moving well without the basketball, and releasing his shot a lot quicker.”

On fixing mistakes from last game …

“Personally speaking, my radar screen kind of goes to the defensive side of the basketball. Transition defense is something that is always going to stick out to me first and foremost. You’ll find that bad defensive transition teams jog back. Good teams run back and great teams sprint back. We have got to make an effort every time defensively in transition not to let the ball get behind us, beat us down court or get pushed down our throat. We have to be able to get back quickly. We want to play with five guys on defense.”

On the body language changes from last year of Alex Poythress and the Harrison twins …

“Well, I can only really speak on what my own eyes have seen. (All of those) guys have been very good. They are in a position right now where they are the veterans on the team and they should be providing the leadership for both themselves and for pushing some of the new guys along.”

On areas of improvement to work on in the Georgetown College exhibition game …

“Just continued improvement, it was nice to get that one game under your belt. One of the things you like to do going into a regular season is have some scrimmages or exhibitions. In college football you do not have that, you just go right out there and play the first day. One of the things that is nice about college basketball is that you get a chance to go out there, simulate game days, go through a shoot around or walk through in the morning the day of the game and having your pregame meal with your team, just to get in a rhythm and comfortable especially for the new guys. When you first arrive on campus for any freshman, you will find that the most difficult adjustment any regular student has to make in college is their freshman year when you think back at it, so now put the demands that go along with being an athlete. So it is good to get some of those exhibitions under your belt which is another step towards our improvement.”

On how the Bahamas trip has helped improved the team …

“Yes that is why those summer exhibitions tours, for any team that is fortunate enough to do it, it is a help. It is an advantage. It is really nice that they let you do it once every four years. If they found a way to maybe let you do it maybe every two years, where you have some new guys coming in and they all can take part in it instead of the once every four years, but it is a nice way to get a head start, jump start on your season. It gives you those 10 additional practices during the summer and then put some competition under your belt going into the fall.”