Kentucky-Vanderbilt Postgame Notes

Jan. 21, 2015

Kentucky is 18-0, 5-0 in the Southeastern Conference. Vanderbilt is 11-7, 1-4 in league play.
Kentucky leads the all-time series 140-46.
Along with Virginia, Kentucky is one of two undefeated teams in NCAA Division I.
With 18 consecutive victories to begin the season, UK is off to the fourth-best start in program history.
Kentucky is 196-27 all-time when ranked No. 1 and has won 36 of the last 38 games as The Associated Press top-ranked team.
Coach John Calipari has led three schools to a No. 1 ranking (Massachusetts, Memphis, Kentucky) and has an 80-9 record as the top-ranked coach, including 39-4 at UK.
This was Calipari’s 100th home game at Kentucky and he has a record of 96-4. Calipari owns the best home record among UK coaches in their first 100 games, followed by Adolph Rupp (94-6), Rick Pitino (94-6), Joe B. Hall (88-12) and Tubby Smith (88-12).
Kentucky returns to action Saturday at South Carolina. The game has a noon start on ESPN.

Kentucky led the entire game but did not secure the victory until the final minute.
Kentucky gained a significant advantage at the foul line, hitting 21 of 32 free throws, while UK limited the visitors’ trips to the charity stripe. VU hit 6 of 12 free tosses.
UK made four of six (66.7 percent) on 3-point shots today, the team’s best percentage of the season. Over the last eight games, Kentucky has shot 45.1 percent on 3-pointers, 65 of 144.
Kentucky, which leads the nation in blocked shots, logged 11 rejections tonight. It is the eighth game this season UK has recorded double-figure blocks.
UK won bench points, 33-23.
UK is 102-5 in the John Calipari Era when holding opponents to 63 or fewer points, including 14-0 this season.
Kentucky extended its streak of 918 consecutive games with a 3-pointer as Dominique Hawkins connected a triple at the 16:41 mark of the first half.

Kentucky’s opening lineup featured Dominique Hawkins, Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein.
Towns scored the first four points of the game and Hawkins followed with a 3-pointer to give UK a 7-0 lead.
Vanderbilt closed within 14-13 before the Wildcats responded with a 7-0 spurt for a 21-13 advantage.
UK went to halftime ahead 33-26.

Kentucky opened the second half with Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, Marcus Lee and Dakari Johnson.
Vanderbilt got the first four points of the second half, prompting a UK timeout at 18:10.
Lee responded with UK’s next three baskets, starting a 12-3 burst that gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game at 45-33.
Vanderbilt came back with its own burst, a 10-2 sequence that narrowed the margin to 47-43.
The Commodores eventually got within three, 54-51, at the 5:06 mark.
Aaron Harrison scored seven of UK’s last nine points as the Wildcats won 65-57.

Aaron Harrison led the Wildcats with 14 points, all coming in the second half. He also scored seven of UK’s last nine points.
Marcus Lee provided strong help off the bench with seven points and six rebounds. All three of his baskets came early in the second half when VU had pulled within three points.
Dakari Johnson contributed 10 points and four rebounds. Following his 11-point performance at Alabama, it is his first back-to-back double-figure scoring games since November.
Willie Cauley-Stein had a game-high 10 rebounds, his sixth double-figure board effort of the season. He added six points and three steals.
Karl-Anthony Towns had seven blocked shots, most by a Wildcat this season. He also contributed four points and four rebounds.
Dominique Hawkins returned to action after missing the Alabama game because of a medical procedure. He made his only shot, a 3-pointer early in the contest, while playing seven minutes.

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