March 27, 2015

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No. 1/1 Kentucky vs. No. 20/21 West Virginia, Men’s Basketball — NCAA Tournament — Sweet 16

Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio, March 26, 2015

Attendance: 19,465

FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 78, West Virginia 39

• Team records: Kentucky is 37-0, West Virginia 25-10.
• Kentucky leads the all-time series 15-5.
• With Kentucky’s 37 consecutive victories …
  • Kentucky is the first team in the history of college basketball to start a season 37-0.
  • It extends the longest win streak in Kentucky history.
  • It extended the longest season-opening win streak for any team in SEC history.
  • It extended the longest win streak for a John Calipari-coached team.
• Kentucky is 214-27 all-time when ranked No. 1 and has won 59 of the last 61 games as the Associated Press top-ranked team.
• Calipari has led three schools to a No. 1 ranking (Massachusetts, Memphis, Kentucky) and has a 103-9 record as the top-ranked coach, including 62-4 at UK.
• Calipari is now 189-37 (.836) as head coach at Kentucky, the best winning percentage of any coach in UK history.
• Kentucky has reached the Elite Eight in every NCAA Tournament appearance under John Calipari.
• Next for the Wildcats: UK will play Notre Dame on Saturday in the Elite Eight in Cleveland.

In the NCAA Tournament

• Kentucky won its nation-leading 119th NCAA Tournament game. UK is 119-47 (.717) all-time in the Big Dance.
• Since 1992, the Wildcats are 118-32 (.787) in postseason play (NCAA, NIT and SEC)
• Kentucky also leads the country in wins in the tournament since 2010 (21), when John Calipari first led UK into the Big Dance.
• UK is 21-3 in tournament games under John Calipari.
• Kentucky improved to 2-1 vs. West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament. All three meetings have pitted John Calipari against Bob Huggins.
• Kentucky improved to 6-0 in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed playing a No. 5 seed.
• Kentucky is 35-11 in the Sweet 16.
• Kentucky’s 39-point win is the third-largest winning margin in the NCAA Tournament in program history. The largest two scoring margins both came in the first round.
• Kentucky held West Virginia to 39 points in the game, the second-fewest points allowed by UK in team history in the NCAA Tournament. UK held Oklahoma A&M to 36 points in the 1949 championship game.

Team Notes

• Kentucky held West Virginia to 18 points in the first half, the 17th half this season UK has held its opponent to less than 20 points. The 18 points is tied for the lowest in a half of any team in the 2015 NCAA Tournament and is a season low for the Mountaineers.
• Kentucky entered the game as the nation’s top-rated shooting-percentage defense, and the Wildcats held West Virginia to 24.1 percent from the field. It is the fifth time this season UK has held its opponent to less than 25.0-percent shooting.
• It’s the lowest field-goal percentage by an opponent in UK’s NCAA Tournament history.
• Kentucky is now holding opponents to a combined total shooting percentage of .348.
• UK held West Virginia to 39 points. UK is 114-5 under Coach Calipari when holding the opponent to 63 or fewer points.
  • UK is 60-0 under Calipari when limited the opponent to 55 or fewer points, including 22 times this season.
  • Kentucky has held its opponents to fewer than 40 points for the fourth time this season.
  • Three of the five lowest scoring outputs vs. the Wildcats this season were by ranked opponents (Providence Kansas and West Virginia).
• UK won by 39 points, the fifth-highest winning margin of the season. It is Kentucky’s first win by 39 points or more since the Wildcats posted an 86-37 win over Missouri on Jan. 13.
• Kentucky held West Virginia to .582 points per possession, the second lowest by a UK opponent this season.
• UK has held one other team (Montana State) to less than .600 points per possession this season.
• UK’s 1.164 points per possession was a team high in the NCAA Tournament and the third highest in Kentucky’s last seven games.
• Kentucky shot 81.3 percent from the foul line, 26 of 32. Kentucky is 66-88 (.750) from the charity stripe in the NCAA Tournament.
• UK did not trail in the game. The Wildcats have trailed for only 191:05 of a possible 1,515 minutes this season.
• Kentucky shot 70 percent or better from the free-throw line for the 10th consecutive game.
• UK won bench points today, 30-10. Kentucky has won bench points in all but one game this season (vs. Arkansas in the SEC Tournament championship game).
• Kentucky won the bench points 12-2 in the first half.
• Kentucky committed 10 turnovers, its 17th game this season with 10 or fewer. West Virginia had 13 turnovers.
• Kentucky won the turnover battle for the 27th time this season.
• UK had 16 points off of WVU’s 13 turnovers, while West Virginia had 11 points off of UK’s 10 giveaways.

Game Facts

• Kentucky’s opening lineup featured Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Trey Lyles, Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein for the 18th time this season.
• Marcus Lee, Devin Booker, Tyler Ulis and Karl-Anthony Towns (for Dakari Johnson) entered the game at the 13:58 mark.
• Kentucky’s streak of 937 consecutive games with a 3-pointer was extended when Aaron Harrison connected from deep at the 3:25 mark in the first half.
• UK outscored WVU 44-18 in the first half and 34-21 in the second half.
• Kentucky opened the game on an 18-2 run. UK’s lead reached 20 at 30-9 with 7:53 left in the first half and peaked in the opening frame at 27 at 42-15 with 1:52 remaining.
• UK opened the second half on a 10-0 run and held West Virginia scoreless for the first 8:17 as the Mountaineers were 0 for 12 from the field to start the half.
• Kentucky had 13 fast-break points, including eight in the second half, while holding West Virginia to just two.
• Kentucky held a 44-32 rebounding edge, including a 33-19 advantage defensively. Offensively, West Virginia owned a 13-11 advantage.
• Kentucky scored 34 points in the paint while limiting West Virginia to 12.
• Kentucky had 13 assists to West Virginia’s seven.
• Kentucky had seven steals and seven blocks, while WVU had four steals and three blocks.
• Kentucky shot 4 of 15 from beyond the arc and West Virginia was 2 of 15 from long distance

Player Notes

• Five players scored in double figures for UK for the first time since March 14 vs. Auburn
• 
  Trey Lyles
  had a team-high 14 points.
  • Led UK in points for the fourth time this season.
  • Was 4 for 7 from the field and 6 of 7 from the free-throw line with seven rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal.
  • His six made free throws and one steal both tied a career high.
• 
  Andrew Harrison
  had 13 points and a team-high four steals with three rebounds, two assists and one block.
  • Shot 2 of 6 from the field and 9 for 10 from the free-throw line, tying a season high from the charity stripe.
  • His one block tied a season high and was his second rejection in as many games.
  • Has scored at least 13 points in four of the last five games.
•  Dakari Johnson
  had 12 points and six rebounds with two blocks.
  • Went 4 for 5 from the field and was a perfect 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.
  • Johnson’s 12 points were his most since he scored 13 vs. Auburn on Feb. 21.
  • His six rebounds was third on the team and his highest total since Feb. 21 vs. Auburn.
•  Aaron Harrison
  had 12 points and scored in double figures for the second consecutive game
  • He has scored in double figures a team-high 23 times this season.
  • Harrison is now 39 points away from 1,000 for his career.
•  
  Willie Cauley-Stein
  had a team-high 10 rebounds with eight points and a team-best three blocks.
  • Was 3 for 5 from the field and 2 of 4 from the free-throw line.
  • Had seven defensive rebounds and three offensive boards and has recorded double-digit rebounding totals in three of his last four games.
  • Totaled three blocks for 229 in his career and has posted two or more rejections in each of the last six games.
•  
  Tyler Ulis
  had nine points, five assists, three steals and three rebounds.
  • Ulis tied his career high in steals (three) and minutes (34).
  • Ulis has a 24-to-8 assist-to-turnover ratio in the postseason (five games).
  • Ulis has had three or more assists in eight of the last nine games.
  • He has scored six or more points in a career-long five consecutive games.
• 
  Devin Booker
  recorded 12 points with four rebounds.
  • Went 5 of 8 from the field and 2 for 5 from beyond the arc and scored in double digits for the first time since March 14.
  • Was one of five Wildcats with at least 12 points.
  • Had four rebounds, all defensively, for the second consecutive game.