March 29, 2015

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• Team records: Kentucky is 38-0, Notre Dame 32-6.
• Kentucky leads the all-time series 43-19
• With Kentucky’s 38 consecutive victories …
  • Kentucky is the first team in the history of college basketball to start a season 38-0.
  • It extends the longest win streak in Kentucky history.
  • It extended the longest win streak for a John Calipari-coached team.
• With its 38th win, UK has tied the most wins in a season in NCAA Division I history. John Calipari’s 2008-09 Memphis team and the 2011-12 national champion Wildcats also won 38 games.
• Kentucky is 215-27 all-time when ranked No. 1 and has won 60 of the last 62 games as the Associated Press top-ranked team.
• Calipari has led three schools to a No. 1 ranking (Massachusetts, Memphis, Kentucky) and has a 104-9 record as the top-ranked coach, including 63-4 at UK.
• Calipari is now 190-37 (.837) as head coach at Kentucky, the best winning percentage of any coach in UK history.
• Kentucky advanced to its 17th Final Four, tied for the second most among all Division I teams.
  • Kentucky makes consecutive Final Four appearances for the fourth time in program history. UK advanced to the national semifinals in 1948 and ’49, ’96-’98 and 2011 and ’12. UK won the national title in each of the previous three times it made consecutive Final Four trips (1948, ’49, ’96, ’98 and 2012).
• Kentucky has reached the Final Four in four of the last five seasons and in each of its last four NCAA Tournament appearances, all under John Calipari.
• Next for the Wildcats: UK will play Wisconsin on Saturday in the Final Four in Indianapolis. The matchup is a rematch of last year’s national semifinal game, a 74-73 UK win.

In the NCAA Tournament

• Kentucky won its nation-leading 120th NCAA Tournament game. UK is 120-47 (.719) all-time in the Big Dance.
• Since 1992, the Wildcats are 119-32 (.788) in postseason play (NCAA, NIT and SEC).
• Kentucky also leads the country in wins in the tournament since 2010 (22), when John Calipari first led UK to the Big Dance.
• UK is 22-3 in NCAA Tournament games under John Calipari.
• Kentucky improved to 3-0 vs. Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament and 2-0 in Elite Eight contests.
• Kentucky improved to 3-1 in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed playing a No. 3 seed.

Team Notes

• Kentucky shot 53.2 from the field, the 12th time this season UK has shot 50 percent or better.
  • UK shot 37.0 percent (10-27) from the field in the first half, but connected on 75 percent (15-20) of its field goals in the second half.
  • Kentucky was 4-8 (50 percent) from 3-point range, the fifth time this season UK made at least 50 percent of its 3-pointers.
• Kentucky was 14-20 (70.0 percent) from the free throw line, the 11th consecutive game UK shot 70 percent or better from the charity stripe.
  • Kentucky is 80-108 (.741) from the free throw line in the NCAA Tournament.
  • Notre Dame hit 10 free throws, marking the 10th consecutive game UK made more foul shots than its opponent.
• Kentucky entered the game as the nation’s top-rated shooting-percentage defense, but Notre Dame shot 46.4 percent from the field. It is the fifth-highest shooting percentage for a UK opponent this season.
  • Kentucky is holding opponents to a combined total shooting percentage of .352.
• UK trailed for 21:51 and held a lead for 11:42. The Wildcats have trailed for only 212:56 of a possible 1,535 minutes this season.
• The two-point win was just the third time this season a game was decided by five or fewer points. It is tied for the smallest margin of victory of the season (UK won at LSU, 71-69 on Feb. 10).
• UK out-blocked UND, 9-1. The Wildcats have outrebounded their opponents in all but four contests this season.
  • UK won bench points today, 15-5. 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 8-0 in the second half.

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 Dakari Johnson entered the game at the 16:22 mark.
• Kentucky and Notre Dame were tied at the half, 31-31. UK is 3-0 this season when tied at the half.
  • The opening half featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes, the final tie coming at the buzzer thanks to a Trey Lyles tip-in.
  • Kentucky’s largest lead in the first half was two points, while Notre Dame held a four-point lead with 2:43 left.
  • Trailing 26-22, UK scored nine of the final 14 points of the half for a 31-31 halftime score.
• Kentucky’s streak of 938 consecutive games with a 3-pointer was extended when Devin Booker connected from deep at the 15:19 mark in the first half.
• UK opened the second half on a 7-2 run to take a 38-33 lead with 18:08 left. The five-point lead was UK’s largest of the game.
• Aaron Harrison hit a 3-pointer with 3:15 left to give UK a 64-63 lead. The three capped an 8-2 run for the Wildcats and gave them their first lead since 15:28 in the second half.
• Kentucky was a perfect 9-9 from the field in the final 10:24 of the game. UK’s last miss from the field came with 12:05 left in the game.
  • UK trailed 61-56 with 5:21 remaining but ended the game on a 12-5 run.
  • The Wildcats held Notre Dame scoreless for the last 2:30.
• Kentucky and Notre Dame both scored 40 points in the paint and both teams had 10 second-chance points.
• Kentucky owned a 29-28 rebounding edge, with a 19-15 advantage in defensive boards. Notre Dame had 13 offensive rebounds to Kentucky’s 10.
• UK had 11 turnovers and forced Notre Dame into seven. The Wildcats scored six points off turnovers, while the Fighting Irish turned in 16 points off of takeaways.

Player Notes

• Karl-Anthony Towns led UK with a career-high and game-high 25 points.
  • The 25 points is the second-most by a Wildcat in a single game this season.
  • Was 10 of 13 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free throw line. His 10 made field goals was a career best.
  • Had a team-high-tying five rebounds and recorded four assists and two steals, both tying a career high.
• Trey Lyes had nine points, five rebounds and two blocks with a career-high-tying one steal.
  • Shot 4 of 10 from the field and was third on the team with nine points.
  • Was one of two Wildcats with five rebounds and one of three with at least two blocks.
• Devin Booker had 10 points with two rebounds and one block.
  • Was 4 of 6 from the field, including 2-3 from three point range to record 10 points, second on the team.
  • Posted two rebounds, both defensive, and tied a career high with one block.
• Aaron Harrison had six points and four rebounds.
  • Was one of six Wildcats to score at least six points.
  • Was one of four Wildcats with at least four rebounds.
  • Harrison is now 33 points away from 1,000 for his career.
• Willie Cauley-Stein recorded six points with four rebounds and two blocks.
  • Went 3 of 5 from the field.
  • Totaled two blocks for 231 in his career and has posted two or more rejections in each of the last seven games.