Cats Face South Florida in Miami on Friday
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The top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats hit the road to face South Florida on Friday at American Airlines Arena in Miami.
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| Kentucky vs. South Florida | ||
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| Fri., Nov. 27 – 5 p.m. ET American Airlines Arena Miami, Fla. Game Notes: UK  | USF Digital Gameday Program Gameday App |
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| Coverage | ||
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TV: ESPN |
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| UK | 2015-16 Team Stats | USF |
| 5-0 | Record | 1-4 |
| 0-0 | Conference Record | 0-0 |
| .498 | FG% | .395 |
| .376 | Opp FG% | .398 |
| .260 | 3FG% | .290 |
| .651 | FT% | .664 |
| 79.8 | PPG | 66.0 |
| 41.8 | RPG | 43.8 |
| 6.0 | BPG | 5.8 |
| 13.8 | APG | 10.4 |
| 7.6 | SPG | 4.0 |
Kentucky has won five straight games to start the 2015-16 season, including an 82-62 win over Boston University on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena. Freshman Skal Labissiere led the way with 16 points for the Cats, while Alex Poythress had his second consecutive double-double, with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Tyler Ulis (15 points), Jamal Murray (12) and Isaiah Briscoe (11) were also in double figures in the game for Kentucky.
Labissiere and Ulis lead the Wildcats in scoring on the season, averaging 14.2 points per game. Murray averages 13.6 points per contest, and Briscoe averages 12.3 per outing.
Kentucky has won its first five games by an average of 17.8 points per game, including an 11-point win over then-No. 5 Duke.
On Friday, the Wildcats will square off against former Kentucky assistant coach Orlando Antigua, who is now the head coach at South Florida. Antigua’s Bulls lost their first four games of the season before beating Albany 63-61 on Tuesday.
Jahmal McMurray leads South Florida in scoring, averaging 13.4 points per game on the season.
The game will tip off at 5:00 ET on Friday and can be seen on ESPN.
Kentucky Returns to the Top
Kentucky is the top team in the land according to the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. The Wildcats landed at No. 1 in both major polls that were released Monday.
The Wildcats picked up 59 of the 65 first-place votes in the AP Top 25 and 28 of the 31 first-place votes in the Coaches’ Poll.
UK and John Calipari have been tough to beat playing the role of the hunted:
• The Wildcats own an all-time record of 216-28 (.885) as the nation’s top-ranked squad
• UK has won 61 of its last 64 contests as the AP’s top team
• The Wildcats are 64-5 (.928) as the AP No. 1 team since Calipari’s first year at the helm, the best record in the country by a top-ranked team during that span
• Calipari is 105-10 (.913) all-time as head coach of the AP’s No. 1 team
• Kentucky has lost just twice at home as the AP top-ranked team in the history of the program and just once in Rupp Arena. Both losses came by just one point
• UK has now been ranked No. 1 a total of 120 weeks since the AP started ranking teams during the 1948-49 season. Only UCLA (134) and Duke (127) have been atop the rankings for more weeks
Balance Leads Wildcats to Win over Boston U.
The Wildcats used a big second half to overcome Boston U. in their season debut at No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll. One day after taking over the top spot, Kentucky outscored Boston 42-29 in the second half.
Freshman Skal Labissiere finished 7 of 13 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds. Tyler Ulis added 15 points, and Alex Poythress had 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for his second straight double-double.
Jamal Murray scored 12 points and Isaiah Briscoe had 11. Kentucky scored 58 points in the paint and closed with a 22-9 run.
• UK held Boston scoreless for the first three minutes of the game while building a 10-0 lead
• Boston would eventuall take a 32-31 lead in the opening half, but the Wildcats would close the final 3:30 minutes on a 6-0 run for a 40-33 lead into the break
• Ahead 60-53, UK finished the game with a 22-9 run to make the final 82-62
• UK extended a streak of 36 consecutive regular-season wins and 24 straight wins in Rupp Arena
• Kentucky is now 120-5 (.960) under Calipari when limiting the opponent to 63 or fewer points including four times this season
• UK attacked the backboard for 18 offensive rebounds, leading to a 24-9 advantage in second-chance points
• UK shot 51.6 percent from the field, the third game this season the Cats made at least half their shots
