Kentucky Men’s Basketball Postgame Notes
Alabama vs. Kentucky
Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals
Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.
March 11, 2016
Final Score: Kentucky 85, Alabama 59
Team Records and Series Notes
• Kentucky is 24-8 and has won three in a row. Alabama is 18-14.
• The Wildcats, who tied Texas A&M for the regular-season Southeastern Conference championship, received their league championship trophy in a presentation before tonight’s game.
• Kentucky leads the all-time series 108-37.
• UK has won six in a row vs. Alabama, including both meetings in the regular season.
• UK is 14-2 vs. Alabama in the SEC Tournament.
• Next for the Wildcats: UK plays in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament on Saturday at approximately 3:30 p.m. EST (2:30 p.m. CST in Nashville). The Wildcats take on the winner of the Georgia vs. South Carolina game and it will be televised on ESPN.
In the First Half
• Kentucky started with the lineup of Tyler Ulis, Jamal Murray, Isaiah Briscoe, Alex Poythress and Skal Labissiere for the sixth time this year and third game in a row. UK is 5-1 with this lineup.
• At the 16:49 mark, Poythress extended Kentucky’s streak of 971 games with a 3-pointer. It was his third of the season and his first since the Kansas game on Jan. 30.
• With Alabama leading 15-13, the Crimson Tide went 5:34 without scoring and Kentucky rallied with an 11-0 run for a 24-15 lead.
• UK stretched the lead to 13 points at 32-19 and 34-21.
• UK went to halftime with a 37-27 lead.
• Kentucky is now 23-5 when owning a halftime advantage.
In the Second Half
• With Kentucky ahead 46-37, Ulis hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Murray added another to give the Wildcats a 55-37 lead.
• Alabama got back within 11 points at 60-49, but got no closer.
• Kentucky led by as many as 27 points at 85-58.
• UK closed the game with a 16-4 run to win 85-59.
Team Notes
• UK shot 54.5 percent from the field, the 17th time this season the Wildcats have hit at least half of their shots. UK is 15-2 this season when shooting at least 50 percent.
• Kentucky made a season high 13 3-pointers. The Wildcats hit 13 of 22 from long range for 59.1 percent.
• Kentucky won the rebounding 31-27. UK is 21-1 this season when tying or outrebounding opponents.
• Kentucky had only seven turnovers. UK won points off turnovers 18-5.
• Kentucky had 18 assists and seven turnovers. UK has had more assists than turnovers in 15 consecutive games against SEC opponents.
• This is the 22nd-straight game that a Wildcat has scored at least 20 points, the longest such streak a Cat has scored 20+ in all 28 games of the 1969-70 season.
• Coach John Calipari has a 659-186 (.780) all-time record, including a 214-46 (.823) mark at Kentucky.
The Southeastern Conference Tournament
• Kentucky is 125-25 (.833) all-time in the SEC Tournament, including 42-11 (.792) in quarterfinal games.
• UK is 18-2 (.900) in SEC Tournament games played in Nashville, including 15-2 (.882) in Bridgestone Arena.
• Looking ahead to Saturday, Kentucky is 39-2 (.951) all-time in SEC Tournament semifinal games.
Player Notes
• Freshman Jamal Murray had 23 points, including 5 of 9 on 3-pointers, adding four assists.
• It is his 17th game this season with at least 20 points, his 11th game in a row. It’s the longest streak since Kevin Grevey had 12 consecutive 20-point games in 1974-75.
• His 17th 20-point game extends his UK freshman record for 20-point games.
• It is his 30th consecutive double-figure scoring game, the most since Jodie Meeks had a 32-game double-figure stretch in 2008-09.
• He has scored at least eight points in all 32 games this season, extending his school-record for most consecutive games with 8+ points at the start of a career.
• He has made at least one 3-point shot in every game this season, the first player in Kentucky history to make a triple in each of his first 32 collegiate games.
• It’s also a school record for most consecutive games with a 3 to begin a season, regardless of year in school.
• He tied Tony Delk for the school record of 32 straight games with a triple.
• He has 104 3-pointers, most ever by a Wildcat freshman and the third Wildcat to reach 100 threes in a season. Jodie Meeks had 117 treys in 2008-09 and Travis Ford hit 101 in 1992-93.
• He has 18 games with at least three 3-pointers, most by any player in the Calipari era.
• Overshadowed by his prolific scoring, the 6-4 Murray has become an aggressive rebounder. He had three rebounds tonight and 27 rebounds over the last four games, averaging 6.8 boards per game during that span.
• Alex Poythress had 20 points and seven rebounds.
• He made a career-high four 3-pointers. His previous high was two 3s on two occasions.
• He has scored double figures in four of five games since returning from injury, averaging 11.6 points during that span.
• Has made 23 of 33 shots (.697) since returning from injury.
• Poythress scored 25, 14 and 20 points in the three games vs. Alabama this season, averaging 19.7 points against the Crimson Tide.
• Sophomore Tyler Ulis totaled 17 points and five assists.
• He extended his school-record streak of 25 consecutive games with at least four assists.
• Ulis leads the SEC and is sixth nationally in assists, 7.2 per game. He’s on pace to break the school record of 6.5 assists per game by John Wall in 2009-10.
• Junior Marcus Lee collected two points and five rebounds.
• Lee made his only field-goal attempt tonight and has made 32 of 41 (.780) field-goal attempts over the last 12 games.
• Freshman Skal Labissiere scored seven points and added five rebounds.
• Freshman Isaiah Briscoe totaled four points, four rebounds and a game-high six assists.
• Has scored double figures in 16 games this season.
• Junior Dominique Hawkins scored seven points, most for him since a nine-point outing vs. Georgia on Feb. 9.
