Men’s Basketball Postgame Notes
Kentucky vs. Northern Kentucky – NCAA Tournament First Round
March 17, 2017, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
Attendance: 18,269
Final Score: No. 2-seed Kentucky 79, No. 15-seed Northern Kentucky 70
Team Records and Series Notes
• Kentucky has won 12 in a row – its longest winning streak of the season — and is 30-5 overall.
o UK’s winning streak is the second-longest active streak in the country, behind only Wichita State (16) – the Wildcats’ second-round opponent
• UK head coach John Calipari led a team to a 30-win season for the 10th time in his career.
o Calipari has led UK to four 30-win seasons.
• Northern Kentucky finished the season 24-11.
• Kentucky leads all-time series 2-0.
• Next for the Wildcats: UK will play Wichita State in the NCAA Tournament second round on Sunday. Tipoff time is approximately 2:40 p.m. ET on CBS.
NCAA Tournament Notes
• Kentucky made its national-record 56th NCAA Tournament.
• UK owns a 122-49 record all-time in NCAA action.
• Kentucky is 46-10 in tournament openers and has won 24 of its last 25 first-round tournament games.
o UK has won seven NCAA Tournament openers in a row, all under Calipari.
• Kentucky is 24-5 in NCAA Tournament games under Calipari.
• In Calipari’s seven NCAA Tournament appearances with Kentucky, the Wildcats have reached the second round every time.
• Kentucky is a No. 2 seed for the seventh time. UK improved to 7-0 as a No. 2 seed against a No. 15 seed.
• Kentucky’s men’s and women’s basketball teams won NCAA Tournament games on the same day for the fifth time in school history.
o The previous dates were …
• March 20, 2010
• March 19, 2011
• March 17 and 25, 2012
In the First Half
• Kentucky’s starting lineup featured De’Aaron Fox, Bam Adebayo, Malik Monk, Isaiah Briscoe and Derek Willis for the fifth game in a row.
o Kentucky improved to 9-0 with that lineup.
o Adebayo is the only Wildcat to have started all 35 games of the season.
• Willis swished a 3-pointer with 16:19 left, continuing UK’s streak of 1,010 games with at least one triple.
• Kentucky got out to an 11-point lead 23-12 at the 10:58 mark.
o NKU used a 9-0 run over 3:56 to close the gap to two, 32-2 at the 6:51 mark.
o Fox scored two straight baskets to stop that run.
• Stretched over 2:25 after Fox’s made jumper to stop NKU’s run, Kentucky countered with at 12-0 run of its own – making six of six field goals to stretch its leads to 35-21 at the under-four media timeout (3:47).
In the Second Half
• Kentucky started the second half on a 6-2 run to open up its largest lead, 18 points, at the 17:30 mark.
• NKU got as close as eight points late in the game, but never any closer than that.
Team Notes
• Northern Kentucky scored 70 points. UK is 20-0 this season when opponents score 72 or fewer points.
• NKU shot 35.6 percent from the field. UK is 18-0 this season when the opponent shoots less than 43 percent.
o NKU’s 73 attempts tied Arizona State for most by a UK opponent this year.
o NKU’s 32 attempted 3-pointers were the most by a UK opponent this season.
• Kentucky shot 44.3 percent from the field.
o UK is 28-1 this season when shooting at least 42 percent.
• Kentucky’s three made 3s were tied with the Alabama game on Feb. 11 for second-fewest triples this year. UK made one at Vanderbilt on Jan. 10.
• UK controlled the rebounding 46-40, leading to a 14-8 advantage in second-chance points.
• UK is 213-4 (.982) under Coach John Calipari in games that the Wildcats have led by at least 10 points.
• Calipari has a 692-192 (.783) on-court record, including a 247-52 (.826) mark at UK.
Player Notes
• Freshman De’Aaron Fox led the Wildcats with 19 points.
• Fox led Kentucky in scoring for the fourth straight game.
• He blocked a career-high two shots.
• Freshman Bam Adebayo had his seventh double-double of the year – 15 points, 18 rebounds.
• He beat his previous career-high for rebounds by three (15 at Missouri, and vs. Florida in back-to-back games.
• His 18 rebounds were the most by a Wildcat in a NCAA Tournament game during the Calipari era, and third most ever by a Wildcat in a NCAA Tournament game.
• The only two Wildcats to grab more rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game were Jerry Bird (24 in 1956) and Bill Spivey (21 in 1951).
• He has two double-doubles in the last four games, and four in the last eight.
• He is averaging a double-double during UK’s 12-game winning streak (13.8 points, 10.5 rebounds).
• With three dunks he now has 94 on the season. He passed Anthony Davis for most dunks in a season by a Wildcat during the Calipari era (Davis’ record was 92).
• Sophomore Isaiah Briscoe was two rebounds shy of a double-double as he scored 17 and grabbed eight boards.
• He blocked a career-high two shots.
• Freshman Malik Monk tallied 12 points.
• He reached double-figures for the third game in a row, and has scored in double digits in 33 of 35 games this year.
• Senior Derek Willis scored eight points.
• He blocked three shots, tied for the second most he’s blocked in a game this year.
• He has 16 blocks over the last six games.
• He tied his season high with two steals.
• Senior Dominique Hawkins scored seven points.
• It was tied for the fifth most points he has scored this season.
