UK MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
UTAH VALLEY AT KENTUCKY
RUPP ARENA | LEXINGTON, KY.
NOV. 10, 2017
ATTENDANCE: 19,807
 
Final Score: #5/4 Kentucky 73, Utah Valley 63
                                                             
Team Records and Series Notes

• Friday’s game vs. Utah Valley marked the start of the 116th season of Kentucky men’s basketball
• Kentucky is 1-0 overall while Utah Valley begins the season 0-1
• It marked the first meeting between the two schools
• Kentucky improved to 95-19 in season openers, including 9-0 under John Calipari (no official games were played for the 1953 season)
• Friday’s game marked a reunion for Utah Valley head coach Mark Pope. The former Kentucky men’s basketball player played at UK form 1994-96 and helped the Wildcats to the 1996 national championship. He scored 546 career points in 69 games
• Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats will play Vermont at 3:30 on Sunday. The game will broadcast live on ESPN.

 
In the First Half

• Kentucky started the lineup of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Hamidou Diallo, Kevin Knox, PJ Washington and Nick Richards. It’s the first time Kentucky has started five freshmen in a regular-season game since the Wildcats started freshmen Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, James Young, Julius Randle and Dakari Johnson for the 2014 national championship game vs. UConn on April 7, 2014
• Nick Richards scored the first points of the season at the 19:47 mark
• Kentucky started the first half 2 for 9.
• Kentucky held UVU without a field goal for 4:52 in the first half from 17:55 to 13:03
• UVU went on a 16-2 run over the last 5:51 on the first half
• Kentucky shot 5 of 29 after starting the half 2 of 2
• Kentucky went scoreless over the last 3:58 of the half
• Nick Richards led the Wildcats with eight points. He shot 2 of 3 from the field and 2 of 3 from the foul line

 
In the Second Half

• Freshman Kevin Knox scored the first five UK points in the half
• Kentucky gave up three points to start the half, then went on a 18-0 run to go up six after trailing by 12 that started at the 18:09 mark
• Kentucky did not allow a field goal over 5:34 in the second half from 14:33 to 8:59
• UK shot 19 of 32 (.594) in the second half and held UVU to 11 of 25 (.423) shooting
• Kentucky went 9 for 11 from the foul line in the second half

 
Team Notes

• With 2,238 wins, Kentucky is the nation’s leader
• Kentucky forced 20 turnovers, including 11 in the second half
  • UK turned that into 23 points
    • 20 of those 23 came in the second half
• Each teamed had 34 points in the paint
  • 26 of Kentucky’s 34 came in the second half
• UK had 22 fast-break points while UVU had six
  • All but two of Kentucky’s fast-break points came in the second half.
• Four players (Diallo, Richards, Knox, Gilgeous-Alexander) had double-digit points in the win        
• Kentucky shot 16 of 23 (.696) from the free-throw line
  • Quade Green was a perfect 4-of-4 from the line
• The Wildcats were outrebounded 38-37

Player Notes  

• Hamidou Diallo started the game 0 for 5 and then finished 8 of 11

  • He had a game-high 18 points, including 2 for 4 from the 3-point line
  • Diallo added five rebounds and three assists
  • The Wildcats were plus-21 when Diallo was on the floor
• Wenyen Gabriel had a game-high 13 rebounds, three off his career high
  • Gabriel led Kentucky with six rebounds in the first half
    • His 13 rebounds would be the highest mark by a Wildcat this season, including the exhibitions
    • Gabriel’s 13 field-goal attempts were two above his career high. He had shot 11 times twice, last against LSU at home on Feb. 11
    • Gabriel tied Nick Richards with three blocks
      • Gabriel tied his career high in blocks, which he had reached three previous times, last at Alabama on Feb. 11
• Kevin Knox and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the teams with four assists each
  • Hamidou Diallo and Wenyen Gabriel had three
• Kevin Knox saw the court for a game-high 37 minutes
  • He had put up 12 points and six rebounds
  • UK was plus-9 when Knox was on the floor
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored the second-most points in the game with 13
  • He added four assists and three rebounds and was plus-12 in 36 minutes

 
Calipari

• Calipari earned his 250^th win at Kentucky and is now 250-53
• Calipari is 135-6 at Rupp Arena
• Calipari has a 695-193 all-time on-court record