UK MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
KENTUCKY VS LOUISVILLE
RUPP ARENA | LEXINGTON, KY.
DEC. 29, 2017
ATTENDANCE: 24,228
Final Score: #16/15 KENTUCKY 90, LOUISVILLE 61
Team Records and Series Notes
- Kentucky improves to 10-2 on the season, while Louisville falls to 10-3.
- The Wildcats lead the all-time series 35-16, including a 19-5 mark in games played in Lexington.
- Kentucky’s next game will be against Georgia in Rupp Arena on Sunday to open Southeastern Conference play. Game time is 6 p.m. ET and it will be televised on ESPN. The game is part of a doubleheader with Kentucky women’s basketball, which will be hosting No. 7 Tennessee at noon ET on SEC Network.
- A season-high 24,228 fans were in Rupp Arena on Sunday.
In the First Half
- Kentucky’s starting lineup featured Quade Green, Hamidou Diallo, PJ Washington, Kevin Knox and Nick Richards for the 10th time. That lineup has an 8-2 record.
- Diallo scored the first points of the game for either side. After UK won the tip, Diallo drove the baseline for a dunk. The dunk was followed by a Green 3-pointer as the Wildcats started the game on a 5-0 run.
- Louisville grabbed its first lead of the game at 7-5 with 17:00 left in the first half as part of an 11-0 run that was broke when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a 3 with 14:51 left in the first half. UK went 3:50 without a point during UL’s 11-0 run.
- Alexander’s 3 started an 8-0 UK run to put the Wildcats back on top.
- Kentucky took control of the game late in the first half thanks to a 12-0 run where UL went scoreless for 5:59.
- The run ended on a pair of free throws from Ryan McMahon.
- Louisville went without a field goal for 6:39 in the first half from 8:04 to 1:25 mostly during UK’s 11-0 run.
- The Cards hit just one of their last 12 field goal attempts in the first half.
- Conversely, the Wildcats hit five consecutive field goal attempts to end the first half.
- Overall, the Wildcats ended the first half on a 25-8 run to take a 41-27 lead into the break at halftime.
In the Second Half
- Kentucky started the second half with the ball and Green hit a long 2 from the top of the key to give the Wildcats a 16-point lead early in the second half.
- Both teams started hot from the field in the second half hitting their first three field-goal tries.
- Louisville hit its second 3-pointer in the game with 12:42 to go in the second half. That was the Cards first made 3 since 18:06 in the first half.
- Kentucky outscored UL 49-34 in the second half thanks to a strong performance on both ends of the court.
- UK shot 56.7 percent from the field in the second half.
- The Wildcats limited the Cardinals to 40.6-percent shooting in the second half.
Team Notes
- Kentucky’s 90 points is the most points UL has allowed to a team this season.
- This was the most points UK has scored against Louisville since earning a 103-89 win in 1991 at Rupp Arena.
- This was the first time UK has scored 80 or more points against Louisville since its 2001-02 win in Rupp Arena (82-62)
- This was Kentucky’s largest margin of victory (plus-29) against Louisville since taking down the Cardinals 76-46 on Dec. 18, 1999 in Rupp Arena.
- The 29-point margin of victory was Kentucky’s second largest this season behind the 107-73 (plus-34) win against UIC.
- The 29-point margin of victory was the third-largest victory in the series’ history, behind only the 91-57 UK victory in the 1947-48 season and the 76-46 Kentucky win in 1999-2000.
- Kentucky earned its largest lead of the game at 8:06 of 32 points, which was the largest lead for UK against Louisville in a game in the John Calipari era.
- The previous high was 18 by Kentucky in the 2010-11 game. The Wildcats won that game 78-63 in the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville.
- The Wildcats’ 3-point defense was strong in the game, limiting UL to just 3-of-25 shooting from long range.
- This was the first time this season UK has limited an opponent to three made 3s or less.
- Kentucky shot 80.0 percent from the free-throw line in the game, going 24 of 30, which was its second highest free-throw percentage in a game this season.
- The previous high was when Kentucky hit 25 of 30 from the charity stripe against Harvard.
- Kentucky scored 41 first-half points, marking the seventh time in its last eight games it has accomplished that feat.
- Kentucky is now 8-0 this season when it has a lead at halftime.
- This was the fourth time this season UK has scored 90 or more points. The Wildcats are 4-0 this season in those games.
- UK had a big advantage in bench points, 35-13.
Player Notes
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Quade Green scored 13 points with five assists and three 3-pointers made.
- His three 3-pointers ties a career high for the freshman, who also hit three from long range against East Tennessee State.
- He added a career-high tying five assists in the game.
- This was the fifth time in the last seven games that he has had five or more assists.
- He has scored 10 or more points in seven games this season.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 24 points, including 17 in the second half.
- He earned career highs in points, field-goals made and field-goal attempts.
- He added five rebounds and four assists in the game.
- He was named the MVP of the game by the Bluegrass Sports Commission.
- PJ Washington scored 16 points 5-of-10 shooting with seven rebounds.
- He went a perfect 6 of 6 from the free-throw line.
- He also added two assists and one block.
- Hamidou Diallo scored 14 points in the game with six rebounds and two steals.
- He has scored in double figures in six straight games.
- He has hauled in at least three rebounds in 10 straight games.
- He has six or more rebounds three times this season.
- Kevin Knox scored eight points with seven rebounds and fouled out.
- This was only the second game this season he has not scored in double figures.
- He has posted five or more rebounds in every game but two this season.
- This was his first foul out of the season.
Coach John Calipari
- Calipari has a 704-195 all-time on-court record.
- Calipari is now 259-55 at Kentucky.
- Calipari is 15-7 vs. Louisville in his career.
