Cats out to Prove Progress in SEC Opener
The performance, unquestionably, was Kentucky’s best of the season.
Better yet, it came in the Wildcats’ biggest game to date, the intensity ratcheted up by one of college basketball’s biggest rivalries.
All that goes out the window on Saturday though. The Cats know they’re only as good as how they handle their next opportunity.
“I think for anybody, especially players, you’d rather play games than practice. So hopefully we can just build off the momentum we had a short 24 hours ago,” said assistant coach Tony Barbee, filling in for John Calipari at Saturday’s pregame press conference.
In dismantling Louisville and delivering one of the most lopsided blowouts in the series’ long history, UK earned a 90-61 victory and quieted some of the doubts raised by a loss to UCLA. The Wildcats (10-2) had to wait nearly a week to return to the floor following that defeat, but will have barely 48 hours to savor a satisfying win over the Cardinals.
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| Kentucky vs. Georgia | ||
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Sun., Dec. 31 – 6 p.m. ET |
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| Coverage | ||
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TV: ESPN |
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| UK | 2017-18 Team Stats | UGA |
| 10-2 | Record | 9-2 |
| 0-0 | Conference Record | 0-0 |
| 81.5 | PPG | 74.7 |
| 69.7 | Opp PPG | 67.5 |
| .494 | FG% | .460 |
| .400 | Opp FG% | .397 |
| 40.1 | RPG | 40.5 |
| .368 | 3PT FG% | .347 |
| .307 | Opp 3PT FG% | .328 |
| .692 | FT% | .712 |
| 16.1 | APG | 14.5 |
| 6.6 | SPG | 5.0 |
| 5.9 | BPG | 4.8 |
Southeastern Conference play begins on New Year’s Eve, UK hosting Georgia (9-2) at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
“Now we’ve got a quick flip,” Calipari said after Friday’s win. “I’ve got to go to the office here in a minute and watch this tape, and then I’ve got to watch our Georgia game last year. Hopefully we didn’t play them twice because then I’ve got to watch both of them.”
Calipari was surely unhappy to learn UK and Georgia actually played three times last year, with the Wildcats winning an overtime affair and a five-point game in the regular season before claiming a comfortable victory in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
The Bulldogs ended up on the wrong side of the bubble a year ago, but have built a strong NCAA Tournament résumé heading into SEC play. Led by senior forward and SEC Player of the Year frontrunner Yante Maten – averaging 20.2 points and 9.3 rebounds – Georgia boasts wins over St. Mary’s, Marquette and Temple. Maten has seven double-doubles on the season and is averaging 24.9 points over his last five outings.
“He shoots it from the 3, he can score with either hand in the post from either block, he’s putting it on the floor better out of the high post now than he has, and he’s one of those guys that seems like he’s been at Georgia for 20 years,” Barbee said. “He’s gotten better, better and better every year. That’s why he’s a 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds) guy. He’s one of the best players in the country, not just in our league.”
Maten and his running mates inside will present a challenge for a Kentucky frontline that is unquestionably talented, though inconsistency has plagued the group. That was not the case, however, last time out.
“We’ve got some young guys in there and it’s been up and down,” Barbee said. “When we’re engaged, when we’re locked in, because we are so long and athletic, we’re pretty good in the post. But just like any other team, when you’re young and you’re not locked in and not engaged, you’re going to have some slippage. So, we can’t against this Georgia team because they’re good, they’re big and they’re experienced in the post – and not just with Maten.
Georgia has never beaten Kentucky in Maten’s career, but the Bulldogs will be unafraid and bringing their ‘A’ game to Rupp Arena, just like every opponent will from this point forward. SEC play is always a grind, but the league is particularly strong this season. All 14 teams are ranked 81st or better according to kenpom.com and eight teams are inside the RPI top 40.
The tests will come early and often in SEC play, but the Cats showed with their last performance that they are capable of overcoming them. Now it’s about replicating that effort.
“It shows you if these guys fight, they can do this,” Calipari said. “If they don’t fight, we will lose. We will lose. We have no easy games left. Every game we play is going to be a war.”
Kentucky Blasts Rival Louisville 90-61
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his Kentucky teammates knew they were capable of a dominant performance. Facing archrival Louisville motivated the No. 16/15 Wildcats to go out and prove it.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who was named MVP of the game by the Bluegrass Sports Commission, came off the bench to score a career-high 24 points, including 17 after halftime, PJ Washington added 16, and Kentucky used several runs to blow out rival Louisville 90-61 Friday in the annual showdown for Bluegrass supremacy. A season-high 24,228 fans were in Rupp Arena for the rout.
Seeking to regroup after last week’s 83-75 loss to unranked UCLA, the Wildcats (10-2) used a 20-6 run to close the first half with a 41-27 lead. Their 24-11 surge over 8:41 in the second helped built a 67-38 lead that eventually reached 32, a gap helped by 57 percent second-half shooting. Gilgeous-Alexander had a lot to do with that, especially inside.
The freshman guard from Canada shot 6 of 10 after the break to finish 9 of 16 from the field and top his previous scoring best of 15 points against Monmouth on Dec. 9. Playing at times with Washington and Quade Green (13 points), Gilgeous-Alexander registered five second-half layups alone.
Washington helped earlier with 10 points down the stretch in the first half for a halftime lead that expanded as Kentucky earned its biggest series win since a 76-46 rout in Lexington during the 1999-2000 season.
The Wildcats’ mix of man and zone defenses meanwhile held Louisville (10-3) to 35 percent shooting, including 3 of 25 from long range.
NOTABLES:
• UK improved to 35-16 in the series, including 9-2 under John Calipari
• Kentucky’s 90 points is the most points Louisville has allowed this season. It is the most points UK has scored vs. the Cardinals since earning a 103-89 win in 1991 in Rupp Arena
• The 29-point margin of victory was Kentucky’s second largest this season and the third biggest in the history of the series, behind only the 91-57 UK victory in the 1947-48 season and the 76-46 Kentucky win in 1999-2000
• Kentucky went 24 of 30 from the free-throw line, its second-highest free-throw percentage of the season
• With Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way, the Wildcats outscored Louisville’s bench 35-13
• Green tied career highs with three 3-pointers and five assists
• In addition to his career-high 24 points, Gilgeous-Alexander added five rebounds and four assists
• Hamidou Diallo reached double figures for the sixth straight game with 14 points
S-E-C! S-E-C! S-E-C!
Kentucky has the unquestionable reputation as the league’s gold standard. Since the SEC’s inception in 1932-33, the Wildcats have been the most dominant team in the league, recording a 972-270 mark (.783) in regular-season conference play. Only two other teams have won more than 700 regular-season SEC games (Alabama, Tennessee), and no other team has a better winning percentage.
• UK has averaged 11.6 wins and only 3.2 losses per season in 84 seasons in the SEC
• Kentucky has won 48 SEC titles and 30 SEC Tournament championships
• The Wildcats have won 15 of the last 25 SEC Tournament titles
• UK has won at least a share of five of the last eight SEC regular-season championships under head coach John Calipari
• Kentucky has played in the championship game of the SEC Tournament in seven of Calipari’s eight seasons following its 2017 title
• The SEC was 11-5 in NCAA Tournament games in 2017 with three teams in the Elite Eight
• Nine SEC schools have recruiting classes that ranked in the top 40 of ESPN’s 2017 national rankings. A quarter of all ESPN’s top 100 players signed with SEC schools
• Three SEC teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, all of them are ranked in the top 20, and three are receiving votes, a testament to the league’s strength this season
• An NCAA-best four SEC teams rank in the top 15 of the Dec. 26 NCAA RPI. Eight teams are in the top 55 and 11 rank in the top 100
• It’s the first time since 2013-14 the Wildcats have opened league play against an opponent other than Ole Miss
Kentucky Picked to Win 49th SEC Title
Heading into conference play, Kentucky finds itself in familiar territory under the direction of ninth-year head coach John Calipari. A select panel of media voted the Wildcats to once again win the Southeastern Conference championship. Should Kentucky achieve that standard, it would mark the sixth regular-season title under Calipari and the program’s 49th overall.
It’s the 13th time since the 1998-99 season the Wildcats are the overall preseason favorite. UK was picked to win the title a season ago and did not disappoint. Calipari has directed his teams to regular-season SEC crowns in 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Each school selected media members that cover their team and additional media from across the nation were selected by the conference office to comprise the voting panel. Points were compiled on a 14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Each media member also voted for two All-SEC teams.
