UK MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
KENTUCKY vs. TENNESSEE
RUPP ARENA | LEXINGTON, KY.
FEB. 16, 2019
ATTENDANCE: 24,467
 
Final Score: No. 5/5 Kentucky 86, No. 1/1 Tennessee 69
             
Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is now 21-4 overall and 10-2 in the Southeastern Conference.  
• Tennessee is 23-2, 11-1 in the SEC, ending the Volunteers’ 19-game winning streak.
• Kentucky leads the series 155-71 and has won two in a row.
  • Kentucky leads 12-8 when both teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. This was the first time the teams had played when both were ranked in the top five.
  • UK leads 93-17 in games played in Lexington.
• Tonight’s attendance of 24,467 the third largest in Rupp Arena history.
• Next for Kentucky: on Tuesday, the Wildcats play at Missouri. Game time is 9 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CT in Columbia) and it will be televised on ESPN.    

 
In the First Half

• Kentucky started Ashton Hagans, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, PJ Washington and Reid Travis for the 18th time this season. UK is now 14-4 with that lineup.
• Tennessee got the first basket – the visitors’ only lead of the game – but Washington replied with UK’s first seven points for a 7-4 lead.
• Midway through the half, Johnson got hot, making 11 straight points for UK – including three 3-pointers – to build UK’s largest lead of the half at 23-15.
• The teams battled evenly the remainder of the half and UK took a 37-31 lead into intermission.
• Washington and Johnson led the way with 13 points each. 

 
In the Second Half

• Kentucky began the second half with the starting lineup.
• Washington swished a jump hook and Herro followed with a corner 3-pointer, spurting the lead to 42-31 and forcing a Tennessee timeout less than a minute into the half.
• Kentucky kept it going with nine more points to make it 51-31, with Tennessee calling yet another timeout at the 16:31 mark.
  • Including the last two points of the first half, it was a 16-0 run, UK’s longest of the season. 
• Grant Williams shot Tennessee’s first free throws of the game with 16:07 remaining.
• Kentucky got into bonus free throws with 14:53 on the clock.
• UK got its largest lead at 60-36 and then 62-38 with 12:37 remaining. 
• Tennessee suddenly got hot and poured in 13 straight points in less than three minutes to pull within 62-51 but never got any closer.
• Washington stopped the run with a short banker and a pair of free throws to get the lead back to 66-51.
• Tennessee never got any closer than 11 as UK went on to win 86-69.

 
Team Notes

• Kentucky’s 17-point margin of victory is its second largest ever against an AP No. 1-ranked team. No. 2 UK defeated No. 1 St. John’s 81-40 on Dec. 17, 1951.
• UK is 5-2 vs. Associated Press Top-25 foes this season.
• Kentucky is 8-15 all-time against AP No. 1 teams, including 2-2 under Coach Calipari.
  • This is UK’s first win over an AP No. 1 since defeating Ohio State in the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
• UK shot 54.7 percent from the field tonight, the Wildcats’ 10th game this season of at least 50 percent.
• Kentucky won the rebounding 39-26 and points in the paint 36-20.
  • UK is now 19-2 this season when winning/tying the rebounding and 18-3 when prevailing in the paint.
• The Wildcats have won 11 of its last 12 games.  During that 12-game span, UK has …
  • Limited the opponents to 38.6 percent from the field.
  • Limited the opponents to 31.4 percent from 3-point range.
  • Limited the opponents to 60.9 points per game.

Player Notes  

• PJ Washington led the way with 23 points, the fourth straight game he has led the Wildcats. 

  • Had two key stretches of points – UK’s first seven of the game, then had four in a row after Tennessee had its 13-0 run in the second half.
  • It is his ninth 20-point game of the season and his seventh in the last eight games.
  • He is averaging 21 points over the last eight games.
  • He has 10 straight games in double figures.
    • He’s the first player to do that since Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored in double figures in 10 straight games from Feb. 20, 2018 to March 22, 2018.
• Keldon Johnson tallied 19 points, sparked by his 11-point spurt midway in the first half. 
  • He made 3 of 6 on 3-pointers. UK is 5-0 this season when he makes at least three 3-pointers. 
• Tyler Herro posted his first collegiate double-double with 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
  • UK is 12-0 this season when he scores at least 15.
  • Went 8 of 9 at the foul line tonight, but his miss ended a string of 30 consecutive free throws made.  For the season, he is shooting 91.4 percent at the foul line.
• Reid Travis earned his way to the foul line 10 times, making seven, and finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.
• Ashton Hagans had nine points, most since the Kansas game, and had seven assists.
  • UK is 6-0 this season when Hagans has at least seven assists.

 
 
Calipari

• Calipari is now 296-68 at UK.  
  • He is one win away from tying Joe B. Hall for the second-most victories by a UK head coach in program history.
• Calipari has a 741-208 all-time on-court record.
• UK is 57-28 vs. AP ranked competition under Calipari.
• Calipari is 5-4 in his career vs. the No. 1 team, 2-2 while at Kentucky.
• UK is 48-12 in bounce-back games under Calipari, including 4-0 this season.