UK MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
SOUTHERN at KENTUCKY
UNITY SERIES
RUPP ARENA | LEXINGTON, KY.
DEC. 7, 2021
ATTENDANCE: 18,947

Final Score: No. 10/12 Kentucky 76, Southern 64
 
Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky extended its winning streak to seven games and is now 7-1 on the 2021-22 season. Southern dropped to 3-6.

• UK is now 1-0 all-time vs. Southern in the official record books.
  • The two teams previously played in the 1988 NCAA Tournament with Kentucky winning 99-84. As part of sanctions imposed upon UK, the NCAA ordered Kentucky to erase from the record three NCAA Tournament games from the 1987-88 season.
• Tuesday was a reunion for Southern head coach Sean Woods, member of “The Unforgettables” and four-year player for the Wildcats from 1989-92. He is in the UK Athletics Hall of Fame.
  • Woods fell to 0-4 vs. his former school, having played the Wildcats previously as the head coach at Mississippi Valley State and Morehead State.
• The game was the first in the Unity Series, a five-year series featuring annual games between UK and schools from the Southwestern Athletic Conference, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities. The games will seek to raise awareness of the missions of the HBCUs and to raise funds to provide opportunities for students at their institutions.
• Next up: Kentucky will play its first true road game of the season on Saturday at Notre Dame. That game will be televised by ESPN at 5:15 p.m.
  • UK leads the all-time series 43-20 but lost last season 64-63 in Rupp Arena.

 
Team Notes

• The Wildcats, who entered the contest No. 1 in the nation in rebounding margin, continued their rebounding dominance with a plus-16 margin, 41-25. UK has outrebounded all eight opponents this season and now has a plus-19.0 average margin for the season.
  • The rebounding led to a 23-11 advantage on second-chance points.
• Paced by four blocked shots each from Oscar Tshiebwe and Jacob Toppin, UK had a season-high 12 blocked shots, its most since swatting 12 vs. Kansas on Dec. 1, 2020.
• UK led by as many as 14 points. The Wildcats are 293-12 (96.1%) under Calipari when leading by at least 10 points at any time during the contest.

 
Player Notes  

• Oscar Tshiebwe, the country’s leading rebounder, posted his seventh double-double of the season with game highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds.

  • It’s his fourth straight double-double, the best streak by a Wildcat since Julius Randle had four consecutive double-doubles in March 2014.
  • It is his third 20-10 game of the season and second in a row.   
  • After having foul trouble in the first half, he was dominant in the second half with 18 points and eight rebounds.
  • It was his eighth straight game in double-figure rebounding to start the season. He is the first Wildcat to grab 10 or more rebounds in eight straight games since Julius Randle posted a 10-game streak in February and March of 2014.
  • He moved back into a tie for the national lead in double-doubles with seven.
• TyTy Washington Jr. reached double-figure scoring for the seventh straight game with 14 points.
  • He was 5 of 10 from the floor and is shooting better than 50% during the seven-game winning streak.
  • He also had five assists tonight, tying his season best.
• Sahvir Wheeler, who entered the game first in the country with 8.7 assists per game, tied for game honors with six tonight, all coming in the first half.

• Davion Mintz returned to the lineup after missing the previous three games with an illness and record nine points and five rebounds.
• Daimion Collins sparked the Wildcats in the first half, finishing with eight points and tying his season high for rebounds with six, in addition to three blocks. 

 
Coach Calipari

• Calipari improved to 346-94 at UK.
• Calipari has a 791-234 all-time on-court record. 
• UK is 282-55 under Calipari in games vs. unranked Associated Press competition and 173-11 vs. unranked foes in Rupp Arena.
• Calipari notched his first win vs. Southern in his first meeting against the program.
• Kentucky is 195-17 in Rupp Arena under Calipari, winning the last seven in a row.
• UK is 102-6 vs. nonconference foes under Calipari in Rupp Arena.

 
In the First Half

• Kentucky started Sahvir Wheeler, TyTy Washington Jr., Kellan Grady, Keion Brooks Jr. and Oscar Tshiebwe for the seventh time this season. UK is now 6-1 with that starting lineup.  
• Washington scored on the first possession of the game with a leaning layup.
• Daimion Collins was the first sub of the game at the 17:30 mark.
• The Wildcats got off to a slow start after the opening bucket. Southern scored nine straight to take a 9-2 lead.
• Kentucky answered back with an 11-2 run to take a 13-11 lead with 12:46 left in the half.
• After a back-and-forth catfight for much of the first half, UK asserted itself with a 9-0 run late in the half to turn a 26-26 tie into a 35-26 advantage with 2:22 until halftime.
• The Wildcats held Southern without a field goal for 5:31 of game time until the Jaguars hit a jumper at the 2:21 mark to cut into the nine-point lead.
• Grady led Kentucky with nine points in the first half thanks to three 3-pointers.
• Wheeler dished out six assists.
• UK led 38-34 at halftime and improved to 7-0 this season when leading at the half.

 
In the Second Half

• Kentucky used the same five it started the game with to begin the second half: Wheeler, Washington, Grady, Brooks and Tshiebwe.
• The Wildcats opened the second half on an 11-2 run to take a 49-36 lead.
• Kentucky appeared to be pulling away at 55-42 but Southern hung around and cut it to single digits with a 7-0 spurt and got it within 57-51 with 8:12 left.
• Ahead 66-58, a 6-0 run gave UK its largest lead of the game at 72-58 with less than two minutes remaining as the Wildcats went on to the victory.
• Tshiebwe was dominant in the second half with 18 points and eight rebounds.