Big Blue Preview: Kentucky at Clemson
No. 4 Kentucky has won seven consecutive games to open the season. On Tuesday night, the Cats will face a new challenge – playing on the road.
UK travels to Clemson on Tuesday night for a 9:30 p.m. ET tip on ESPN in the SEC/ACC Challenge. The Tigers are 7-1 on the season, with the only blemish being an 84-71 loss at Boise State two weeks ago.
Kentucky has played outside of Rupp Arena this season, but it was a neutral-court game against Duke in Atlanta. That night, UK probably had more fans in the arena than Duke did, so that hardly counts as a hostile environment. Kentucky center Amari Williams knows that Tuesday night will be much different.
“There will be a lot of noise against us, but it’s going to be like that all season when we go into SEC play. It’s a good test to go into someone else’s arena.”
Clemson is also a very talented team, according to Williams.
“They’re a physical team and they’re good at rebounding,” Williams said. “I think we’ve had good practice against (Western Kentucky and Georgia State), so just carrying over that will be important. They’ve got a lot of tall guys. It will be a physical game for sure.”
Senior guard Chase Hunter leads the Tigers, averaging 16.4 points per game, while senior forward Ian Schieffelin scores 12.5 per contest and senior center Viktor Lakhin averages 11.1 for Clemson.
Kentucky has six players averaging in double figures, led by Otega Oweh at 15.9 points per game. Koby Brea comes off the bench to average 14.1, while Lamont Butler is scoring 12.4 points per outing. Jaxson Robinson averages 12 points per contest, while Andrew Carr (10.7) and Williams (10.0) are also double figure scorers.
The Cats experienced a couple of rough patches in the wins over Western Kentucky and Georgia State, UK managed to come out ahead both times. What does head coach Mark Pope tell his team when things aren’t going well?
“He just always reminds us to have fun,” Williams said. “Regardless of how the game is going, there’s always the next play so just go out there with a smile on your face and love what you do.”
Kentucky will get its first true road test of the year on Tuesday night at Clemson. When those rough patches hit, Williams and the Cats hope to take Pope’s advice and have fun, while using their experience to help them through those tough times.
Wildcats Pull Away from Georgia State
Seven players scored in double figures as Kentucky reached the 100-point threshold for the fourth time already this season in a 105-76 victory at home over Georgia State.
Jaxson Robinson was the team’s leading scorer with 19 points, while Lamont Butler had 17 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals. Amari Williams scored all 14 of his points in the second half, while Ansley Almonor, Otega Oweh, Koby Brea and Andrew Carr were the other Wildcats in double-figures.
UK led by as many as 35 in what ended in a 29-point win.
Some additional notes from the win:
• Kentucky has a 7-0 start for the first time since the 2016-17 team won its first seven. The last time UK was 8-0 to begin a season was in 2014-15, when the team started 38-0 before falling in the Final Four.
• UK shot 80.5 percent from 2-point range in the win. It was the highest 2-point field goal percentage for a Kentucky team in any game in its history. The second highest was a 78.1 percent 2-point field goal performance against Lamar on Dec. 13, 1986.
• The Cats scored 105 points despite shooting just 26.9 percent from 3-point range. It was just the third time since 1996-97 that UK has shot less than 30 percent from deep and scored at least 100 points (2008 vs. VMI and 1996 vs. Purdue)
• It was the first time Kentucky has had seven players finish in double figures in a game since March 2, 2024 vs. Arkansas
• Four players set season-highs in points in the win: Butler (17), Williams (14), Almonor (12) and Kriisa (9)
• The Cats are 6-0 inside Rupp Arena on the year and have scored a total of 600 points, good for an average of 100 per home contest
ACC-SEC Challenge
The matchup between Kentucky and Clemson is a part of the 2024 “ACC-SEC Challenge” an event now in its second year. This year’s edition will feature 16 men’s games and 16 women’s games from Dec. 3-5, between schools from the two conferences.
Both the men’s and women’s competitions finished tied in year one with seven wins apiece in each series for both leagues. The Kentucky men defeated Miami, 95-73, inside Rupp Arena last November.
The Century “Mark”
Kentucky’s offense has ambushed opponents in the early season, particularly in the friendly confines of Rupp Arena. UK is averaging 96.7 points per game, the most in the nation by nearly 4.0 points per game as of Nov. 29. The Cats are scoring 100.0 points per game at home and have already eclipsed the century mark in four games this season. It marks the first time UK has scored 100 points in four of its first seven games since the 1977-78 season. The Wildcats’ most 100-point outings in a single season is 15 during the 1970-71 season.
