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Basketball

Postgame Notes: Kentucky vs. Georgia

Georgia at Kentucky — UK Post-Game Notes

Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky., January 25, 2014

Attendance: 23,367

FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 79, Georgia 54

Team Records, Notes

·        Kentucky is 15-4, 5-1 in the Southeastern Conference.  Georgia is 10-8, 4-2 in league play.

·        Kentucky leads the series 116-26.  The Wildcats lead 57-5 in Lexington, including 32-4 in Rupp Arena.

·        This is the only time the teams will meet during the regular season.

·        The coaching staff of both teams wore sneakers in honor of “Coaches vs. Cancer” weekend to promote awareness of cancer prevention and treatment.

·        Kentucky begins a two-game road swing Tuesday at Louisiana State.  Game time is 9 p.m. EST (8 p.m. CST in Baton Rouge) and it will be televised by ESPN. 

First-Half Facts

·        Kentucky started Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, James Young, Julius Randle and Willie Cauley-Stein for the 12th-consecutive game.

·        Ahead 12-10, UK went on a 13-0 run for a 25-10 lead. The Wildcats held Georgia scoreless for five and one-half minutes during that stretch.

·        The Bulldogs narrowed the lead to 10 before the Wildcats took a 34-22 advantage into halftime. The Cats had good scoring balance with eight different players tallying in the first half.

Second-Half Story  

·        After Kentucky got the first basket of the second half, Georgia went on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 37-31.

·        The Bulldogs got no closer as the Wildcats had runs of 7-0, 5-0, and 12-0 to put the game away.

Team Notes

·        Kentucky has won 21 consecutive home games, including 12 straight SEC home contests.

o       UK is 80-2 in Rupp Arena under Coach Calipari.

·        Defense was the big key for Kentucky today:

o       UK held Georgia to 32.7 percent from the field

o       UK tied a season high with 11 blocked shots

o       UK forced 20 Bulldog turnovers, leading to a 19-6 advantage in second-chance points

·        UK is now 34-0 in the Calipari era when holding the opponent to 55 or fewer points.

·        On the offensive end there was balanced scoring as 11 Cats entered the scoring column and six players scored at least seven points.

·        UK shot 50 percent from the field, the sixth time this season and first against an SEC opponent that the Wildcats have made at least half their shots.

·        UK made 5 of 12 3-pointers today, 41.7 percent. 

o       This was the fifth consecutive game that the Wildcats made at least five triples.

·        UK hit 16 of 20 fouls shots today, 80 percent.

o       Over the last three games, the Wildcats have made 80.3 percent at the charity stripe (57 of 71).

Individual Notes

·        Willie Cauley-Stein had eight points and was a major contributor to the defensive effort with six blocked shots and a career-high six steals.

o       The six steals tied for the most for a Wildcat in the Calipari era and is the most since Nerlens Noel had six thefts vs. Baylor on Dec. 1, 2012.

·        Aaron Harrison led UK with 15 points. He also had three assists and no turnovers in 30 minutes of action.

·        Once again, Alex Poythress came off the bench to make a strong contribution, totaling 11 points and five rebounds in 16 minutes of play.

o       Poythress is averaging 10.7 points in UK’s six SEC games.

·        James Young notched 13 points, including three 3-pointers. 

o       It’s his fourth-straight game with multiple 3-pointers.

·        Julius Randle collected 14 points and nine rebounds. 

·        Andrew Harrison got seven points and paced the UK distribution with five assists.

·        Derek Willis scored for the first time since Nov. 17 and Jon Hood got his first points since Nov. 19.

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