Kentucky at Alabama, Men’s Basketball
Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Jan. 17, 2015
FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 70, Alabama 48
* Kentucky is 17-0, 4-0 in the Southeastern Conference. Alabama is 12-5, 2-2 in league play, and ended its 14-game home winning streak.
* Kentucky leads the series 104-37, including 29-23 in Tuscaloosa. The teams have a rematch two weeks from today, Jan. 31 in Lexington.
* Along with Virginia, Kentucky is one of two undefeated teams in NCAA Division I.
* With 17 consecutive victories to begin the season, UK is off to the fourth-best start in program history.
* Kentucky is 195-27 all-time when ranked No. 1 and has won 35 of the last 37 games as The Associated Press top-ranked team.
* Calipari has led three teams to a No. 1 ranking (Massachusetts, Memphis, Kentucky) and has a 79-9 record as the top-ranked coach, including 38-4 at UK.
* Kentucky returns to action Tuesday at home against Vanderbilt. Game time is 9 p.m. EST and it will be televised on the SEC Network.
Team Notes
* Kentucky made 50 percent from the field, 23 of 46, the sixth time this season the Wildcats made at least half their shots.
* UK made 8 of 17 (47.1 percent) on 3-point shots today. Over the last seven games, Kentucky has shot 44.2 percent on 3-pointers, 61 of 138.
* For the second consecutive game, Kentucky shot a season-best at the free throw line. After making 80 percent of their foul shots vs. Missouri, the Cats canned 88.9 percent today (16 of 18).
* UK has made at least 70 percent of its foul shots in five straight games.
* In a mostly halfcourt game, UK averaged 1.25 points per possession.
* Kentucky dominated bench points, 37-16.
* Second year in a row that UK held Alabama to 48 points. UK won 55-48 last season in Lexington.
* UK is 101-5 in the John Calipari Era when holding opponents to 63 or fewer points, including 13-0 this season.
* UK is 51-0 in the John Calipari Era when holding opponents to 55 or fewer points, including 13 times this season.
* No drama today in extending Kentucky’s streak of 917 consecutive games with a 3-pointer as Aaron Harrison connected a triple at the 16:24 mark of the first half.
First-Half Facts
* Kentucky’s opening lineup featured Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Trey Lyles, Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein.
* Kentucky big men passed the ball well early, getting all five of the team’s assists in the first 10 minutes.
* Kentucky had three big runs on the first half:
* Trailing 4-2, UK jumped ahead with a 10-0 run
* With the score 13-9, the Wildcats put together an 8-0 run for a 21-9 advantage
* At 21-14, a 10-0 spurt gave the Cats a 31-14 lead.
* UK’s largest lead of the half was 18 on two occasions — at 33-15 and the halftime score of 35-17.
* It is the 14th time this season that Kentucky held an opponent under 20 points in a half.
Second-Half Story
* Kentucky started the second half with the same lineup that opened the game.
* Switching to a man-to-man defense, Alabama scored the first seven points of the second half.
* Alabama eventually got as close as 39-30 before the Wildcats put the game away with a 16-2 run to make it 55-32.
* Kentucky’s largest lead was 28 points at 68-40 with 4:09 to play.
Player Notes
* Devin Booker led the Wildcats with 13 poinst, including three of six on 3-point shots. He has made 20 of 28 3-pointers (71.4 percent) over the last seven games.
* Tyler Ulis tallied 11 points, including 3 of 4 on 3-pointers. It’s his third double-figure game of the season.
* Dakari Johnson also had 11 points, his first double-figure game since notching 11 vs. Texas on Dec. 5.
* Willie Cauley-Stein, Karl-Anthony Towns and Dakari Johnson shared game-high rebounding honors with five caroms each as the Wildcats won the rebounding, 30-21.
* Dominique Hawkins sat out the game because of a medical procedure earlier this week.
