Kentucky Basketball Postgame Notes
Kentucky 81, Champagne Chalons-Reims Basket 49
August 11, 2014
Sir Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium
Team Records, Notes
Kentucky improves to 2-0 on its 2014 exhibition tour in the Bahamas.
Including a trip to Canada for an exhibition series in 2010, the Wildcats are now 5-0 in exhibition contests in the John Calipari era.
Associate head coach Kenny Payne served as Kentucky’s head coach in today’s contest.
The Wildcats return to action on Tuesday, Aug. 12 at 1 p.m. ET. UK will play the Puerto Rico National Team Reserves for the second time in three days.
UK dished out 17 assists and has combined for 37 assists in two contests. Seven different Wildcats had at least one assist in today’s game.
For the second straight contest, Kentucky’s 10 players who posted at least 19 minutes of game action scored at least one basket.
Kentucky dominated the boards and hauled in 38 for the contest, while limiting Chalons-Reims to just 18.
UK’s offensive efficiency was once again stellar as the Wildcats connected on 52 percent of its shots from the floor. In two games, Kentucky is shooting at a sparkling 50 percent clip.
Nine of Kentucky’s 29 made field goals came in the form of a dunk. Marcus Lee, Aaron Harrison, Karl-Anthony Towns, Alex Poythress and Dakari Johnson all registered at least one dunk.
First Half Facts
Kentucky used the starting lineup of Devin Booker, Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, Dakari Johnson and Alex Poythress for the second consecutive outing.
Poythress scored the game’s first bucket.
Kentucky’s first subs off the bench were the equivalent of yesterday’s squad of Dominique Hawkins, Marcus Lee, Karl-Anthony Towns, Tyler Ulis and Derek Willis.
Chalons-Reims grabbed a 20-12 lead with a little more than 10 minutes remaining in the half.
Behind a 10-0 run late in the opening stanza, UK grabbed a lead it would not relinquish at 28-22. The run included a Hawkins-to-Lee alley-oop and back-to-back 3-pointers from Hawkins and Willis.
Poythress scored six points over the final 3:18 and ended the stanza as UK’s top scorer with eight first half points.
Second Half Facts
UK began the second half with Hawkins, Lee, Towns, Ulis and Willis in the lineup for the second straight game.
That unit opened the half on a 12-7 run; similar to the 6-0 start it had against the Puerto Rican team on Monday.
Towns began to heat up, scoring five of UK’s points during that stretch.
Kentucky opened up its biggest lead of the game at 56-39 at the 12:45 mark.
After the French went to a 1-3-1 zone down by 17, Ulis knocked down his second triple of the game to stretch the Wildcats’ advantage to 60-40.
Towns finished the second half with a squad-best 13 second half points en route to the first double-double of the summer exhibition tour. He finished with 19 points and 10 boards.
Individual Notes
Andrew Harrison scored five points and had a team-high five assists.
Has a team-high nine assists in the two games.
Dominique Hawkins contributed seven points and added an assist and a steal.
Dakari Johnson posted 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor.
Shot a team-best 80 percent from the floor.
Grabbed three offensive rebounds.
Alex Poythress tallied 16 points and contributed eight rebounds.
Went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
Led the team with six defensive rebounds.
Is averaging 13 points and seven rebounds in UK’s two contests thus far.
Is shooting a team-high 62 percent from the floor.
Karl-Anthony Towns notched a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Added a trio of assists.
Is UK’s leading scorer and rebounder over the first two games in the Bahamas, averaging 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
Tyler Ulis drained a pair of 3-pointers and passed out three assists.
Also hauled in three rebounds on the afternoon.
Has eight assists in the two games.
Derek Willis logged three points and hauled in five rebounds.
Posted seven rebounds and four assists in two contests in the Bahamas.
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