Nation of Blue

Basketball

Postgame Notes: Kentucky vs. Cincinnati

Kentucky defeated Cincinnati to move to 36-0 on the season and advance to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament.

Here are the postgame notes from the win.

Kentucky vs. Cincinnati, Men’s Basketball – NCAA Tournament – Third Round

KFCYum! Center, Louisville, Ky., March 21, 2015

Attendance: 21,760

FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 64, Cincinnati 51

• Team records: Kentucky is 36-0, Cincinnati is 23-11.

• Kentucky leads the all-time series 28-10.

• With Kentucky’s 36 consecutive victories …

• Kentucky is the first team in the history of college basketball to start a season 36-0.

• It extends the longest win streak in Kentucky history.

• It extended the longest season-opening win streak for any team in SEC history.

• It extended the longest win streak for a John Calipari-coached team.

• Kentucky is 213-27 all-time when ranked No. 1 and has won 58 of the last 60 games as The

Associated Press top-ranked team.

• Calipari has led three schools to a No. 1 ranking (Massachusetts, Memphis, Kentucky) and has a

102-9 record as the top-ranked coach, including 61-4 at UK.

• Calipari is now 188-37 (.836) as head coach at Kentucky, the best winning percentage of any

coach in UK history.

• Kentucky has reached the Sweet 16 in every NCAA Tournament appearance under John Calipari.

• Next for the Wildcats: UK will play the winner of No. 4 seed Maryland vs. No. 5 seed West Virginia

in the Sweet 16 in Cleveland, Ohio.

In the NCAA Tournament

• Kentucky won its nation-leading 118th

Big Dance.

• Since 1992, the Wildcats are 117-32 (.785) in postseason play (NCAA, NIT and SEC).

• Kentucky also leads the country in wins in the tournament since 2010 (20), when John Calipari first

led UK into the Big Dance.

• UK is 20-3 in tournament games under John Calipari.

NCAA Tournament game. UK is 118-47 (.715) all-time in the

• Kentucky is now 2-0 against Cincinnati in the NCAA Tournament. UK defeated Cincinnati in the

2004 NCAA Tournament second round.

• Kentucky is now 6-0 in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed playing a No. 8.

• The Wildcats are 7-1 in NCAA Tournament games held in Louisville. UK is 4-0 in NCAA

Tournament games held in the KFC Yum! Center.

Team Notes

• Kentucky entered the game as the nation’s top-rated shooting-percentage defense, and the

Wildcats held Cincinnati to 31.7 percent from the field.

• Kentucky is now holding opponents to a combined total shooting percentage of .351.

• UK held Cincinnati to 51 points. UK is 113-5 under Coach Calipari when holding the opponent to

63 or fewer points.

• UK is 59-0 under Calipari when limited the opponent to 55 or fewer points, including 21

times this season.

• Kentucky shot 71.4 percent from the foul line, 20 of 28. Kentucky had the same stats from the

free-throw line in the second-round win over Hampton. The Wildcats have made 78 percent at the

charity stripe over the last five games (110 of 141).

• UK trailed for 11:40 seconds. The Wildcats have trailed for only 191:05 of a possible 1,455 minutes

this season.

• Kentucky won bench points today, 18-15. Kentucky has won bench points in all but one game this

season (vs. Arkansas, SEC Championship).

• Cincinnati did not attempt a free throw in the first half. UK has held four opponents without a free-
throw attempt in the first half this season.

• Kentucky committed seven turnovers, its 16th

Game Facts

• Kentucky’s opening lineup featured Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Trey Lyles, Karl-Anthony

Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein for the 17th

• Marcus Lee, Devin Booker, Tyler Ulis and Dakari Johnson entered the game at the 15:48 mark.

• Kentucky started the game 2 of 20 from the floor in the opening 8:03

• Kentucky’s streak of 936 consecutive games with a 3-pointer was extended when Aaron Harrison

connected from deep at the 3:24 mark in the first half.

• Cincinnati won bench points 12-6 in the first half.

• UK outscored UC off the bench 12-3 in the second half.

game this season with 10 or fewer.

time this season.

• With UK leading 33-30 at the 16:54 mark in the second half, Aaron Harrison was assessed a

technical foul. UK went on a 16-7 run over the next 8:03 of the game.

• Cincinnati won rebounds 45-38. Cincinnati’s 45 rebounds was the second highest total allowed by

UK this year (Texas A&M: 52).

• Kentucky blocked nine shots, compared with six by Cincinnati. Cincinnati’s six blocked shots tied

Texas A&M for the most by a UK opponent this season.

• Cincinnati made two 3-pointers marking the seventh time this season a UK opponent has made

two or fewer 3-point shots.

Player Notes

• Trey Lyles recorded his second-career double-double.

• He scored 11 points, had a career-high 11 rebounds and added two blocked shots.

• Lyles recorded more than 10 rebounds for the first time since the win over Columbia (Dec.

10, 2014).

• Aaron Harrison had a team-high 13 points.

• He has scored in double figures a team-high 22 times this season.

• Harrison is now 51 points away from 1,000 for his career.

• Karl-Anthony Towns had eight points and seven rebounds and a team-high three blocks.

• He shot 4 of 4 from the free-throw line today. He is 22 of 23 from the free-throw line in the

postseason (five games).

• He is 27 out of his last 28 free-throw attempts.

• Tyler Ulis had nine points, five assists, three steals and three rebounds.

• Ulis tied his career high in steals (three) and minutes (34).

• Ulis has a 24-8 assist-to-turnover ratio in the postseason (five games).

• Ulis has had three or more assists in eight of the last nine games.

• He has scored six or more points in a career-long five-consecutive games.

• Willie Cauley-Stein recorded two blocks.

• He now has 226 career blocks, which is tied for second all-time in UK history (Melvin

• He has multiple blocks in five consecutive games.

Turpin).

*Gallery image: @ESPNCBB

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