tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7626070038027398032023-11-16T05:50:53.319-05:00Big Blue CornerKentucky Basketball BlogJasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.comBlogger1753125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-21166659661450407282020-03-08T23:43:00.003-04:002020-03-08T23:43:47.393-04:00#1 Seed Kentucky To Play Alabama-Tennessee Winner On Friday At 1pm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After winning its 49th Southeastern Conference regular-season title with two games to spare at home against Auburn last week, the Kentucky men’s basketball team will be the No. 1 seed in the annual SEC Tournament when action begins Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee. The Wildcats, who earned the coveted double bye (automatically advancing to the quarterfinals), will play the winner of the Alabama-Tennessee on Friday in Nashville at 1 p.m. ET (noon CT).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky completed its 2019-20 regular season on Saturday with an <a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fukathletics.com%2Fnews%2F2020%2F3%2F7%2Fmens-basketball-rally-cats-kentucky-comes-from-18-down-to-top-florida-in-gainesville.aspx&data=02%7C01%7C%7C40249eb0f8994665bba108d7c30d098e%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C637192333227890708&sdata=jdRUO25fMXGDAu6HEBv1kO6EiyR0FJU5yK2Pb8QaY8Y%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://ukathletics.com/news/2020/3/7/mens-basketball-rally-cats-kentucky-comes-from-18-down-to-top-florida-in-gainesville.aspx" shash="QCMe6o3x+DBROb9Nf14fmNWCHqYnzCijDQ7cl4Q5jsxKdAH94E9zXFjXCCthOistsJQJ//c7aqTbY3JR9mBHU59Xd3Q7pqsKiJkYaCzW752sgfTofdI+9JzRmkfWIY022nhHuS7odErTcGhrb4yn8+hwNVsWTNbHDQ2eHs5NvAE=" style="color: #954f72;">18-point second-half comeback win at Florida</a> to finish 25-6 and 15-3 in the SEC. UK captured the outright crown, its sixth under head coach John Calipari in 11 seasons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Wildcats are seeking their seventh SEC Tournament championship under Calipari and 32nd overall. UK will need two wins to advance to their ninth SEC Tournament title game in the last 11 seasons. The Wildcats have earned a double bye in every season since it went into effect in 2013. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tournament could be wide open after a highly competitive and tightly bunched regular season among the league’s teams. After placing 15 teams in the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons, second most in the nation, the league has a handful of teams vying for at-large berths heading into the conference finale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tickets for the tournament are sold out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK’s quarterfinal SEC Tournament game will be televised by ESPN with Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes and Marty Smith on the call. If Kentucky wins Friday, it would play Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. Sunday’s championship game is also scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. Both the semifinals and championship game will be televised on ESPN with Ravech, Dick Vitale and Smith calling the action.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky leads the league with 31 SEC Tournament titles, more than the rest of the league combined (28). The Wildcats are 134-26 all-time in the SEC Tournament, including 45-11 in the quarterfinals. Last season’s loss in the semifinals ended a run of four straight SEC Tournament championships and 13 straight wins in the conference tournament.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John Calipari’s teams at UMass, Memphis and Kentucky have been to 19 conference championship games in his 27-year career, winning a remarkable 15 of them. Calipari is 57-12 (.826) all-time in conference tournaments, including 23-4 (.852) at UK. Calipari ranks fourth in SEC Tournament wins.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Wildcats are 12-5 all-time against the Volunteers in the SEC Tournament and 2-0 in quarterfinals matchups. The Volunteers and Wildcats met in the semifinals a season ago, with the Vols’ win halting a sixth consecutive championship game appearance by the Wildcats. The two teams split the regular-season series this season. The Wildcats won 78-64 at Tennessee but the Volunteers overcame a 17-point deficit on Tuesday for an 81-73 upset of the Wildcats in Rupp Arena.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If Kentucky faces Alabama, it would be the fifth straight season the Wildcats have faced the Crimson Tide in the SEC Tournament. UK has won all four of the previous matchups and is 17-2 vs. Alabama in the league tournament and 6-1 in the quarterfinals. UK won the lone regular-season matchup between the two squads by a 76-67 margin on Jan. 11 in Rupp Arena.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also on Kentucky’s side of the bracket is No. 4 seed Mississippi State, No. 5 seed Florida, No. 12 seed Ole Miss and No. 13 seed Georgia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tournament returns to Bridgestone Arena in Nashville for the fifth time in the last six seasons. UK has won the SEC Tournament when it’s played in Nashville four times under Calipari.</span></div>
<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-9098029439053539762020-03-03T00:33:00.003-05:002020-03-03T00:33:41.895-05:00Immanuel Quickley Is SEC Co-Player Of The Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky sophomore guard Immanuel Quickley was named the Southeastern Conference Co-Player of the Week on Monday after helping the Wildcats win their 49th SEC regular-season crown last week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Arkansas’ Mason Jones shared the honor this week with Quickley.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In winning back-to-back weeks, Quickley becomes the first Wildcat in the history of the SEC weekly awards (dating back to the 1984-85 season) to win SEC Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks. He’s the first player from any SEC team to do so since Tennessee’s Admiral Schofield won two straight in December 2018.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quickley was sensational for the Wildcats, averaging 24.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game in the two victories. He made nine 3-pointers during the week and shot 48.3% from the floor, including 52.9% from 3.<span style="background-color: lime;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quickley, a leading candidate for SEC Player of the Year, has won three SEC Player of the Week honors this season, behind only Jones, who has four.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky has dominated the weekly SEC awards under John Calipari. UK has won more weekly SEC honors (108) than any other school during the Calipari era, including 83 SEC Freshman of the Week honors and 25 SEC Player of the Week awards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK has five total SEC Player of the Week honors this season and eight total. In addition to Quickley’s three SEC Player of the Week awards, Nick Richards has won it twice and Tyrese Maxey is a three-time SEC Freshman of the Week winner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quickley provided two career performances for the Wildcats in wins over Texas A&M and against No. 15/15 Auburn as UK secured the regular-season championship. The Havre de Grace, Maryland, native began the week by draining a career-high eight 3-pointers and scoring a career-high 30 points against the Aggies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He became the first UK player to log a 30-point game since Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 on Jan. 30, 2018 against Vanderbilt. The eight 3s tie the single-game record in the Calipari era and are the fourth most in a game in program history. Quickley became the first player to have consecutive 25 points or more in back-to-back games since Malik Monk during the 2016-17 season. It was his eighth 20-point game of the season and the third straight, with Quickley becoming the first UK player to do that since PJ Washington had four straight 20-point games last February.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In nine true road games this season, Quickley is averaging 19.9 points per game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quickley then charted 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for his second-career double-double in the win over the Tigers to help UK clinch the crown in front of its home crowd.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Entering the game leading the SEC in free-throw percentage, he made all 11 attempts and has now made 17 straight, his fourth streak of 17 or more consecutive makes at the line this season. He’s making 92.2% from the line on the season which ranks third in the nation through games played on Feb. 29.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quickley has charted double-figure scoring in a career-best 18 straight games. It’s the longest such streak for a UK player since Monk did it 30 straight times in 2016-17. During Kentucky’s current eight-game winning streak, Quickley has been on fire the second half. He is scoring 14.9 points per game in the second half alone and connecting on 57.7% of his 3-point attempts. He’s played all but three minutes during the second half in the current winning streak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Wildcats return to action for their final home game of the year as Tennessee visits Rupp Arena on Tuesday. Tip time is set for 9 p.m. ET and the game will air live on ESPN.</span></div>
<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-54485369931990783582020-03-01T00:37:00.000-05:002020-03-01T00:37:01.345-05:00Notes After Kentucky's Win Over Auburn To Win The SEC Regular Season Championship<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES</b> <br />
<b>AUBURN at KENTUCKY</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RUPP ARENA AT CENTRAL BANK CENTER | LEXINGTON, KY.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>FEB. 29, 2020</b> <span style="color: red;"><br />
</span><b>ATTENDANCE:</b><span style="color: red;"><b> </b></span><b>20,638 (season high)</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Final Score: No. 8/9 Kentucky 73, No. 15 Auburn 66</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Team Records and Series Notes</b> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky has won eight in a row and is 24-5 overall, 14-2 in the Southeastern Conference.</span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Wildcats clinched their 49th SEC regular-season championship (outright) and the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s UK’s sixth regular-season SEC title in 11 seasons under John Calipari and first since 2017.</span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Auburn is 24-5 overall, 11-5 in the SEC. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK leads the series 95-21, although Auburn had won the previous two meetings. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK leads 49-2 in games played in Lexington.</span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up: it will be Senior Night on Tuesday as the Wildcats honor Nate Sestina before the 9 p.m. home game vs. Tennessee. The game will be televised on ESPN. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Player Notes </b> </span></div>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Immanuel Quickley </b>had 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, his second double-double of the season. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He has been torrid in the second half in UK’s current eight-game win streak, veraging 14.9 points in <i>the second half alone</i> during this eight-game stretch. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is his 18th consecutive game in double figures, most since Malik Monk had a 30-game streak during the 2016-17 season. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Entering the game leading the SEC in free-throw percentage at 91.5%, he made all 11 charity tosses tonight and has made 17 straight, his fourth streak this season of 17 or more consecutive makes at the line. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Tyrese Maxey </b>recorded 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists.</span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maxey continues to play his best against the best, averaging 19 points per game against UK’s six ranked (Associated Press Top 25) opponents.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is his 21st game this season in double figures.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 5-0 this season when he gets seven or more rebounds. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite being limited to 18 minutes because of foul trouble, <b>Nick Richards</b> had 14 points, three rebounds and two blocked shots. He made all five field-goal attempts. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Nate Sestina </b>came off the bench to get 11 points, steadying the Wildcats when they fell behind early. It was his fourth game in double figures this season. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Coach John Calipari</b> </span></div>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Calipari is now 329-76 at UK. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He has a 774-216 all-time on-court record. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 63-33 vs. AP Top 25 foes under Calipari.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky is 150-40 under Calipari in SEC regular-season games.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Calipari is 12-4 all-time vs. Auburn. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not only was it Calipari’s sixth regular-season conference title at UK, it’s his 16th career regular-season championship with his time at UMass and Memphis. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to his 16 regular-season titles, he has 15 league tournament crowns for a combined 31 conference championships. That mark trails only Mark Few of Gonzaga, who is up to 34 total after winning the West Coast Conference regular-season title this season.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Team Notes</b> </span></div>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky held Auburn to 36.1% from the field. UK is 202-19 (.914) under Calipari when keeping the opponent to 40% or less, including 15-3 this season.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK entered the game leading the SEC in field goal defense at 38.7 percent. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Entering the game leading the SEC at 79.3% at the foul line, Kentucky made 27 of 33 free throws (81.8%).</span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK has made at least 75% at the line in 12 straight games. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Free throws made the difference in both of the games this season vs. Auburn. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Feb. 1, Auburn made 33 of 44 at the charity stripe while UK hit 20 of 24.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, UK made 27 of 33 while Auburn got 13 of 22. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky is 8-2 all-time on games played on Leap Day, with a seven-game winning streak, and has not lost on Leap Day since 1936. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>In the First Half</b> </span></div>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The starting lineup consisted of <b>Ashton Hagans, Tyrese Maxey, Immanuel Quickley, EJ Montgomery </b>and <b>Nick Richards</b> for the 14th time this season. UK is 12-2 with the lineup. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Nate Sestina </b>was UK’s first substitute at the 16:40 mark. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Auburn came out hot, making its first four 3-point shots en route to an 18-9 lead.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trailing 20-11, UK went on an 18-3 run for its first lead at 29-23. The Cats never trailed again.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK went to the locker room ahead 40-37. Maxey paced the first-half effort with 12 points. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 19-2 this season when leading at intermission. </span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <b>In the Second Half</b> </span></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky opened the second half with the starting lineup. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ahead 53-46 at the 14:32 mark, UK went more than seven minutes without a basket. Five free throws by Quickley, one by Richards and two by Montgomery during that span kept a tenuous lead for the Wildcats. Hagans finally broke the drought with a steal and layup at the 7:08 mark, making it 63-58. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Auburn got no closer than three points the rest of the way as the Wildcats held on for the win. </span></li>
<li></li>
</ul>
Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-77168735225347263552020-02-27T23:54:00.000-05:002020-02-27T23:54:01.582-05:00Hagans Is A National Defensive Player Of The Year Semifinalist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky men’s basketball sophomore guard Ashton Hagans remains in contention for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hagans, the 2019 Southeastern Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year, remained on the Naismith watch list as the Atlanta Tipoff Club trimmed its list to 10 semifinalists on Thursday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s the second season in a row Hagans has been named a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The finalists for the award will be revealed March 12. The winner of the 2020 Naismith Men’s Defensive Player of the Year will be announced April 5 during the Naismith Awards Brunch in Atlanta.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hagans is once again UK’s best on-ball defender with a team-high 54 steals, oftentimes drawing the assignment on the opposing team’s best offensive player. He’s averaging 1.9 swipes per game, second in the SEC. In just 65 career games, Hagans has already amassed 115 career steals, and his 1.797 steals-per-game career mark is second in school history, behind only Rajon Rondo’s career mark of 2.294<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With Hagans spearheading the defensive effort, UK is limiting teams to 38.7% shooting from the floor, among the top 20 teams nationally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"You're not going to find a player that is better on the defensive end on and off the ball than Ashton Hagans has been," ESPN analyst Jay Bilas recently said. "I think he's the frontrunner for national defensive player of the year."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Said national writer Jeff Goodman: "Lots of great defensive players out there, but I'll take Ashton Hagans over all of them."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last season, breaking onto the national stage because of his defensive prowess, Hagans was a finalist for the 2019 Naismith award and was named to the <a href="http://collegeinsider.com/" style="color: #954f72;">CollegeInsider.com</a> Lefty Drisell Defensive All-America Team, the <a href="http://collegeinsider.com/" style="color: #954f72;">CollegeInsider.com</a> Kyle Macy Freshman All-America Team and the Athletic’s All-Glue Team.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK’s point guard’s game has evolved in year two and he’s impacting the game in a multitude of ways. Hagans is averaging 11.8 points, 6.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game while grabbing the leadership reins of a talented but once again young team. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The midseason Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year finalist has scored in double figures in 19 games, including a career-high 26-point performance in the win over Utah Valley. Hagans has dished out three or more assists in every game and has five or more in 21 outings<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With 342 career dimes, Hagans is 12th in program history. His assist average is ranked 12th in the country and tops in the league (through games on Feb. 25).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Auburn at 3:45 p.m. in Rupp Arena on CBS. A victory would clinch the outright SEC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky leads the league with 48 SEC regular-season crowns.</span></div>
<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-75329498987771363532020-02-24T23:41:00.001-05:002020-02-24T23:41:14.474-05:00Immanuel Quickley Named SEC Player Of The Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQO7n7hupSbAdd_27r4TfXcwJuoH-dVuI12gh2aNofUB14MiP_HmWXGg5JmidGhVqjzGJROrO674bz6WNK8PeUaXpg01ABD72-6WswxMAhxSs6AzZASlQS1WnMs2S5BvraJw1hLT9sGj-s/s1600/image001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQO7n7hupSbAdd_27r4TfXcwJuoH-dVuI12gh2aNofUB14MiP_HmWXGg5JmidGhVqjzGJROrO674bz6WNK8PeUaXpg01ABD72-6WswxMAhxSs6AzZASlQS1WnMs2S5BvraJw1hLT9sGj-s/s1600/image001.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> After back-to-back 20-point games in victories over LSU and Florida last week, Kentucky men’s basketball sophomore guard Immanuel Quickley was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK owns a two-game lead in the SEC standings with four regular-season games remaining and Quickley’s recently play is a big reason for the cushion. He averaged 23.5 points and induced a career-high three steals in both victories last week. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monday’s honor is the second of the season for Quickley, who has produced clutch moments all season long for the Wildcats.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky has dominated the weekly SEC awards under John Calipari. UK has won more weekly SEC honors (107) than any other school during the Calipari era, including 83 SEC Freshman of the Week honors and 24 SEC Player of the Week awards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sophomore guard began the week by helping UK to a 79-76 win in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Quickley scored 21 points and added five assists, four rebounds and three steals. The Havre de Grace, Maryland, native was 5 of 5 from the floor in the second half as the Wildcats shot a season-high 73.8% during the second half.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quickley then scored a career-high 26 points in the win over the Gators – and UK needed every one of them. He scored 20 of 28 points once the Wildcats trailed 40-33 and also added 17 of 19 during a decisive second-half surge. Twenty-two of his 26 points came after intermission. He made four 3-pointers and also contributed a trio of swipes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the second half of this week’s victories, Quickley averaged 18.0 points per game and shot 75% from the field and 71.4% from 3-point range with five 3’s. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the season, Quickley is averaging a team-high 15.7 points per game. He’s scored in double digits in 16 straight games, the longest streak for a UK player since Malik Monk had 30 straight such games in 2016-17. Quickley has topped double-figures in 22 of 26 games he’s played this season and boasted 20 or more in seven games.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since his double-figure scoring streak began against Louisville, Quickley is averaging 18.5 points per game to go along with 4.3 rebounds and 37 3-pointers while shooting 45.1% from long range.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What those stats don't fully reveal is just how clutch Quickley has been. He's become Kentucky's go-to scorer down the stretch late in games, breaking the will of more than a handful of opponents with daggers from beyond the arc and clutch free throws. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week only accentuated just how clutch he’s been. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ESPN's Jay Bilas said during the LSU game: "That young man has got ice water in his veins." With Karl Ravech lamenting, "On a team that has (Tyrese) Maxey and (Nick) Richards and (Ashton) Hagans, Quickley has become the go-to guy."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the course of UK's current six-game winning streak in the second half alone, Quickley is averaging 15.5 points and shooting 57.1% from the field, 58.8% from 3-point range and 92.1% from the charity stripe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The kid lives in the gym," Calipari said. "He's kind of like Tyler (Herro). He's like Shai (Gilgeous-)Alexander, those guys. He's just like them."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">After Herro set a new school record at the free-throw line last season, Quickley is threatening to make it a short-lived mark. Quickley is currently making 91.5% at the line, just behind Herro's 93.5%. He's ranked first in the SEC (through games on Feb. 22) and fifth in the nation in the category. He's enjoyed three different stretches of 24, 18 and 17 consecutive makes and missed more than one free throw in a game just once this season.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Further illustrating his cool, calm, clutch demeanor, Quickly is 30 of 31 at the free-throw line this season when it's a two-possession game at any point with 3:00 or less to go or the game is in overtime. Against Mississippi State, Quickley made all 14 of his free-throw attempts tying a school record for makes without a miss. Previously, Louie Dampier (Dec. 22, 1966 vs. Oregon State), Ramel Bradley (Nov. 7, 2007 vs. Gardner-Webb) and Jodie Meeks (Jan. 13, 2009 at Tennessee) also hit 14 without a miss. Quickley made eight of them in the final minute as Mississippi State tried to extend the game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mirroring his even-keel approach, Quickley has been Kentucky's most consistent performer in hostile territory. He's averaging a team-best 18.6 points in addition to 5.1 rebounds and 19 3-pointers (on 54.3% shooting) in UK's eight true road games.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Wildcats return to action at Texas A&M on Tuesday. Tip time is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game will air live on ESPN.</span></div>
<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-57653316858043676602020-01-30T00:03:00.003-05:002020-01-30T00:03:28.377-05:00Post Game Notes From Kentucky's 71-62 Win Over Vanderbilt<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES</b> <br />
<b>VANDERBILT at KENTUCKY</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>RUPP ARENA AT CENTRAL BANK CENTER | LEXINGTON</b><br />
<b>JAN. 29, 2020</b> <span style="color: red;"><br />
</span><b>ATTENDANCE: 20,311</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Final Score: No. 13/13 Kentucky 71, Vanderbilt 62</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Team Records and Series Notes</b> </span></div>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky is 16-4 overall, winner of eight of its last nine games. UK is 6-1 in the Southeastern Conference, the sixth time in 11 seasons that UK has started 6-1 in league play under Coach John Calipari. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vanderbilt is 8-12 overall, 0-7 in the SEC. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK leads the series 148-47 and has won seven in a row vs. the Commodores.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up: Kentucky plays Saturday at No. 17/16 Auburn. Game time is 6 p.m. ET (5 p.m. CT in Auburn) and it will be televised on ESPN. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Player Notes </b> </span></div>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Nick Richards </b>had 15 points and 11 rebounds – all except one rebound coming in the second half – his ninth double-double in 20 games.</span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He had one double-double in 74 games entering the season. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He scored in double figures for the ninth straight game and is averaging 17.3 points and 9.9 rebounds over the last nine games, both game highs. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 15-1 this season when he scores in double figures and 9-0 when he grabs double-digit rebounds.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Wildcats were plus-16 in Richards’ 22 minutes on the floor. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Tyrese Maxey </b>led the Wildcats in scoring with 17 points, his 13th double-figure scoring game of the season. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ashton Hagans </b>had 12 points with efficient shooting. He was 4 of 6 from the field and 4 of 5 at the foul line. He drew nine fouls in the game.</span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He had six assists to extend his five-or-more-assists streak to 17 straight games, the best streak since Tyler Ulis did it 24 straight games in 2015-16.</span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Immanuel Quickley </b>tallied 11 points, his ninth straight game in double figures. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He’s averaging 16.9 points over the last nine games.</span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>EJ Montgomery </b>had an efficient evening with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He had two crucial offensive rebound baskets during the second-half rally. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Coach John Calipari</b> </span></div>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Calipari is now 321-75 at UK. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He has a 766-215 all-time on-court record. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 259-43 against Associated Press unranked foes under Calipari.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 142-39 under Calipari in SEC regular-season games.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Calipari is now 18-4 all-time vs. Vanderbilt and notched his first career win vs. Jerry Stackhouse.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Team Notes</b> </span></div>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This marked UK’s first double-digit comeback win since Feb. 26, 2019, at home vs. Arkansas. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK won the rebounding 37-29, leading to an 11-0 advantage in second-chance points.</span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky is 14-0 this season when outrebounding the opponent.</span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Wildcats limited Vanderbilt to 62 points and 38.9% from the field.</span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 182-7 (.963) under Calipari when keeping the opponent to 63 points or less.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 197-18 (.916) under Calipari when keeping the opponent at 40% or less. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK shot 46.4% from the field and is now 15-1 this season when outshooting the opponent. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Entering the game at 77.1% at the foul line, the Wildcats had another solid performance at 84.2% (16 of 19).</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky led by 11 points late in the game. UK is now 276-7 under Calipari when leading by at least 10 points at any time in the contest.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky has won 11 in a row at home and is 12-1 on the season at Rupp Arena.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>In the First Half</b> </span></div>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The starting lineup consisted of <b>Ashton Hagans, Tyrese Maxey, Immanuel Quickley, EJ Montgomery </b>and <b>Nick Richards</b> for the sixth time this season. The Wildcats are 5-1 with the lineup. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maxey made a rim-bouncing 3-pointer on the first possession.</span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Richards picked up two quick fouls and was replaced by UK’s first sub, <b>Nate Sestina, </b>at the 16:34 mark. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">VU’s Scotty Pippen Jr. broke a 22-22 tie with a 3-pointer with 5:43 remaining. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vanderbilt went on to lead at halftime, 35-28, UK’s largest halftime deficit of the season. </span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is now 2-3 this season when trailing at halftime.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <b>In the Second Half</b> </span></div>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky began the second half with the opening lineup.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vanderbilt stretched the lead to 40-30 at the 18:20 mark of the second half, only the second opponent this season UK has trailed by double digits. UK was behind by as many as 17 vs. Utah.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky gradually edged back in the game, retaking the lead 51-50 with 9:27 to go on a second-chance basket by Montgomery. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Free throws by Quickley at 8:33 put UK ahead again at 53-52 and the Wildcats led the rest of the way. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ahead 60-58, UK closed the game on an 11-4 run.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK held Vanderbilt without a basket for the final 5:39 of the game. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Richards recorded 15 points and 10 rebounds after halftime. </span></li>
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Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-68656498268206255682020-01-26T00:23:00.001-05:002020-01-26T00:23:03.748-05:00Anthony Davis Voted A Starter In This Years NBA-ALL Star Game<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Former Kentucky great Anthony Davis will make his seventh consecutive appearance at the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 16 in his hometown of Chicago. Davis, who led UK to the national championship in 2012, was one of 10 starters announced on TNT on Thursday night. <br /><br />His seventh appearance is the most of any Wildcat. <br /><br />For the third straight year, teams for the All-Star Game will be chosen by two captains from the pool of players voted as starters and reserves. Votes were tallied from a pool of fans (50%), players (25%) and media (25%). As the All-Star starters who led their respective conferences in fan votes during NBA All-Star voting, <span class="scayt-misspell-word">LeBron</span> James (Los Angeles <span class="scayt-misspell-word">Lakers</span>) and <span class="scayt-misspell-word">Giannis</span> <span class="scayt-misspell-word">Antetokounmpo</span> (Milwaukee Bucks) will serve as this year's captains. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The complete team rosters will be unveiled on Jan 30 on TNT. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Davis is in his eighth season in the NBA and first for the Los Angeles Lakers. He and the Lakers are off to a terrific start to the season as the Lakers are currently in first place in the West with a 35-9 overall record. Davis is among the league leaders in a number of the major statistical categories. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 6-foot-11 forward ranks third in blocks (2.5 blocks per game), eighth in scoring (26.6), 16th in steals (1.5) and total double-doubles (17) and 20th in rebounding (9.1). His player efficiency rating, a strong indicator of a player’s overall contributions and value, is at 28.43, which ranks fourth in the league. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Already a two-time NBA Western Conference Player of the Week in 2019-20, Davis is among the midseason frontrunners for the league’s most valuable player award. He’s scored 40 or more points four times this season, including 50 on Dec. 8 vs. Minnesota. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The game will mark Davis’ fourth as a starter. He was also voted in as a starter for the 2015, 2017 and 2018 games. In 2017, he won MVP honors on what was then his home court in New Orleans. Davis scored an All-Star Game record 52 points in addition to contributing 10 rebounds. He broke Wilt Chamberlain’s previous scoring record of 42 points set in 1962. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Named the 2012 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player after leading Kentucky to the 2012 national championship, Davis has already put together a long list of accolades in the NBA during his short career. Among his most noteworthy achievements, he’s a three-time All-NBA First Team selection (2015, 2017 and 2018) and made the NBA All-Rookie Team in 2013. He was considered the consensus national player of the year in 2012 before being drafted No. 1 overall by the New Orleans Pelicans (formerly the New Orleans Hornets) in 2012. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Participants for the NBA Rising Stars Game, Taco Bell Skills Challenge, the MTN DEW 3-Point Contest and the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest have not been named yet. Those announcements are expected to be made soon. </span></div>
Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-25505434924906354722020-01-26T00:13:00.002-05:002020-01-26T00:13:14.990-05:00Post Game Notes From Kentucky's 76-74 Win Over Texas Tech<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES</b> <br /><b>KENTUCKY AT TEXAS TECH<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>UNITED SUPERMARKETS ARENA | LUBBOCK, TEXAS</b><br /><b>JAN. 25, 2020</b> <span style="color: red;"><br /></span><b>ATTENDANCE: 14,763<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Final Score: No. 15/14 Kentucky 76, No. 18 Texas Tech 74</b><span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Team Records and Series Notes</b> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky is 15-4 overall and winner of seven of its last eight games, including 3-1 in true road games. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK finished the regular season 10-3 against nonconference opponents, including 4-2 vs. Power 5 conference schools.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Texas Tech is 12-7 and tonight’s game ended a 54-game home nonconference winning streak.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Texas Tech had not lost at home to a nonconference opponent since losing to LSU on December 18, 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK leads the series 5-0, including 2-0 in Lubbock. This was the first meeting since December 1994 and only the second meeting between the two schools in Lubbock.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 4-3 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge and has won the last three in the event. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up: Kentucky returns to Southeastern Conference action Wednesday at home vs. Vanderbilt. Game time is 6:30 p.m. and the game will be telecast on the SEC Network.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 21.466665267944336px;">Player Notes </span></b><span style="line-height: 21.466665267944336px;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Playing a career-high 39 minutes, <b>Nick Richards </b>collected 25 points and 14 rebounds, his eighth double-double in 19 games. He had one double-double in 74 games prior to this season.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></li>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He shot the ball efficiently – 7 of 10 from the field, 11 of 14 free throws, including 5 of 5 in the overtime.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">11 of 14 free throws are career highs for both categories. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He scored in double figures for the eighth straight game and is averaging 17.6 points and 9.8 rebounds over the last eight games.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 11-0 this season when he has eight or more rebounds, 4-0 when he gets at least 20 points.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></li>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Playing a career-high 42 minutes, <b>Immanuel Quickley </b>had 21 points and six rebounds, highlighted by 4 of 8 on 3-point shots.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">o<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>He’s averaging 17.6 points over the last eight games, including 22 of 45 on 3-point shots.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Playing a career-high-tying 43 minutes, <b>Ashton Hagans </b>had six points, three rebounds, seven assists and three steals.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></li>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He extended his five-or-more-assists streak to 16 straight games, the best streak since Tyler Ulis did it 24 straight games in 2015-16.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 21.466665267944336px;">Coach John Calipari</span></b><span style="line-height: 21.466665267944336px;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coaches and support staffs from both teams wore Mike Slive Foundation lapel pins, bringing awareness to the fight against prostate cancer and honoring the late Southeastern Conference commissioner.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Calipari is now 320-75 at UK. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He has a 765-215 all-time on-court record. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 62-32 vs. Associated Press Top 25 competition under Calipari, including 3-1 this season.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 54-28 under Calipari when both teams are ranked. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was Calipari’s first game against Texas Tech.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 21.466665267944336px;">Team Notes</span></b><span style="line-height: 21.466665267944336px;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite the closeness of the game, UK never trailed in the second half or overtime.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK shot 43.6% from the field and is now 14-1 this season when outshooting the opponent.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Three-point shooting was a key difference-maker. UK made 7 of 15 from long range (46.7%) while Tech made 3 of 19 (15.8%).<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Entering the game at 76.7% at the foul line, the Wildcats had another solid performance at 84% (21 of 25).<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK won the rebounding 38-32.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 13-1 this season when outrebounding the opponent.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Wildcats overcame a season-high 20 turnovers and Tech won points off turnovers 25-9.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky led by 10 points in the second half. UK is now 275-7 under Calipari when leading by at least 10 points at any time in the contest.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky is now 61-49 all-time in overtime games, including 2-0 this season.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Dec. 28 this season, UK outlasted Louisville 78-70 in Rupp Arena. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK’s last OT win in a true road game was 70-64 in two OTs at Texas A&M, Feb. 2, 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 21.466665267944336px;">In the First Half</span></b><span style="line-height: 21.466665267944336px;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The starting lineup consisted of <b>Ashton Hagans, Tyrese Maxey, Immanuel Quickley, EJ Montgomery </b>and <b>Nick Richards</b> for the fifth time this season. The Wildcats are 4-1 with the lineup.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Keion Brooks Jr. </b>was UK’s first sub at the 15:47 mark. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quickley began the scoring with a 3-pointer on the game’s first possession.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The teams went back-and-forth all half, with eight lead changes and neither squad leading by more than five points.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK scored five points in the final five seconds and went to halftime ahead 36-34.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trailing 34-31, Maxey hit a jumper with five seconds left, and after a Texas Tech long-pass turnover, Quickley hit a heave from the midcourt line at the buzzer.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite the closeness of the game, Kentucky never trailed again.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 14-1 this season when leading at halftime.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.466665267944336px;"> <b>In the Second Half</b> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky began the second half with the opening lineup.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After Tech tied it with a layup on the first possession, Kentucky went on a 12-2 run, giving the Wildcats’ the first double-digit lead for either team, 48-38.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A baseline jumper by Richards with 6:15 remaining put UK ahead 61-53, but the Red Raiders rallied with a 10-2 run to tie it at 63 with 2:40 left.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From that point, each team made a foul shot and the game went to overtime tied at 64. UK went the final 6:14 of regulation without a basket.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 21.466665267944336px;">In the Overtime </span></b><span style="line-height: 21.466665267944336px;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Richards made two foul shots and then a traditional three-point play with 3:51 left to give UK a 69-64 lead. His basket ended a drought of 7:22 without a Wildcat basket.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A 3-pointer by <b>Nate Sestina </b>with 3:19 left gave UK a 72-66 lead. It was the first time in more than 10 minutes that anyone other than Richards had scored for UK. It also proved to be UK’s final basket of the game.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tech rallied to tie at 72, then Quickley made two foul shots with 47.9 seconds to play.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Uche Dibiamaka of Tech got a basket to tie with 30 seconds left and was fouled, missed the free throw, but Tech retrieved the miss.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the ensuing possession, Montgomery forced a missed shot and Richards was fouled on the rebound with 10 seconds left. Richards made both free throws to make it 76-74.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the next possession, Hagans slapped the ball away from a Red Raider driver. The ball went out of bounds and was awarded to UK with 0:00.4 on the clock.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-810634005337812812020-01-23T23:27:00.001-05:002020-01-23T23:27:35.030-05:00Hagans Added To Naismith Defensive Player of The Year Award List<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The reigning Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year is being recognized for his stout defense once again. Kentucky men’s basketball’s Ashton Hagans was one of 15 players to appear on the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s midseason watch list for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award on Wednesday. He is the only player from the SEC listed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Players not on the midseason list are still eligible to be selected as award semifinalists, which will be announced in February.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 6-foot-3 guard out of Cartersville, Georgia, is once again UK’s best on-ball defender with a team-high 39 steals, oftentimes drawing the assignment on the opposing team’s best offensive player. He’s averaging 2.2 swipes per game, which ranks among the top 30 in the country. In just 55 career games, Hagans has already amassed 100 career steals, which ranks among the top 35 in program history.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With Hagans spearheading the defensive effort, UK is limiting teams to 38.7% from the floor and 29.2% from long range, which both rank among the top 35 in the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“He’s the most indispensable player on this team,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas recently said in a telecast of the UK-Alabama game. “Without Ashton Hagans, a lot of fight goes out of this Kentucky team. I thought the best advertisement or promotion for Ashton Hagans for National Defensive Player of the Year – and he’s right there, I think, to get that award – was how he played in the ballgame (at) Georgia. There were at least three or four possessions in that ballgame where Georgia was taking it down in an advantage situation and Ashton Hagans disrupted it and it turned into two points for Kentucky.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last season, breaking onto the national stage because of his defensive prowess, Hagans was a finalist for last season’s Naismith award and was named to the <a href="http://collegeinsider.com/" style="color: #954f72;">CollegeInsider.com</a> Lefty Drisell Defensive All-America Team, the <a href="http://collegeinsider.com/" style="color: #954f72;">CollegeInsider.com</a> Kyle Macy Freshman All-America Team and the Athletic’s All-Glue Team.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK’s point guard’s game has evolved in year two and he’s impacting the game in a multitude of ways.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"We could say there are better point guards in the country, but you got to tell me who you're talking about," John Calipari said recently.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With the way Hagans is playing this season, there are few rebuttals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hagans has been the consummate point guard in his sophomore season, doing a little bit of everything to affect the game. He is averaging 13.6 points, 7.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game while grabbing the leadership reins of a talented but once again young team. He's one of only two players in the nation averaging at least 13.0 points, 7.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He has boasted double-figure scoring in 14 of 18 games, including a career-high 26-point performance in the win over Utah Valley. He's dished out three or more assists in every game and has five or more in 16 of the 18, including a career-high-tying 12 vs. UAB. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the season, Hagans is averaging 7.3 assists per game, ranked eighth in the country, tops in the league (through games on Jan. 21) and ahead of Tyler Ulis' 2015-16 school-record 7.0 assists per game pace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hagans has flirted with a triple-double on a number of occasions this season, the latest of which was a 15-point, nine-assist, nine-rebound game vs. Alabama. Underscoring his coach's confidence in him, Hagans posted that line and Calipari wasn't satisfied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"That's how much I think of (him)," Calipari said. "You're a triple-double, and I'm saying you're better."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hagans has done all this while fighting through a pair of nagging injuries this season. He battled lower leg pain for the first handful of games to start the season and played through a left ankle sprain early in the SEC season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK returns to action on Saturday when it takes on No. 18/18 Texas Tech in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Tip is set for 6 p.m. ET on ESPN.</span></div>
<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-90532186336488408042019-11-04T23:34:00.000-05:002019-11-04T23:34:11.445-05:00Coaches Tab Three Wildcats To Pre-Season All-SEC Teams<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Already tabbed <a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2Beomz9&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ccd8f30f3e82547f8a8e308d761622ffd%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C637084946640166660&sdata=beVfsW8ZeYvrzkIEZNbzDmUooqjnVNN1bhjx1c93i%2FM%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="http://bit.ly/2Beomz9" shash="p2n/HA4zHRb+exWBrmZo6CqtnUKSKm9jB5A7PY0Ilt3zsHuoyczS0XiNZtI9u9BOq2Ti1eluq7pnS6stNLGFHcIhYHgwK/l/FtN53k2rNIHvTzOpaB6zphGr3wYlohPvTvWQNhxVmo0R2qfffsrP/JTEo02LMSAuyM5RcaNa9Q4=" style="color: #954f72;">preseason All-Southeastern Conference by the league’s media</a>, Kentucky men’s basketball’s Ashton Hagans, Tyrese Maxey and EJ Montgomery were named preseason All-SEC players by the league’s coaches as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The coaches’ preseason All-SEC teams consist of a minimum of eight players on each squad, voted on by the SEC head coaches. No ties were broken and no predicted order of finish was made. The media <a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2Beomz9&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ccd8f30f3e82547f8a8e308d761622ffd%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C637084946640176616&sdata=bO5un1QQztD8lVazavagoRtW9lEaP1fjPspMPSaANSw%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="http://bit.ly/2Beomz9" shash="GMDJI2nssSBNayoZ6lq0qdS4UsjxM7Efm1r0duhDxqBaMuaqecHhXf4DFWQpHp7yQ3GZYyrDU2IXvzJyU6rRdY8zh8PwVRvXOax2wnNkKRlV2ei5L6ShWCtaLEqAt+5+dCOhDgmvkTOJZH2Z7bbv4gGGPbe+N70tg+nqREGOHes=" style="color: #954f72;">picked UK to win the league’s regular-season title</a> for a 49th time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All 14 schools are represented on the two teams with Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss and Tennessee all having two or more selections each. In all, 20 different players received votes for the coaches’ teams.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky has featured at least one player on the final All-SEC First Team since the 2006-07 season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hagans was named to the first team alongside Alabama’s Kira Lewis Jr., Florida’s Kerry Blackshear and Andrew Nembhard, Georgia’s Anthony Edwards, LSU’s Skylar Mays, Ole Miss’ Breein Tyree, Mississippi State’s Reggie Perry, and South Carolina’s A.J. Lawson. Blackshear, Edwards, Tyree and Perry all also joined media’s first team, which was released in October.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Montgomery and Maxey were joined on the second team by Arkansas’ Isaiah Joe, Auburn’s Austin Wiley, LSU’s Javonte Smart, Ole Miss’ Devontae Shuler, Missouri’s Jeremiah Tilmon Jr., Tennessee’s Jordan Bowden and Lamonté Turner, Texas A&M’s Savion Flagg, and Vanderbilt’s Aaron Nesmith. UK’s duo was also joined by Joe and Turner on the media’s second-team selections.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hagans shared the coaches’ 2019 SEC Defensive Player of the Year award after inducing 61 steals during his freshman campaign and is considered one of the best on-ball defenders in college basketball. He is also UK’s leading returning scorer at 7.7 points per game. The 6-foot-3 guard was a two-time SEC Freshman of the Week award winner, was named to the Athletic’s All-Glue Team and was a Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Bob Cousy Award preseason watch list candidate (Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s top point guard) started in 30 of 37 games a season ago and tied Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the third-most steals in program history. Included in that was a UK single-game record of eight swipes in a win over North Carolina in December, which matched Rajon Rondo and Wayne Turner’s output. He also dished out 160 assists on the season, ranked the fifth most by a UK freshman in school history. That mark includes an SEC Tournament-record 12 assists in the semifinals against Tennessee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Cartersville, Georgia, native scored in double figures in 13 games and recorded a career-high 23 points in a win at Georgia in his return to his hometown state. He totaled 29 games with three or more assists and had 10 games with three or more steals. In UK’s two exhibition games, he averaged 10.5 points and a team-high 9.5 assists per game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maxey begins his freshman campaign with the Wildcats as the No. 10 overall prospect by the Recruiting Services Consensus Index. He was a Naismith High School Boys’ 2019 All-America Second Team selection. As a senior at South Garland High School, he averaged 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 6-foot-3 guard was tabbed Texas Mr. Basketball and was the Dallas-Fort Worth Area Player of the Year. He was a two-time All-State selection and was a 2019 McDonald’s All American. His success stretches beyond high school basketball as he also won a gold medal as a member of the U18 USA Team.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to his preseason All-SEC honors, Maxey made NBC Sports’ preseason All-America Third Team, was an Associated Press preseason All-America Honorable Mention selection and is on the Jerry West Award watch list for the Naismith Hall of Fame’s top shooting guard. He’s lived up to the preseason billing with an average of 10.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game in Kentucky’s two exhibition games.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Earlier Monday, Maxey and Montgomery were named to the <a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fukathletics.com%2Fnews%2F2019%2F11%2F4%2Fmens-basketball-hagans-maxey-on-preseason-naismith-trophy-watch-list.aspx&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ccd8f30f3e82547f8a8e308d761622ffd%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C637084946640176616&sdata=hDoCxcDLLM0Ky42f%2BYZ4w5n4qG9uausCERa7HrwTlfM%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/4/mens-basketball-hagans-maxey-on-preseason-naismith-trophy-watch-list.aspx" shash="S+L2wPQCn14zs7vUOp5Ye2iP6blzkA30JipptMe7fy6IKeDw3hqRSNtNZWhDBZxtmJh+Gtuipfh2sPCnY0UNkrJMchuxsvVL27A3eYsslcrupst/GhKmn6rR45Yb4WXHEMoxNWcbZ3jtPxQSijJWyHNpRzFWFy3f2Iqd/9tFEzA=" style="color: #954f72;">preseason Naismith Trophy watch list</a> as Atlanta Tipoff Club national player of the year candidates. Maxey is also on the watch list for the <a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fukathletics.com%2Fnews%2F2019%2F11%2F4%2Fmens-basketball-maxey-lands-on-nabc-division-i-player-of-the-year-watch-list.aspx&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ccd8f30f3e82547f8a8e308d761622ffd%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C637084946640176616&sdata=XQFt9xsKMHsrT5GY347djXRsBaWKveP6%2BEVq1TqkmrQ%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/4/mens-basketball-maxey-lands-on-nabc-division-i-player-of-the-year-watch-list.aspx" shash="y0VTbFa+F89FL/FIkihzXM3NveDSzWHbfV3jHd+WqjBXyOoU0mOysvS7kQppp0mt9ewfrlPxkUphJrmjPr0bBlBuyeyfGS7038b+yyczB6baLih6frTYhTywoGshFDEz1ghF8DqktY8A44NJwhqCMsWkEzdhhIUz68yso623lN4=" style="color: #954f72;">National Association of Basketball Coaches Division I Player of the Year</a> award.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Montgomery elected to return for his sophomore season after considering a jump to the pro ranks following positive feedback from the NBA. He appeared in all 37 games for the Wildcats during his freshman season, including making 10 starts. He started in nine of UK’s final 11 games and the Wildcats were 9-1 during that stretch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Florida native is UK’s leading returning rebounder at 4.1 boards per game. He also averaged 3.8 points per game and shot with a 48% rate from the field. Montgomery’s 38 blocks ranked third on the team and led the team in the category in 14 games. His best game of the season came with career highs in points (11) and rebounds (13) in a win over South Carolina. He also snared 11 boards in his NCAA Tournament debut against Abilene Christian. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Montgomery posted 6.5 points, 4.5 boards and 1.5 blocks per game in UK’s two exhibition games. He’s on the Karl Malone Award preseason watch list for the Naismith Hall of Fame’s best power forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Wildcats open the regular season in New York for the State Farm Champions Classic on Tuesday. They will face Michigan State at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN in a matchup of the two top-ranked teams in the country, according to the Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It will mark just the second time in NCAA Division I history the AP No. 1 and No. 2 teams played in their respective openers, according to STATS. No. 1 Indiana defeated No. 2 UCLA in November 1975.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tuesday’s matchup will be the ninth 1-2 matchup the Wildcats have been a part of. They’re 5-3 all-time in such games. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-80981011166778096072019-10-16T00:25:00.002-04:002019-10-16T00:25:41.552-04:00UK Picked To Win SEC Title; Three on All SEC Preseason Honor List<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Eleventh-year head coach John Calipari has often described Kentucky as the hunted within the ranks of the Southeastern Conference. With more regular-season and tournament titles than the entire league combined, it’s not a far-fetched mantra. If the 2019-20 preseason media poll conducted by the league’s media proves true, Kentucky will once again be the pursued.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK was voted to win their sixth regular-season title under Calipari by the league’s media members. Should Kentucky achieve the feat, it would mark the program’s 49th overall regular-season title. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s the 15th time since the 1998-99 season the Wildcats are the overall preseason favorite. Calipari has directed his teams to regular-season SEC crowns in 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Kentucky has claimed the SEC Tournament title six times under his direction in 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each school selected media members that cover their team and additional media from across the nation were selected by the conference office to comprise the voting panel. Points were compiled on a 14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Each media member also voted for two All-SEC teams.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to the preseason poll, three players were selected to the preseason All-SEC squads. Sophomore guard Ashton Hagans was picked to the first team, while freshman guard Tyrese Maxey and sophomore forward EJ Montgomery were tabbed to the second team. Hagans also received at least one vote for the preseason pick for SEC Player of the Year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hagans is joined by Florida’s Kerry Blackshear, Georgia’s Anthony Edwards, Ole Miss’ Breein Tyree and Mississippi State’s Reggie Perry on the first team. Blackshear was the choice of the media for the preseason player of the year. Joining Maxey and Montgomery on the second team were Alabama’s Kira Lewis Jr., Arkansas’ Isaiah Joe, Florida’s Andrew Nembhard, LSU’s Skylar Mays and Tennessee’s Lamonté Turner. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hagans shared the 2019 SEC Defensive Player of the Year award after inducing 61 steals during his freshman campaign and is considered one of the best on-ball defenders in college basketball. He is also UK’s leading returning scorer at 7.7 points per game. The 6-foot-3 guard was a two-time SEC Freshman of the Week award winner, was named to The Athletic’s All-Glue Team and was a Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He started in 30 of 37 games a season ago and tied Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the third-most steals in program history. Included in that was a UK single-game record of eight swipes in a win over North Carolina in December, which matched Rajon Rondo and Wayne Turner’s output. He also dished out 160 assists on the season, ranked the fifth most by a UK freshman in school history. That mark includes an SEC Tournament-record 12 assists in the semifinals against Tennessee. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Cartersville, Georgia, native scored in double figures in 13 games and recorded a career-high 23 points in a win at Georgia in his return to his hometown state. He totaled 29 games with three or more assists and had 10 games with three or more steals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maxey begins his freshman campaign with the Wildcats as the No. 10 overall prospect by the Recruiting Services Consensus Index. He was a Naismith High School Boys’ 2019 All-America Second Team selection. As a senior at South Garland High School, he averaged 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 6-foot-3 guard was tabbed Texas Mr. Basketball and was the Dallas-Fort Worth Area Player of the Year. He was a two-time All-State selection and was a 2019 McDonald’s All American. His success stretches beyond high school basketball as he also won a gold medal as a member of the U18 USA Team.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Montgomery elected to return for his sophomore season after considering a jump to the pro ranks following positive feedback from the NBA. He appeared in all 37 games for the Wildcats during his freshman season, including making 10 starts. He started in nine of UK’s final 11 games and the Wildcats were 9-1 during that stretch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He’s UK’s leading returning rebounder at 4.1 boards per game. He also averaged 3.8 points per game and shot with a 48% rate from the field. His 38 blocks ranked third on the team and led the team in the category in 14 games. His best game of the season came with career highs in points (11) and rebounds (13) in a win over South Carolina. He also snared 11 boards in his NCAA Tournament debut against Abilene Christian. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky is slated to begin exhibition play beginning with its annual Blue-White Game on Friday. That game will air live on the SEC Network at 7 p.m. UK will follow that with two tune-ups against Georgetown College on Oct. 27 at 5 p.m. and Kentucky State on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. Both games will air live on SEC Network. The Wildcats open the regular season in New York for the State Farm Champions Classic. They will face Michigan State at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-70687885608683874162019-04-10T00:51:00.001-04:002019-04-10T00:51:22.639-04:00P.J. Washington Ends His Career At Kentucky And Will Enter The NBA Draft<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> When PJ Washington decided to return to Kentucky a year ago, he cited a desire to become a more complete player and help the Wildcats compete for a championship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although the Wildcats fell a game short of their first Final Four since 2015, Washington fulfilled the goals he set out for in his sophomore season as he emerged as one of the best players in college basketball in helping Kentucky become a national title contender.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With his work complete at UK, Washington will now pursue a lifelong goal: to play in the NBA. Washington will submit his name for the 2019 NBA Draft and plans to remain among the potential draftees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“It’s been a little over a week since our season ended but it still hasn’t hit me that I’ve played my last game with Kentucky across my chest,” Washington said. “This place has been my home for two years and it’s hard for me to put in words how much I’ve grown in my time at Kentucky. The staff challenged me from day one to become the best version of myself and to work hard to become one of the best players in college basketball. I feel like I’ve done that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“When I decided to come back to school a year ago, I knew there were things I still wanted to accomplish so I challenged myself to become a better all-around player, to develop more consistency and to become a leader for this team. Although we fell a couple games short of our ultimate goal, I’ll never forget the season we had with my brothers. We did some special things this season and made memories that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I want to thank God, Coach Cal and the staff with challenging me to become the player that I am. They believed in my potential and never accepted anything less than my best. Thank you helping me grow into a man that’s ready for this next step. To my teammates: Wow, we have been through so much. Thank you for putting your trust in me and for inspiring me through every workout, practice and game. I’ll never forget this group. And to everyone at UK: Thank you for your support and for helping a kid from Dallas see his dreams come true.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington will end his career with 932 points, 475 rebounds 120 assists and 74 blocks, but his legacy will stretch far beyond his numbers or accolades. He racked up numerous All-American honors, including NCAA Consensus All-America Third Team selection, as he put the NBA on hold for a season to become a more complete player.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I’m so proud of PJ and what he’s accomplished over the last two seasons,” UK head coach John Calipari said. “When he was in this position last year, he had to determine what was best for him. He looked at this and said, I want to come back and work on my game, to be coached, to become one of the best players in the game and to help us be one of those teams in the mix. And I told him, do not come back to school unless you’re going to drag your teammates with you. And boy did he ever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“PJ transformed everything about his game. He became a national player of the year candidate, he showed his full set of his skills and he improved his stock while helping us become one of the best teams in the country. What I’m most proud of is how PJ developed into a leader. Every kid is on their own timetable, and the one that PJ followed – which was the best path for him – has put him in a position to do some special things at the next level. I can’t wait to watch his continued growth.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington evolved into one of the nation’s most dominant players in his sophomore campaign. He produced career highs in virtually every statistical category in 2018-19, including leading the Wildcats in scoring (15.2 points per game), rebounding (7.5 rpg) and double-doubles (nine).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He was an absolute force in the second half of the season as he scored in double figures in 19 of his final 20 games and 25 overall. He suffered a sprained left foot in the second half of the Southeastern Conference Tournamentsemifinals against Tennessee on March 16 and did not play in UK’s opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but he returned to lead the Wildcats to their seventh Elite Eight appearance in 10 seasons under Calipari the following week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington played 26 minutes and scored 16 points against Houston in the Sweet 16. He then gutted out 37 minutes and charted his ninth double-double of the season in an overtime loss to Auburn in the Elite Eight. Washington had 28 points, one shy of his career high, 13 boards, three assists, two blocks and two steals. He was named to the Midwest Regional All-Tournament Team for his efforts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During his final 20-game stretch, he shot 53.1 percent from the floor and 46.2 percent from 3-point range. That span also included three straight double-doubles vs. then-No. 9/10 Kansas, at Vanderbilt and at Florida.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the season, Washington shot 52.2 percent from the floor and 42.3 percent from 3-point range. A year after hitting just five 3s in 37 games at a 23.8-percent rate, he drained 33 this season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the truest indicator of Washington’s worth this season was his impressive play vs. Kentucky’s best competition. In the 11 games he played vs. Associated Press Top 25 teams, Washington averaged a team-high 17.2 points and added 6.8 rebounds while shooting 54.8 percent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington was well-recognized for his accomplishments. He was tabbed a third-team All-America selection by the four NCAA-recognized All-America teams (Sporting News, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, National Association of Basketball Coaches and the AP), in addition to All-America honors from USA Today (Second Team), Sports Illustrated (Third Team) and the Basketball Times (Third Team).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He was also tabbed an All-SEC First Team pick, was one of five finalists for the Karl Malone Award, presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top power forward in college basketball, appeared on the John R. Wooden Award national ballot, and was a Citizen Naismith Trophy semifinalist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A full list of Washington’s 2018-19 honors are below:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">NCAA Consensus All-America Third Team<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"><a href="http://collegeinsider.com/" style="color: #954f72;">CollegeInsider.com</a> Lute Olson All-America Team<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">Sporting News All-America Third Team<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">USBWA All-District IV Team<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">Karl Malone Award Finalist<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">Wooden Award Finalist<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">Naismith Citizen Trophy Semifinalist<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">Two-time SEC Player of the Week<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week (Feb. 18)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 2019 NBA Draft Combine will take place May 15-19 in Chicago, although it hasn’t been determined yet if Washington will participate. The 2019 NBA Draft is June 20 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since Calipari joined the Wildcat program for the 2009-10 season, UK has produced 35 NBA Draft picks over nine seasons, nearly twice as many as the next-closest school (Duke). Included in the 35 are 26 first-rounders, three No. 1 overall picks and 19 lottery selections. </span></div>
<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-21281895021253125922019-04-10T00:47:00.002-04:002019-04-10T00:47:39.947-04:00Ashton Hagans is Coming Back For a Second Year<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxz4j9ukXvgi4Bbl94cnF7ThNRjZdJPn3YHffHznqAei6f_c23fgh-t59992SAL4Y2YzpuwqsomJ2Rfrl8O9pzZfni5-Y3fBp_7KSljDLJf3DYC469Hh5PJUMJTRqM0Ev2Rj1w36KErL2/s1600/auburn-v-kentucky-5cad1c12847033f23a000001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="912" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxz4j9ukXvgi4Bbl94cnF7ThNRjZdJPn3YHffHznqAei6f_c23fgh-t59992SAL4Y2YzpuwqsomJ2Rfrl8O9pzZfni5-Y3fBp_7KSljDLJf3DYC469Hh5PJUMJTRqM0Ev2Rj1w36KErL2/s640/auburn-v-kentucky-5cad1c12847033f23a000001.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Ashton Hagans is coming back for year two.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky men’s basketball’s starting point guard in 2018-19 and one of the best defenders in the country <a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fp%2FBwDQaATlc8k%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7C464e0e959d034871a5d508d6bd421f0f%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636904489011470129&sdata=3EUVm0K70LUoSHpTehNpJ%2FG5pY%2BQfte0ZditohzXabU%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://www.instagram.com/p/BwDQaATlc8k/" shash="kaCDdaQES0fM+0Gyy3aF9rI5nnwtGANXYD6K11OhS3422XTdtJX5tOA7xKhYzc0wuKcj6oArv4xyNAxmYeUMvE4fF6XLcCMzBFJElQt/GbwBT5eG+AoPFlTFmmU7CmUuhBboBbEjGJz68znVWZvk2TVZcOSDVwbuWtPf3S0GfqI=" style="color: #954f72;">announced Tuesday</a> he will be returning to UK next season as a sophomore. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“We had a great season this year but I want more,” Hagans said. “I know I’ve only scratched the surface with my game and there’s so much more I want to accomplish at Kentucky. Coach Cal and the staff have challenged me since day one, and I know with another season at UK we can chase some special things with the same mindset. I can’t wait to get back to work with my brothers.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With several decisions still looming from Kentucky’s 2018-19 roster, Hagans’ return will definitely bolster what should be another strong team in 2019-20. Hagans led the Wildcats in assists (160) and steals (61) as a freshman while starting in 30 of 37 games.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I had a great meeting with Ashton,” UK head coach John Calipari said. “He had a wonderful season but he’s not satisfied. He said his desire was to come back and continue to grow and do some special things at Kentucky. That’s all I needed to hear. He’s ready for the challenge, and I’m all in with him.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hagans became one of the Wildcats’ most impactful players late in the nonconference season with suffocating defense. Embracing his role as a defensive stopper, he tied the school record with eight steals vs. No. 9/10 North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic (previously set by Wayne Turner on Nov. 24, 1997, vs. George Washington and Rajon Rondo on Feb. 19, 2005, vs. Mississippi State).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the game, UNC head coach and Hall of Famer Roy Williams said of Hagans’ defense: "Ashton Hagans is 2 for 6, seven points, and I thought in some ways he was more dominating in the game than anybody."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The breakout performance would spark a dominating defensive stretch that transformed Kentucky into a national contender.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Starting with that UNC game, Hagans corralled at least three steals in seven straight games to become the only player in school history with such a streak (since steals became an official NCAA statistic in 1985-86). According to STATS, he was the first major-conference freshman with three or more steals in seven or more straight games since Wake Forest's Chris Paul did it 10 straight games in the 2003-04 season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hagans finished the season with 61 steals, tied with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the third-most steals by a freshman in school history. His 1.6 steals per game ranked eighth in the Southeastern Conference.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hagans’ work on the defensive side of the ball earned him SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors alongside LSU’s Tremont Waters. He was also tabbed to the SEC All-Defensive Team, the <a href="http://collegeinsider.com/" style="color: #954f72;">CollegeInsider.com</a> Kyle Macy Freshman All-America Team, the <a href="http://collegeinsider.com/" style="color: #954f72;">CollegeInsider.com</a> Lefty Drisell Defensive All-America Team and the Athletic’s All-Glue Team. He was a Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year finalist and twice won SEC Freshman of the Week honors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Hagans' defensive stock went on the rise, his offensive numbers followed. He scored seven or more points in 20 of the last 31 games, including back-to-back-to-back career-high scoring days vs. Louisville (11), Alabama (12) and Texas A&M (18), followed by a 15-point effort vs. Vanderbilt. Hagans then topped it with a career-high 23-point effort in his homecoming on the road at Georgia. He scored in double figures in seven of the last 12 games, including twice in the NCAA Tournament, and finished with a 7.7 scoring average.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hagans’ improving shot was on display at the end of the season. He made nine 3-pointers over the final 12 games after making five in the prior 25.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to his scoring output, he led the Cats with 4.3 assists per game, which ranked seventh in the SEC. His 160 assists tied for the fifth most in a single season by a UK freshman in program history. Against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament semifinals, he dished out a career-high 12 assists, which also ranked as the most ever in a tournament game in program history. </span></div>
<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-80863243200021149362019-03-21T22:41:00.001-04:002019-03-21T22:41:20.428-04:00Box-Score From Kentucky's First Round Win Over Abilene Christian<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-85635713992307534882019-03-17T22:12:00.002-04:002019-03-17T22:12:53.613-04:00Kentucky Earns Record 58th NCAA Tournament appearance With 2 Seed in the Mid-West<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The University of Kentucky men's basketball team extended its national record for most NCAA Tournament appearances to 58 on Sunday, as the team was selected as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region. The Wildcats will play Abilene Christian, the region’s No. 15 seed, on Thursday, in Jacksonville, Florida.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">This is the seventh time in program history Kentucky has earned a No. 2 seed in the annual event. Most recently, the Cats participated as the No. 2 seed in the South Region of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, falling 75-73 to eventual national champion No. 1 North Carolina in the regional final after defeating the Tar Heels 103-100 in the regular season.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">The Wildcats finished the 2018-19 regular season winning six of seven to cap off a 15-3 Southeastern Conference slate and a share of second place in the league standings. UK’s 27-6 overall record entering the NCAA Tournament includes winning streaks of 10, seven and four games.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Kentucky is 47-10 in NCAA Tournament openers and has won 24 of its last 25 opening-round games. The Cats own a 126-51 all-time record in NCAA action, with their .712 winning percentage the fifth-best in NCAA history. UK is making its sixth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Kentucky is set for its first all-time matchup with Abilene Christian. ACU is coming off a 77-60 win over New Orleans in the championship of the Southland Conference Tournament on Saturday. Abilene Christian will be making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament after making the jump to Division I in 2013-14. ACU is 27-6 on the year and has won eight of its last nine games. Abilene Christian is averaging 74.4 points per game this season and is paced by senior forward Jaren Lewis, who is averaging 13.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">With a win over Abilene Christian, Kentucky would face the winner of the No. 7 Wofford (29-4) and No. 10 Seton Hall (20-13). UK has never faced Wofford, while the Wildcats and Pirates met in December at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Seton Hall claimed an 84-83 decision in overtime for a 2-1 lead in the all-time head-to-head series. </span><br /><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><br />Tickets for the first and second round games in Jacksonville can be purchased by visiting <span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;"><b><a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncaa.com%2Ftickets%2Fbasketball-men%2Fd1&data=02%7C01%7C%7C3f56f020020f4531cc6508d6ab35d4c8%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636884645014836827&sdata=xjL8JiHLKJmgrEnHA%2FMJNCWpaaPTbXNFF7KsZ3jt91Q%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://www.ncaa.com/tickets/basketball-men/d1" shash="mkxWr0atqAqiYsUrmAxFQv9ekXt7wQ6JWjY4RQ0XpByAgsQD2c1aMmC7BxVIUlj1Nbky1iGWA0nC/dzyFOb7X8O1cFYhwum7Yp3CKB5EOFS77fsyj8VDZ1TbEqCv9cLjlP8Rp/BYcEhESyav0BmZ324JmEBoA6+jKxYAkzuLMBE=" style="color: #954f72;">NCAA.com/MBBTickets</a></b></span>. Fans will find complete ticket information for all NCAA sites, including information on the NCAA Ticket Exchange (<span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;"><b><a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncaa.com%2Fexchange&data=02%7C01%7C%7C3f56f020020f4531cc6508d6ab35d4c8%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636884645014836827&sdata=FvkYN3AcWqpy8p9TkHfFPcIr4Kr%2FKcKu34xiANtg0aQ%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://www.ncaa.com/exchange" shash="oC1WcdYu8WN/1rG8vlRngtPjQ1eD1u8nvxbtSrj50OQtXEv7Hj+PZ7hx+d19scnObmCqNErtg5PtEv7DTqZZa42Yq+3qAceYPrzwbKBP+zuBD5XXs1FfPaKWifd6T8Y0QhevB+ha09aftNppal0cnW/dS5L4dyOjXV7cpMF9Mic=" style="color: #954f72;">NCAA.com/Exchange</a></b></span>), the official secondary marketplace for authentic NCAA Tournament tickets. Preliminary student ticket information is posted online at <span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;"><b><a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fukathleticstix.com%2Fsports%2F2019%2F3%2F14%2Fmbb-student-postseason-tickets.aspx&data=02%7C01%7C%7C3f56f020020f4531cc6508d6ab35d4c8%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636884645014846832&sdata=OoBuGghbw2Jpk0D7KtcUVrbVuggEhVg%2BKfvo4rObxNM%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://ukathleticstix.com/sports/2019/3/14/mbb-student-postseason-tickets.aspx" shash="vrhLS0ZTE+Mpfi4UZO48eNqmtQV4wcPS56V2/nOfXUQ1B1v+plnwJfz7hDuILWlVAHiNZI2tfvGKSHHM1GKDCiB9IZ1KZ/ox4Kkps0aC1zYBxCCgaNxqzr97SP4BEwv+VOMpynJdeG1pYVCDq/siAvhz5HTiuT2340pRpj3BJ+A=" style="color: #954f72;">UKStudentTix.com</a></b></span><b> </b>and will be updated with specifics later this evening.</span></div>
<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-27276427081999301922019-03-17T22:06:00.003-04:002019-03-17T22:06:50.381-04:00Calipari's Thought's On Selection Sunday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK Head Coach John Calipari</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>On how the NCAA Tournament draw turned out</i><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><i>…</i></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“It’s fine. I mean I thought that there was a chance we play in Louisville. I thought it was slim, but it was none. None! Not happening, but that’s fine. I mean this thing has a lot of good teams. The teams in our little corner of the bracket, one beat us, the other team is the team you knew. Then, Abilene Christian I don’t know much about, but if they are in my guess is that they shoot 3s. Which means if they make 20, we lose in the first round. I mean at this time of the year it’s one and done. Look, we’ve used the year to prepare these kids for this tournament and the stuff that we just went through where you have your chances, a couple of things happen out of your control, a couple of things happen in your control. Then all of the sudden, you drop a game. What a great lesson going in. I remember 2012, we were up with four to five minutes to go, and then we let go of the rope and lost. That was the best thing that happened in 2012. So, we’ll see.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>On if Kentucky was the No. 1 seed playing the No. 2 seed Duke in Charlotte</i><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><i>…</i></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Well, when I was at Memphis, we played Texas A&M in Houston and then we played Texas in San Antonio and we were the higher seed. It happens against me.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>On the thought of playing Kansas in Kansas City</i><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><i>…</i></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I haven’t even looked so I don’t know, you’re telling me stuff. Look, every team right now, it’s who’s hot, who’s fresh. You have some teams that are beat up a little bit. You are just trying to survive game after game. These kids are so young, I told them to stop watching games because you don’t need anything other than what you have at hand. You have to have that free mind and any anxiety you have watching games is stupid and wasted. Teams that you may think you will play end up getting beat. Stay in the moment. Last year we had a heck of a run, the year before we had a heck of a run. Both games we had a chance of winning and advancing. It came down to the last play or two. The way Nick (Richards) and EJ (Montgomery) played in the first half, first half! Immanuel (Quickley) has gotten better. Jamarl (Baker Jr.) didn’t have a chance, but I told him you’re going to have a chance in this tournament. The main reason is; I know I can put him in because he can defend. He’s engaged with our team defensively. I said you get in the game and do something. It’s crazy, all of the sudden people will be talking about you. But, you need to be ready.”</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>On if the team learned a lesson from the loss to Tennessee…</b></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Hopefully Reid (Travis) doesn’t get three tough foul calls. All three of them were really tough foul calls which took him out of the game. He would’ve been in that game and I imagine he would’ve got that ball. But it’s the other guys, like you’ve got to fight. It’s a dog fight and you have to give them credit. They kept giving him foul shots, but guess what? They kept making them. Then that kid makes the corner three, (Grant) Williams, it shows how mentally tough he is, not just physically. Throwing his body, flopping all over the place, getting fouls called, charges were blocks but it didn’t matter because he made foul shots and he made that three in the corner. We had a couple of turnovers that were, you know. I even told them when I look at the stats, I can’t believe we lost that game. I’ll watch the tape but if you look at the stat line, how in the world did we lose that? And until you had a charge called, a walk called, a step out of bounds… who stepped out? Did our guys step out, did their guy step out? Those three turnovers put us at 11, we had eight turnovers against that team? Come on. That’s why I said I feel good going in, let’s go let’s play the games. Not even unhappy we’re playing on Thursday because we didn’t play this afternoon so let’s play on Thursday. “</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>On playing a team “on edge”… </b></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Everybody’s going to have an edge. Everybody’s playing for their life and survival. Can a team go back to their training? You can’t play up to the tournament. You know why? Because you can do that in 15 minutes. You can’t play up to the opponent because you can do that for 15 minutes. You have to play to your training, you play to your conditioning. And that you can do for 40 minutes and if you can play for 40 minutes, you’ll have a chance to win every game you play. You may not win them all because there’s so many other factors that are involved in it, but you put yourself in the best position to win if you can play if your team can play 40 the way they are capable of playing it. “</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>On your reaction to North Carolina being the third No. 1 seed from the ACC….</b></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I mean, it is what it is. That’s how they felt. It is what it is.”</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>On Tennessee getting the spot in Louisville…</b></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I’ll call him and say I’ve had to do that a few times and as a matter of fact, against you when he was at Texas.”</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>On if you have watched any North Carolina games this year…</b></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I haven’t watched them since we played. Guys look, I watch <i>The Last Frontier</i>, <i>Life Below Zero</i>, anybody watch those? The whole time I’m telling my wife I can do that. She’s like, psshh you can’t do that. <i>Building Off The Grid,</i> anybody watch that? I’m giving you stuff to help your culture. No, I didn’t watch the <i>Top Chef</i>, even that episode I haven’t. I don’t have time for that. So, I’m not watching other teams. I get to watch my own team and I get to watch the opponents we’re playing. I’d like to have a life so I may turn on a game for five minutes and I watch it. I think I watched the Duke vs. North Carolina game for about three minutes in the first half. North Carolina, I think I was like wow and then they told me what the score was, and I said how in the world did that happen. North Carolina’s playing good. The point guard’s playing good. They’re good. I’m not worried about them, we have to get through Abilene Christian. That’s all I’m worried about right now.”</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>On being excited about Belmont getting a bid…</b></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Yeah Rick Byrd and I are good friends. Coach Byrd, they let us use their gym again and we talked about it. I told him with what you’ve done, you deserve to be in this thing, you should be at large and then what happens is all of a sudden, all these bubble teams start popping up and if you’re Belmont, you’re like what did this do. They deserve to be in it, and who wants to play them? I mean go ahead, they’re going to take 30 3’s and run their stuff and execute. I don’t want to play them either. That’s not a good one to play.”</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>On how do you get freshman to play to their training…</b></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“It’s hard, but you just talk about it. I was in huddles just saying play to the training, how do we make that play? What kind of play are we making there? We’ve done it a thousand times, play to the training, don’t do what you want to do, don’t do what you did in high school, it does not work here. And, that is where your coaching comes in. You take a guy out and coach him immediately. Is that the training, is that what you know? You ask, well why would you do that? You can’t be in on that. Then you put them back in and they understand that. It’s a process when you have young guys. “</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>On is it easy to spot when players aren’t playing to their training… </b></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“No. A lot of times it’s as the game goes on and they get a little tired. I even said we kind of rode Ashton (Hagans) and now he gets tired that last minute-and-a-half or two minutes. So, we rode him and went high, pick and roll so it was like uh oh they can’t guard, well that was him. “</span></div>
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<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-27801879872941373002019-03-15T23:25:00.001-04:002019-03-15T23:25:18.656-04:00Notes From Kentucky's Win Over Alabama<div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">KENTUCKY vs. ALABAMA</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT | BRIDGESTONE ARENA | NASHVILLE, TENN.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>MARCH 15, 2019<br />
</b><b>ATTENDANCE: TBA</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Final Score: No. 4 Kentucky 73, Alabama 55</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Team Records and Series Notes</span></b></div>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky is 27-5 overall and has won three in a row. Alabama is 18-15. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky leads the series 113-38. In the regular season, Alabama won 77-75 in Tuscaloosa.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky advances to the SEC Tournament semifinals vs. Tennessee or Mississippi State. Saturday’s semi is at approximately 3:30 p.m. EDT (2:30 p.m. CDT in Nashville). The game will be televised on ESPN.</span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the First Half</span></b></div>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky started the combination of <b>Ashton Hagans, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, PJ Washington</b> and <b>EJ Montgomery </b>for the fourth time.<b> </b>UK is 4-0 with this lineup.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tied at 9, Kentucky stormed an 11-0 run over five straight possessions – taking only 1:15 off the clock – for a 20-9 lead. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following an Alabama basket, UK surged six more points for a total run of 17-2 and a 26-11 lead.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sparked by nine blocked shots – already a season high – and limiting Alabama to 31 percent shooting, Kentucky took a 39-29 lead into halftime</span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the Second Half</span></b></div>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky opened with the second half with Hagans, Herro, Johnson, Washington and <b>Reid Travis</b>.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alabama got the first basket of the half, cutting the deficit to eight at 39-31, but the Crimson Tide got no closer. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky largest lead was the final score at 73-55.</span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Team Notes</span></b></div>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK held Alabama to 55 points. UK is a perfect 73-0 under Coach John Calipari when keeping the opponent to 55 points of fewer, including 9-0 this season.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK limited Alabama to 30.4 percent shooting. UK is 179-15 (.923) under Calipari when keeping the opponent at 40 percent or less, including 15-0 this season.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky blocked a season-high 11 shots, nine of which came in the first half. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky led the rebounding 42-32, a major difference from the first time these teams met, when Alabama won the rebounding by eight.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to winning the rebounding, UK also led the points in the paint, 34-18.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK led by as many as 18 points tonight. UK is 257-5 (.981) during the Calipari era when leading by at least 10 points at any time in the contest. </span></li>
</ul>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the SEC Tournament</span></b></div>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky has an all-time record of 134-25 in the SEC Tournament, and has won 13 in a row, including the last four championships.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 45-11 in quarterfinals games.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK leads Alabama 17-2 in SEC Tournament games, including 6-1 in quarterfinals games.</span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the fourth year in a row that the teams met in the SEC Tournament, with UK defeating Alabama in the 2016 quarterfinals, 2017 semifinals and 2018 and ’19 quarters.</span></li>
</ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coach Calipari is 23-3 in the SEC Tournament.</span></li>
</ul>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking Ahead to Saturday</span></b></div>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 42-2 in SEC Tournament semifinal games. This marks UK’s sixth consecutive appearance in the semifinals.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK leads the Tennessee series, 155-72. </span></li>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On February 16, UK won 86-69 in Lexington. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On March 2, Tennessee won 71-52 in Knoxville. </span></li>
</ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 12-4 vs. Tennessee in the SEC Tournament, including 5-1 in semifinal games.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK leads the Mississippi State series, 97-20, and has won 13 in a row.</span></li>
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<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On January 22, UK won 76-55 in Lexington.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On February 9, UK won 71-67 in Starkville.</span></li>
</ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 8-2 vs. Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament, including 1-0 in semifinal games.<span style="color: red;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Player Notes </b> </span></div>
<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Tyler Herro </b>led all scorers with 20 points, his sixth 20-point game of the season and his third 20-point output in the last five games. </span></li>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 18-0 this season when he scores at least 15.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He made 2-of-2 free throws and has made 62 of his last 63 at the charity stripe.</span></li>
</ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>PJ Washington </b>had a stat-stuffer game with 10 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, four blocked shots and two steals.</span></li>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is his eighth double-double of the season. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The four blocks tied his career high, now accomplished six times.</span></li>
</ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ashton Hagans </b>had two points, adding six rebounds and a game-high six assists. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Immanuel Quickley </b>scored 12 points, making all four field goal attempts, including three 3-pointers.</span></li>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The three 3s tied his career high.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 6-0 this season when he scores in double figures.</span></li>
</ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Reid Travis </b>returned after a five-game absence because of a sprained knee. Playing 23 minutes, he totaled eight points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. </span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Calipari</span></b></div>
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<ul>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Calipari is now 302-69 at UK. </span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Calipari has a 747-209 all-time on-court record.</span></li>
<li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK is 245-40 vs. unranked competition under Calipari, and has won the last 13 in a row. </span></li>
<li></li>
</ul>
Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-49619755987871940452019-03-15T23:21:00.003-04:002019-03-15T23:21:52.727-04:00Kentucky vs. Alabama OFFICIAL BOX-SCORE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-85296606518248155032019-03-12T00:32:00.002-04:002019-03-12T00:32:50.276-04:00Tyler Herro Named SEC Freshman of The Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> After dominating the Southeastern Conference weekly awards this season, the Kentucky men’s basketball team fittingly took home one of the last honors of the 2018-19 year with Tyler Herro winning SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Herro was tabbed the best freshman in the league last week for a team-high-tying third time this season after leading UK to victories at Ole Miss and at home vs. Florida, two teams fighting for an at-large NCAA Tournament berth. Herro averaged a team-high-tying 18.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Milwaukee native, who is one of the leading candidates for the SEC Freshman of the Year award, was both efficient and effective in the two victories. He shot 60.9 percent from the floor, 40.0 percent from 3 and was a perfect 6 for 6 from the free-throw line.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a dangerous game at Ole Miss on Tuesday, Herro scored 20 points for his fifth 20-point game of the season. He was 8 for 12 from the floor, recorded five rebounds, three steals and knocked down two free throws late in the game to help seal the outcome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Four days later, in the regular-season home finale, Herro scored 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go along with six rebounds and two assists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Herro finished the regular season with a 14.2 scoring average – second best on the team on 46.5-percent shooting and a team-high 53 3-pointers. He led the team with 25 double-figure scoring games, and UK was 17-0 this season when he scored 15 or more points.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Herro averaged a team-high 15.5 points per game on 50.5-percent shooting in UK’s 10 road games this season, scoring 12 or more in all but one. As a matter of fact, Herro was one of only four players nationally this season to average at least 15 points per game on the road while shooting at least 50 percent from the field, at least 35 percent from 3-point range and at least 90 percent from the free-throw line.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 6-foot-5 guard has been elite at the foul line. He’s shooting 93.9 percent from the charity stripe, which would be a single-season school record (minimum 50 attempts) if the season ended today. He’s made 60 of his last 61 foul shots. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With this week’s honor, Herro tied teammate Keldon Johnson for a league-high three SEC Freshman of the Week honors. UK freshman guard Ashton Hagans also won two SEC Freshman of the Week awards to give Kentucky eight for the season, the most in the league. Sophomore forward PJ Washington also won SEC Player of the Week twice this season for 10 total SEC weekly honors in 2018-19.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky has won more weekly SEC honors (99) than any other school during the John Calipari era, including 79 SEC Freshman of the Week honors and 20 SEC Player of the Week awards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Wildcats hope to take home additional hardware when the conference announces its season-long awards Tuesday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With a 26-5 regular season in the rearview mirror, UK turns its attention to the annual <span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fukathletics.com%2Fnews%2F2019%2F3%2F9%2Fmens-basketball-kentucky-lands-no-2-seed-in-sec-tournament.aspx&data=02%7C01%7C%7C88342e99f6514e5998a908d6a62e4dbb%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636879115126921601&sdata=h6OAnKqsGzJd9FuziB4aIYg0hzjzCXVd5IedGCDdVNQ%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/3/9/mens-basketball-kentucky-lands-no-2-seed-in-sec-tournament.aspx" shash="shmpbe6TRSiWk6Ank4BYijU6OQmTy6rbYQg+AejJCGVyg3nkqeMhHUg4mHJJDBoisIi1UHMv5GYTxHuKENg1ld9PDTWDHKwwlTRXow0f0lYNkoB5ps2e85JbthURT9rnbDTf9Q68mNssQVrduoIqmgztj8FQrr9lHvg6uM6phMo=" style="color: #954f72;">SEC Tournament</a></span>. The Wildcats have earned the No. 2 seed and will play the winner of the Alabama-Ole Miss game on Friday at 7 p.m. ET at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. That game will be televised by the SEC Network.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Should UK win that game, it would play Saturday at approximately 2:25 p.m. ET on ESPN.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky is seeking its fifth straight SEC Tournament championship and seventh in 10 seasons under Calipari. UK has made the championship game in eight of Calipari’s nine seasons at UK.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-76410987025008826662019-03-12T00:29:00.001-04:002019-03-12T00:29:13.622-04:00P.J. Washington Named 3rd Team All-American By Sporting News<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After helping lead the Kentucky men’s basketball team to a No. 2 seed in the Southeastern Conference Tournament and a 26-win regular season, sophomore forward PJ Washington opened awards season on Monday with selection to the Sporting News All-America Third Team. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington is the first Wildcat to earn All-America distinction by the publication since Malik Monk was a second-team choice in 2017. The Sporting News is one of the four “major” NCAA-recognized All-America teams that the NCAA uses for its consensus All-America teams. The other three are the Associated Press, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Dallas native, was joined on the Sporting News All-America Third Team by Brandon Clarke (Gonzaga), Carsen Edwards (Purdue), Kyle Guy (Virginia) and De’Andre Hunter (Virginia).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington is the 11th player under John Calipari to earn All-America honors by one of the four major organizations. He joins John Wall (2010), DeMarcus Cousins (2010), Anthony Davis (2012), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (2012), Julius Randle (2014), Willie Cauley-Stein (2015), Karl-Anthony Towns (2015), Tyler Ulis (2016), Jamal Murray (2016) and Malik Monk (2017) in earning All-America distinction by either the Sporting News, AP, USBWA or the NABC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The dynamic sophomore has been the catalyst to UK’s success in 2019. He’s among the candidates for two national player of the year honors as one of <span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fukathletics.com%2Fnews%2F2019%2F3%2F9%2Fmens-basketball-washington-tabbed-to-wooden-award-national-ballot.aspx%3Fpath%3Dmbball&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ce7e96759839945d2e75108d6a635bfea%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636879147109335032&sdata=hkY4ZsJthIANhL%2BtJNOvxGmmzIWbGDKO7SHcF1bG7Ns%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/3/9/mens-basketball-washington-tabbed-to-wooden-award-national-ballot.aspx?path=mbball" shash="srQ5XIXBpm2IOuWwT78SYH34ULcgfApAIX4eN78pLbj4uJxR9nJHvYGZtE8q/ifAyfi7JJjfSs98MOZycS24SY8sz+ifLb7QynxH9uI0UAm5H9OrNv7r3fCV6KdpSzmxUcTuhbMKArayfxzgeTaEoRJ8Zws2g02BY0v/UmzWaik=" style="color: #954f72;">15 candidates for the Wooden Award</a></span> and one of <span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fukathletics.com%2Fnews%2F2019%2F3%2F6%2Fmens-basketball-washington-named-naismith-trophy-semifinalist.aspx%3Fpath%3Dmbball&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ce7e96759839945d2e75108d6a635bfea%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636879147109345042&sdata=8quHE5icxj11Jz7MtFFCcrCLOAd%2F%2Fo%2Bzh2k%2FWQnV1Pk%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/3/6/mens-basketball-washington-named-naismith-trophy-semifinalist.aspx?path=mbball" shash="Cx/ZCFLtIrRbi1oTdNS8t4YTg9s6zG1wUN0vFvDNUe+/uKPiSiUwK5OFKHBjUlMAobvC6BulN653Va0scwGRpNWYQlgtJXuiMaGhPgWtJXOKSao+FO209OypgFlL7KIQhOTYMRmxX87KF8C6ut9ZZLzkfpIXab0+QM3BFteRSz0=" style="color: #954f72;">10 semifinalists for the Citizen Naismith Trophy</a></span>. He’s also one of <span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fukathletics.com%2Fnews%2F2019%2F3%2F7%2Fmens-basketball-washington-selected-as-a-finalist-for-karl-malone-award.aspx%3Fpath%3Dmbball&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ce7e96759839945d2e75108d6a635bfea%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636879147109345042&sdata=hbsjJLP%2FF8FjiaA7x90kKpRLlasS8tvseSEUfGVNPag%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/3/7/mens-basketball-washington-selected-as-a-finalist-for-karl-malone-award.aspx?path=mbball" shash="O1jHbx7RSMSmVFEMzQAmNM7wJHy1PXlg619A1N3tn44PoY1iNru7SmIOxCc+5GR8QL7kNWz9TY7fcvUaqc7RxNyNtuJBWw3aX3PMUE3Yl//rd7MJDVPLHrmPH2IRMKcFEjvP9Il3AeD6N7MMrC8fp6csJDj4LgOZDbikeb/biVY=" style="color: #954f72;">five finalists for the Karl Malone Award</a></span>, which honors the nation’s best power forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington has been on a tear since the calendar flipped to 2019. He’s scored 20 or more points in eight of the last 14 games and has been at the center of Kentucky’s national surge. The Wildcats have won 16 of their last 18 and are firmly in the discussion for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington is averaging 18.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 blocks over the last 14 games. During that stretch, he’s shooting 52.8 percent from the floor and 45.2 from 3-point range. That span also includes three straight double-doubles vs. then-No. 9/10 Kansas, at Vanderbilt and at Florida. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, Washington leads the Wildcats in both scoring (14.9 points per game) and rebounding (7.5 rpg). After mulling a decision to turn pro after last season, Washington is enjoying career highs in virtually every statistical category in his return sophomore season, including a team-high seven double-doubles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the season, Washington is shooting 52.1 percent from the floor and 42.3 percent from 3-point range. A year after hitting just five 3s in 37 games at a 23.8-percent rate, he's already drained 30 this season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He’s one of just four players nationally standing 6-foot-8 or taller averaging at least 14.5 points, shooting at least 50 percent from the field, at least 42 percent from 3-point range and with at least 30 made 3-pointers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the truest indicator of Washington’s worth this season is his impressive play vs. Kentucky’s best competition. In UK’s eight games vs. Associated Press Top 25 teams, Washington is averaging 16.1 points and 6.9 rebounds while shooting 52.9 percent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Notable games include a recent 23-point game vs. Auburn that featured a career-high five 3-pointers, 23 points in the home win over then-top-ranked Tennessee, and a 29-point, 12-rebound game vs. Seton Hall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington was named the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week on Feb. 19 and is a two-time SEC Player of the Week pick this season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky begins postseason action at the SEC Tournament on Friday. The Wildcats will take on the winner of Ole Miss and Alabama at 7 p.m. ET on Friday inside of Bridgestone Arena in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. The game will air live on the SEC Network. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-18535867261279908302019-03-12T00:25:00.000-04:002019-03-12T00:25:06.020-04:00Calipari Named Semifinalist For Naismith Coach of The Year<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Already one of just two coaches to win the Naismith Men’s Coach of the Year three times, John Calipari is looking to become the first four-time winner of the award with the his inclusion on Monday’s semifinalists list.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Calipari is one of 11 coaches up for the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s top coaching honor. Calipari (1998, 2008, 2015) is tied with Duke’s Mike Kzryzewski (1989, 1992, 1999) for the most Naismith honors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Four finalists will be announced on March 20, at which point fans can support their favorite coach by visiting<span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnaismithtrophy.com%2Fvote%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7C377cb4a71f9840ad3cdc08d6a64e5750%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636879252726457179&sdata=vWT%2BVmAjFv4suhEPPE8oOeQFC5kdH7r%2Fg35NvzQKG0o%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="http://naismithtrophy.com/vote/" shash="ssh1U4/5+cJ+01DwXesIzzOHXWqIoeymtGD9WNO+J/FaFunvIjRPajthGoQPqrZKUp+DcqRqZi4HwZGj+db3hpKNz9TdAx8tDtERH/Gy77YtlRQRFq/zqUuG+rQTa+SQnPwKVpGr6GS3CljpANQIFDhXJn67zTY6HiXeqQIDgMc=" style="color: #954f72;">NaismithTrophy.com/vote</a></span>. Voting will take place March 22 through April 3 with the fan vote accounting for five percent of the overall final vote.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The winner will be awarded at the Naismith Awards Brunch during the Final Four in Minneapolis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Atlanta Tipoff Club’s national voting academy is comprised of leading journalists from around the country, current and former head coaches, former award winners and conference commissioners. The voting is based solely on the performances of the 2018-19 season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Calipari’s work in 2018-19 has certainly been one of his finest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With Calipari at the helm, Kentucky completed a 26-5 regular season Saturday and earned a No. 2 seed in the annual Southeastern Conference Tournament, just a game behind LSU for the SEC regular-season championship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK has positioned itself for a possible No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with a No. 5 ranking in the NCAA Evaluation Tool, a 5-3 record vs. Associated Press Top 25 teams and a 10-4 mark vs. quadrant one teams, including five of those away from home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Calipari has once again proved to be a master of blending talented but young pieces together in a short period of time. With just two significant returners from last season’s Sweet 16 team in PJ Washington and Nick Richards and one of the most inexperienced lineups in the country – <a href="http://kenpom.com/" style="color: #954f72;">KenPom.com</a> rates UK 351st out of 353 teams in its experience rankings – the Wildcats have won 16 of their last 18 games and positioned themselves as national title contenders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington has emerged as an All-American player, Kentucky’s freshman class has proven to be one of the best in the country, and UK overcame early-season adversity and a late-season injury to graduate transfer Reid Travis for Calipari’s sixth straight 25-win season. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Calipari has strung together 25 straight seasons of 20 or more on-court wins, the longest active streak in the country. Three of UK’s five losses this season have been by a combined five points, and UK’s strength of schedule ranks No. 16 in the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How has Calipari’s team done it? His career staple: defense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After struggling to defend early in the season with new pieces, the Wildcats are once again one of the best defensive teams in the country. UK ranks No. 8 in the latest <a href="http://kenpom.com/" style="color: #954f72;">KenPom.com</a> defensive efficiency rankings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK has been particularly good in the conference season on the defensive end, limiting opponents to just 62.6 points per game and 39.4 percent from the field. The Wildcats have held five league foes to their lowest point total at the time of the game. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This season has featured a couple of milestones for Calipari.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With an 80-53 victory vs. Auburn on Feb. 23, Calipari moved past Joe B. Hall for the second-most wins in program history. He trails only the legendary Adolph Rupp (876 wins) for the most wins at Kentucky and earned win No. 300 at Ole Miss on Tuesday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When he reached win No. 300 at UK, he became the fourth-fastest coach in NCAA Division I history to 300 wins at the same school. Only Bill Self (358 games at Kansas), Claire Bee (359 games at Long Island) and Rupp (366 at UK) got there faster.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A “players-first” coach with a penchant for helping players reach their dreams, Calipari has guided six teams to the Final Four, led one to a national championship and helped 42 players earn selection in the NBA Draft during his now-27-year college coaching career.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer guided Kentucky to its eighth national championship and his first national title in 2012. In becoming only the second coach in NCAA history to lead three different schools to the Final Four, he has racked up more than 700 on-court victories, 19 NCAA Tournament appearances, six Final Fours and numerous national coach of the year honors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Among the other major coach of the year honors Calipari has won during his career:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Three-time NABC National Coach of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Three-time Naismith National Coach of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Three-time Sporting News National Coach of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Two-time Adolph Rupp National Coach of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Nine-time conference coach of the year (league or media in Atlantic 10, Conference USA or Southeastern Conference)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>2018 NABC Metropolitan Award<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>2015 Associated Press National Coach of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>2012 Nell & John Wooden Coach of the Year Leadership Award<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>2009 Sports Illustrated National Coach of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-36298836250006590132019-03-10T03:17:00.003-04:002019-03-10T03:17:55.846-04:00Kentucky Earns The #2 Seed For the SEC Tournament With Win Over Florida<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Kentucky men’s basketball team will be the No. 2<span style="color: red;"> </span>seed in the annual Southeastern Conference Tournament when action begins Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee. The Wildcats, who earned the coveted double bye (automatically advancing to the quarterfinals), will play the winner of No. 7 seed Ole Miss vs. No. 10 seed Alabama on Friday in St. Louis at approximately 7 p.m. ET in the quarterfinals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky completed its 2018-19 regular season on Saturday with a 66-57 victory over Florida to finish at 26-5 and 15-3 in the SEC. UK finished in a tie for second place with Tennessee, just a game behind LSU for the regular-season championship. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Wildcats are seeking their fifth straight SEC Tournament championship and seventh in John Calipari’s 10 seasons at Kentucky.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK will need two wins to advance to their ninth SEC Tournament title game in the last 10 seasons. The Wildcats have earned a double bye in every season since it went into effect in 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tournament could be wide open after a highly competitive and tightly bunched regular season among the league’s teams. As many as eight teams are projected to get into the NCAA Tournament with several schools looking to strengthen their postseason profile for an at-large berth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK’s quarterfinal SEC Tournament game will be televised by the SEC Network. If Kentucky wins Friday, it would play Saturday at approximately 3:25 p.m. ET. Sunday’s championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. Both the semifinals and championship game will be televised on ESPN.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kentucky leads the league with 31 SEC Tournament titles. The Wildcats are 133-25 all-time in the SEC Tournament, including 44-11 in the quarterfinals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK defeated Ole Miss on Tuesday, 80-76, in Oxford, Mississippi, in the lone meeting this season between the two schools. The Wildcats are 15-0 all-time vs. Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament, including 6-0 in the quarterfinals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If Kentucky faces Alabama, it would be the fourth straight season the Wildcats have faced the Crimson Tide in the SEC Tournament. UK has won all three of the previous matchups and is 16-2 vs. Alabama in the league tournament and is 5-1 in the quarterfinals. But, Alabama won the lone regular-season meeting back on Jan. 5 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 77-75.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also on Kentucky’s side of the bracket is No. 3 seed Tennessee, No. 6 seed Mississippi State, No. 11 seed Texas A&M and No. 14 seed Vanderbilt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tournament returns to Bridgestone Arena in Nashville for the fourth time in the last five seasons after a pit stop in St. Louis last season. UK has won the SEC Tournament the last three times it has been in Nashville and four times under Calipari. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Single-session tickets for the SEC Tournament are on sale at <span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.secticketoffice.com%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cabab6fce4c1e40fc21c408d6a5086bf0%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636877853076050278&sdata=JWUIm5jbKlb%2Btxn1nPaz3ZvldImCNnhr%2FKWtEXI3YQk%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="http://www.secticketoffice.com/" shash="BHD3Czro4rEw7xjU/mT4hnkCPccT7u3Ivm4SjvsdqX0CjlDpVeTnbZAlRSj1WXoBmAgJU559NjsxeUPwgWpwRSlXhTbzTNv+LUvDBlQV/j0MzaOHeVpRPY6K2eBiYo6Cqe0U37YJd48HOC14N4/LisQvUWmNlRmu9Pf0QQ4oEhY=" style="color: #954f72;">SECTicketOffice.com</a></span>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-16171829983037868322019-03-10T03:12:00.002-04:002019-03-10T03:12:56.398-04:00P.J. Washington Added To The John R. Wooden Award's List<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> With the way sophomore PJ Washington has led the Kentucky men’s basketball team through the arduous Southeastern Conference slate, it should be no surprise that he’s being mentioned as one of the best players in the country. On Saturday, Washington added another honor to his growing list of recognition with a selection to the John R. Wooden Award’s 2018-19 National Ballot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington is one of 15 players selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, who are candidates for the Wooden Award All American Team and the Wooden Award Trophy, which is given to the season’s most outstanding college basketball player.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Voting for the award will begin on March 18 and conclude on March 25. Voters consist of nearly 1,000 members of the media as well as the fans. Fans may vote at <span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wendys.com%2Fwooden-award-vote&data=02%7C01%7C%7C57a93f244f9e493176e008d6a4af78c0%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636877470882608064&sdata=VMfw8Rj%2FxY4E3H1Mq1U2T6Iap%2F%2BhX7X1ab6TFlFa10c%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://www.wendys.com/wooden-award-vote" shash="KKFajYv+i9RI9jlYC96kASzCDvA50XU4OwLRfclITk23jZ+Xlq/Lz9OlYEyRAxtvh9kDSzbToMA/YhcnInHjFBG++gkysXPdhSJ4M8Og8BsZjECdMeJvTIlJ99LhBg4csAyIVtsnd8RrAuoPxlOHjvExVHYGXnrVgHeRxCIcb78=" style="color: #954f72;">woodenawardvote.com</a></span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All balloted players have been certified by their university to meet or exceed the qualifications for the Wooden Award set forth by Coach Wooden when the award was established. The qualifications include: candidates must exhibit strength of character, both on and off the court; candidates must be a full-time student in an accredited NCAA college or university; candidates must be making progress toward graduation and have a cumulative grade-point average of 2.0 or better; candidates must contribute to team effort; candidates must excel in both offense and defense; and candidates should be considered on their performance over the course of the entire season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Wednesday, Washington was tabbed as one of <span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fukathletics.com%2Fnews%2F2019%2F3%2F6%2Fmens-basketball-washington-named-naismith-trophy-semifinalist.aspx&data=02%7C01%7C%7C57a93f244f9e493176e008d6a4af78c0%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636877470882618073&sdata=wFbnb2ZlI7ziC82mrz4BQxnad5yMD1YbP%2F%2Bm%2Bn%2FgRSU%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/3/6/mens-basketball-washington-named-naismith-trophy-semifinalist.aspx" shash="Hv2p8oR3vl1rfnpyngqd0YH/LqBkn+rTkto2EC6Vd+74qFlVOhSZxnwOZ5va+NPGUOyPMKq4L1kAfefZGqqvBHrHe6AakCwAP99+PtNmuc2sfFDh97o0V5NAbVzrO2BYcUk/YB+vgrgl4BgV2fkvZy8i/Y2zMtD34oqtgSSL9xM=" style="color: #954f72;">10 semifinalists for the Citizen Naismith Trophy</a></span>, awarded annually by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the national player of the year, and he was selected as one of <span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fukathletics.com%2Fnews%2F2019%2F3%2F7%2Fmens-basketball-washington-selected-as-a-finalist-for-karl-malone-award.aspx&data=02%7C01%7C%7C57a93f244f9e493176e008d6a4af78c0%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636877470882628078&sdata=%2BCIMofVCzsM8URh%2FOlCdq38ldkR26r7P%2F%2BfaDH2adgc%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/3/7/mens-basketball-washington-selected-as-a-finalist-for-karl-malone-award.aspx" shash="gIafiooA97/t72Q30uW/uh7uVHgPbkyEhQgVxCgFcjqB55MqmR18Igt/iB2isNNmEvY404gb6NwTUX61NLFMyf4g63kwvYXNgufROQRK7OPzJlpiQwJW7dlHf7XWVlwZS4+8+QTcaG17KB9mf6RLCZkK8nzRZMs/KuEIM6RAe4E=" style="color: #954f72;">five finalists for the Karl Malone Award<span style="color: windowtext;">,</span> which honors the nation’s best power forward on Thursday.</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year’s finalists for the Wooden Award are Washington, RJ Barret (Duke), Brandon Clarke (Gonzaga), Jarrett Culver (Texas Tech), Mike Daum (South Dakota State), Carsen Edwards (Purdue), Rui Hachimura (Gonzaga), Ethan Happ (Wisconsin), Markus Howard (Marquette), De’Andre Hunter (Virginia), Dedric Lawson (Kansas), Ja Morant (Murray State), Grant Williams (Tennessee), Zion Williamson (Duke) and Cassius Winston (Michigan State).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington is looking to become the second winner in program history. Anthony Davis was tabbed the Wooden Award winner in 2012 after leading Kentucky to its eighth national championship. Other winners include Larry Bird (1979), Michael Jordan (1984), Tim Duncan (1997) and Kevin Durant (2007).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Dallas native has been on a tear since the calendar flipped to 2019. He’s scored 20 or more points in eight of the last 13 games and has been at the center of Kentucky’s national surge. The Wildcats have won 15 of their last 17 and are firmly in the discussion for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington is averaging 18.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 blocks over the last 13 games. During that stretch, he’s shooting 53.7 percent from the floor and 47.5 from 3-point range. That span also includes three straight double-doubles vs. then-No. 9/10 Kansas, at Vanderbilt and at Florida. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, Washington leads the Wildcats in both scoring (14.9 points per game) and rebounding (7.4 rpg). After mulling a decision to turn pro after last season, Washington is enjoying career highs in virtually every statistical category in his return sophomore season, including a team-high seven double-doubles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the season, Washington is shooting 52.5 percent from the floor and 43.5 percent from 3-point range. A year after hitting just five 3s in 37 games at a 23.8-percent rate, he's already drained 30 in 30 games this season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He’s one of just five players nationally standing 6-foot-8 or taller averaging at least 14.5 points, shooting at least 50 percent from the field, at least 40 percent from 3-point range and with at least 30 made 3-pointers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the truest indicator of Washington’s worth this season is his impressive play vs. Kentucky’s best competition. In UK’s eight games vs. Associated Press Top 25 teams, Washington is averaging 16.1 points and 6.9 rebounds while shooting 52.9 percent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Notable games include a recent 23-point game vs. Auburn that featured a career-high five 3-pointers, 23 points in the home win over then-top-ranked Tennessee, and a 29-point, 12-rebound game vs. Seton Hall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington was named the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week on Feb. 19 and is a two-time SEC Player of the Week pick this season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top-10 players, and the five finalists for the Wooden Award will be announced following the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament. The announcement will take place April 3 at 6:30 p.m. ET and air live on ESPNU.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-64402668473993748432019-03-10T03:04:00.004-04:002019-03-10T03:04:27.640-04:00OFFICIAL BOX SCORE: Kentucky 66 Florida 57<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmkmO576VoMBtY4H4pEIF-zUEJyoNuExzW5jZLQpf783Y3rdJz_Nrm9Ki-Su-DK0qQ8t8FbWmvYWw5tbaWkTDSfwtP1W2N44orlLUXdba6-4XQ_qwSTNSqbNju2qFmNGsEfdgRpRl9wMFr/s1600/fullsizeoutput_40b.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="556" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmkmO576VoMBtY4H4pEIF-zUEJyoNuExzW5jZLQpf783Y3rdJz_Nrm9Ki-Su-DK0qQ8t8FbWmvYWw5tbaWkTDSfwtP1W2N44orlLUXdba6-4XQ_qwSTNSqbNju2qFmNGsEfdgRpRl9wMFr/s1600/fullsizeoutput_40b.jpeg" /></a></div>
<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-762607003802739803.post-16643292052249878252019-01-30T00:16:00.001-05:002019-01-30T00:16:34.437-05:00Final OFFICIAL Box-Score from Kentucky's IMPRESSIVE 87-52 Win Over Vandy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiZLT-z5238gY3i-JNXKGg__6AGQrQVnxXMa5tSfSna7sN4Hg96arXuXxjCo-1x31eMHfFrXho9-VDXKeJpLrVHwKV4eyOr4ig2TrWIyL0nqvmA7Dh3n5TC1b8krySvL5uYYjMOrzQvp4G/s1600/fullsizeoutput_40a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="557" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiZLT-z5238gY3i-JNXKGg__6AGQrQVnxXMa5tSfSna7sN4Hg96arXuXxjCo-1x31eMHfFrXho9-VDXKeJpLrVHwKV4eyOr4ig2TrWIyL0nqvmA7Dh3n5TC1b8krySvL5uYYjMOrzQvp4G/s1600/fullsizeoutput_40a.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<br />Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13610300734267955155noreply@blogger.com0