Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky., Jan. 31, 2015
Kentucky is 21-0, 8-0 in the Southeastern Conference. Alabama is 13-8, 3-5 in league play.
Kentucky leads the series 105-37, including 55-10 at home.
With 21 consecutive victories to begin the season, UK is off to the third-best start in program history.
Kentucky is now the lone undefeated team in the nation following Virginia’s setback tonight to Duke.
Kentucky is 198-27 all-time when ranked No. 1 and has won 43 of the last 45 games as The Associated Press top-ranked team.
Calipari has led three schools to a No. 1 ranking (Massachusetts, Memphis, Kentucky) and has an 87-9 record as the top-ranked coach, including 46-4 at UK.
Calipari is now 173-37 (.824) as head coach at Kentucky, the best winning percentage of any coach in UK history.
Kentucky was behind for only 20 seconds tonight. UK has trailed for only 103:43 of a possible 855 minutes this season.
Kentucky returns to action Tuesday at home against Georgia. Game time is 7 p.m. EST and it will be televised on ESPNU.
Team Notes
Sparked by inside players, Kentucky shot a season-best 58.5 percent from the field. UK’s bigs (Towns, Cauley-Stein, Lee, Johnson) combined to make 13-of-16 for 81.3 percent.
UK made 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) on 3-point shots tonight. Over the last 11 games, Kentucky has shot 44 percent on 3-pointers, 77-of-175.
Kentucky had only five turnovers tonight, just one away from the season low of four miscues.
Kentucky had balanced scoring tonight with four players in double figures and eight players scoring at least five points.
UK is 105-5 in the John Calipari Era when holding opponents to 63 or fewer points, including 17-0 this season.
UK is 54-0 in the John Calipari Era when holding opponents to 55 or fewer points, including 16 times this season.
Kentucky’s streak of 921 consecutive games with a 3-pointer was extended early in the contest when Aaron Harrison hit a long ball from the left corner at the 17:47 mark of the first half.
First-Half Facts
Kentucky’s opening lineup featured Dominique Hawkins, Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein for the sixth time this season.
Alabama scored on the game’s opening possession but Kentucky responded with the next seven points and the Wildcats never trailed again.
UK led by as many as 17 points at 37-20 and took a 37-24 lead into halftime.
Second-Half Story
Kentucky started the second half with Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker, Aaron Harrison, Marcus Lee and Dakari Johnson.
The lead stayed between 12 and 21 points during the second half.
Player Notes
Karl-Anthony Towns had a perfect shooting night, making all four field goal attempts and all four foul shots for a total of 12 points. All of his points came in the first half.
Willie Cauley-Stein tallied 12 points, making all four of his field-goal attempts.
Devin Booker had 11 points, including three of four 3-pointers. He’s now made 25 of his last 38 long shots, 65.8 percent.
Aaron Harrison chipped in 10 points, the 10th time in the last 12 games he has tallied in double figures.
Marcus Lee led the Wildcats in rebounding with five boards and also scored eight points, most for him since scoring eight vs. North Carolina on Dec. 13.
Tyler Ulis contributed a game-high four assists and scored six points.
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