Kentucky vs. Cleveland State Post Game Notes

Men’s Basketball Postgame Notes

Cleveland State at Kentucky, Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky.

November 23, 2016
Attendance: 22,341  

Final Score: No. 1/1 Kentucky 101, Cleveland State 70

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is 5-0. Cleveland State is 1-3. 
• Kentucky leads the series 3-0.  
• Kentucky is now 2-0 in this year’s Bluegrass Showcase, with wins over Cleveland State and Duquesne.
• Kentucky wraps up the Bluegrass Showcase Friday at 7 p.m. against UT Martin.  The game will be televised on the SEC Network.

In the First Half

• Kentucky started the lineup of Dominique Hawkins, De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Derek Willis and Bam Adebayo for the first time this season. 
• It is the first time that two Kentuckians and two seniors started since March 4, 2014, when Jon Hood and Jarrod Polson opened on Senior Day. 
• Kentucky began the game with a 7-0 run and never trailed.
• Derek Willis made a 3-pointer at the 18:31 mark, extending Kentucky’s streak of 980 games with at least one 3-pointer, the longest streak in the nation. 
• Kentucky steadily extended the advantage and led 56-35 at halftime.
• It is the second straight game that UK hit the 50-point mark in the opening stanza.  The Wildcats tallied 50 vs. Duquesne.
• 56 points are the most for Kentucky in a first half since tallying 57 – most in the first half in the John Calipari era – against Arkansas on Jan. 23, 2010.
• It was a productive half for the Wildcat guards, as Monk led the first-half scoring parade with 19 points and four assists while Fox netted 12 points and six assists.
• Monk’s 19 points is the third-most for a player in the first half during the Calipari era.

In the Second Half

• Kentucky led by as many as 41 points at 95-54.
• Tai Wynyard’s tip-in with 31 seconds left put UK over the century mark with 101 points. It is UK’s first triple-digit game since tallying 110 vs. Auburn on Feb. 21, 2015. 

Team Notes

• This is the fifth time in eight seasons under Coach Calipari that the Wildcats have opened with five straight wins.
• CSU shot 39.1 percent from the field (25 of 64), the third consecutive game that the opponent has been held under 40 percent.
• The Vikings hit just six of 27 on 3-pointers. 22.2 percent.  For the season Wildcat opponents are making only 21.2 percent of their threes.
• CSU had 19 turnovers today. UK opponents have committed at least 18 miscues in every game this season.
• UK shot 52.1 percent from the field today, the third time this season the Wildcats have made at least half their shots. 
• Kentucky shot 37.5 percent from long range, its best 3-point figure of the season.
• UK had a season-high 25 assists.
• The Wildcats won rebounding today 47-36 and dominated points in the paint, 52-20.
• Kentucky had two players (Fox and Gabriel) post double-doubles, first time that happened since Tyler Ulis and Marcus Lee did so vs. LSU on March 5, 2016.
• Kentucky has a 37-game win streak at home against teams that are not ranked in The Associated Press poll.
• Coach John Calipari has a 667-187 (.781) on-court record, including a 222-47 (.825) mark at UK.
• Kentucky has an all-time mark of 550-64 (.896) in Rupp Arena.  
• UK is 123-4 (.969) at Rupp Arena under Calipari.
• Calipari broke the record held by Joe B. Hall for the most coaching victories in Rupp Arena. Hall was 122-14 (.897) in the building.
• The current 41-game win streak is the second-longest in arena annals. 

Player Notes  

• Freshman De’Aaron Fox notched 16 points and 11 assists, his second double-double of the season.
• Fox has scored in double figures and led UK in assists in all five games this season. 
• Freshman Malik Monk had 23 points, tying his season best (also vs. Michigan State) and has reached double figures in all five games this season.
• Monk’s 19 points in the first half tied for the third-most in a first half in the Calipari era.
• He also had four assists, his best as a Wildcat.
• Freshman Wenyen Gabriel amassed 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, his first UK double-double, and season highs in all three categories.
• Senior Mychal Mulder had a career-high 13 points, including three 3-pointers, for the second game in a row.
• Freshman Bam Adebayo had 14 points, tying his Wildcat best, adding seven rebounds.
• Sophomore Isaac Humphries contributed an efficient 11 minutes with nine points and nine rebounds, tying his career high for points.
• Freshman Tai Wynyard played four productive minutes with four points and three rebounds.