Sunday, March 26, 2017

Notes From Kentucky's Heartbreaking 75-73 Loss To UNC

Men’s Basketball Postgame Notes
Kentucky vs. North Carolina – NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
March 26, 2017, FedExForum, Memphis, Tenn.Attendance: 16,412

Final Score: No. 1-seed North Carolina 75, No. 2-seed Kentucky 73
                                                             
Team Records and Series Notes:
·        Kentucky finished the season 32-6 overall.
o   UNC snapped UK’s 14-game winning streak, which was the longest streak in the country entering Sunday.
o   UK won 32 games for the fourth time in the John Calipari era.
·        North Carolina advances to the Final Four with a 31-7 record.
·        UNC leads the all-time series 24-15.
o   Kentucky came in on a two-game winning streak in the series.
o   The teams met in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time. Every meeting has been in the Elite Eight.
·         UNC improved to 3-1 against the Wildcats in NCAA Tournament play. UK had won the most recent NCAA Tournament meeting in the 2011 Elite Eight.
·        Kentucky is now 19-8 all-time in NCAA Tournament games vs. opponents it faced during the regular season and 6-2 under John Calipari.

NCAA Tournament Notes:
·        Kentucky made its national-record 56th NCAA Tournament appearance.
·        Kentucky reached the Elite Eight for the 33rd time since 1951 the most of any school in the country. (Elite 8 Records begin in 1951, the first year that all teams in the tournament would be required to win at least one game to advance to the Elite 8)
·        UK owns a 124-40 record all-time in NCAA action.
·        Kentucky is 26-6 (.813) in NCAA Tournament games under Calipari.
·        In Calipari’s seven NCAA Tournament appearances with Kentucky, the Wildcats have reached the Elite Eight six times.
o   UK fell to 4-2 in Elite Eight games under Calipari.
·        Kentucky was a No. 2 seed for the seventh time in program history.
o   UK is 22-7 as the No. 2 seed.
o   Kentucky dropped to 1-2 as a No. 2-seed against a No. 1 seed.
·        Isaac Humphries and De’Aaron Fox were named to the All-South-Region Team.

In the First Half:
·        Kentucky’s starting lineup featured De’Aaron FoxBam AdebayoMalik Monk, Isaiah Briscoe and Derek Willis for the eighth game in a row.
o   Kentucky ended the year 11-1 with that lineup.
o   Adebayo was the only Wildcat to have started all 38 games on the season.
·        De’Aaron Fox nailed a 3-pointer with 17:57 on the clock, continuing UK’s streak of 1,013 games with at least one triple. That’s the longest streak in the country.
·        Fox scored UK’s first five points.
·        Dominique Hawkins scored 10 first-half points.
·        North Carolina led for the entire first half. The Tar Heels’ largest lead was nine.

In the Second Half:
·        Kentucky scored the first six points of the second half to take its first lead, 39-38, with 17:35 on the clock.
o   Kentucky scored the last three points of the first half so stretched to include those points it was a 9-0 run over 4:43 of game time.
·        North Carolina quickly regained the advantage and things went back and forth from there with the second stanza featuring five lead changes.
·        UK used a 10-2 run from the 7:55 mark to the 5:10 mark to take a 64-59 lead with 5:10 to play. Humphries scored eight of the 10 points on that run.
·        North Carolina answered with a 12-0 run of its own over the ensuing 3:45 to take a seven-point lead, 71-64, with 54 seconds to play.
·        Fox and Monk then hit back-to-back 3s in a 10-second span to close within a point 71-70 with 39 seconds to go.
·        Justin Jackson got a breakaway layup to answer though, and UNC had a 73-70 lead with 34 seconds remaining.
·        Monk tied it up with a tough 3 with nine seconds to go, but on the ensuing UNC possession Luke Maye hit the game winner with 0:03 on the clock.

Team Notes:
·        North Carolina’s nine blocks were the most by a UK opponent this season.
North Carolina’s made three 3-pointers, tying four other teams as the fewest by a UK opponent this year.
·        Kentucky shot 42 percent from the field. 
o   Kentucky dropped to 29-2 this season when shooting at least the 42-percent threshold.
·        Calipari has a 694-193 (.782) on-court record, including a 249-52 (.827) mark at UK.

Player Notes:  
·        Freshman De’Aaron Fox tied Adebayo for the team high with 13 points.
·        Fox led Kentucky in scoring for the sixth straight game – dating to the first game of the SEC Tournament.
·        Freshman Bam Adebayo tied Fox for the team high with 13 points.
·        He scored 12 of them in the second half.
·        After going 0 for 5 from the field in the first half he went 4 of 5 in the second half.
·        He finished with seven rebounds, and grabbed five of them in the second half.
·        He eclipsed 100 dunks for the season, and finished the season with a Calipari-era record 101 dunks.
·        Freshman Malik Monk scored 12 points hitting two 3s in the final minute.
·        He reached double-figures for the sixth game in a row, and scored in double digits in 36 of 38 games this year.
·        He finished his freshman season with 104 made 3s.
·        Senior Derek Willis scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in his final game as a Wildcat.
·        He finished his career with 103 appearances and 26 starts – all the starts came in the last two years.
·        Senior Dominique Hawkins scored 10 points, all in the first half.
·        He made 121 career appearances.
·        Hawkins and Willis finished their careers with four NCAA Tournament appearances, two Final Fours and an Elite Eight. Teams featuring those two went 13-4 in the Big Dance.
·        Sophomore Isaac Humphries scored a career-high 12 points.
·        He had eight total points over his last 12 games coming into this one.
·        For the first time this season, UK lost a game that Humphries scored in. UK went 24-1 in games Humphries played in.

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