Some Notes From Kentucky's Thumping of Arkansas

Men’s Basketball Postgame Notes

Kentucky vs. Arkansas – Southeastern Conference Tournament championship

March 12, 2017, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.

Final Score: No. 8/8 Kentucky 82, Arkansas 65

                                                              

Team Records and Series Notes:

• Kentucky has won 11 in a row – its longest winning streak of the season -- and is 29-5 overall. 
• Arkansas is 25-9 overall.
• Kentucky leads the series 29-11 and has won five in a row vs. the Razorbacks.  
• Earlier this season, UK defeated Arkansas, 97-71, in Lexington.
• UK is 9-1 vs. Arkansas in the SEC Tournament, including 4-0 in championship games (also 1995, 1999, 2015).
• Next for the Wildcats: UK awaits its NCAA Tournament fate, announced tonight.   

In the SEC Tournament:

• Officially, this is UK’s 30^th SEC Tournament championship, as the 1988 championship was later vacated.
• UK has won three consecutive SEC Tournament titles and its fifth under Coach John Calipari.  
• With his fifth SEC Tourney crown, Calipari ties Alabama’s Wimp Sanderson for second place in league history. Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp holds the record with 13 tournament championships, even though the event was held only 19 times during his career.
• UK is 130-25 (.839) all-time in the SEC Tournament, including 31-10 (.756) in the finals.
• UK is 19-3 in the SEC Tournament under Coach John Calipari, going to the finals for the seventh time (5-2) in his eight seasons.

All-Tournament Honors:

• Freshman De’Aaron Fox was chosen Most Valuable Player of the event. It is the 18^th time a Wildcat has been tabbed MVP since the tournament was renewed in 1979.
• Fox averaged 22 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 steals over the three games.
• Senior Dominique Hawkins and freshman Bam Adebayo joined Fox on the All-Tournament Team.
• Hawkins was a defensive force throughout the three games and averaged 8.7 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.3 steals.
• Adebayo averaged 13.3 points and 9.7 rebounds during the tourney.

In the First Half:

• Kentucky’s starting lineup featured De’Aaron Fox, Bam Adebayo, Malik Monk, Isaiah Briscoe and Derek Willis.
• Kentucky is 8-0 with this lineup.
• Adebayo is the only Wildcat to have started all 34 games of the season.
• Behind 18-17, Kentucky went on a 14-4 run to claim a 31-22 lead, never trailing again. Hawkins spearheaded the latter stages of the spurt: following a UK basket, he stole the inbounds pass and made a layup; made a driving banker; and also drew a charge that set up two points on the next possession.
• Willis swished a 3-pointer with 3:16 left, continuing UK’s streak of 1,009 games with at least one triple. 
• UK ended the half on a 9-0 run as the three Wildcat seniors – Willis, Hawkins and Mychal Mulder – each hit a 3-pointer and UK went to intermission with a 42-30 lead. 

In the Second Half:

• UK was hot early in the second half, quickly jumping the lead to 16 on four occasions.  
• Arkansas fought back, pulling within 10 at 54-44, when the Razorbacks went scoreless for more than six minutes. UK added nine points in that stretch to make it 63-44.  
• Arkansas made a late charge, closing to 73-64 with 1:30 left, but got no closer.

Team Notes:

• Arkansas scored 64 points. UK is 19-0 this season when opponents score 72 or fewer points.
• Arkansas shot 41.8 percent from the field. UK is 17-0 this season when the opponent shoots less than 43 percent.
• Kentucky shot 48.2 percent from the field. 
• UK is 27-1 this season when shooting at least 42 percent.
• UK controlled the rebounding, 40-26, leading to a 15-6 advantage in second-chance points.
• UK hit a season-high 88 percent at the foul line, making 22 of 25 charity tosses.
• UK is 212-4 (.981) under Coach John Calipari in games that the Wildcats have led by at least 10 points.
• Calipari has a 691-192 (.783) on-court record, including a 246-52 (.826) mark at UK.

Player Notes:  

• Freshman De’Aaron Fox led the Wildcats with 18 points. 
• He earned the tournament Most Valuable Player award, see stats above.
• Fox hit his only 3-point try today and has made a 3-pointer in six straight games, his longest such streak of the season.  During that stretch he has made 7 of 12 on his 3-pointers. 
• Fox led Kentucky in scoring in all three SEC Tournament games.
• Freshman Bam Adebayo had 17 points and tied Derek Willis for rebounding honors with nine.
• He was named to the all-tournament team, see stats above.
• He is averaging a double-double over the last nine games, 14.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game over that span. 
• Freshman Malik Monk tallied 17 points. 
• Senior Dominique Hawkins had career highs with 14 points and four steals.
• He was named to the all-tournament team, see stats above.
• Senior Derek Willis had five points and tied Adebayo for game-high rebounder with nine.  
• Sophomore Isaac Humphries made his only shot today. UK is 23-0 this season when he scores.