Hamidou Diallo Named SEC Freshman of The Week

 Kentucky redshirt freshman Hamidou Diallo was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week after helping propel Kentucky to a 93-86 win over Virginia Tech on Saturday.

Diallo filled up the stat sheet for the Wildcats in their best victory of the young season. He scored 20 points, had five rebounds, knocked down a team-high four 3-poiners and corralled three steals.

He was particularly clutch for UK down the stretch. Ahead 75-71, Diallo made a 3-pointer with 4:54 to go to give UK its then-largest lead of the game at 78-71. Then, clinging to an 85-83 advantage, Diallo swished another 3 with 48 second left to keep the visitors at bay. 

His four 3-pointers and three steals were all career highs. He’s posted three consecutive games with at least two steals and four consecutive outings with at least 19 points.

Diallo is averaging 20.3 points over his last four games and made 30 of 56 shots (53.6 percent) during that stretch.

The honor is the first of the Queens, New York, native’s career and the first weekly honor of the season for the Wildcats. It’s the deepest into a season Kentucky has gone without winning an SEC honor in the John Calipari era. UK has won more SEC Freshman of the Week honors and more total SEC weekly awards than any other school during Calipari’s nine seasons.

Diallo and the Cats return to action in the CBS Sports Classic in New Orleans on Saturday. UK will take on UCLA at 4 p.m. ET in the Smoothie King Center.

Notes From Kentucky vs. Virginia TECH

UK MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES

VIRGINIA TECH AT KENTUCKY 

RUPP ARENA | LEXINGTON, KY.

DEC. 16, 2017
ATTENDANCE: 22,690

Final Score: #8/5 KENTUCKY 93, VIRGINIA TECH 86

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky has won seven in a row and is now 9-1.  Virginia Tech ended a seven-game win streak and is now 9-2.  
• Kentucky leads the series 4-1, including 2-1 in Lexington.  
• Next for Kentucky is UCLA as the Wildcats take on the Bruins in the CBS Sports Classic on Sat. Dec. 23 in New Orleans’ Smoothie King Arena.  Game time is 4 p.m. ET and televised on CBS.   

In the First Half

• Kentucky’s starting lineup featured Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Hamidou Diallo, PJ Washington, Kevin Knox and Nick Richards for the second time, also the season opener vs. Utah Valley.
• Virginia Tech scored the game’s first five points before the Wildcats came back with nine a row.
• Diallo connected on a 3-pointer with 16:09 remaining, giving Kentucky 1,023 consecutive games with a 3-pointer.
• Tied at 39, Virginia Tech went on an 8-0 run before UK got the final basket of the half.  Tech went to halftime with a 47-41 lead.
• It is the most points UK has allowed this season in the first half and UK’s second-largest halftime deficit of the season (trailed by nine in the opener vs. Utah Valley).
• Kentucky’s seven 3-pointers is the most in a first half this season.
• UK shot 46 percent from the field in the first half, ending a streak of four straight games at least 50 percent.

In the Second Half

• Trailing 51-44, Kentucky went on a 10-0 run.
• Tied at 60, UK went on a 5-0 spurt and never trailed again.   
• Ahead 75-71, Diallo net nestled a 3-pointer with 4:54 left to give UK its then-largest lead of the game at 78-71. (UK eventually led by eight points as its largest advantage.)
• Clinging to an 85-83 lead, Diallo swished another 3 with 48 seconds left to keep the visitors at bay.
• Kentucky made several clutch shots with the game in the balance. Despite the closeness of the game, Tech never had the ball with a chance to tie or go ahead in the final seven minutes of the game.

Team Notes

• UK scored 93 points for the second game in a row. The last time UK scored 93 at least back-to-back was Jan. 3 and 7, 2017, vs. Texas A&M (100) and Arkansas (97). 
• Although the Wildcats allowed a season-most 86 points, it is still 10 points below Tech’s nation-best 96.2 points per game.
• UK won despite Virginia Tech shooting 58.2 percent from the field. It is the second-highest field-goal percentage allowed in the Calipari era.
• Despite the difficulty of winning when the opponent shoots at least 50 percent, UK is 10-9 in the Calipari era when the opponent makes at least half its field goals.
• UK committed only 11 turnovers, one off its season best.
• UK did a great job of converting turnovers into points. Virginia Tech had 19 turnovers and UK turned those into 36 points.  
• UK made 11 of 22 from 3-point range. Eleven threes is a season high and it is the second game this season that the Wildcats have made at least half of their long-range tries.
• UK won the rebounding, 33-30, the ninth consecutive game that the Wildcats won or tied the boardwork. 
• This is the second game in a row that two Wildcats scored at least 20 points.

Player Notes  

• Coming off his only single-digit scoring performance of the year, Kevin Knox bounced back with a game-high 21 points. It is his fourth 20-point game of the season.
• Hamidou Diallo bucketed 20 points.  It is second-consecutive 20 game and fourth in a row with at least 19.  He is averaging 20.3 over the last four games. 
• PJ Washington collected 11 points, a career-high five assists and had a crucial blocked shot in the last minute of the game.
• Quade Green had 17 points and tied his career high for assists with five. 
• Nick Richards had eight points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.
• Richards made 3-of-5 field goal attempts today has made at least 60 percent of his shots in seven straight games 
• Wenyen Gabriel had seven points and led the Wildcats in rebounds with nine.  

Coach John Calipari

• Calipari has a 703-194 all-time on-court record.
• Calipari is now 258-54 at Kentucky.
• Calipari is 142-6 at Rupp Arena.
• Calipari is 3-0 vs. Virginia Tech in his career.

OFFICIAL Box-Score From Kentucky's Win Over Monmouth

Notes From Kentucky's Win Over Monmouth

UK MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
MONMOUTH VS. #8/7 KENTUCKY 
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN | NEW YORK
DEC. 9, 2017ATTENDANCE: 10,438

Final Score: #8/7 Kentucky 93, Monmouth 76

Team Records and Series Notes

·        Kentucky wins its sixth game in a row improving to 8-1.  Monmouth is 3-7. 

·        This was the first meeting between UK and Monmouth in men’s basketball. 

·        Next for the Wildcats: UK returns home next Saturday, Dec. 16 to play Virginia Tech.  Game time is 2 p.m. ET and it will be televised on ESPN2.  

Coach John Calipari

·        Calipari has a 702-194 all-time on-court record.

·        Calipari is now 257-54 at Kentucky.

·        Kentucky is 67-15 overall at neutral sites under Calipari.

·        Kentucky is 7-1 in games in New York City (Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center) during that stretch.

·        Kentucky is 4-0 in Madison Square Garden over that span.

In the First Half

·        Kentucky’s starting lineup featured Quade Green, Hamidou Diallo, PJ Washington, Kevin Knox and Nick Richards for the eighth straight game.

·        Shai Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down a 3-pointer at the 15:04 mark of the first half to extend UK’s streak of games with a 3-pointer to 1,022-consecutive games. UK is 791-231 during that stretch.

·        Kentucky went on an 11-0 run from 15:19 to 12:33 to increase its lead to 14 midway through the first half at 22-8.

·        Kentucky did not allow Monmouth to make a field goal over a 6:59 stretch of the opening half. UK scored 22 points during that time.

·        Monmouth went on a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to 12 at the 6:42 mark, but UK responded with a 13-0 run for a 47-22 lead.

·        Washington scored a team-high 16 first-half points, tying the most points in an opening half this season by any player. Washington did his damage on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and 7 of 7 makes from the charity stripe.

·        UK scored 54 points in the first half, which are a season high for points in the first half. It’s UK’s second highest point total in any half this season (55 in second half vs. UIC).

·        Kentucky shot 60.7 percent from the field in the first half and has shot 50 percent or better in four consecutive games in the opening half.

·        UK made 15 free throws in the opening half. It’s the most in a half this season, topping the 12 made free throws it made in the first half of its last game vs. Harvard.

In the Second Half

·        Diallo scored the first five points of the second half to lift UK to a 26-point lead with 19:12 to go.

·        Gilgeous-Alexander gave UK its largest lead of the game with 10:39 to play at 29 points.

·        A 3-pointer by Monmouth enabled the Hawks to pull to within 17 points for the final margin, coincidentally the closest it had been since the 4:24 mark of the first half.

·        Diallo scored 15 points and Richards had all 10 of his in the second half.

·        Kentucky shot 81.8 percent (9-11) from the free-throw line.

Team Notes

·        UK led by as many as 29 points in the game and is 222-4 in the John Calipari era in games that the Wildcats have led by at least 10 points.

·        UK outrebounded Monmouth, 47-33, the eighth consecutive game that the Wildcats won or tied the board work.

·        UK won points in the paint, 38-26.  

·        Kentucky led 15-11 on fast-break points.

o   UK has had more fast-break points than every opponent this season.

·        Six different Wildcats made at least one 3-pointer. UK’s season high for that category was previously three, achieved on three occasions.

·        Kentucky shot 53.4 percent from the floor and has topped the 50-percent plateau on four occasions this season, including four of its last six games.

·        The Wildcats were 7 of 19 from 3-point range for 36.8 percent. The 19 attempts are a season high.

Player Notes: 

·        Hamidou Diallo scored a career-high 23 points after earning a career-best mark of 19 in each of his last two games.

·        Diallo tied his career high with six made free throws and set a career high with 10 attempts from the charity stripe.

·        He corralled four rebounds and has hauled in at least three in seven straight games.

·        He has scored in double figures in three-consecutive games.

·        PJ Washington scored a career-high 20 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor.

·        He was a perfect 9 for 9 from the free throw line. The nine made free throws are the most of any player this season and the most since De’Aaron Fox made 13 against UCLA on March 24, 2017 in the Sweet 16.

·        Washington matched a career high with four blocked shots, also achieving the feat vs. Kansas.

·        He made his first career 3-pointer in the first half.

·        Washington scored 16 points in the first half, tying Kevin Knox’s first-half output against Harvard for the most points scored in a half this season by any UK player.

·        Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 15 points and has reached double digits in four-consecutive games.

·        He also connected on 2-of-4 shots from 3-point range. The two made 3-pointers are a new career-high mark.

·        He narrowly missed on his first double-double with a game-high and career-high nine assists. The nine dimes are the most of any UK player this season and the most since Isaiah Briscoe had 11 at Ole Miss on Dec. 29, 2016.

·        Gilgeous-Alexander hauled in a career-high six rebounds.

·        After being plagued with foul trouble in the first half, Nick Richards finished the game with 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds.

·        He’s scored in double figures in three of his last four games.

·        He’s hauled in seven or more rebounds in five of his last seven outings.

·        Quade Green was off to a nice start with nine points and five assists before leaving midway through the second half with a right eye injury.

·        The five assists matched a career high. 

·        Tai Wynyard snared a career-high six rebounds while also matching career highs in points (4) and minutes (12).

·        He also registered a career-best two steals.

·        He registered his first career dunk in the first half.

·        Brad Calipari played in a season-high six minutes and hauled in his first rebound of the season.