by Corey Price
Today at 4 p.m. on the SEC Network the #2 Kentucky Wildcats take on the Auburn Tigers at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum, UK’s second consecutive SEC game on the road. Here are some numbers and facts of interests headed into today’s game:
Kentucky’s dominance against Auburn over the years is almost second to none in terms of their other SEC opponents. Here are UK’s top five winning percentages against the other eleven teams in the SEC:
Mississippi – .889 (96-12)
Auburn – .830 (83-17)
Georgia – .822 (111-24)
South Carolina – .820 (41-9)
Mississippi State – .811 (77-18)
This season’s freshman class of Eric Bledsoe, DeMarcus Cousins, Jon Hood, Daniel Orton, and John Wall have been lighting the scoreboard up so far. The five players have combined to score 786 points and they are threatening to destroy the record for most points scored by a freshman class in UK history. Here are the top five scoring freshman classes in UK history:
1974-1975 (Dan Hall, Jack Givens, James Lee, Mike Phillips, Rick Robey) – 1,003 points
1979-1980 (Sam Bowie, Tom Heitz, Derrick Hord, Charles Hurt, Dirk Minniefield) – 982 points
1943-1944 (12 freshmen, most upperclassmen were overseas fighting in World War II) – 850 points
2004-2005 (Ramel Bradley, Joe Crawford, Randolph Morris, Rajon Rondo) – 825 points
2000-2001 (Erik Daniels, Gerald Fitch, Cliff Hawkins, Matt Heissenbuttel, Jason Parker, Cory Sears) – 805 points
UK’s Various Records vs. Auburn
UK’s overall record vs. Auburn: 83-17 (.830) (won last 10 and 24 of last 25 meetings)
UK’s record vs. Auburn on the road: 26-13 (.667)
UK’s record vs. Auburn at the Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum: 23-9 (.719) (won last 4 and 9 of last 10 meetings)
UK’s record vs. Auburn when UK is ranked and Auburn is unranked: 52-7 (.881) (won last 17 meetings)
Other Various Records
UK’s overall record playing on January 16th: 20-5 (.800)
Largest crowd to attend a Kentucky/Auburn game at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum: 12,599 (February 10th, 1988 #10 Kentucky – 69 Auburn – 62)
RPI Rankings (As Of 9:30 P.M. January 15th)
Kentucky: 11th
Kentucky’s Strength of Schedule: 97th
Auburn: 184th
Auburn’s Strength Of Schedule: 138th
Pomeroy Ratings (As Of January 15th)
Kentucky: 12th
Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 158th
Kentucky’s Non-Conference Strength Of Schedule: 211th
Auburn: 143rd
Auburn’s Strength Of Schedule: 223rd
Auburn’s Non-Conference Strength Of Schedule: 285th
Sagarin Ratings (As Of January 14th)
Kentucky: 5th
Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 175th
Auburn: 156th
Auburn’s Strength Of Schedule: 226th
Kentucky Individual Game Records vs. Auburn
Points: 42, Dan Issel (3/2/1970)
Free Throws Made: 12, Jodie Meeks (1/21/2009)
Field Goals Made: 17, Kevin Grevey (3/3/1973)
3 Point Field Goals Made: 6, Rex Chapman (1/3/1987)
Auburn Individual Game Records vs. UK
Points: 42, John Mengelt (2/3/1969)
Free Throws Made: 17, John Mengelt (3/2/1970)
Field Goals Made: 17, John Mengelt (2/3/1969) Gary England (3/3/1973)
3 Point Field Goals Made: 6, Keenan Carpenter (1/25/1989)
Kentucky In The Top 30 In Team Statistics
Assists Per Game: T-24th (16.4)
Blocks Per Game: 8th (7.2)
Field Goal Percentage Defense: 22nd (38.3%)
Field Goal Percentage: 7th (49.9%)
Fouls Per Game: T-19th (15.4)
Rebound Margin: 4th (+10.2)
Scoring Margin: 9th (+17.5)
Scoring Offense: 15th (82.8)
Kentucky Players In The Top 50 In Individual Statistics
Assists Per Game: John Wall, 2nd (7.1)
Field Goal Percentage: Patrick Patterson, 3rd (62.9%)
Rebounds Per Game: DeMarcus Cousins, T-45th (9.2)
Steals Per Game: John Wall, T-47th (2.1)
Auburn In The Top 30 In Team Statistics
Steals Per Game: T-25th (9)
Auburn Players In The Top 50 In Individual Statistics
Free Throw Percentage: Frankie Sullivan, 44th (86.8%)
There has been one occurrence where UK came into Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum ranked #2 in the AP Poll and lost to an unranked Auburn squad.
January 13th, 1984
#2 Kentucky – 63
Auburn – 82
Melvin Turpin led the Wildcats in scoring with 22 points
Chuck Person led the Tigers in scoring with 25 points
Looking for more Kentucky/Auburn stories? Check out Paul’s preview of today’s SEC matchup!
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