by Corey Price
Tonight at 9 p.m. on ESPN, the newly ranked #1 Kentucky Wildcats, and the last remaining unbeaten team in NCAA Division I men’s basketball, take on the South Carolina Gamecocks at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina. Here are some numbers and facts of interests headed into tomorrow night’s game:
With a win against the Gamecocks, UK will start 20-0 on the season. There have been only 2 other seasons in which UK started a season 20-0. Here are those 2 seasons:
1953-1954: Started and ended the season 25-0 (didn’t participate in the NCAA Tournament) (Finished #1 in the AP Poll and #2 in the UPI Poll) (SEC Regular Season Champions and Helms Foundation National Champions)
1965-1966: Started the season 23-0, lost to Tennessee 69-62 on March 5th, 1966 for their 1st loss, finished the season 27-2 (Finished #1 in both the AP Poll and UPI Poll) (SEC Regular Season Champions, Lost in the NCAA Championship to Texas Western)
Kentucky has had 7 win streaks of at least 20 games in a single season. Here are those 7 win streaks, in order of most wins in a row:
27 wins, 1995-1996
26 wins, 2002-2003
25 wins, 1953-1954
23 wins, 1965-1966
23 wins, 1951-1952
21 wins, 1950-1951
21 wins, 1948-1949
Freshman Record In Jeopardy
John Wall is 3 assists shy of setting the UK freshman record for assists in a season. He has 124 assists coming into the South Carolina game. The record is currently held by Dirk Minniefield, who had 126 assists in the 1979-1980 season.
UK’s Various Records vs. South Carolina
UK’s overall record vs. South Carolina: 41-9 (.820) (lost last 2 meetings, 6-4 last 10 meetings)
UK’s record vs. South Carolina on the road: 16-5 (.762) (8-2 last 10 meetings)
UK’s record vs. South Carolina at the Colonial Life Arena (formerly called the Carolina Center and Colonial Center): 5-2 (.714) (lost last meeting)
UK’s record vs. South Carolina when UK is ranked and South Carolina is unranked: 27-4 (.871) (lost last meeting, 7-3 last 10 meetings)
Other Various Records
UK’s overall record playing on January 26th: 19-5 (.792)
UK’s record vs. South Carolina playing on January 26th: 2-0 (1.000)
Largest crowd to attend a Kentucky/South Carolina at the Colonial Life Arena: 18,000 (March 3rd, 2004 #9 Kentucky – 84 South Carolina – 65)
RPI Rankings (As Of 9:30 P.M. January 25th)
Kentucky: 7th
Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 84th
South Carolina: 88th
South Carolina’s Strength Of Schedule: 59th
Pomeory Ratings (As Of January 24th)
Kentucky: 9th
Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 136th
Kentucky’s Non-Conference Strength Of Schedule: 195th
South Carolina: 73rd
South Carolina’s Strength Of Schedule: 66th
South Carolina’s Non-Conference Strength Of Schedule: 171st
Sagarin Ratings (As Of January 24th)
Kentucky: 6th
Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 150th
South Carolina: 82nd
South Carolina’s Strength Of Schedule: 41st
Kentucky In The Top 30 In Team Statistics
Assists Per Game: T-21st (16.3)
Blocks Per Game: 6th (7.3)
Field Goal Percentage Defense: 15th (38%)
Field Goal Percentage: 6th (49.8%)
Fouls Per Game: T-19th (15.6)
Rebound Margin: 1st (+10.4)
Scoring Margin: 7th (+17.6)
Scoring Offense: 8th (83.2)
South Carolina In The Top 30 In Team Statistics
Blocks Per Game: 8th (7.1)
Steals Per Game: T-14th (9.5)
Turnover Margin: 8th (+4.8)
South Carolina In The Bottom 30 In Team Statistics
Assists Per Game: 314th (10.3)
Kentucky Players In The Top 50 In Individual Statistics
Assists Per Game: John Wall, 2nd (6.9)
Field Goal Percentage: Patrick Patterson, T-2nd (61.2%) DeMarcus Cousins, 31st (55.1%)
Rebounds Per Game: DeMarcus Cousins, T-33rd (9.5)
Steals Per Game: John Wall, T-45th (2.1)
South Carolina Players In The Top 50 In Individual Statistics
Blocks Per Game: Sam Muldrow, 8th (3.3)
Points Per Game: Devan Downey, 9th (21.9)
Steals Per Game: Devan Downey, T-1st (3.2)
Most Points Scored By A UK Player vs. South Carolina: 35, Joe Crawford (March 5th, 2008)
Most Points Scored By A South Carolina Player vs. UK: 37, Tre’ Kelly (February 7th, 2007)
Memorable Game
March 2nd, 1997
Rupp Arena (Attendance: 24,326)
UK Senior Day
#3 Kentucky – 66
#6 South Carolina – 72
It was Senior Day at Rupp Arena as the Big Blue Faithful came to honor Derek Anderson, Anthony Epps, and Jared Prickett at their final home game. This was the first, and only so far, meeting between Kentucky and South Carolina in which both teams were ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll coming into the game. The #6 Gamecocks had come into the game on fire winning 17 of their last 18 games. The #3 Wildcats weren’t much worse, coming into the game with a 27-3 record. South Carolina built an 11 point lead early due to UK’s poor shooting, they shot 32.4% as a team for the game. But, the Wildcats clawed and even took a 4 point lead, their largest of the game, midway through the 2nd half. UK head coach Rick Pitino was ejected from the game in the final minute after getting his first technical foul for arguing a call, then his second for making contact with an official. But the Gamecocks proved to be too much as they went on to win 72-66, UK’s 1st loss on Senior Day since 1964, and the only time that a team beat Rick Pitino twice in the same season while at UK. B.J. McKie, South Carolina’s all-time leading scorer, led the Gamecocks with 22 points. The Wildcats were led by sophomore sensation Ron Mercer with 25 points.
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