by Corey Price
Tonight at 9 p.m. on ESPNU the #3 Kentucky Wildcats return home to Rupp Arena to take on the Crimson Tide of Alabama. Kentucky traveled down to Baton Rouge and dismantled LSU 81-55 on Saturday while Alabama lost to Ole Miss in a very strange game the same day. Alabama had a 20 point lead against the Rebels at halftime, but was outscored by 27 points in the 2nd half to go on and lose by a score of 74-67. The Tide are in a slump, losing 6 of their last 8 games while the Wildcats have won 3 straight games since their only defeat of the season against the Gamecocks. Here are some numbers and facts of interest headed into tonight’s game:
A Win Against The Tide At Rupp Not Always A Given
Since the opening of Rupp Arena in the 1976-1977 season, the Wildcats have been dominant at home, winning 88% of the games played there. But Kentucky has struggled the most at Rupp against the Crimson Tide of Alabama. Here are UK’s 5 worst winning percentages for home games at Rupp Arena against SEC opponents:
Alabama: .760 (19-6)
Louisiana State: .808 (21-5)
Arkansas: .818 (9-2)
Florida: .818 (27-6)
Georgia: .879 (29-4)
To put it into perspective, UK has lost 6 times in 25 meetings against Alabama at Rupp Arena. But, UK has only lost 5 times in a combined 84 meetings at Rupp Arena against Auburn, Mississippi, and Vanderbilt.
Freshmen In More Select Company
This season’s freshman class continues to impress, especially DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall. And they continue to join extremely small lists of accomplishments that have been done by UK players in the past. Here are a couple of those accomplishments:
John Wall is the first freshman in UK history to have 300 points, 100 assists, and 40 steals in a season.
DeMarcus Cousins is currently averaging 16.4 points per game and 10 rebounds a game, a double-double. If he keeps up that average for the entire season, he’ll be the first UK player to average a double-double since Kenny Walker in 1984-1985, when he averaged 22.9 points per game and 10.2 rebounds per game. Cousins would also be the first freshman in UK history to average a double-double and the 8th UK player to average a double-double in their first year at the school. Here are the other 7 players to accomplish that feat:
Tom Payne, 1970-1971: 16.9 PPG, 10.1 RPG
Dan Issel, 1967-1968: 16.4 PPG, 12.1 RPG
Cotton Nash, 1961-1962: 23.4 PPG, 13.3 RPG
Johnny Cox, 1956-1957: 19.4 PPG, 11.1 RPG
Bob Burrow, 1954-1955: 19 PPG, 17.7 RPG
Frank Ramsey, 1950-1951: 10.2 PPG, 12.8 RPG
Bill Spivey, 1949-1950: 19.3 PPG, 19.3 RPG
DeMarcus Cousins is now only the 2nd freshman in UK history to have 300 points, 200 rebounds, and 40 blocks in a season. The only other freshman to accomplish this feat was Sam Bowie in the 1979-1980 season. Here’s a comparison of their numbers:
Sam Bowie, 1979-1980: 34 games, 440 points (12.9 PPG), 276 rebounds (8.1 RPG), and 73 blocks (2.1 BPG)
DeMarcus Cousins, 2009-2010: 23 games, 377 points (16.4 PPG), 229 rebounds (10 RPG), and 43 blocks (1.9 BPG)
UK’s Various Records vs. Alabama
UK’s overall record vs. Alabama: 98-35 (.737) (won last 3 meetings, 7-3 last 10 meetings)
UK’s record vs. Alabama at home: 51-10 (.836)
UK’s record vs. Alabama at Rupp Arena: 19-6 (.760) (won last meeting, 8-2 last 10 meetings)
UK’s record vs. Alabama when UK is ranked and Alabama is unranked: 41-11 (.788) (won last 2 meetings, 8-2 last 10 meetings)
Other Various Records
UK’s overall record playing on February 9th: 19-9 (.679)
UK’s record playing Alabama on February 9th: 3-0 (1.000)
Largest crowd to attend a Kentucky/Alabama game at Rupp Arena: 24,190 (February 9th, 2008, Kentucky – 62 Alabama – 52)
Smallest crowd to attend a Kentucky/Alabama game at Rupp Arena: 21,125 (February 13th, 1985, Kentucky – 51 Alabama – 48)
RPI Rankings (As Of 9:30 P.M. February 8th)
Kentucky: 6th
Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 52nd
Alabama: 105th
Alabama’s Strength Of Schedule: 59th
Pomeroy Ratings (As Of February 8th)
Kentucky: 6th
Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 83rd
Kentucky’s Non-Conference Strength Of Schedule: 170th
Alabama: 73rd
Alabama’s Strength Of Schedule: 75th
Alabama’s Non-Conference Strength Of Schedule: 169th
Sagarin Ratings (As Of February 7th)
Kentucky: 6th
Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 97th
Alabama: 85th
Alabama’s Strength Of Schedule: 73rd
Kentucky In The Top 30 In Team Statistics (As Of February 7th)
Assists Per Game: 25th (16)
Blocks Per Game: 6th (7.2)
Field Goal Percentage Defense: 11th (38.1%)
Field Goal Percentage: 12th (48.9%)
Rebounds Per Game: 4th (42.3)
Offensive Rebounds Per Game: T-9th (15.2)
Defensive Rebounds Per Game: T-13th (27.2)
Rebound Margin: 1st (+10.3)
Scoring Margin: 6th (+16.4)
Scoring Offense: 6th (82.3)
Kentucky Players In The Top 50 In Individual Statistics (As Of February 7th)
Assists Per Game: John Wall, 2nd (6.8)
Field Goal Percentage: Patrick Patterson, 5th (59.4%) DeMarcus Cousins, 34th (54%)
Offensive Rebounds Per Game: DeMarcus Cousins, 6th (4.3) Patrick Patterson, 48th (3.3)
Rebounds Per Game: DeMarcus Cousins, T-22nd (10)
Points Per 40 Minutes: DeMarcus Cousins, 1st (29.9)
Turnovers Per Game: John Wall, T-12th (4) Eric Bledsoe, 35th (3.6)
Alabama Players In The Top 50 In Individual Statistics (As Of February 7th)
Assists Per Game: Mikhail Torrance, T-25th (5.6)
Kentucky Individual Game Records vs. Alabama
Points: 47, Dan Issel (2/23/1970)
Rebounds: 18, Kevin Grevey (1/20/1975)
Assists: 10, Ed Davender (2/13/1988)
Steals: 5, John Pelphrey (1/17/1990)
Blocks: 6, Jamaal Magloire (2/19/1997)
Free Throws Made: 16, Kenny Walker (3/8/1986)
Field Goals Made: 19, Dan Issel (2/23/1970)
3 Point Field Goals Made: 7, Patrick Sparks (2/26/2005)
Alabama Individual Game Records vs. Kentucky
Points: 38, Reginald King (3/1/1979)
Rebounds: 25, Leon Douglas (1/20/1975)
Assists: 15, Eric Richardson (2/4/1984) (most ever by an opposing player against UK)
Steals: 5, Eric Richardson (2/4/1984)
Blocks: 9, Roy Rogers (2/20/1996)
Free Throws Made: 15, George Linn (2/25/1956)
Field Goals Made: 17, Jerry Harper (2/25/1956)
3 Point Field Goals Made: 7, Damon Bacote (1/21/1998)
Memorable Game
February 7th, 1987
Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Attendance: 15,043
Kentucky – 70
#9 Alabama – 69
Kentucky came into Tuscaloosa to face the 9th ranked Crimson Tide of Alabama. The Wildcats had a 13-6 overall record and 6-5 in SEC play. Alabama came into the game with a 17-3 overall record and 10-1 in SEC play. Alabama beat Kentucky at Rupp Arena by 14 points earlier in the season on January 7th. So it was going to be a cake walk for Alabama
on their home court. Not so fast. The Wildcats jumped out to a quick lead and led by as much as 12 points, 25-13, in the first half, and went to the locker room at halftime with a 5 point lead, 40-35. The Crimson Tide didn’t back down though and stormed back to lead by 6 points, 69-63, with just over a minute to play. But Kentucky mounted a furious final minute comeback, scoring the game’s last 7 points. Ed Davender hit 2 free throws with 1:09 left to cut the lead to 69-65. Then Rex Chapman stole a pass and assisted to James Blackmon who got an old-fashioned 3 point play to cut the lead to 69-68 with 50 seconds left. Alabama’s Michael Ansley missed the front end of a one-and-one with 44 seconds left, UK rebounded, and had one last chance to win the game. Ed Davender was clutch, hitting a 12 foot jumper with 6 seconds left to win the game for the Wildcats, 70-69. Roger Harden hit a 23 foot jumper with 6 seconds left to defeat the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa just one year earlier. Kentucky had 3 players score in double figures with Ed Davender leading the Wildcats in scoring with 29 points. Richard Madison scored 14 points and Rex Chapman scored 11 points. Alabama also had 3 players score in double figures with Derrick McKey leading the Crimson Tide in scoring with 20 points. Jim Farmer scored 16 points and ex-Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried scored 10 points. To this day it remains only the 2nd time ever that an unranked UK team has defeated a top 10 SEC opponent on their home court. Ironically, the only other time it happened was also against a 9th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide squad at Coleman Coliseum. The unranked Wildcats defeated the #9 Crimson Tide 95-93 on January 29th, 1973.
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