Tonight at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network, the newly ranked #3 Kentucky Wildcats take on the Georgia Bulldogs down at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens. Kentucky is coming off only their 2nd loss of the season, a 74-65 defeat at the hands of the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena. Georgia defeated the Florida Gators 78-76 at Stegeman Coliseum and are 4-6 in their last 10 games. Here are some numbers and facts of interest headed into tonight’s game:
Georgia: No Road Warriors
Luckily for the Bulldogs, tonight’s game is on their home court. Georgia’s record so far this season in 13-14. Their record at Stegeman Coliseum is 13-3 and their record away from Stegeman Coliseum is 0-11. Georgia’s wins at home include Florida, Georgia Tech, Illinois, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. That’s right, Georgia has 5 SEC wins all season and 4 of them have come against the SEC East at Stegeman Coliseum, so that trend doesn’t bode well for the Wildcats.
Cousins And Wall: Best Freshman Duo Ever?
With DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall breaking so many UK freshman records, it got me to thinking if they were the best freshman duo ever in college basketball. I decided to compare their stats so far this season to the 2 best freshman from what is widely regarded as the best freshman class ever, the “Fab Five” at Michigan. Those 2 freshman would be Jalen Rose and Chris Webber from the 1991-1992 Michigan squad.
Cousins/Wall Rose/Webber
Minutes Per Game 57.4 65.4
Field Goal Percentage 49.4% 52%
3 Point Field Goal Percentage 30.6% 30.3%
Free Throw Percentage 71.1% 66.1%
Rebounds Per Game 14.6 14.3
Assists Per Game 7.1 6.2
Turnovers Per Game 6 6.1
Assist-To-Turnover Ratio 1.2 to 1 1 to 1
Steals Per Game 2.7 2.7
Blocks Per Game 2.2 2.7
Fouls Per Game 5.2 5.1
Points Per Game 33 33.1
As you can see, the numbers are very similar, and that freshman duo led Michigan to a national title game appearance, although it was a loss to Duke.
Patrick Patterson And 400 Points
Patrick Patterson currently has 432 points on the season. Combine that with 411 points in his freshman season and 609 points in his sophomore season and he has joined select company. Patterson is the 8th player in UK history to score at least 400 points in each of their first 3 seasons. Here are the other 7 players in that select list:
Kyle Macy, 1977-1980
Kevin Grevey, 1972-1975
Mike Casey, 1967-1971
Dan Issel, 1967-1970
Louie Dampier, 1964-1967
Cotton Nash, 1961-1964
Johnny Cox, 1956-1959
Great 30 Game Starts
With a win against the Bulldogs, UK would have a 28-2 record. UK has had 8 seasons before in which they started their season 28-2 or better. Here are those 7 seasons:
1945-1946: 28-2 (Finished 28-2, NIT Champions)
1946-1947: 28-2 (Finished 34-3, NIT Runners-Up)
1947-1948: 28-2 (Finished 36-3, NCAA Champions)
1948-1949: 29-1 (Finished 32-2, NCAA Champions)
1950-1951: 28-2 (Finished 32-2, NCAA Champions)
1951-1952: 28-2 (Finished 29-3, NCAA Regional Finalist)
1977-1978: 28-2 (Finished 30-2, NCAA Champions)
1995-1996: 28-2 (Finished 34-2, NCAA Champions)
UK’s Various Records vs. Georgia
UK’s overall record vs. Georgia: 111-24 (.822) (won last meeting, 7-3 last 10 meetings)
UK’s record vs. Georgia on the road: 38-15 (.717)
UK’s record vs. Georgia at Stegeman Coliseum: 31-12 (.721) (won last 2 meetings, 7-3 last 10 meetings)
UK’s record vs. Georgia in the 2nd meeting of the regular season when UK wins the 1st meeting of the regular season: 35-3
Other Various Records
UK’s overall record playing on March 3rd: 17-7 (.708)
UK’s overall record in their last road game of SEC play: 50-25 (.667)
Largest crowd to attend a Kentucky/Georgia game at Stegeman Coliseum: 11,200 (February 25th, 1987 Kentucky – 71 Georgia – 79)
Smallest crowd to attend a Kentucky/Georgia game at Stegeman Coliseum: 5,110 (February 19th, 1973 Kentucky – 99 Georgia – 86)
RPI Rankings (As Of 9:30 P.M. March 2nd)
Kentucky: 4th
Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 38th
Georgia: 88th
Georgia’s Strength Of Schedule: 11th
Pomeroy Ratings (As Of March 1st)
Kentucky: 10th
Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 63rd
Kentucky’s Non-Conference Strength Of Schedule: 189th
Georgia: 79th
Georgia’s Strength Of Schedule: 11th
Georgia’s Non-Conference Strength Of Schedule: 101st
Sagarin Ratings (As Of March 1st)
Kentucky: 4th
Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 63rd
Georgia: 82nd
Georgia’s Strength Of Schedule: 11th
UK In The Top 30 In Team Statistics (As Of February 28th)
Blocks Per Game: T-5th (7.1)
Field Goal Percentage Defense: 12th (38.1%)
Field Goal Percentage: 27th (47.6%)
Rebounds Per Game: 4th (42.4)
Offensive Rebounds Per Game: T-8th (15)
Defensive Rebounds Per Game: T-10th (27.4)
Rebound Margin: 1st (+9.8)
Scoring Margin: 7th (+14.4)
Scoring Offense: 12th (79.9)
Georgia In The Bottom 30 In Team Statistics (As Of February 28th)
Turnover Margin: 323rd (-3.4)
Kentucky Players In The Top 50 In Individual Statistics (As Of February 28th)
Assists Per Game: John Wall, 7th (6.2)
Field Goal Percentage: Patrick Patterson, 8th (58.6%) DeMarcus Cousins, 32nd (54%)
Rebounds Per Game: DeMarcus Cousins, T-17th (10.3)
Offensive Rebounds Per Game: DeMarcus Cousins, 5th (4.5) Patrick Patterson, T-39th (3.4)
Points Per 40 Minutes: DeMarcus Cousins, 2nd (28.1)
Turnovers Per Game: John Wall, 10th (4.1) Eric Bledsoe, T-50th (3.4)
Georgia Players In The Top 50 In Individual Statistics (As Of February 28th)
Points Per 40 Minutes: Trey Thompkins, T-49th (23.3)
Defensive Rebounds Per Game: Trey Thompkins, 43rd (6.2)
Kentucky Individual Game Records vs. Georgia
Points: 42, Melvin Turpin (3/8/1984)
Rebounds: 23, Mike Phillips (2/9/1976)
Assists: 10, Roger Harden (2/24/1985) Dicky Beal (3/8/1984) Roger Harden (1/28/1984) Kyle Macy (2/27/1978)
Steals: 7, Reggie Hanson (2/3/1990)
Blocks: 8, Patrick Patterson (3/4/2009)
Free Throws Made: 14, Alex Groza (2/21/1949)
Field Goals Made: 18, Melvin Turpin (3/8/1984)
3 Point Field Goals Made: 5, Michael Porter (3/4/2009) Joe Crawford (2/2/2008) Tony Delk (1/8/1994) Derrick Miller (12/30/1986)
Georgia Individual Game Records vs. Kentucky
Points: 38, Litterial Green (1/2/1991)
Rebounds: 24, Bob Lienhard (1/12/1970)
Assists: 10, Vern Fleming (2/25/1984) Tony Flanagan (2/9/1976)
Steals: 6, Terry Fair (1/29/1983)
Blocks: 4, Steve Thomas (1/9/2002) Elmore Spencer (1/4/1989)
Free Throws Made: 14, Alec Kessler (2/5/1989)
Field Goals Made: 17, Tim Bassett (2/19/1973)
3 Point Field Goals Made: 7, D.A. Layne (2/17/1999)
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