Kentucky Wildcats Basketball Notes plus morning headlines
By Paul Jordan
The 2014-2015 Kentucky Wildcats Basketball season officially got underway last night as UK faced off against the Pikeville Bears at Rupp Arena. All the game did was to fuel the speculation that this season may lead to title number #9 as the Wildcats dismantled the Bears 1116-68. Here are the official game notes from the UKAA.
Pikeville at Kentucky (exhibition)
Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky.
Nov. 2, 2014
FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 116, Pikeville 68
Team Records, Notes
• This was Kentucky’s first exhibition game of the season.
• Kentucky is 52-4 all-time in preseason exhibition games and has won 23 in a row.
• Pikeville has played one official game already, a 100-63 win over Grace Bible College. The Bears are picked as the preseason No. 2 team in NAIA Division I.
• Kentucky’s next exhibition game is Sunday Nov. 9 vs. Georgetown College at 7 p.m. at Rupp Arena. The Wildcats officially open the season Nov. 14 at home vs. Grand Canyon.
First-Half Facts
• Kentucky started with the lineup of Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Alex Poythress, Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein.
• Kentucky jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never trailed.
• Pikeville kept it close and trailed only 35-28 midway through the half when UK went on a 21-0 run to make it 56-28.
• UK went to halftime ahead 67-40 as all 10 Wildcats who played in the first half also scored.
Second-Half Story
• UK eclipsed the century mark, 101-60, on a layup by Dakari Johnson with 8:22 to play.
• UK’s largest lead was 49 points at 114-65.
• UK finished with a 116-68 victory.
Team Notes
• Kentucky shot 65.3 percent from the field.
• The Wildcats won the rebounding 49-28.
• UK piled up 29 assists, led by nine from Andrew Harrison.
• Six Wildcats scored in double figures although no player saw more than 20 minutes of action.
• Kentucky’s “second platoon” was comprised of Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, Marcus Lee and Dakari Johnson.
Individual Notes
• Karl-Anthony Towns led the Wildcats with 22 points, including 10 of 11 from the field.
• Also tallying double figures were Devin Booker (16 points), Dakari Johnson (13), Alex Poythress (12), Trey Lyles (11) and Willie Cauley-Stein (10).
• K.K. Simmons of Pikeville led all scorers with 28 points, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range.