Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: UK vs. North Carolina Postgame Notes

Postgame notes from Saturday’s game between the Kentucky Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels.

North Carolina at Kentucky, Men’s Basketball

Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky.

Dec. 13, 2014

FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 84, North Carolina 70

Kentucky is 11-0 and North Carolina is 6-3.
North Carolina leads the series 23-14.
UK is 11-0 for the first time since the 2009-10 team began 19-0.
The current Wildcats have joined the 1946-47 team as the only two squads in school history to begin the season with 11 straight wins featuring double-figure victory margins.
Kentucky is 189-27 all-time when ranked No. 1 and has won 29 of the last 31 games as The Associated Press top-ranked team.
- Coach John Calipari has led three teams to a No. 1 ranking (Massachusetts, Memphis, Kentucky) and has a 73-9 record as the top-ranked coach, including 32-4 at UK.
Kentucky takes the week off for final examinations, then returns to action Saturday vs. UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic. The game will be played in the United Center in Chicago, with game time set for 3:30 p.m. ET

First-Half Facts

Kentucky’s opening lineup featured Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Trey Lyles, Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein for the first time this season. It is Lyles’ first career start.
Kentucky jumped out quickly and led 19-8 at the 14:31 mark of the opening period.
North Carolina rallied with scores on six straight possessions, cutting the UK lead to 24-21.
Devin Booker provided the early spark for the Wildcats, scoring 10 points in the first 10 minutes as UK led 26-21.
UK eventually led by as many as 15, which came at the intermission score of 49-34.

Second-Half Story

Kentucky started the second half with Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, Marcus Lee and Dakari Johnson.
UK built its lead to as many as 19 points at 59-40 and 62-43.
Trailing 62-43, UNC went on a 14-4 run to get within 66-57.
With the Tar Heels within 74-62 at the 5:19 mark, Cauley-Stein got a lob dunk and a fast-break dunk, followed by a steal. Towns converted two foul shots on the ensuing possession, giving the Wildcats an 80-62 advantage.
UK went on to win 84-70.

Team Notes

Kentucky shot 56.3 percent from the field, the third time this season UK has made at least 56 percent.
The Wildcats shot a season-best 46.7 percent on 3-pointers, making 7 of 15.
UK’s seven 3-pointers is the most since the season high of eight vs. UT Arlington on Nov. 25. The Cats also made eight 3s against Boston.
The Cats made 74.2 percent at the foul line, the second-best game of the season in that category.
UK hit 23 foul shots, one shy of the season high of 24 vs. UT Arlington.
The Cats tied a season high for steals with 12.
UK led bench points 33-19 and has won bench points every game this season.

Player Notes

Willie Cauley-Stein notched 15 points, his fifth straight game in double-figure scoring. He added six rebounds, tying for game-high honors, and had four steals.
Aaron Harrison tallied 14 points, his fifth double-figure game of the season, and made a season-best three 3-point shots.
Andrew Harrison scored 11 points, including 9 of 10 at the foul line, and had five assists.
Devin Booker had 15 points, tying for game-high honors and his fifth double-figure game of the season.
Tyler Ulis had eight assists, most by a Wildcat this season.
Marcus Lee had an efficient stat line, making all four field-goal attempts for eight points, adding two assists and two rebounds in 12 minutes of action.
With Alex Poythress out for the season, nine players saw action. Cauley-Stein’s 28 minutes were the most today by a Wildcat.