Postgame Notes and Quotes from the Win Over Alabama

Alabama Crimson Tide at Kentucky Wildcats, Men’s Basketball

Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky., Jan. 31, 2015

 FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 70, Alabama 55

• Kentucky is 21-0, 8-0 in the Southeastern Conference. Alabama is 13-8, 3-5 in league play.
• Kentucky leads the series 105-37, including 55-10 at home.
• With 21 consecutive victories to begin the season, UK is off to the third-best start in program history.
• Kentucky is now the lone undefeated team in the nation following Virginia’s setback tonight to Duke.
• Kentucky is 198-27 all-time when ranked No. 1 and has won 43 of the last 45 games as The Associated Press top-ranked team.
• Calipari has led three schools to a No. 1 ranking (Massachusetts, Memphis, Kentucky) and has an 87-9 record as the top-ranked coach, including 46-4 at UK.
• Calipari is now 173-37 (.824) as head coach at Kentucky, the best winning percentage of any coach in UK history.
• Kentucky was behind for only 20 seconds tonight. UK has trailed for only 103:43 of a possible 855 minutes this season.
• Kentucky returns to action Tuesday at home against Georgia. Game time is 7 p.m. EST and it will be televised on ESPNU.

Team Notes

• Sparked by inside players, Kentucky shot a season-best 58.5 percent from the field. UK’s bigs (Towns, Cauley-Stein, Lee, Johnson) combined to make 13-of-16 for 81.3 percent.
• UK made 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) on 3-point shots tonight. Over the last 11 games, Kentucky has shot 44 percent on 3-pointers, 77-of-175.
• Kentucky had only five turnovers tonight, just one away from the season low of four miscues.
• Kentucky had balanced scoring tonight with four players in double figures and eight players scoring at least five points.
• UK is 105-5 in the John Calipari Era when holding opponents to 63 or fewer points, including 17-0 this season.
• UK is 54-0 in the John Calipari Era when holding opponents to 55 or fewer points, including 16 times this season.
• Kentucky’s streak of 921 consecutive games with a 3-pointer was extended early in the contest when Aaron Harrison hit a long ball from the left corner at the 17:47 mark of the first half.

First-Half Facts

• Kentucky’s opening lineup featured Dominique Hawkins, Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein for the sixth time this season.
• Alabama scored on the game’s opening possession but Kentucky responded with the next seven points and the Wildcats never trailed again.
• UK led by as many as 17 points at 37-20 and took a 37-24 lead into halftime.

Second-Half Story

• Kentucky started the second half with Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker, Aaron Harrison, Marcus Lee and Dakari Johnson.
• The lead stayed between 12 and 21 points during the second half.

Player Notes

• Karl-Anthony Towns had a perfect shooting night, making all four field goal attempts and all four foul shots for a total of 12 points. All of his points came in the first half.
• Willie Cauley-Stein tallied 12 points, making all four of his field-goal attempts.
• Devin Booker had 11 points, including three of four 3-pointers. He’s now made 25 of his last 38 long shots, 65.8 percent.
• Aaron Harrison chipped in 10 points, the 10^th time in the last 12 games he has tallied in double figures.
• Marcus Lee led the Wildcats in rebounding with five boards and also scored eight points, most for him since scoring eight vs. North Carolina on Dec. 13.
• Tyler Ulis contributed a game-high four assists and scored six points.