Arkansas Razorbacks at Kentucky Wildcats, Men’s Basketball
Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky., Feb. 28, 2015
FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 84, Arkansas 67
- Kentucky is 29-0, 16-0 in the Southeastern Conference. Arkansas is 23-6 overall, 12-4 in league play.
- Kentucky leads the series 26-11.
- Kentucky clinched the SEC championship outright today.
- It is Kentucky’s 46th regular-season SEC championship.
- It is Coach John Calipari’s 13th regular-season conference title, including his third at UK.
- With 29 consecutive victories …
- It extended the longest season-opening win streak for any team in SEC history.
- It is the second-longest overall win streak in Kentucky history.
- It extended the longest win streak for a John Calipari-coached team.
- Kentucky is 206-27 all-time when ranked No. 1 and has won 51 of the last 53 games as The Associated Press top-ranked team.
- UK is 49-1 all-time as the No. 1-ranked team in Rupp Arena.
- Calipari has led three schools to a No. 1 ranking (Massachusetts, Memphis, Kentucky) and has a 95-9 record as the top-ranked coach, including 54-4 at UK.
- Calipari is now 181-37 (.830) as head coach at Kentucky, the best winning percentage of any coach in UK history.
- UK led the entire game and has trailed for only 149:01 of a possible 1,175 minutes this season.
- This was the third consecutive game that the Wildcats did not trail.
- UK has trailed for only 22:11 of the possible 240 minutes this season vs. ranked foes.
- Kentucky has defeated its six ranked opponents this season by an average of 17.2 points per game.
- Kentucky returns to action Tuesday at Georgia. Game time is 9 p.m. and it will be televised on ESPN.
- Kentucky scored 84 points today and has averaged 89.3 over the last three games.
- UK shot 75 percent from the line, 21 of 28. UK has made at least 70 percent of its foul shots in 13 of the last 17 games.
- Key stats for the Cats:
- UK won rebounding 38-32, leading to a 40-24 advantage in points in the paint.
- UK won points off turnovers, 16-9. UK has won or tied points off turnovers in every game this season.
- UK won bench points 24-7. UK has won bench points in every game this season.
- Kentucky’s streak of 927 consecutive games with a 3-pointer was extended when Aaron Harrison tripled at the 18:02 mark of the first half.
- Kentucky’s opening lineup featured Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Trey Lyles, Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein for the 10th time this season.
- Kentucky scored on five of the first six possessions in jumping out to an 11-2 lead.
- UK steadily built the advantage, leading by as many as 16 points at 32-16 with 5:33 remaining.
- At that point, Arkansas called timeout and responded with a 7-0 run to cut it to 32-23.
- The Wildcats closed the period with a 10-3 spurt and went to intermission ahead 42-26.
- Kentucky started the second half with Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, Karl-Anthony Towns and Dakari Johnson.
- Arkansas got within 13 points on two occasions early in the half but got no closer.
- UK led by as many as 31 points at 78-47.
- In back-to-back games, Trey Lyles has his two highest-scoring games of the season. He had 18 points Wednesday at Mississippi State and 18 today.
- Karl-Anthony Towns had eight points, making 4-of-5. Over the last five games he has made 87 percent of his shots, 20-of-23.
- Aaron Harrison had nine points and a career-high five steals.
- Andrew Harrison tied Lyles for game-high honors with 18 points. It is his second-highest game of the season.
- Devin Booker scored 10 points, his fourth double-figure game in a row and 17th double-figure game of the season.
- Tyler Ulis notched 14 points, tying his season high set in December at Louisville.
- Willie Cauley-Stein had seven points and a solid floor game with nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and four blocked shots.
Team Notes
First-Half Facts
Second-Half Story
Player Notes