Wildcat Blue Nation
Fansided

Kentucky Wildcats vs Florida Gators Postgame Notes and Quotes

By Brian True

facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next

Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Florida Gators at Kentucky Wildcats, Men’s Basketball
Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky., March 7, 2015
FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 67, Florida 50

  • Kentucky is 31-0, 18-0 in the Southeastern Conference. Florida is 15-16 overall, 8-10 in league play.
  • Kentucky leads the series 96-37.
  • With 31 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.
  • At 31-0, Kentucky has become the first team from a “power five” conference to go undefeated in the regular season since Indiana did so in 1976.
  • This is the 15th time in school history that Kentucky has made an undefeated run in the Southeastern Conference regular season and the second time under Coach John Calipari (also 2012).
  • Kentucky set a school record with 19 home wins, eclipsing the record of 18 home wins set in 1985-86, 2009-10 and 2011-12.
    • It is the 12th time in the 39-year history of Rupp Arena that UK was undefeated at home in a season and the fourth time in six years under Calipari.
  • Kentucky is 208-27 all-time when ranked No. 1 and has won 53 of the last 55 games as The Associated Press top-ranked team.
  • UK is 50-1 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 97-9 record as the top-ranked coach, including 56-4 at UK.
  • Calipari is now 183-37 (.832) as head coach at Kentucky, the best winning percentage of any coach in UK history.
  • UK was behind for 4:43 today. The Wildcats have trailed for only 169:53 of a possible 1,255 minutes this season.
  • Kentucky plays Friday at 1 p.m. EDT in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament in Nashville.

Team Notes

Key stats for the Cats:

UK got to the foul line 21 times, making 15. The Wildcats committed just nine fouls in the game and UF made 3 of 7 at the charity stripe.

UK won points off turnovers, 16-12. UK has won or tied points off turnovers in every game this season.

More from Kentucky basketball

UK won bench points 46-13. UK has won bench points in every game this season.

Kentucky’s streak of 929 consecutive games with a 3-pointer was extended when Devin Booker hit a three at the 2:53 mark of the first half.

UK held Florida to 50 points. UK is 111-5 under Coach Calipari when holding the opponent to 63 or fewer points. UK is 57-0 under Calipari when limited the opponent to 55 or fewer points.

First-Half Facts

  • Kentucky’s opening lineup featured Brian Long, Sam Malone, Tod Lanter, Andrew Harrison and Karl-Anthony Towns for the first time season. Long, Malone and Lanter played the first 23 seconds and then left the game for substitutions.
  • Kentucky scored the first five points of the game but Florida rallied to go ahead 11-7.
  • The teams went back-and-forth after that. UK went ahead for good at 26-23 and Kentucky took a 30-27 edge into halftime.

Second-Half Story

  • Kentucky started the second half with Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein.
  • UF drew within 36-35 with a couple of 3-pointers. The Gators hit five of their first nine long balls.
  • Ahead 44-41, UK got a 7-0 run for a 51-41 lead. UF got no closer than eight after that.
  • Kentucky’s largest lead was 67-49.

Player Notes

  • Trey Lyles led the Wildcat with 14 points. He has averaged 11.3 over the last seven games and has grabbed at least four rebounds in each game.
  • Karl-Anthony Towns had a fine all-around game with 13 points, a game-high nine rebounds, six blocked shots and three assists.
    • Towns has averaged 14.2 points over the last five games.
    • His blocked shots was one shy of his career high of seven rejections.
    • His three assists was one shy of his career best of four.
  • Devin Booker scored six points with a pair of huge 3-pointers. With the game tied at 23, his 3-ball gave the Wildcats a lead they would not relinquish. In the second half, ahead 44-41, his 3-pointer started a 7-0 run which put the Wildcats ahead by 10 and the Gators got no closer than eight after that.
  • Tod Lanter, Brian Long and Sam Malone got the first starts of their UK careers on Senior Day.
Home/Kentucky basketball