< Previous10 @KentuckyMBBYou can enjoy FREE * grocery delivery, 2X Fuel Points and more for as low as $59/year. *$35 order minimum. Restrictions apply. Subject to availability. Delivery time not guaranteed. Official Grocery Partner of UK AthleticsWEEKNIGHTS 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY 9:00 a.m.14 @KentuckyMBB From Press Row S-E-C! S-E-C! S-E-C! Kentucky is the Southeastern Confer- ence's gold standard. Since the SEC’s incep- tion in 1932-33, the Wildcats are the most dominant team in the league, recording a 1,035-298 mark (77.6%) in regular-season conference play. Only Alabama has won more than 800 regular-season SEC games and no other team owns a better winning percentage. • UK has averaged 11.6 wins and only 3.3 losses per season in 89 seasons in the SEC • Kentucky has won 49 SEC regu- lar-season titles and 31 SEC Tournament championships • Kentucky is 11-3 in the opening game of the SEC season under John Calipari and 13-1 in the first home league opener. UK is 69-20 all-time in SEC openers • The Wildcats have won 16 of the last 29 SEC Tournaments (the 2020 one was not played because of the COVID-19 pandemic) • UK has captured at least a share of six of the last 13 SEC regular-season champion- ships under John Calipari • Kentucky has played in the champion- ship game of the SEC Tournament in eight of Calipari’s 11 tourneys, winning six times (2020 tournament not played because of COVID) • UK won its 1,000th game in SEC reg- ular-season action vs. Alabama on Jan. 11, 2020. Kansas has won 1,000 conference games when combining its records in the Big 6, Big 7, Big 8 and Big 12, but no other team in the country had won 1,000 or more regular-season league games in one confer- ence alone • Six teams made the 2022 NCAA Tour- nament field with Arkansas reaching the Elite Eight • The SEC has had 27 NCAA Tournament selections over the last four tournaments, the third most. Only the Big 10 (30) and At- lantic Coast Conference (28) have had more • The SEC went 5-6 in NCAA Tourna- ment games in 2022. SEC teams are 78-49 (61.4%) in the NCAA tourney since 2012 • The league has advanced at least one team to the Elite Eight in 10 of the last 12 tournaments and nine different SEC teams have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the last five NCAA Tourna- ments • The SEC has held its own in the annual Big 12/SEC Challenge. The SEC leads 31-28 over the last six seasons in the yearly Jan- uary showdown and won outright in 2021 and '22 • Five SEC teams are ranked in the Jan. 2 Associated Press Top 25, with LSU, Mis- sissippi State and Kentucky receiving votes #OscarWorthy Part II Senior Oscar Tshiebwe is once again in the thick of the conversation for the nation's best player after sweep- ing every major Na- tional Player of the Year honor a season ago. Tshiebwe cur- rently leads the Cats in points per game (16.8), rebounds per game (13.8) and field-goal per- centage (.611) and is second in blocks per game (1.3) and steals per game (1.7). • Oscar Tshieb- we's 23-point, 19-re- bound game against Missouri was the fourth such contest of his UK career. He now has four of the seven games of 20 or more points and at least 18 rebounds by an SEC player in the last 10 seasons. No other player has more than one and the feat had not been ac- complished since South Carolina's Sindarius Thornwell did so against Alabama on Feb. 7, 2017 • Tshiebwe also has tallied three 20-point, 15-rebound games so far this season after seven a season ago. He has 10 of the 52 20-point, 15-rebound contests by SEC play- ers in the last 10 seasons • Tshiebwe is one of two players in the NCAA this season averaging more than 15 points and 13 rebounds per game (Zach Edey - Purdue) • He is the only player in the country averaging at least 15 points, at least 13 re- bounds, at least 1.5 steals and at least 1.0 blocks per game • Tshiebwe leads the country with 13.8 rebounds per game • He leads the nation with 5.75 offensive rebounds per game and fifth with 8.08 de- fensive boards per contest • With 1,224 points and 1,046 boards, Tshiebwe is one of two players nationally to total at least 1,000 points and 1,000 re- bounds over the last four seasons, joining North Carolina's Armando Bacot (1,540 points, 1,148 Floor General Wheeler Sahvir Wheeler has paced the Southeastern Conference in assists per game in each of his last two seasons. He's once again leading the conference with 6.8 dimes per game. A Bob Cousy Award finalist a season ago, Wheeler is once again providing the Wildcats with one of the best floor generals in the country. • Wheeler leads the SEC and ranks fifth nationally with 6.8 assists per game. He has generated two games with 10 or more, six with eight or more and 11 with five or more thus far • Since the start of the 2019-20 season, his freshman season at Georgia, Wheeler's 628 total assists rank second nationally, only behind the 703 by Yuri Collins of Saint Louis • A season after becoming just the fourth player in program history to amass at least 200 assists in a season, Wheeler is moving up the career charts as well. In just 40 games with the Wildcats, Wheeler already ranks 19th in program history with 296 dimesMOP IT LIKE IT ' S HOTMOP IT LIKE IT ' S HOTInside The Numbers 18 @KentuckyMBB KENTUCKY (10-4, 1-1) AT ALABAMA (12-2, 2-0) Series Breakdown Overall - UK, 116-40 at Tuscaloosa - UK, 32-25 Calipari vs. UA - 19-6 Oats vs. UK - 2-4 Current UK streak - W2 John Calipari Nate Oats Overall Record: 820-245* Overall Record: 169-81 Record at UK: 375-105 Record at Alabama: 73-38 Overall Seasons: 31st Overall Seasons: 8th at Kentucky: 14th at Alabama: 4th * on court record UK Statistic UA 78.6 Points Per Game 83.3 39.4 Rebounds PG 46.5 17.9 Assists PG 15.4 4.4 Blocks PG 5.6 7.3 Steals PG 5.9 11.9 Turnovers PG 16.4 .473 FG Pct. .441 .390 3-Pt. FG Pct. .348 .665 FT. Pct. .710 1.4 Assist-to-TO Ratio 0.9 THE MATCHUPTALE OF THE TAPE • Improve UK's overall record to 117-40 against Alabama and 33-25 in games played against the Crimson Tide in Tus- caloosa • Bring John Calipari to within four wins of passing Harry Rabenhorst (178) for the sixth-most SEC regular-season wins in league history • Improve Calipari's career record to 20-6 against the Crimson Tide and 19-5 against Alabama while at the helm of the Wildcats A UK WIN WOULD... 49 SEC regular-season titles in program history 31 SEC Tournament championships 28 Straight home victories in Rupp Arena 13.8 Nation-leading rebounds per game by Tshiebwe BY THE NUMBERSNext >