< Previous10 @KentuckyMBB 2020 UK Sports Partnership Football Program Ad (8.5x11) 265-20801.indd 12020 UK Sports Partnership Football Program Ad (8.5x11) 265-20801.indd 111/13/20 11:01 AM11/13/20 11:01 AMWEEKNIGHTS 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY 9:00 a.m.110920 BBN Tonight RUPP Ad.indd 1110920 BBN Tonight RUPP Ad.indd 111/9/20 4:39 PM11/9/20 4:39 PMAround the SEC Around the Country 2020-21 SEC Standings Team SEC Overall Home Road Alabama 8-0 13-3 7-1 4-0 Missouri 4-2 10-2 5-1 4-1 LSU 5-3 10-4 8-1 1-3 Florida 5-3 8-4 4-1 2-3 Tennessee 4-3 10-3 8-2 2-1 Kentucky 4-3 5-9 3-3 2-4 Arkansas 4-4 12-4 10-1 2-3 Mississippi State 4-4 9-7 7-3 2-1 Ole Miss 3-4 8-6 6-3 2-3 Auburn 3-5 9-7 5-2 2-4 Georgia 2-5 9-5 8-3 1-2 Texas A&M 2-5 7-6 6-2 1-3 South Carolina 1-3 3-5 2-1 0-3 Vanderbilt 0-5 4-7 4-4 0-3 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Cameron Thomas, LSU ..................................................21.7 Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY ...............................................20.6 Trendon Watford, LSU ...................................................18.7 D.J. Stewart Jr., MISS ST .................................................18.0 Iverson Molinar, MISS ST ...............................................17.5 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Tolu Smith, MISS ST.........................................................8.8 Dylan Disu, VANDY ........................................................8.4 Emanuel Miller, TAMU ....................................................8.2 Darius Days, LSU ............................................................7.9 Justin Minaya, USC ..........................................................7.9 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Sahvir Wheeler, UGA ......................................................7.6 Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY .................................................5.3 Jalen Tate, ARK ................................................................4.7 Jermaine Couisnard, USC ................................................4.1 Tre Mann, UF ..................................................................4.1 Steals Player-Team ................................................................... SPG Justin Kier, UGA ..............................................................2.3 Devontae Shuler, MISS ....................................................1.9 Dru Smith, MIZZOU .......................................................1.8 Tyree Appleby, UF ...........................................................1.8 Luis Rodriguez, MISS .......................................................1.7 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Isaiah Jackson, UK ..........................................................3.0 Colin Castleton, UF .........................................................2.2 Abdul Ado, MISS ST ........................................................2.1 Yves Pons, UT .................................................................2.0 Omar Payne, UF ..............................................................1.7 2020-21 Associated Press Rankings As of Jan. 24, 2021 (week 10) Team Record Points 1 Gonzaga (61) 15-0 1,597 2 Baylor (3) 14-0 1,539 3 Villanova 10-1 1,459 4 Michigan 13-1 1,376 5 Texas 11-2 1,341 6 Houston 13-1 1,281 7 Iowa 12-3 1,214 8 Virginia 10-2 1,067 9 Alabama 13-3 1,039 10 Texas Tech 11-4 954 11 West Virginia 10-4 869 12 Missouri 10-2 833 13 Ohio State 12-4 810 14 Wisconsin 12-4 757 15 Kansas 10-5 665 16 Florida State 9-2 656 17 Creighton 11-4 640 18 Tennessee 10-3 638 19 Illinois 10-5 415 20 Virginia Tech 11-3 242 21 Minnesota 11-5 223 22 Saint Louis 7-1 218 23 UCLA 12-3 157 24 Oklahoma 9-4 151 25 Louisville 10-3 117 14 @KentuckyMBBFrom Press Row 16 @KentuckyMBB Boston, Brooks Lead Kentucky Past LSU There was a point late in the first half of Kentucky's game vs. LSU when the bad hab- its that have plagued the Wildcats for much of the season tried to resurface. Enjoying the best two-game stretch of his career, Brandon Boston Jr. was on a fast- break opportunity with Dontaie Allen and elected to try to score it himself by avoiding contact with Javonte Smart and flipping the ball up and under the defender. He missed it, and John Calipari went, as he described it, "crazy." "You're not going back to that guy," Cali- pari said. "That guy has left the building. You're going to be the guy that we keep train- ing you to be. That's who you are." Of late, Boston has looked more like the player that was billed in the preseason as one of the top freshmen in the country. He scored 18 points for a second straight game as Kentucky defeated LSU 82-69 on Saturday in Rupp Arena. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Wildcats (5-9, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) and avoided just the third losing skid of four or more consecutive games in the Calipari era. It's the second straight loss for the Tigers (10-4, 5-3 SEC), who still have a strong ré- sumé for the NCAA Tournament. Boston was 7 for 17 from the floor with two 3-pointers. His 36 points over the last two games mark the best stretch of his career, and he's scored efficiently during that stretch with 47.1% shooting. Could it also be a sign the collective group is turning a corner? And is it too late for UK's at-large postseason hopes? Whatever the case may be, Kentucky's of- fense was as its best of the 2020-21 season on Saturday. Keion Brooks Jr. enjoyed his best offen- sive game as a Wildcat, tying career highs in points (15) and rebounds (nine). He scored 13 of his points before halftime. As Brooks slowed in the second half, Boston continued to roll and Kentucky bigs Olivier Sarr and Isaiah Jackson stepped up. Jackson scored six points and grabbed 13 re- bounds after halftime and Sarr scored seven second-half points in less than five minutes. In just 16 minutes, Jackson finished with 15 rebounds, the most by a Wildcat since Nick Richards hauled in 16 vs. Arkansas on Feb. 26, 2019. Kentucky also held LSU to 38.5% shooting, the third game in a row and the fourth in the last five the Wildcats have limited the opposition to less than 40% from the floor. The Rematch with Alabama Alabama had put the rest of the league on notice already, but when the Crimson Tide walked out of Rupp Arena on Jan. 12 with an 85-65 win, it put an unofficial stamp on Al- abama as Southeastern Con- ference contenders. At the same time, the loss was a rude wake-up call for the Wildcats. UK was on a three-game winning streak at the time and appeared to be turning a corner after the 1-6 struggle through nonconfer- ence play. The matchup vs. Al- abama was for sole possession of first place in the league with Alabama at 4-0 at the time and Kentucky at 3-0. The two teams went in dif- ferent directions soon after. Af- ter Alabama handed Kentucky its worst home loss since a 23-point defeat to Indiana in Rupp Arena on Dec. 20, 1988, UK lost three straight until the victory Saturday at LSU. Meanwhile, Alabama's stock is at an all-time high. At 8-0 in the SEC, not only is the Crim- son Tide three games clear of anyone in the league in the win column, Nate Oats' bunch is being talked about now as a legitimate Fi- nal Four contender. Watching Alabama, it's easy to see why. Alabama employs an up-tempo, 3-point- heavy offense. The Crimson Tide try to beat opponents up the floor with either a good look for a 3-pointer or a shot at the basket. Midrange jumpers are few and far between. UA's average possession length of 14.2 sec- onds is ranked fourth in the country, accord- ing to KenPom.com. Alabama is fourth in the country in both 3-point field goals made per game (11.2) and total 3-point field goals attempted (494). Those numbers actually go up in confer- ence play, where the Tide is making 13.3 treys a contest. Last week, Alabama made an SEC-record 23 3-pointers vs. LSU. Five Alabama players have made at least 15 3-pointers and three with 27 or more attempts are shooting at least 41.5% from long range. By comparison, UK has only two players with 15 or more 3-point makes and only one, Dontaie Allen, shooting better than 40% from behind the arc. The offensive strategy has worked for the Tide. Taking 47.8% of its shots from 3, ranked 13th in the country, and scoring 41.1% of its points from long range, 11th in the nation, Alabama has the 13th-most efficient offense in the country, according to KenPom.com. Led by John Petty Jr., Alabama is averaging 81.8 points per game and 86.8 in SEC play. It's a complete contrast in styles from UK (more on that in a later section). Kentucky will try to counter with its typ- ically stingy defense (more on that below). UK is ranked 14th nationally in KenPom. com's defensive efficiency and is keeping opponents to 6.6 3-pointers a game on 30.3% shooting. In the game in Lexington, Alabama took 30 3-point shots and made 14, both season highs by a Kentucky oppo- nent. That game did not feature guard Jah- von Quinerly, who averages 12.5 points per contest. Where Alabama really makes other teams pay is with its other toughness intangibles. Alabama gets to the line frequently (42nd nationally in free-throw attempts), rebounds well (24th in total rebounds per game) and forces turnovers (17th in the country in steals per game). Even with the loss earlier this month, UK has won 12 of its past 14 games vs. Alabama, including three of four in Tuscaloosa, Ala- bama. "These are the games you want to play to where you know you're not supposed to win the game," John Calipari said after the LSU win. "Now you go and it gets you going, you play. Instead of playing not to lose you play to win. You don't look at the scoreboard." 2020-21 Basketball Schedule Texas A&M Lexington, Ky. 7 p.m. Tuesday February 23 Florida Lexington, Ky. 4 p.m. Saturday February 27 Ole Miss Oxford, Miss. 9 p.m. Tuesday March 2 SEC Tournament Nashville, Tenn. TBA Wed.-Sun. March 10-14 NCAA Tournament Final Four® Indianapolis | TBA March- April TBA Auburn Auburn, Ala. L, 59-66 Saturday January 16 LSU Lexington, Ky. W, 82-69 Saturday January 23 Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. 7 p.m. Tuesday January 26 Texas Lexington, Ky. SEC/Big 12 Challenge / 8 p.m. Saturday January 30 Missouri Columbia, Mo. 9 p.m. Tuesday February 2 Tennessee Lexington, Ky. 8 p.m. Saturday February 6 Arkansas Lexington, Ky. 7 p.m. Tuesday February 9 Auburn Lexington, Ky. 1 p.m. Saturday February 13 Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn. 7 p.m. Wednesday February 17 Tennessee Knoxville, Tenn. 1 p.m. Saturday February 20 Georgia Athens, Ga. L, 62-63 Wednesday January 20 Morehead State Lexington, Ky. W, 81-45 Wednesday November 25 Richmond Lexington, Ky. L, 64-76 Sunday November 29 Kansas Indianapolis L, 62-65 Tuesday December 1 Notre Dame Lexington, Ky. L, 63-64 Saturday December 12 North Carolina Cleveland L, 63-75 Saturday December 19 Louisville Louisville, Ky. L, 59-62 Saturday December 26 Mississippi State Starkville, Miss. W, 78-73 (2 OT) Sunday January 3 Vanderbilt Lexington, Ky. W, 77-74 Tuesday January 5 Florida Gainesville, Fla. W, 76-58 Saturday January 9 Alabama Lexington, Ky. L, 65-85 Tuesday January 12 Georgia Tech Atlanta L, 62-79 Sunday December 6 Home Away/Neutral 18 @KentuckyMBB Next >