< Previous16 @KentuckyMBB Around the SEC Around the Country 2021-22 SEC Standings Team SEC Overall Home Road Auburn 6-0 17-1 9-0 5-0 Kentucky 5-1 15-3 12-0 2-2 Texas A&M 4-1 15-3 10-1 3-0 Mississippi State 3-2 12-5 10-1 0-2 LSU 3-3 15-3 10-1 2-2 Arkansas 3-3 13-5 10-1 1-2 Tennessee 3-3 12-5 9-0 2-3 Alabama 3-3 12-6 8-1 1-3 Florida 2-3 11-6 7-3 1-2 Vanderbilt 2-3 10-7 5-6 4-1 Missouri 2-3 8-9 6-3 1-4 South Carolina 1-4 10-7 7-2 1-4 Ole Miss 1-4 9-8 8-3 0-2 Georgia 0-5 5-13 5-7 0-4 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY ...............................................18.8 JD Notae, ARK ...............................................................18.7 Iverson Molinar, MISS ST ...............................................17.6 Jaden Shackelford, ALA .................................................16.7 Oscar Tshiebwe, UK ......................................................16.1 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Oscar Tshiebwe, UK ......................................................14.8 Colin Castleton, UF .........................................................9.1 Jaylin Williams, ARK ........................................................8.8 Kobe Brown, MIZZOU ....................................................8.5 Nysier Brooks, MISS ........................................................8.4 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Sahvir Wheeler, UK .........................................................7.1 Aaron Cook, UGA ...........................................................6.1 Wendell Green Jr., AUB ...................................................5.1 Kennedy Chandler, UT ....................................................4.9 Xavier Pinson, LSU ..........................................................4.6 Steals Player-Team ...................................................................SPG JD Notae, ARK .................................................................2.5 Kennedy Chandler, UT ....................................................2.4 K.D. Johnson, AUB ..........................................................2.3 Xavier Pinson, LSU ..........................................................2.1 Eric Gaines, LSU ..............................................................2.1 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Walker Kessler, AUB ........................................................4.2 Colin Castleton, UF .........................................................2.8 Dylan Cardwell, AUB ......................................................1.7 Charles Bediako, ALA ......................................................1.6 Oscar Tshiebwe, UK ........................................................1.4 2021-22 Associated Press Rankings As of January 17 (Week 11) Team Record Points 1 Gonzaga (25) 14-2 1486 2 Auburn (36) 16-1 1482 3 Arizona 14-1 1320 4 Purdue 14-2 1255 5 Baylor 15-2 1238 6 Duke 14-2 1205 7 Kansas 14-2 1192 8 Wisconsin 14-2 1056 9 UCLA 11-2 1041 10 Houston 15-2 1036 11 Villanova 13-4 908 12 Kentucky 14-3 804 13 LSU 15-2 738 14 Michigan State 14-3 681 15 Iowa State 14-3 665 16 USC 14-2 618 17 Illinois 13-3 521 18 Texas Tech 13-4 509 19 Ohio State 11-4 465 20 Xavier 13-3 427 21 Providence 14-2 350 22 Loyola Chicago 13-2 193 23 Texas 13-4 185 24 Tennessee 11-5 98 25 UConn 11-4 7318 @KentuckyMBB From Press Row Up Next: Kentucky Completes Road Swing at No. 2/2 Auburn Having won four in a row, and eight of its last nine, Kentucky (15-3, 5-1 SEC) con- cludes a two-game road swing Saturday at No. 2-ranked Auburn. Game time is 1 p.m. ET (noon CT in Auburn) and it will be televised by CBS. The Wildcats are in the third of five games against opponents who had a combined re- cord of 64-13 when that stretch began Jan. 15. Currently, Auburn is 17-1 overall and 6-0 in the conference. Kentucky leads the all-time series, 96-22, including 31-17 at Auburn. However, AU has won the last two home matchups vs. UK and four of the last five. Auburn is averaging more than 80 points per game with four players averaging in dou- ble figures. On the defensive end, AU is lim- iting opponents to 38.6 percent from the field and leading the nation in blocked shots with 8.4 rejections per contest. Freshman forward Jabari Smith leads the team in scoring with 15.8 points per game and shoots 43 percent from 3-point territory. Sophomore center Walker Kessler averages 7.4 rebounds per game and is second in the nation in blocked shots with 77. The Wildcats will take on their third straight opponent who is either ranked or received votes in the Associated Press Top 25. UK is set to take on its highest-ranked opponent since defeating No. 1 Michigan State, 69-62, on Nov. 5, 2019. It will mark the highest ranked opponent on the road for UK since an 84-65 loss at No. 1 Florida on March 8, 2014. Cats Gut Out ‘Ugly Win’ in Hostile Environment Wednesday night was simply not Ken- tucky’s night. The Cats struggled all night at Texas A&M. They didn’t shoot well. They didn’t rebound well. They turned the ball over. But, in the end, the Cats were able to scratch out a 64-58 win in front of the largest crowd to ever see a game at Reed Arena. It was a gritty performance down the stretch by veterans Davion Mintz and Jacob Toppin, along with freshman TyTy Washington Jr. “In a close game like this, the environment was crazy,” Toppin said. “For us to stay togeth- er when they went on their runs, it’s big. Big time. It just shows the kind of group we are.” Kentucky head coach John Calipari has emphasized the last four minutes of the game to his team, and the Cats came through down the stretch. “Down the stretch, we definitely made plays that won us the game,” Toppin said. “We definitely played a lot better in the last four minutes. Coach has always emphasized the last four minutes of the game if we’re in a close game situation, how we’re going to finish. And I think we did a pretty well job of finishing the game. We still have some things we need to work on but that’s just a part of basketball. So, we’re going to go back to the drawing board, see what we need to fix and get better at it.” UK won despite a season-high 17 turnovers and tying a season low by shooting 36.2 percent. Mintz called it what it was. “I’m just proud of this team, came away with a win, regard- less of how ugly that was to- night,” Mintz said. “We won, that’s all that matters.” Calipari was pleased with how certain players were able to step up to help the Cats get over the hump on Wednesday. “A couple of guys didn’t play well. That’s OK. You’re not ma- chines, you’re not robots,” Cali- pari said. “Other guys stepped in and played well. How about Jacob (Top- pin) and how he played? How about Lance (Ware)? When Lance went in, when we need- ed him. And went in and, we ran an offense through him? Unbelievable. Then, what hap- pened with TyTy (Washington Jr.), we were go- ing to him, he turned it over twice. I took him out and said, ‘Hey kid, in a big game, this is who you are? You can’t make a play? You turn it over? You’ve got to prove, in this game, you can make baskets.’ And I stuck him back in and went at him and he made two big hoops. He kind of bowed his neck and I was happy with that.” Calipari liked that his team showed a lot of fight despite shooting a low percentage. “Is it 36 percent? That’s even better,” Cali- pari said. “That means you know you had to fight and you had to guard, you had to re- bound or you had no chance of winning.” The Cats turned up the defense down the stretch. Leading 60-58, UK held TAMU score- less for the final 2:47 of the game, covering five Aggie possessions. Toppin attributed that to one thing. “Pride. I don’t think we took pride in our defense in the first half,” Toppin said. “We gave up a lot of straight-line drives and had a lot of turnovers that led to layups. The second half, we just brought it all together and played better basketball, to be honest.” It may not have been the prettiest win, but the Cats got it done on the road, facing numer- ous obstacles, on Wednesday. Mintz Clutch Gene Resurfaces Kentucky’s wins last season often featured late-game heroics from Davion Mintz and the clutch gene resurfaced in UK’s win at Texas A&M. Playing before the largest crowd in Reed Arena history, despite a season-high 17 turn- overs and season-low 36.2 shooting percent- age, the Wildcats gutted out a 64-58 win with Mintz leading the way down the stretch. With UK trailing 48-45 and less than 10 minutes to go, the fifth-year senior warmed to the task. Mintz made two free throws to bring UK closer, and a couple of minutes lat- er, swished a 3-pointer to shove the Wildcats ahead 54-52. After A&M knotted the count, Mintz drove the lane and made a nifty feed for a Jacob Toppin dunk, giving the Wildcats a lead they would not relinquish. Mintz kept the home team at bay with three defensive rebounds in the waning min- utes. With 10 seconds remaining, and UK clinging to a three-point lead, he went to the free throw line. Facing an ocean of white-shirt- clad fans and immersed in a sea of sound, he calmly rattled in the front end of a 1-and-1 to seal the verdict.167 W Main Street, Lexington | @LockboxLex | LockboxLex.com LEXINGTONLocated at GLOW BIG BLUE Just blocks from Rupp Arena, we’re the perfect destination for your pre-game dinner or post-game drinks. Make a night of it and enjoy free valet parking with the 21c Game Day Package.20 @KentuckyMBB Florida Lexington, Ky. 4 p.m. Saturday February 12 Tennessee Knoxville, Tenn. 9 p.m. Tuesday February 15 Alabama Lexington, Ky. 1 p.m. Saturday February 19 LSU Lexington, Ky. 9 p.m. Wednesday February 23 Arkansas Fayetteville, Ark. 2 p.m. Saturday February 26 Ole Miss Lexington, Ky. 7 p.m. Tuesday March 1 Florida Gainesville, Fla. 2 p.m. Saturday March 5 SEC Tournament Tampa, Fla. TBA Wed.-Sun. March 9-13 NCAA Tournament Final Four® New Orleans | TBA March- April TBA LSU Baton Rouge, La. L, 60-65 Tuesday January 4 Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn. W, 78-66 Tuesday January 11 Texas A&M College Station, Texas W, 64-58 Wednesday January 19 Auburn Auburn, Ala. 1 p.m. Saturday January 22 Mississippi State Lexington, Ky. 9 p.m. Tuesday January 25 Kansas Lawrence, Kan. | SEC/Big 12 Challenge | 6 p.m. Saturday January 29 Vanderbilt Lexington, Ky. 7 p.m. Wednesday February 2 Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. 8 p.m. Saturday February 5 South Carolina Columbia, S.C. 7 p.m. Tuesday February 8 Georgia Lexington, Ky. W, 92-77 Saturday January 8 Duke New York L, 71-79 Tuesday November 9 Robert Morris Lexington, Ky. W, 100-60 Friday November 12 Mount St. Mary's Lexington, Ky. W, 80-55 Tuesday November 16 Ohio Lexington, Ky. W, 77-59 Friday November 19 North Florida Lexington, Ky. W, 86-52 Friday November 26 Central Michigan Lexington, Ky. W, 85-57 Monday November 29 Notre Dame South Bend, Ind. L, 62-66 Saturday December 11 Southern Lexington, Ky. W, 76-64 Tuesday December 7 North Carolina Las Vegas | CBS Sports Classic | W, 98-69 Saturday December 18 Western Kentucky Lexington, Ky. W, 95-60 Wednesday December 22 Missouri Lexington, Ky. W, 83-56 Wednesday December 29 High Point Lexington, Ky. W, 92-48 Friday December 31 UAlbany Lexington, Ky. W, 86-61 Monday November 22 Home Neutral Away 2021-22 Basketball Schedule Tennessee Lexington, Ky. W, 107-79 Saturday January 15We’re your Shield. We’re your Shelter. ShelterInsurance.com • 1-800-SHELTER WE ARE PROUD TO SUPPORT THE KENTUCKYKENTUCKY WILDCATS!WILDCATS! KENTUCKYKENTUCKY WILDCATS!WILDCATS! ® BEAVER DAM Robbie Parham BEREA Chad Tate BENTON Michelle Clark BOWLING GREEN Nancy Hickey BUTLER Jason Laytart CAMPBELLSVILLE Joseph Hamilton CARLISLE Bill Clark CYNTHIANA David Yeiser DANVILLE Troy Wheeler ELIZABETHTOWN Jamie Martin Alice Slaubaugh EMINENCE Fred Downey EVANSVILLE, IN Rick Koberstein FAIRDALE Jamie Norsworthy FLEMINGSBURG Cole Clark FLORENCE Rocky Bryan Will Gilliland FRANKLIN Brian Knapp FRANKFORT BJ Hurst Audrey Marshall GEORGETOWN Steve Black Spencer Kilpatrick HARDINSBURG Sandra Bruington HARRODSBURG Jamie Dunn HENDERSON Lesley Liley HODGENVILLE Teddy Sandford HOPKINSVILLE Scott Leuckel LAGRANGE Paula Kaeser LANCASTER Cindy Lanham LAWRENCEBURG Ashley Bailey Larry Moore LEITCHFIELD Donna Vanmeter LEXINGTON Tony Arnold Linda Fugate Dawan Hart Willie Morrison Maddie Stiles Terry Wolfe Gene Young LIBERTY Kevin Atwood LIVERMORE Katie Gunterman LONDON Jeffery Anderson LOUISVILLE Larissa Spears MADISONVILLE Kelly Madison MAYFIELD Steve Jones MOREHEAD Caleb Staggs MOUNT STER- LING Elizabeth Shelley MURRAY Doug Henry NICHOLASVILLE Marc Miller Russ Owens OWENSBORO Karen Keller Bob Smith Nick Warren PADUCAH Toby Boone RICHMOND Ashley Kovaleski Evan Worrell SHELBYVILLE Jessica Cole SLAUGHTERS Sam Westfall SOMERSET Jason Weatherford SPRINGFIELD Sue Blair STANFORD Sean Slusher VERSAILLES Janice Frasier WINCHESTER Kay Brandenburg Olin Woolum22 @KentuckyMBB 2021-22 Kentucky Wildcats Statistics TOTAL 3-POINT F-THROW SCORING REBOUNDS No. Player GP-S Min. Avg. FG-FGA Pct 3FG-FGA Pct FT-FTA Pct Pts Avg. Off Def Total Avg. PF A TO Stl Blk. 34 Tshiebwe, Oscar 18-18 529 29.4 117-190 .616 0-0 .000 55-75 .733 289 16.1 94 173 267 14.8 45 16 29 27 26 03 Washington Jr. , TyTy 18-18 562 31.2 104-206 .505 23-57 .404 24-31 .774 255 14.2 16 59 75 4.2 29 82 32 22 5 31 Grady, Kellan 18-18 546 30.3 72-155 .465 49-114 .430 13-19 .684 206 11.4 5 29 34 1.9 13 19 13 17 2 12 Brooks Jr., Keion 17-17 389 22.9 71-145 .490 5-19 .263 29-41 .707 176 10.4 22 51 73 4.3 20 13 19 8 13 02 Wheeler, Sahvir 16-16 469 29.3 69-145 .476 7-27 .259 22-25 .880 167 10.4 11 24 35 2.2 37 114 52 23 1 10 Mintz, Davion 15-1 334 22.3 44-107 .411 24-65 .369 25-35 .714 137 9.1 12 28 40 2.7 18 24 18 5 2 00 Toppin, Jacob 14-1 240 17.1 32-61 .525 0-1 .000 19-25 .760 83 5.9 16 34 50 3.6 16 21 8 7 9 04 Collins, Daimion 17-1 168 9.9 27-45 .600 0-3 .000 7-9 .778 61 3.6 15 29 44 2.6 28 4 13 6 19 11 Allen, Dontaie 12-0 96 8.0 13-44 .295 6-32 .188 4-4 1.000 36 3.0 3 16 19 1.6 7 6 3 2 2 23 Hopkins, Bryce 18-0 146 8.1 18-44 .409 5-15 .333 4-7 .571 45 2.5 14 17 31 1.7 12 7 13 4 2 55 Ware, Lance 12-0 82 6.8 8-11 .727 0-0 .000 7-16 .438 23 1.9 4 16 20 1.7 17 1 9 2 6 20 Payne, Zan 9-0 13 1.4 2-6 .333 0-3 .000 4-4 1.000 8 0.9 0 2 2 0.2 1 0 1 1 0 14 Canada, Brennan 9-0 13 1.4 3-4 .750 0-1 .000 0-0 .000 6 0.7 1 0 1 0.1 0 1 0 0 1 25 Watkins, Kareem 9-0 13 1.4 0-1 .000 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0 0.0 1 2 3 0.3 2 2 3 2 0 Total 18 3600 200.0 580-1164 .498 119-337 .353 213-291 .732 1492 82.89 246 517 763 42.4 245 310 216 126 88 Opponents 3600 200.0 428-1073 .399 113-380 .297 162-235 .689 1131 62.83 148 369 517 28.7 267 193 234 119 55The UK HealthCare John Calipari Show Behind Kentucky Basketball SUBSCRIBE TO PODCASTS TODAY! SPORTS NETWORKSPORTS NETWORK Presented By2021-22 Auburn Tigers Statistics TOTAL 3-POINT F-THROW SCORING REBOUNDS No. Player GP-S Min. Avg. FG-FGA Pct 3FG-FGA Pct FT-FTA Pct Pts Avg. Off Def Total Avg. PF A TO Stl Blk. 10 Smith, Jabari 18-18 488 27.1 96-210 .457 40-93 .430 53-67 .791 285 15.8 11 102 113 6.3 34 37 32 25 18 01 Green Jr., Wendell 18-3 463 25.7 78-192 .406 34-96 .354 46-53 .868 236 13.1 10 62 72 4.0 31 91 40 28 0 00 Johnson, K.D. 18-15 464 25.8 74-181 .409 29-85 .341 54-81 .667 231 12.8 9 38 47 2.6 49 25 26 41 0 13 Kessler, Walker 18-18 426 23.7 79-130 .608 4-27 .148 23-36 .639 185 10.3 38 95 133 7.4 42 16 20 19 77 22 Flanigan, Allen 6-4 140 23.3 18-38 .474 4-12 .333 7-10 .700 47 7.8 2 20 22 3.7 11 8 10 5 0 02 Williams, Jaylin 17-0 287 16.9 50-98 .510 7-28 .250 14-19 .737 121 7.1 17 32 49 2.9 28 18 19 8 12 35 Cambridge, Devan 17-14 363 21.4 41-96 .427 15-53 .283 12-17 .706 109 6.4 18 36 54 3.2 30 12 15 11 5 12 Jasper, Zep 18-18 426 23.7 31-91 .341 16-46 .348 17-22 .773 95 5.3 7 14 21 1.2 37 49 14 12 1 24 Berman, Lior 15-0 159 10.6 16-38 .421 8-16 .500 0-1 .000 40 2.7 8 6 14 0.9 17 5 3 5 1 05 Moore, Chris 15-0 159 10.6 15-33 .455 0-5 .000 10-15 .667 40 2.7 15 15 30 2.0 15 4 10 7 4 44 Cardwell, Dylan 18-0 215 11.9 23-34 .676 0-0 .000 1-4 .250 47 2.6 31 29 60 3.3 32 12 7 13 31 14 Cook, Preston 10-0 14 1.4 4-5 .800 3-4 .750 1-2 .500 12 1.2 1 1 2 0.2 1 1 0 1 0 23 Akingbola, Babatunde 5-0 19 3.8 1-6 .167 0-3 .000 0-0 .000 2 0.4 0 5 5 1.0 2 1 2 0 3 25 Leopard, Chandler 7-0 10 1.4 1-4 .250 1-4 .250 0-0 .000 3 0.4 0 1 1 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 21 Cressman, Ty 2-0 2 1.0 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 33 Maasdorp, Chase 6-0 10 1.7 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0-1 .000 0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 1 1 0 0 0 20 Sobera, Carter 3-0 5 1.7 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0-2 .000 0 0.0 0 4 4 1.3 1 0 1 1 0 Total 18 3650 202.8 527-1156 .456 161-472 .341 238-330 .721 1453 80.72 211 493 704 39.1 331 280 208 176 152 Opponents 3650 202.8 402-1042 .386 124-396 .313 253-354 .715 1181 65.61 192 450 642 35.7 293 198 292 119 62 Jaylin Williams Jabari Smith 24 @KentuckyMBBFind your vibe at VisitLEX.comNext >