< 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 6-0 11-3 6-1 3-0 LSU 5-1 10-2 8-0 1-2 Tennessee 4-1 10-1 8-1 2-0 Mississippi State 4-2 9-5 7-2 2-0 Kentucky 3-2 4-8 2-3 2-3 Florida 3-3 6-4 3-1 1-3 Missouri 2-2 8-2 4-1 3-1 South Carolina 1-1 3-3 2-0 0-2 Arkansas 2-4 10-4 9-1 1-3 Texas A&M 2-4 7-5 6-2 1-2 Auburn 2-4 8-6 5-2 1-3 Georgia 1-4 8-4 7-2 1-2 Ole Miss 1-4 6-6 5-3 1-3 Vanderbilt 0-4 4-6 4-3 0-3 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Cameron Thomas, LSU ..................................................22.1 Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY ...............................................21.2 Trendon Watford, LSU ...................................................18.7 AJ Lawson, USC ............................................................18.5 Iverson Molinar, MISS ST ...............................................18.4 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Tolu Smith, MISS ST.........................................................9.0 Darius Days, LSU ............................................................8.6 Dylan Disu, VANDY ........................................................8.4 Emanuel Miller, TAMU ....................................................7.9 Jeremiah Tilmon, MIZZOU ..............................................7.8 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Sahvir Wheeler, UGA ......................................................7.4 Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY .................................................5.3 Jalen Tate, ARK ................................................................4.4 Devontae Shuler, MISS ....................................................4.3 Tre Mann, UF ..................................................................4.2 Steals Player-Team ................................................................... SPG Dru Smith, MIZZOU .......................................................2.1 Justin Kier, UGA ..............................................................2.0 AJ Lawson, USC ..............................................................2.0 Luis Rodriguez, MISS .......................................................1.8 Jermaine Couisnard, USC ................................................1.8 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Isaiah Jackson, UK ..........................................................3.1 Colin Castleton, UF .........................................................2.3 Yves Pons, UT .................................................................2.1 Abdul Ado, MISS ST ........................................................1.9 Connor Vanover, ARK ......................................................1.7 (standings and statistics through January 18 games) 2020-21 Associated Press Rankings As of Jan. 18, 2021 (week 9) Team Record Points 1 Gonzaga (62) 14-0 1,598 2 Baylor (2) 12-0 1,538 3 Villanova 8-1 1,445 4 Iowa 12-2 1,420 5 Texas 11-2 1,289 6 Tennessee 10-1 1,242 7 Michigan 11-1 1,197 8 Houston 11-1 1,155 9 Kansas 10-3 1,072 10 Wisconsin 11-3 939 11 Creighton 10-3 833 12 Texas Tech 11-4 792 13 Virginia 9-2 778 14 West Virginia 9-4 732 15 Ohio State 11-3 631 16 Virginia Tech 11-2 536 17 Minnesota 11-4 507 18 Alabama 11-3 487 19 Missouri 8-2 462 20 Clemson 9-2 354 21 Oregon 9-2 235 22 Illinois 9-5 232 23 Connecticut 7-1 209 24 UCLA 11-2 195 25 Saint Louis 7-1 172 14 @KentuckyMBBFrom Press Row 16 @KentuckyMBB Wildcats Have Won 14 Straight vs. Georgia Needing a win after two straight loss- es, Kentucky will take on a Georgia team it has beaten 14 straight times, including four straight in Athens, Georgia. The 14-game winning streak is current- ly Kentucky's second-best vs. Southeastern Conference competition. UK has won 15 straight vs. Mississippi State -- all 15 games of the John Calipari era -- which includes this season's double-overtime win in Starkville, Mississippi. Georgia does have two wins vs. the Wild- cats with Calipari at the helm, in 2013 and 2011. Both were at Stegeman Coliseum, where Wednesday's game will be. The Bulldogs are one of Kentucky's most played opponents, with UK owning a dom- inant 129-26 all-time series edge, including 44-17 in Athens. The Wildcats' 89-79 victory last season at Georgia was one of their most complete performances of the season. UK shot 52.5% from the floor and four players scored in double figures for Kentucky's second-highest point total of the season. Georgia enters the game 8-4 on the sea- son, 1-4 in SEC play. With five players averag- ing double figures, the Bulldogs are scoring nearly 80 points a game. They are 21st in the country in steals per game. Brooks Making Immediate Impact As the team's lone returning contributor, Keion Brooks Jr. was looked upon as a lead- er by the coaching staff and his teammates. However, an injury kept him out of practice and out of the team's lineup over the first nine games of the season. Brooks made his debut in UK's dominating victory over Florida where he scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting, grabbed six rebounds and dished out a game-high four assists in 25 effi- cient minutes. More importantly, he seemed to be a key missing piece behind what's been a struggling UK offense as the Wildcats pulled away from Florida in the second half with three different runs of 10-0 or more. The Wildcats were plus-22 with Brooks on the floor in that victory. "He gave us a whole different element to the game," graduate guard Davion Mintz said of Brooks' performance. "Keion was amazing today. It was super fun. I'm speechless, really. It was amazing. Things haven't been quite as easy against Alabama and Auburn, but Brooks is off to a solid start to his 2020-21 campaign. He's av- eraging 10.0 points on 51.9% shooting to go along with 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 blocks per game. Dontaie's Inferno There are a num- ber of reasons Ken- tucky has improved in league play after losing six in a row during November and December, but there's arguably been no bigger dif- ference maker than the breakthrough of redshirt freshman Dontaie Allen. The Kentucky native has been a revelation in conference play. Allen is averag- ing 11.8 points on 20-of-43 shooting and 15 of 30 from behind the arc in Southeastern Con- ference games. All of that coming af- ter playing just one minute over the three games leading into league action and 20 career minutes in the first seven games. Allen has lived up to his reputation as a knockdown shooter and opened up the court for Kentucky, scoring at least two 3-pointers in all five games. With Allen on the floor and in the scouting report, teams have had to pay him special attention, opening up the lane for players like Olivier Sarr, who has flourished in the post with Allen's increased minutes, and freeing up fellow guard Davion Mintz a bit more. Kentucky Backcourt Finding its Footing Kentucky's early-season shooting and turnover woes have been well documented, but what's been overlooked is the steady im- provement of UK's backcourt, specifically by players who projected by national pundits to be the supporting cast. Freshman Devin Askew has responded admirably after a slow start out of the gate. Following a 12-point, four-assist perfor- mance to open the season, Askew averaged just 3.8 points on 3-of-12 shooting with nine turnovers over the next four games. Since then, after briefly moving out of the starting lineup, Askew has righted the ship. Over the last seven games, playing both the point and off the ball, Askew is tallying 9.6 points per game with 24 assists, 14 turnovers and 10 steals. Davion Mintz, a graduate transfer from Creighton, has arguably been Kentucky's most consistent player this season. Mintz leads the Wildcats with 19 3-pointers and is averaging 9.9 points per game. Mintz moved into the starting lineup eight games ago and is averaging 11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals during that stretch. And then there is Dontaie Allen, who provided the top individual highlight of Ken- tucky's season at Mississippi State with one of the all-time breakthrough UK performanc- es. After redshirting all of last season as he returned from a high school knee injury and with just 20 minutes of action entering the game, Allen got his opportunity with Ter- rence Clarke sidelined (right ankle injury) and gave the Wildcats' a desperately needed injection of offense. Allen scored a game-high 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including seven 3-pointers. His range not only opened up the court for Kentucky everywhere else, he provided big shot after big shot to rally the Wildcats from a nine-point second-half hole. Allen made two 3-pointers during the key second-half run to take the lead, nearly pro- vided the game-winning trey in the first over- time and then scored five straight points in double overtime to seal the game. He has made two or more 3-pointers in all five Southeastern Conference games. He's averaging 11.8 points per game against league foes, second on the team, and shoot- ing 50.0% from behind the arc. 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. 6 p.m. 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. 7 p.m. 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 >