< 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 14-2 19-6 11-1 6-3 Arkansas 11-4 19-5 15-1 4-4 Florida 9-5 13-6 6-2 5-4 LSU 9-6 14-8 10-2 3-6 Tennessee 9-7 16-7 12-3 4-4 Ole Miss 8-8 13-10 8-4 5-6 Missouri 7-7 14-7 8-3 5-4 Kentucky 7-8 8-14 4-6 4-6 Mississippi State 7-9 13-12 9-6 4-3 Georgia 7-10 14-10 12-4 2-6 Auburn 6-10 12-13 7-5 3-7 South Carolina 4-10 6-12 3-5 2-6 Texas A&M 2-6 8-7 6-3 2-3 Vanderbilt 3-11 7-13 6-7 1-6 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Cameron Thomas, LSU ..................................................22.8 Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY ...............................................20.5 AJ Lawson, USC ............................................................17.4 Moses Moody, ARK........................................................16.6 D.J. Stewart Jr., MISS ST .................................................16.5 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Dylan Disu, VANDY ........................................................9.2 Tolu Smith, MISS ST.........................................................8.6 Jeremiah Tilmon, MIZZOU ..............................................7.7 Emanuel Miller, TAMU ....................................................7.7 Toumani Camara, UGA ...................................................7.7 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Sahvir Wheeler, UGA ......................................................7.1 Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY .................................................5.2 Jalen Tate, ARK ................................................................4.2 Ja'Vonte Smart, LSU .........................................................4.1 Dru Smith, MIZZOU .......................................................3.7 Steals Player-Team ................................................................... SPG Dru Smith, MIZZOU .......................................................1.8 Scottie Lewis, UF .............................................................1.8 Justin Kier, UGA ..............................................................1.8 Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY .................................................1.7 Luis Rodriguez, MISS .......................................................1.7 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Isaiah Jackson, UK ..........................................................2.7 Colin Castleton, UF .........................................................2.3 Abdul Ado, MISS ST ........................................................2.0 Connor Vanover, ARK ......................................................1.9 Yves Pons, UT .................................................................1.6 2020-21 Associated Press Rankings As of Feb. 28, 2021 (week 15) Team Record Points 1 Gonzaga (59) 24-0 1,571 2 Michigan (4) 18-1 1,512 3 Baylor 18-1 1,450 4 Illinois 18-6 1,350 5 Iowa 18-7 1,266 6 West Virginia 17-6 1,210 7 Ohio State 18-7 1,163 8 Alabama 19-6 1,130 9 Houston 20-3 1,109 10 Villanova 15-4 942 11 Florida State 14-4 897 12 Arkansas 19-5 847 13 Kansas 18-8 785 14 Creighton 17-6 669 15 Texas 14-7 650 16 Oklahoma 14-7 584 17 Oklahoma State 16-6 553 18 Texas Tech 15-8 494 19 San Diego State 19-4 406 20 Loyola Chicago 21-4 367 21 Virginia 15-6 362 22 Virginia Tech 15-5 335 23 Purdue 16-8 192 24 Colorado 19-7 150 25 Wisconsin 16-9 106 14 @KentuckyMBB (standings and statistics through February 27 games)From Press Row 16 @KentuckyMBB Wildcats Playing Better As John Calipari has said, there are no moral victories. And even at 8-14, the Ken- tucky program is not going to accept any- thing other than victories to build on. Despite the record, UK's players and staff continue to fight and the team has -- despite a 7-8 league record -- played better basket- ball since the calendar turned to 2021. Kentucky has made improvements in a number of areas in SEC play: • The Wildcats are averaging 72.0 points in league action. They were averaging 64.9 points in the first seven nonconference games • Kentucky is shooting 35.8% from 3 in league play. In the first seven games, UK shot 25% from long range • The Wildcats are shooting 77.6% at the free-throw line in SEC games. In the first seven games, they shot 66.2% at the charity stripe • UK is averaging 6.8 rejections per game league play. In the first seven games, UK av- eraged 5.0 blocks per contest • Kentucky is averaging 6.6 steals per game. In the first seven games, UK averaged 5.9 steals • The Wildcats only held two of seven nonconference foes to less than 40% from the field. In league play, Kentucky has limited nine of 15 teams to less than 40% • The Wildcats have had three differ- ent players record a double-double (Keion Brooks Jr., Isaiah Jackson and Oliver Sarr) • UK has featured five players in double figures twice. It hadn't happened in the pre- vious 17 games • Kentucky has scored 80 or more points against Arkansas, Auburn and Vanderbilt. They scored at least 80 just once -- in the season opener -- in the first 17 games • The Wildcats have scored at least a point per possession in eight of their 15 league games. They did it just once in the seven nonconference matchups Mr. Jackson is For Real The blocked shots standard at Kentucky starts and stops with Anthony Davis. In 2011-12, en route to nearly every ma- jor national player of the year award, the freshman blocked 186 shots, smashing the previous school record held by Andre Rid- dick and Melvin Turpin and threatening the NCAA Division I mark. Just a year later, Nerlens Noel was on pace to challenge the record before a knee injury ended his season early. And coinci- dentally, just a season after that, Willie Cau- ley-Stein put up formidable numbers. They are the only players in school history with 100 or more blocks in a single year. Since those three players left for the pros, Kentucky hasn't had the type of elite rim protection that those three provided. Enter Isaiah Jackson. The freshman for- ward has been one of the nation's best rim protectors this season. In the second game of the season, vs. Kansas, Jackson blocked eight shots, the most for a UK player since Cauley-Stein had nine against Boise State on Dec. 10, 2013. They are also the most ever by a Wildcat against an Associated Press top-10 opponent in pro- gram history. Jackson has swatted 59 shots this sea- son to lead the nation's No. 1 shot-blocking team. Jackson's block total is behind the pace of UK's all-time best shot blockers -- due in large part to fewer minutes because of fre- quent foul trouble (5.6 fouls per 40 minutes) -- but his block percentage is in line with Da- vis, Noel and Cauley-Stein. Davis had a 13.8 block percentage during the 2011-12 season, Noel posted a 13.2 in 2012-13 and Cauley-Stein was at 12.3 during 2013-14. Jackson is currently at 13.5%, ranked fourth in the country (through games on Feb. 28), and his 5.2 blocks per 40 minutes is also on par with Davis (5.8) and Noel (5.5). With Jackson's rim protection, UK is second in the country in block percentage at 15.8%. Jackson has also been UK's best rebound- er this season, grabbing 6.8 boards per game in 20.5 minutes per contest. In the second half against LSU, after sitting much of the first with two fouls, he grabbed 13 rebounds alone. He ended up with 15 for the game in just 16 minutes of action, the most rebounds by a Wildcat since Nick Richards hauled in 16 boards vs. Arkansas on Feb. 26, 2019. According to STATS, Jackson is the first player with 15 or more rebounds in less than 20 minutes against a major con- ference opponent since VMI's Eric Mann had 17 boards in 19 minutes at South Carolina on Dec. 28, 2000. Jackson is averaging 13.2 rebounds per 40 minutes. For other elite rebounding com- parisons in the Calipari era, Jarred Vanderbilt averaged 18.5 in 2017-18 and DeMarcus Cousins tallied 16.8 in 2009-10. Jackson's offense has also picked up of late with four straight double-figure scoring perfor- mances. He is averaging 15.0 points per game in that span. Kentucky is plus-71 points with Jackson on the floor this season, far and away the best on the team. The next-closest player is Davion Mintz at plus-11. Shooters Turning into Makers For much of the last two months, John Cali- pari has begged, pleaded and encouraged his players continue to shoot even if the shots ar- en't falling. If a player is open, he has given the green light for his team to take the shot so not to result in a bad shot or a turnover. Over the last five games, the Wildcats have done just that. Kentucky drained 14 3-pointers against Arkansas and made another 11 in the win over Auburn. UK's 25 long balls in consecu- tive games are the most since making 25 vs. Arkansas and South Carolina in the 1998 SEC Tournament. It is also the first time UK has made 11 3s in consecutive games since Feb. 2016 vs. South Carolina and Tennessee. The Wildcats knocked down eight more at Vanderbilt and 7 of 14 in its upset win at No. 19/20 Tennessee They've made a combined 44 from long range over the last five games. UK isn't just relying on one player to make the long-range shots. Kentucky is get- ting production from just about everyone with seven different players having made at least one during the stretch. Big man Olivier Sarr has shown an abili- ty to hit the 3. Brandon Boston Jr. is making 41.2% from long range over his last seven games and made four or more in back-to- back games against Arkansas and Auburn. Davion Mintz has hit multiple 3-pointers in eight of the last eight nine, several of which have been key shots late in games. He has 11 made 3s over his last three games played. Kentucky is shooting 40.0% from 3 during the five-game uptick. As a result, the Wildcats have scored at least a point per possession in all five games after doing that just once in the previous seven. 2020-21 Basketball Schedule Texas A&M Lexington, Ky. Canceled Tuesday February 23 Florida Lexington, Ky. L, 67-71 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. L, 59-70 Tuesday January 26 Texas Lexington, Ky. Canceled Saturday January 30 Missouri Columbia, Mo. L, 70-75 Tuesday February 2 Tennessee Lexington, Ky. L, 71-82 Saturday February 6 Arkansas Lexington, Ky. L, 80-81 Tuesday February 9 Auburn Lexington, Ky. W, 82-80 Saturday February 13 Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn. W, 82-78 Wednesday February 17 Tennessee Knoxville, Tenn. W, 70-55 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 South Carolina Lexington, Ky. Noon Saturday March 6 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 >