< Previous16 @KentuckyMBB Around the SEC Around the Country 2021-22 SEC Standings Team SEC Overall Home Road Auburn 10-0 22-1 12-0 7-0 Kentucky 8-2 19-4 14-0 4-3 Arkansas 7-3 18-5 13-1 3-2 Tennessee 7-3 16-6 12-0 3-4 Mississippi State 5-4 14-8 12-1 0-5 Florida 5-5 15-8 10-3 2-4 LSU 4-6 16-7 11-2 2-5 Texas A&M 4-6 15-8 10-3 3-3 Alabama 4-6 14-9 10-2 1-5 South Carolina 4-6 13-9 9-3 2-5 Vanderbilt 4-6 12-10 7-6 4-4 Missouri 3-6 9-13 6-5 2-6 Ole Miss 3-7 12-11 10-4 1-4 Georgia 1-9 6-17 6-9 0-6 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG JD Notae, ARK ...............................................................18.7 Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY ...............................................18.7 Iverson Molinar, MISS ST ...............................................18.2 Jaden Shackelford, ALA .................................................17.1 Tari Eason, LSU..............................................................15.9 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Oscar Tshiebwe, UK ......................................................15.2 Jaylin Williams, ARK ........................................................9.1 Colin Castleton, UF .........................................................8.9 Kobe Brown, MIZZOU ....................................................8.1 Nysier Brooks, MISS ........................................................8.0 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Sahvir Wheeler, UK .........................................................7.0 Aaron Cook, UGA ...........................................................6.0 Kennedy Chandler, UT ....................................................5.0 Wendell Green Jr., AUB ...................................................4.8 Jahvon Quinerly, ALA ......................................................4.3 Steals Player-Team ...................................................................SPG JD Notae, ARK .................................................................2.4 Kennedy Chandler, UT ....................................................2.3 Eric Gaines, LSU ..............................................................2.2 K.D. Johnson, AUB ..........................................................2.1 Keon Ellis, ALA ................................................................2.0 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Walker Kessler, AUB ........................................................4.2 Colin Castleton, UF .........................................................2.8 Charles Bediako, ALA ......................................................1.6 Dylan Cardwell, AUB ......................................................1.5 Oscar Tshiebwe, UK ........................................................1.4 2021-22 Associated Press Rankings As of February 7 (Week 14) Team Record Points 1 Auburn (48) 22-1 1506 2 Gonzaga (13) 19-2 1477 3 Purdue 20-3 1329 4 Arizona 19-2 1300 5 Kentucky 19-4 1288 6 Houston 20-2 1205 7 Duke 19-3 1179 8 Kansas 19-3 1173 9 Texas Tech 18-5 947 10 Baylor 19-4 921 11 Providence 20-2 899 12 UCLA 16-4 881 13 Illinois 17-5 818 14 Wisconsin 18-4 706 15 Villanova 17-6 634 16 Ohio State 14-5 628 17 Michigan State 17-5 536 18 Marquette 16-7 522 19 Tennessee 16-6 377 20 Texas 17-6 294 21 USC 19-4 278 22 Saint Mary's 19-4 185 23 Murray State 22-2 178 24 UConn 15-6 118 25 Xavier 16-6 9118 @KentuckyMBB From Press Row Kentucky Concludes Two-Game Road Trip at South Carolina Following Saturday’s win at Alabama, Kentucky (19-4, 8-2 SEC) has its final back- to-back road game of the regular season as the Wildcats head to South Carolina (13-9, 4-6 SEC). The game is Tuesday at 7 p.m. and it will be telecast by ESPN. This is the only regular-season meeting between the two squads. Kentucky leads the series 53-13, including a 92-64 home win last season. UK leads 20-9 in games played in Columbia. South Carolina is coming off a pair of loss- es last week after having built a three-game win streak from Jan. 22-29 against Georgia, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M. The Gamecocks are led by senior guard Erik Stevenson with 11.3 points per game and guard James Reese V, a graduate trans- fer from North Texas, who checks in at 10.7 points per game. Defensively, South Carolina has limited opponents to 40.3 percent from the field for the season, with 5.2 blocks per game (20th nationally) and 15.6 opponent turnovers per game (40th nationally). The Gamecocks also hit the glass hard, ranking 44th in the nation with 38.6 rebounds per game, including 14th nationally in offensive rebounding with 13.2 per contest. Collins Key in Kentucky’s Win at Alabama There was very little to indicate that Ken- tucky freshman Daimion Collins would play a key role for the Wildcats on Saturday at Al- abama. In fact, it would not have been a surprise if he hadn’t played at all. Take a look at UK’s last four games, and Collins’ participation in them. Collins did not play against Vanderbilt on Wednesday night. He also did not play at Kansas last Satur- day. Against Mississippi State, he played just one minute. And at Auburn, he did not play. That’s one minute played in Kentucky’s last four games. In fact, in the 2022 calendar year, Collins had not played double-figure minutes until Saturday night. The last time he did so was against High Point on New Year’s Eve, when he played 12 minutes and scored six points. But in the first half of Saturday’s SEC matchup, UK head coach John Calipari went to Collins in place of Oscar Tshiebwe. And the moved paid off in a big way. Collins played just three minutes in the first half, but he made the most of his time on the floor. He made one of two from the floor, hit all four of his free throws and grabbed three rebounds. Calipari had a thought in the middle of the night that led him to play Collins in this contest. “Daimion Collins was the difference-mak- er,” the Hall of Fame coach said. “I don’t know what woke me up in the middle of the night saying ‘lob, lob, lob’. And I watched enough of their tape, they collapse. So you have that, if you have a guy to throw it to. So I told him at shootaround, we’re going to throw this lob and I’m putting you in for that reason.” Kentucky fell behind 9-1 and was looking for a spark in the early going. Collins provid- ed that, according to fellow freshman TyTy Washington Jr. “He helped a lot,” Washington said. “He just came in and made his presence felt on defense. Then on offense, Coach Cal was re- alizing that their ‘big ‘ was stepping up so if we could just throw it up by the rim, he could dunk it.” And while Collins’ performance might have surprised many, the Cats could see it coming. “Everybody in the whole program knows what Daimion can do,” Washington said. “He’s been spending extra hours in the gym. I knew that this game was going to come if he just got his opportunity to play.” In the second half, Collins added another four points and three more rebounds, help- ing bring UK’s 66-55 win to the wire. His 10 points marked the third double-figure scoring game of Collins’ freshman season. He had a career-best 14 points against Robert Morris on Nov. 12. Then on Nov. 26, he had 12 points against North Florida. Calipari is impressed that Collins has con- tinued to work hard for his opportunity. “What I love about him is, I didn’t play him for five games. Never even looked at him,” Calipari said. “And he now has just forced me to figure out how to play him.” Brooks Enjoying Best Stretch of His Career Entering the season, Keion Brooks Jr. was looked to as the leader of the team. He was the only player within the program who had suited up for key minutes in each of the last two seasons. However, Brooks had yet to have a tradi- tional season in a Kentucky uniform. Follow- ing a breakthrough performance his freshman season as the Wildcats overcame an 18-point second-half deficit on the road at Florida with Brooks scoring 10 points, the team never took the floor again as the entire postseason was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last season, the team played in empty arenas and Brooks missed the first half of the season as he overcame an injury to his leg. As a junior, Brooks has started all 22 games he’s played in and produced the best statistical numbers of his career. He’s averag- ing 11.4 points per game, 4.5 rebounds and shooting at a 48.8% rate. However, over the last four games -- he’s never played better. Brooks is averaging 17.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and shooting 50% from the floor.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. L, 71-80 Saturday January 22 Mississippi State Lexington, Ky. W, 82-74 Tuesday January 25 Kansas Lawrence, Kan. W, 80-62 Saturday January 29 Vanderbilt Lexington, Ky. W, 77-70 Wednesday February 2 Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. 66-55 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 23-23 696 30.3 145-244 .594 0-0 .000 74-106 .698 364 15.8 117 232 349 15.2 60 23 44 44 33 03 Washington Jr. , TyTy 22-22 655 29.8 116-241 .481 24-69 .348 27-35 .771 283 12.9 16 66 82 3.7 35 90 37 28 5 31 Grady, Kellan 23-23 740 32.2 95-201 .473 67-150 .447 18-27 .667 275 12.0 6 40 46 2.0 21 24 15 20 2 12 Brooks Jr., Keion 22-22 531 24.1 99-203 .488 5-22 .227 48-65 .738 251 11.4 35 65 100 4.5 37 18 26 9 16 02 Wheeler, Sahvir 21-21 632 30.1 84-186 .452 9-33 .273 32-38 .842 209 10.0 12 30 42 2.0 48 148 64 28 1 10 Mintz, Davion 20-2 471 23.6 57-146 .390 29-83 .349 31-42 .738 174 8.7 13 36 49 2.5 26 38 23 10 2 00 Toppin, Jacob 19-1 301 15.8 41-74 .554 2-3 .667 23-30 .767 107 5.6 19 40 59 3.1 25 23 11 9 11 04 Collins, Daimion 19-1 178 9.4 29-48 .604 0-3 .000 13-15 .867 71 3.7 16 34 50 2.6 30 4 14 6 19 11 Allen, Dontaie 15-0 116 7.7 15-50 .300 7-37 .189 4-4 1.000 41 2.7 5 17 22 1.5 10 6 4 2 3 23 Hopkins, Bryce 21-0 153 7.3 19-47 .404 5-15 .333 4-7 .571 47 2.2 14 18 32 1.5 13 7 14 4 3 55 Ware, Lance 17-0 113 6.6 12-15 .800 0-0 .000 8-18 .444 32 1.9 7 23 30 1.8 21 2 12 3 9 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 23 4625 201.1 717-1466 .489 148-419 .353 286-391 .731 1868 81.22 298 650 948 41.2 329 386 276 166 105 Opponents 4625 201.1 546-1355 .403 141-479 .294-239 344 .695 1472 64.00 192 498 690 30.0 353 250 301 142 69The UK HealthCare John Calipari Show Behind Kentucky Basketball SUBSCRIBE TO PODCASTS TODAY! SPORTS NETWORKSPORTS NETWORK Presented By2021-22 South Carolina Gamecocks 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 Stevenson, Erik 22-22 571 26.0 83-231 .359 41-131 .313 41-42 .976 248 11.3 21 74 95 4.3 52 55 40 25 10 00 Reese V, James 20-20 581 29.1 79-185 .427 40-106 .377 15-20 .750 213 10.7 7 47 54 2.7 39 38 21 20 3 05 Couisnard, Jermaine 17-8 368 21.6 58-148 .392 25-72 .347 23-41 .561 164 9.6 9 36 45 2.6 22 41 48 17 1 23 Carter, Devin 21-6 376 17.9 57-143 .399 12-43 .279 52-77 .675 178 8.5 20 50 70 3.3 30 29 48 19 7 15 Leveque, Wildens 20-20 439 22.0 59-97 .608 0-0 .000 33-55 .600 151 7.6 46 58 104 5.2 59 11 16 17 19 24 Bryant, Keyshawn 17-9 286 16.8 49-125 .392 5-23 .217 20-32 .625 123 7.2 21 26 47 2.8 43 9 30 14 16 02 Carter Jr., Chico 21-1 219 10.4 35-84 .417 11-28 .393 19-23 .826 100 4.8 1 11 12 0.6 12 13 18 10 2 01 Wright, Jacobi 22-9 419 19.0 35-101 .347 11-40 .275 20-27 .741 101 4.6 4 36 40 1.8 33 52 34 12 1 12 Wilson, AJ 14-9 223 15.9 23-48 .479 1-7 .143 11-17 .647 58 4.1 28 23 51 3.6 29 8 4 9 15 21 Benson, Ja'Von 6-0 56 9.3 9-22 .409 0-4 .000 2-6 .333 20 3.3 7 18 25 4.2 10 2 8 2 5 33 Gray, Josh 20-3 252 12.6 26-52 .500 0-2 .000 12-31 .387 64 3.2 31 48 79 4.0 33 8 10 9 13 44 Cooper Jr., Ford 1-0 7 7.0 1-1 1.000 1-1 1.000 0-0 .000 3 3.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 2 1 0 0 13 Green, Mike 4-0 17 4.3 4-8 .500 3-6 .500 0-0 .000 11 2.8 0 1 1 0.3 1 0 0 1 1 14 Martin, Brandon 22-1 272 12.4 24-58 .414 1-8 .125 5-9 .556 54 2.5 21 36 57 2.6 14 17 15 8 3 55 Woodley, Ta'Quan 17-0 208 12.2 18-30 .600 0-0 .000 6-13 .462 42 2.5 23 31 54 3.2 35 7 17 8 13 04 Minott, Tre-Vaughn 13-2 106 8.2 13-16 .813 0-0 .000 2-8 .250 28 2.2 10 17 27 2.1 21 2 9 4 6 Total 22 4400 200.0 573-1349 .425 151-471 .321 261-401 .651 1558 70.82 291 559 850 38.6 433 294 331 175 115 Opponents 4400 200.0 501-1244 .403 148-458 .323 355-513 .692 1505 68.41 254 536 790 35.9 402 271 343 186 82 Keyshawn Bryant Jermaine Couisnard 24 @KentuckyMBBFind your vibe at VisitLEX.comNext >