< PreviousWEEKNIGHTS 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY 9:00 a.m.KENTUCKY BASKETBALL 14 @KentuckyMBB From Press Row Last Time Out: Georgia Recap The buzz inside Rupp Arena could be felt before Saturday’s game against Georgia. The Big Blue Nation had plenty to be excited about. UK was set to honor one if its most be- loved teams, the 1984 Final Four squad that featured Sam Bowie, Kenny Walker, Melvin Turpin and Jim Master, among others, at half- time. But the biggest news was that UK learned earlier in the day that Zvonimir Ivisic, the 7-2 freshman from Croatia, had been ruled eligi- ble by the NCAA, meaning he could play in Saturday’s game. Ivisic entered the game with 16 minutes to play in the first half. The Rupp Arena crowd gave him a standing ovation, then waited to see what UK’s newest addition could do. The crowd was waiting for a reason to explode, and it was granted that wish just minutes later. With 13:20 left in the first half and Kentucky in the midst of an 11-0 run, Ivisic caught a pass in the lane and flipped a behind the back pass to Antonio Reeves on the left wing for a three-pointer, giving the Cats a 19-10 advantage and forcing a Geor- gia timeout. Kentucky would build a 28-point lead in the second half, then was forced to hang on late to beat Georgia 105-96. Tre Mitchell led the Cats with 23 points and Reeves had 21. D.J. Wagner had 18 points and a season-high 10 assists. Ivisic scored 11 points in his first five min- utes of action, adding three rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and a steal during that same span of time. He finished with 13 points, five rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals. UK head coach John Calipari knows that Ivisic can get even better, but he liked his de- but on Saturday. “He’s got a ways to go,” Calipari said. “But I told them – you know why he was wide open? Because they didn’t think he could shoot threes. They had never seen him play. It was a good start for him.” Running, Gunning and Sharing ... Oh, My! To say that Kentucky is clicking offensive- ly would be an understatement. • UK has scored at least 81 points in all but one game this season. • This is the first UK team to score at least 81 points in 16 of its first 17 games of a sea- son in program history. • UK is averaging 91.6 points per game for the season. That ranks first in the country. • Kentucky scored a Calipari-era record 118 points against Marshall. • The Wildcats also put up a Rupp Are- na-record 69 points in the opening half against the Thundering Herd. • Kentucky's 95 points at Louisville are the most the Cardinals have ever surrendered at home at the KFC Yum! Center. • The Wildcats' 90 points against Missou- ri were the most in an SEC game since scor- ing 90 in a 90-81 win over Alabama on Feb. 19, 2022. • Kentucky scored 90 or more in four straight SEC games (Missouri, at Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Georgia) for the first time since scoring 107 at Vanderbilt (Jan. 4, 1994), 90 at Georgia (Jan. 8, 1994), 96 vs. Ole Miss (Jan. 12, 1994) and 93 vs. Tennes- see (Jan. 15, 1994). • The Wildcats scored 90 points against Mississippi State at home. It was the most the Bulldogs (a top-10 KenPom defense) has sur- rendered to date this season. • They're playing at a fast pace, averaging just 15.3 seconds per possession which ranks 18th in the country. • UK is logging 16.41 fast-break points per game. That mark is the ninth best in the nation. • The Wildcats are averaging 10.3 made 3s per game. That is the 12th-best nationally. • It's 3-point percentage (.402) ranks fifth in the country. • UK has six players averaging double-fig- ure points. • The Wildcats rank fourth in the country with a 1.89 assist-to-turnover ratio. • Kentucky is dishing out 18.9 assists per game, ranking seventh in the country in that category. Four players have 58 or more assists (3.4 per game) thus far. • Per KenPom, UK's offensive efficiency ranks fourth. • Per KenPom, UK's effective field-goal percentage ranks third and its turnover per- centage is fourth in the nation. • Per KenPom, Reed Sheppard's true shooting-percentage is first in the nation, his effective field-goal percentage is first, while his 3-point percentage is second. His offen- sive rating is 10th, Antonio Reeves is 67th and Tre Mitchell 68th. The Winner is ... D.J Wagner! The Wildcats garnered their sixth South- eastern Conference weekly award on Jan. 22 when D.J. Wagner was tabbed the league's top-performing freshman for the third time this season. Wagner averaged 12.5 points and 6.0 assists per game as UK earned vic- tories over both Mississippi State and Geor- gia to improve to 14-3 overall and 4-1 in the SEC. The Camden, New Jersey, native posted his first-career double-double in the win over Georgia, tallying 18 points and a career-high 10 assists while going 8 of 12 from the field. Kentucky has dominated the weekly SEC awards with John Calipari at the helm. UK has won more weekly SEC honors (131) than any other school during the Calipari era,Thank You to Our CORNERSTONE PARTNERSNEKENTUCKY BASKETBALL 18 @KentuckyMBB Around the SEC Around the Country 2023-24 SEC Standings and Statistics Team SEC Overall Home Road Auburn 5-0 16-2 10-0 2-1 Kentucky 4-1 14-3 10-1 2-1 Tennessee 4-1 14-4 10-0 2-2 Alabama 4-1 12-6 8-1 2-2 South Carolina 3-2 15-3 9-1 3-2 Georgia 3-2 13-5 10-1 3-1 LSU 3-2 11-7 8-3 1-2 Ole Miss 2-3 15-3 11-0 2-3 Mississippi State 2-3 13-5 7-2 0-3 Florida 2-3 12-6 7-1 1-3 Texas A&M 2-3 11-7 6-2 3-3 Arkansas 1-4 10-8 8-3 0-2 Missouri 0-5 8-10 6-5 2-3 Vanderbilt 0-5 5-13 5-6 0-4 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Mark Sears, ALA ............................................................19.8 Wade Taylor IV, TAMU ...................................................19.5 Antonio Reeves, UK ......................................................19.5 Dalton Knecht, UT ........................................................18.8 Tramon Mark, ARK ........................................................17.8 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Andersson Garcia, TAMU ................................................8.9 Johni Broome, AUB .........................................................8.4 Tyrese Samuel, UF ...........................................................8.3 Micah Handlogten, UF ....................................................7.7 Tre Mitchell, UK ..............................................................7.6 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Zakai Zeigler, UT .............................................................5.1 Zyon Pullin, UF ...............................................................4.7 Ta'Lon Cooper, SC ...........................................................4.3 Reed Sheppard, UK .........................................................4.2 Aaron Estrada, ALA ..........................................................3.9 Steals Player-Team ...................................................................SPG Reed Sheppard, UK .........................................................2.5 Cameron Matthews, MISS ST ...........................................2.3 Jordan Wright, LSU ..........................................................2.2 Wade Taylor IV, TAMU .....................................................2.2 Matthew Murrell, MISS ....................................................2.2 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Jamarion Sharp, MISS ......................................................2.8 Johni Broome, AUB .........................................................1.9 Jonas Aidoo, UT ..............................................................1.8 Aidan Shaw, MIZZOU .....................................................1.5 Grant Nelson, ALA ..........................................................1.4 2023-24 Associated Press Rankings As of January 22, 2024 (week 12) Team Record Points 1 UConn (44) 17-2 1508 2 Purdue (17) 17-2 1472 3 North Carolina 15-3 1391 4 Houston 16-2 1309 5 Tennessee 14-4 1237 6 Kentucky 14-3 1205 7 Kansas 15-3 1157 8 Auburn 16-2 1094 9 Arizona 14-4 1060 10 Illinois 14-4 862 11 Oklahoma 15-3 849 12 Duke 13-4 832 13 Wisconsin 14-4 801 14 Marquette 13-5 747 15 Baylor 14-4 645 16 Dayton 15-2 546 17 Creighton 14-5 505 18 Utah State 17-2 381 19 Memphis 15-4 329 20 Texas Tech 15-3 304 21 BYU 14-4 294 22 Florida Atlantic 15-4 290 23 Iowa State 14-4 253 24 Colorado State 15-3 214 25 New Mexico 16-3 177We’re your Shield. We’re your Shelter. ShelterInsurance.com • 1-800-SHELTER WE ARE PROUD TO SUPPORT THE KENTUCKY WILDCATS! KENTUCKY WILDCATS! ® ANDERSON, IN Jordan Harper BARDSTOWN Tyler Bruington BEAVER DAM Robbie Parham BOWLING GREEN Nancy Hickey Drew Hayes BUTLER Jason Laytart CAMPBELLSVILLE Taylor Burress CARLISLE Bill Clark CYNTHIANA Lee Adkins DANVILLE Troy Wheeler ELIZABETHTOWN Jamie Martin Alice Slaubaugh EMINENCE Fred Downey EVANSVILLE, IN Rick Koberstein FAIRDALE Jamie Norsworthy FLEMINGSBURG Cole Clark FLORENCE Rocky Bryan Brandi Monday FRANKLIN Lauren Roberts FRANKFORT BJ Hurst Audrey Marshall GEORGETOWN Steve Black Spencer Kilpatrick HARDINSBURG Sandra Bruington HARRODSBURG Jamie Dunn HENDERSON Megan Brown HODGENVILLE Teddy Sandford HOPKINSVILLE Alexander Capps Scott Leuckel LAGRANGE Paula Kaeser LANCASTER Cindy Lanham LAWRENCEBURG Ashley Bailey LEITCHFIELD Donna Vanmeter LEXINGTON Tony Arnold Ed Carr Linda Fugate Dawan Hart Heather Lewis Josh Miniard Willie Morrison Gene Young LIBERTY Kevin Atwood LIVERMORE Katie Gunterman LONDON Jeffery Anderson LOUISVILLE Amy Brown Corinne Ramsier Larissa Spears MADISONVILLE Brandi Hughes MAYFIELD Steve Jones MOREHEAD Caleb Staggs MOUNT STERLING Elizabeth Shelley MURRAY Doug Henry NICHOLASVILLE Marc Miller Russ Owens OWENSBORO Karen Keller PADUCAH Toby Boone RICHMOND Ashley Kovaleski Evan Worrell SHELBYVILLE Scott Martin SLAUGHTERS Sam Westfall SOMERSET Jason Weatherford SPRINGFIELD Sue Blair STANFORD Sean Slusher UNION Joey Bailey VERSAILLES Janice Frasier WINCHESTER Kay Brandenburg Olin WoolumKENTUCKY BASKETBALL 20 @KentuckyMBB Arkansas Fayetteville, Ark. 6 p.m. Saturday January Tennessee Lexington, Ky. 8:30 p.m. Saturday February Gonzaga Lexington, Ky. 4 p.m. Saturday February Ole Miss Lexington, Ky. 9 p.m. Tuesday February Auburn Auburn, Ala. 6 p.m. Saturday February Vanderbilt Lexington, Ky. 9 p.m. Wednesday March Tennessee Knoxville, Tenn. 4 p.m. Saturday March SEC Tournament Nashville, Tenn. TBA Wed.-Sun. March 13-17 NCAA Tournament Final Four® Phoenix | TBA March- April TBA LSU Baton Rouge, La. 9 p.m. February Alabama Lexington, Ky. 4 p.m. Saturday February Mississippi State Starkville, Miss. 7 p.m. Tuesday February Arkansas Lexington, Ky. 1:30 p.m. Saturday March Florida Lexington, Ky. 8 p.m. January Mississippi State Lexington, Ky. W, 90-77 January Georgia Lexington, Ky. W, 105-96 Saturday January South Carolina Columbia, S.C. 7 p.m. Tuesday January Kansas Chicago L, 84-89 Tuesday November New Mexico State Lexington, Ky. W, 86-46 Monday November Texas A&M- Lexington, Ky. W, 81-61 Friday November Miami Lexington, Ky. W, 95-73 Tuesday November UNC-Wilmington Lexington, Ky. L, 73-80 Saturday December Penn Philadelphia W, 81-66 Saturday December Stonehill Lexington, Ky. W, 101-67 Friday November Saint Joseph's Lexington, Ky. W, 96-88 (OT) Monday November Marshall Lexington, Ky. W, 118-82 Friday November Louisville Louisville, Ky. W, 95-76 Thursday December Illinois State Lexington, Ky. W, 96-70 Friday December Missouri Lexington, Ky. W, 90-77 Tuesday January Florida Gainesville, Fla. W, 87-85 Saturday January Texas A&M L, 92-97 OT Saturday January North Carolina Atlanta Saturday December Home Neutral Away 2023-24 Basketball Schedule Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn. 8:30 p.m. Tuesday February Wildcat Challenge presented by Kentucky Tourism Wildcat Challenge presented by Kentucky Tourism Wildcat Challenge presented by Kentucky Tourism ACC/SEC Challenge CBS Sports Classic State Farm Champions ClassicSUBSCRIBE TO PODCASTS TODAY! SPORTS NETWORKSPORTS NETWORK The John Calipari Show Behind Kentucky BasketballNext >