< PreviousWEEKNIGHTS 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY 9:00 a.m. 12 @KentuckyMBB14 @KentuckyMBB From Press Row Kentucky Drops Shootout vs. No. 4 Alabama Despite seven players scoring in double figures, No. 8 Kentucky lost to an AP Top-15 team for the first time this season, falling to No. 4 Alabama 102-97 in Rupp Arena. Otega Oweh led UK with 21 points, matching his season high, while Lamont But- ler had 17 points and eight assists and Amari Williams (13 points, 11 rebounds) posted his fourth double-double of the season. The contest was the third-straight for Kentucky against an AP Top-15 opponent, marking just the fifth time in school history that UK played three straight regular-season games against a Top-15 opponent. Some additional notes from the game: • The loss was the first of the season for Kentucky at home after winning their first 11 inside Rupp Arena • It was the eighth time this season that UK has scored at least 95 points. The Cats are 7-1 in those games • Lamont Butler has had at least seven as- sists in four of the five SEC games • Otega Oweh has had multiple steals in six straight games • Koby Brea continued his 3-point streak - he has made at least one triple in every game this season and 33-straight contests overall dating back to his time at Dayton. Brea also set a new career-best with three blocked shots Know Your Opponent Kentucky treks to Nashville for the first of two meetings this season with the Commo- dores. Vandy head coach Mark Byington is in his first year with the Commodores and has led his squad to a 15-4 record and a 3-3 mark in SEC play. UK will mark the third straight top-10 op- ponent for Vanderbilt. The Dores upset No. 6 Tennessee last Saturday before falling on the road to No. 4 Alabama on Tuesday. Junior Jason Edwards, a transfer from North Texas, is the team's leading scorer at 17.3 points per game. A.J. Hoggard is the offensive engine, scoring 11.1 points per contest and dishing out an average of 4.4 assists. Devin McGlockton leads the way on the boards with 8.2 rebounds per game to go along with a team-high 26 blocks. Vanderbilt has done an outstanding job winning the turnover battle this season, rank- ings fifth in the nation in turnover margin at +5.6. Junior Tyler Nickel has wreaked havoc with 42 steals off the bench for the Dores. Double Figures for Double "O" Otega Oweh has scored in double figures in all 18 of Kentucky's games this season. Oweh is one of 19 players in Division I to score in double figures in each of their games this season and one of nine "high major" players to do so. He is the only player in the SEC to accomplish the feat. 'Til the Battle is Won on the Boards Numbers can always be deceiving, but for the Wildcats the on-going battle on the boards has proved to be a key for UK's suc- cess. UK ranks 17th in the nation, hauling in an average of 40.72 rebounds per game. Kentucky is eighth nationally in defensive re- bounding (29.28 per game) and is rebound- ing 78.3% of opponents missed field-goal attempts. The Wildcats are outrebounding their op- ponents by 4.4 per game. Rebounding was a pointed reason for double-digit halftime deficits against No. 6 Duke and No. 7 Gonzaga. In fact, UK was outrebounded by nine total boards (an aver- age of 4.5 per game) in the first half of those games. Following halftime, UK outrebound- ed those opponents by seven (3.5 per half). For the season, UK is logging 19.8 first- half boards and nudging the opponents by 0.8, while generating 20.6 per game in the second half and bettering its opponent by 3.5 after the break. After getting beat on the boards in a loss to Georgia on Jan. 7, UK bounced back with impressive performances on the glass at Mis- sissippi State and against Texas A&M.Thank You to Our CORNERSTONE PARTNERSNEAround the SEC Around the Country 2024-25 SEC Standings and Statistics Team SEC Overall Home Road Auburn 5-0 17-1 8-0 3-1 Alabama 5-1 16-3 8-1 5-1 Florida 4-2 17-2 9-1 3-1 Tennessee 4-2 17-2 11-0 3-2 Ole Miss 4-2 15-4 9-1 3-2 Missouri 4-2 15-4 14-0 1-3 Texas A&M 4-2 15-4 9-1 2-2 Kentucky 3-2 14-4 9-1 1-2 Mississippi State 3-3 15-4 8-1 3-2 Vanderbilt 3-3 15-4 10-1 2-2 Georgia 2-4 14-5 11-1 1-3 Texas 2-4 13-6 9-3 2-2 Oklahoma 1-4 14-4 8-2 0-2 LSU 1-4 12-6 10-1 1-3 Arkansas 1-5 12-7 9-2 1-3 South Carolina 0-6 10-9 8-4 1-4 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Sears, Mark - UA .........................................................19.00 Lanier, Chaz - UT .......................................................18.37 Moore, Jalon - OK ......................................................18.28 Johnson, Tre - Texas .....................................................18.18 Broome, Johni - AUB .................................................. 17.88 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Broome, Johni - AUB ...................................................10.69 Murray-Boyles, Collin - SC ............................................8.95 Williams, Amari - UK ...................................................8.78 Nelson, Grant - UA .......................................................8.68 Milicic Jr., Igor - UT ......................................................8.37 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Zeigler, Zakai - UT .......................................................7.63 Fland, Boogie - ARK ......................................................5.72 Sears, Mark - UA ...........................................................4.95 Butler, Lamont - UK ......................................................4.94 Taylor IV, Wade - TA&M ................................................4.80 Steals Player-Team ...................................................................SPG Matthews, Cameron - MISS ST .......................................2.63 Pedulla, Sean - UM........................................................2.37 Tanner, Tyler - VU ..........................................................2.21 Murrell, Matthew - UM .................................................2.13 Phelps, Zhuric - TA&M ..................................................2.11 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Broome, Johni - AUB .....................................................2.69 Cyril, Somto - UGA .......................................................1.95 Collins, Daimion - LSU ..................................................1.75 Ivisic, Zvonimir - ARK ....................................................1.72 Shedrick, Kadin - Texas ..................................................1.68 Okpara, Felix - UT .........................................................1.68 2024-25 Associated Press Rankings As of January 20, 2025 (week 12) Team Record Points 1 Auburn (62) 17-1 1550 2 Duke 16-2 1485 3 Iowa State 15-2 1397 4 Alabama 15-3 1338 5 Florida 16-2 1262 6 Tennessee 16-2 1170 7 Houston 14-3 1151 8 Michigan State 16-2 1109 9 Kentucky 14-4 1057 10 Marquette 15-3 950 11 Purdue 15-4 906 12 Kansas 13-4 902 13 Texas A&M 14-4 794 14 Mississippi State 15-3 731 15 Oregon 15-3 638 16 Ole Miss 15-3 564 17 Illinois 13-5 526 18 Wisconsin 15-3 437 19 UConn 13-5 365 20 St. John's 16-3 320 21 Michigan 14-4 305 22 Missouri 15-3 275 23 West Virginia 13-4 240 24 Memphis 14-4 232 25 Louisville 14-5 125 18 @KentuckyMBBWe’re your Shield. 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We’re honored to be ranked the BEST Auto Insurance Company in the USA20 @KentuckyMBB 2024-25 Basketball Schedule Home Neutral Away FEB 8 LEXINGTON, KY 12:00 P.M. ESPN/ESPN2 SOUTH CAROLINA FEB 1 LEXINGTON, KY. 9:00 P.M. ESPN ARKANSAS FEB 11 LEXINGTON, KY 7:00 P.M. ESPN TENNESSEE FEB 4 OXFORD, MISS. 7:00 P.M. ESPN OLE MISS JAN 28 KNOXVILLE, TENN. 7:00 P.M. ESPN TENNESSEE JAN 25 NASHVILLE, TENN. 2:30 P.M. ESPN/ESPN2 VANDERBILT FEB 15 AUSTIN, TEXAS 8:00 P.M. ESPN TEXAS FEB 22 TUSCALOOSA, ALA. 6:OO P.M. ESPN ALABAMA FEB 26 NORMAN, OKLA. 9:00 P.M. SECN OKLAHOMA MAR 4 LEXINGTON, KY. TBA ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU LSU MAR 1 LEXINGTON, KY. TBA ABC/ESPN AUBURNVANDERBILT FEB 19 LEXINGTON, KY. 7:00 P.M. SECN MISSOURI MAR 8 COLUMBIA, MO. 12:00 P.M. ESPN/SECN SEC TOURNAMENT MAR 12-16 NASHVILLE, TENN. TBA TBA NCAA TOURNAMENT MAR-APRIL FINAL FOUR SAN ANTONIO TBA Scan for Updated Schedule JAN 18 LEXINGTON, KY. L, 97-102 ALABAMA DEC 31 LEXINGTON, KY. W, 88-54 BROWNGEORGIA JAN 7 ATHENS, GA. L, 69-82 MISSISSIPPI STATE JAN 11 STARKVILLE, MISS. W, 95-90 JAN 4 LEXINGTON, KY. W, 106-100 FLORIDA JAN 14 LEXINGTON, KY. W, 81-69 TEXAS A&M NOV 29 LEXINGTON, KY. W, 105-76 GEORGIA STATE DEC 3 CLEMSON, S.C. L, 66-70 CLEMSON SEC/ACC Challenge DEC 11 LEXINGTON, KY. W, 78-67 COLGATE DEC 14 LEXINGTON, KY. W, 93-85 LOUISVILLE DEC 7 SEATTLE W OT, 90-89 GONZAGA Battle in Seattle DEC 21 NEW YORK L, 65-85 OHIO STATE CBS Sports Classic NOV 4 LEXINGTON, KY. W, 103-62 WRIGHT STATE NOV 9 LEXINGTON, KY. W, 100-72 BUCKNELL NOV 12 ATLANTA W, 77-72 DUKE Champions Classic NOV 19 LEXINGTON, KY. W, 97-68 LIPSCOMB BBN Invitational NOV 22 LEXINGTON, KY. W, 108-59 JACKSON STATE BBN Invitational|Unity Series NOV 26 LEXINGTON, KY. W, 87-68 WESTERN KENTUCKY BBN InvitationalSUBSCRIBE TO PODCASTS TODAY! The Mark Pope ShowNext >