< Previous10 @KentuckyMBB$ 600+ IN SAVINGS EVERY WEEK WITH DIGITAL COUPONS Scan here to start saving. Official Grocer of UK Athletics.WEEKNIGHTS 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY 9:00 a.m. 12 @KentuckyMBB14 @KentuckyMBB From Press Row A Flying Start to the Pope Era Kentucky won big in its first regular-season contest under head coach Mark Pope, taking down Wright State, 103-62, to begin the 2024-25 campaign. Six Wildcats scored in double figures in the con- test, led by 21 points from Otega Oweh and 18 from Koby Brea. Kentucky saw six players finish with at least three assists in the victory, while three had five assists. UK shot 60 percent from the field and assist- ed on 30 of 39 made field goals, a 76.9 percent assist rate. Some nuggets from the Pope opener • The 41-point margin of victory in Pope's debut is the same as his jersey #41 from his playing days at UK • 103 points are the most for a Kentucky coach in his debut game. The previous high was 88 points vs. Morehead State in Tubby Smith's first game in 1997 • 103 points are the most in a season opener for the Wildcats since Nov. 11, 2011 when Kentucky scored 108 vs. Marist • The Cats are 8-0 in a head coach's de- but dating back to Adolph Rupp's first game in 1930 • It was the seventh season-opening win in a row for Mark Pope dating back to his final season at Utah Valley • Kentucky improves to 101-21 in sea- son openers all-time and 106-16 in home openers Share the Rock Kentucky totaled 30 assists in its open- ing night win vs. Wright State, just the 19th time in program history with 30 helpers in a contest, and the first time ever in the first game of the season. UK committed just sev- en turnovers, tied for the fewest in program history when tallying at least 30 assists. Bucknell Scout • Bucknell is beginning year two under head coach John Griffin III • The Bison opened the season with a 85-73 win over Delaware in which they overcame an early 12-point deficit on the road and outscored the Blue Hens, 48-27, in the second half • Bucknell then earned a 75-69 win over Southern Indiana in overtime on Thursday to improve to 2-0. • Preseason All-Patriot selection Noah Williamson was the lead scorer for BU in both contests with 19 points against Del- aware and 32 in the win over Southern Indiana • Bucknell was picked to finish fourth in the Patriot League • The team went 14-19 in 2023-24 in- cluding a 10-8 record in the Patriot League Associated Press Poll All-Time Leader Not only is Kentucky the nation's all-time wins leader and the team with the best all- time winning percentage, it has been ranked in the Associated Press more than any other program. Kentucky has been ranked in the AP poll during 970 weeks in the poll's 76-year his- tory. North Carolina (957), Duke (893), Kansas (860) and UCLA (738) round out the top five. The Wildcats were ranked No. 1 for the first time in the second month of the poll in Feb. 1949. UK has played a total of 252 games as the nation’s top-ranked team. S-E-C! S-E-C! S-E-C! Kentucky is the Southeastern Conference's gold standard. Since the SEC’s inception in 1932-33, the Wildcats are the most dominant team in the league, recording a 1,059-308 mark (77.5%) in regular-season conference play. Only Alabama has won more than 800 regular-season SEC games and no other team owns a better winning percentage. • UK has averaged 11.8 wins and only 3.4 losses per season in 91 seasons in the SEC • Kentucky has won 49 SEC regu- lar-season titles and 31 SEC Tournament championships • UK won its 1,000th game in SEC reg- ular-season action vs. Alabama on Jan. 11, 2020. Kansas has won 1,000 conference games when combining its records in the Big 6, Big 7, Big 8 and Big 12, but no other team in the country had won 1,000 or more regu- lar-season league games in one conference alone • Eight teams made the 2024 NCAA Tour- nament field, tied for the most among any conference • The SEC has had 51 NCAA Tournament selections over the last seven tournaments • The league has advanced at least one team to the Elite Eight in 11 of the last 14 tournaments • The preseason Associated Press Top 25, has a nation-leading nine SEC teams rankedThank You to Our CORNERSTONE PARTNERSNEAround the SEC Around the Country 2024-25 SEC Standings and Statistics Team SEC Overall Home Road Florida 0-0 2-0 1-0 0-0 Alabama 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 Arkansas 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 Auburn 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 Georgia 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 Kentucky 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 LSU 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 Ole Miss 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 Mississippi State 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 Oklahoma 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 Tennessee 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 Vanderbilt 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 Missouri 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 South Carolina 0-0 0-1 0-1 0-0 Texas 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 Texas A&M 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Johnson, Tre,Texas .........................................................29.0 Clayton Jr., Walter, UF ...................................................29.0 Newell, Asa, UGA ........................................................ 26.0 Hubbard, Josh, MSU ..................................................... 26.0 Richard, Will, UF ...........................................................25.0 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Godwin, Sam, OK ...................................................... 15.00 Williams, Amari, UK ................................................. 13.00 McGlockton, Devin, VU .............................................13.00 Newell, Asa, UGA ......................................................11.00 Carey, Jaylen, VU ........................................................10.00 Godfrey, RJ, UGA ...................................................... 10.00 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Philon, Labaron, UA ......................................................9.00 Zeigler, Zakai, UT ..........................................................9.00 Taylor IV, Wade, TA&M ................................................ 7.00 Robinson II, Anthony, MO ............................................7.00 Fears, Jeremiah, OK ...................................................... 6.00 Miles, Duke, OK .......................................................... 6.00 Elvis, Kobe, OK ............................................................6.00 Wright, Jacobi, SC ....................................................... 6.00 Steals Player-Team ...................................................................SPG Mashack, Jahmai, UT ....................................................4.00 Richard, Will,UF ............................................................4.00 Oweh, Otega, UK; Butler, Lamont, UK and 10 other players ................................................3.00 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Murray-Boyles, Collin,SC ...............................................4.00 Barnes, Davon, MISS ................................................... 3.00 Newell, Asa, UGA ........................................................3.00 Ivisic, Zvonimir, ARK ....................................................3.00 Dia, Malik, MISS ..........................................................3.00 Pringle, Nick, SC ..........................................................3.00 2024-25 Associated Press Rankings As of November 1, 2024 (preseason) Team Record Points 1 Kansas (30) 0-0 1449 2 Alabama (14) 0-0 1428 3 UConn (11) 0-0 1345 4 Houston (4) 0-0 1343 5 Iowa State 0-0 1177 6 Gonzaga (1) 0-0 1157 7 Duke 0-0 1154 8 Baylor 0-0 1109 9 North Carolina 0-0 1037 10 Arizona 0-0 905 11 Auburn 0-0 901 12 Tennessee 0-0 775 13 Texas A&M 0-0 737 14 Purdue 0-0 678 15 Creighton 0-0 631 16 Arkansas 0-0 625 17 Indiana 0-0 492 18 Marquette 0-0 484 19 Texas 0-0 332 20 Cincinnati 0-0 271 21 Florida 0-0 249 22 UCLA 0-0 210 23 Kentucky 0-0 191 24 Ole Miss 0-0 132 25 Rutgers 0-0 102 18 @KentuckyMBBWe’re your Shield. 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