< 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 Balanced Scoring, Defense Leads UK Past Brown No. 10 Kentucky had four players in double figures and got a big effort on de- fense as the Cats topped Brown 88-54 on Tuesday at Rupp Arena. Andrew Carr led UK with 14 points, all in the first half. Koby Brea, Otega Oweh and Amari Williams each had 13 points for the Cats. The UK defense more than did its job on Saturday, forcing Brown into 23 turnovers, which the Cats turned into 33 points. Some additional notes from the game: • Kentucky allowed only 54 points, a season low. • Kentucky won the turnover battle, 23-5, the most miscues by a Wildcat op- ponent since Texas A&M had 25 give- aways on Jan. 3, 2017. • Five offensive turnovers is the fewest by UK this season. • UK won points off turnovers, 33-4. • Kentucky had a season-best 14 steals. • Kentucky made 50 percent from the field, 30 of 60. It is the sixth time this sea- son that the Wildcats made at least half of their field goal attempts. • Kentucky is now 2-0 this season in bounce-back games after losses. League Lidlifters Kentucky owns a 70-20 all-time mark in Southeastern Conference openers. This marks the second-consecutive season UK and Florida will open the conference slate. Prior to last season's lidlifter, the last time the teams met in UK's first confer- ence game of the season was the 1998- 99 season with the Cats winning 93-58 at home. This will mark just the first time since 1963-64 that the teams will only play once during the regular season. Know Your Opponent Florida enters Rupp Arena on Saturday as one of just four remaining unbeatens in the country having gone a perfect 13-0 through nonconference competition. The Gators are tenacious on the glass, stifiling defensively in the halfcourt and like to get out and run offensively. Florida ranks among the nation's best in rebounds per game (1st), scoring margin (2nd), fastbreak points (3rd), rebound margin (3rd), defensive rebounds per game (6th), 3-point field-goal percentage defense (6th), field-goal percentage defense (6th), offensive rebounds per game (7th) and points per game (8th). Dynamic All-Southeastern Conference guard Walter Clay- ton Jr., paces the team at 17.2 points per game and is shooting 46.7% from the floor and 37.0% from long range. Six players log 5.0 rebounds per game or more. Florida's 13-0 record will stand as the third-best record for a team entering Rupp Are- na in the venue's history. Only the 1998-99 Auburn Tigers (17-0) and the 2007-08 Van- derbilt Commo- dores (16-0) had better records. UK went on to win both of those matchups, break- ing the undefeated streak. Historic Top-10 Matchup Saturday's game pitting No. 10 Ken- tucky vs. No. 6 Florida will be the start of a rigid Southeast- ern Conference schedule for both teams. It will also be marked with history. • For the first time in the history of the Associated Press Top 25 poll, UK's SEC opener will feature a matchup of two top- 10 ranked teams • It will be just the fourth time in the history of the poll that UK will begin the league with a top-25 matchup - Others include: Jan. 20, 1960 (#13 Georgia Tech wins 62-54 at #10 Kentucky in Memorial Coliseum); Jan. 4, 1994 (#4 Kentucky defeats #22 Vanderbilt, 104-82 in Rupp Arena); Jan. 10, 2004 (#7 Ken- tucky defeats #20 Vanderbilt, 75-83 in Rupp Arena) • In the series' history, UK is 15-7 against the Gators when both teams are ranked in the AP Top 25. UK is a perfect 4-0 when both teams are inside of the top 10 -Other top-10 matchups include: Feb. 7, 2012 (#1 Kentucky defeats #8 Florida, 78-58); March 8, 2003 (#2 Kentucky de- feats #3 Florida, 69-67); Feb. 4, 2003 (#6 Kentucky defeats #1 Florida, 70-55); Jan. 29, 2002 (#10 Kentucky defeats #5 Flor- ida, 70-68) It Really Just Means More in 2024-25 • SEC teams have won 88.8% (183-23) of their games this season. That tops the nine-team ACC in 2003-04 which had an 88.2% winning percentage (75-10) in games before New Year's Day • SEC teams are 21-7 against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, including a 6-2 mark against teams ranked inside of the top 10. The SEC's 21 nonconference wins against the AP 25 are eight more than any other league has ever had in a single season (per former ESPN researcher Jared Berson) • The Dec. 30, 2024 AP Top 25, has a na- tion-leading 10 SEC teams ranked, with two additional teams receiving votes - On Dec. 9, five SEC teams were ranked inside the top 10 in the AP poll for the first time in league history • The SEC's 10 teams ranked in the Dec. 23 and 30 polls are the most by a conference since the AP began compiling a weekly poll during the 1948-49 season • The SEC dominated this year's SEC- ACC Challenge, going 14-2 against the At- lantic Coast Conference and winning 11 of thoseThank You to Our CORNERSTONE PARTNERSNEAround the SEC Around the Country 2024-25 SEC Standings and Statistics Team SEC Overall Home Road Florida 0-0 13-0 7-0 1-0 Oklahoma 0-0 13-0 7-0 0-0 Tennessee 0-0 13-0 8-0 2-0 Auburn 0-0 12-1 6-0 0-1 Georgia 0-0 12-1 9-0 1-0 Mississippi State 0-0 12-1 6-0 2-0 Vanderbilt 0-0 12-1 8-0 1-0 Alabama 0-0 11-2 6-0 2-1 Arkansas 0-0 11-2 8-0 1-0 Kentucky 0-0 11-2 7-0 0-1 LSU 0-0 11-2 9-0 1-0 Ole Miss 0-0 11-2 7-0 1-1 Missouri 0-0 11-2 11-0 0-1 Texas 0-0 11-2 8-1 1-0 Texas A&M 0-0 11-2 7-0 0-1 South Carolina 0-0 10-3 8-1 1-1 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Johnson, Tre - Texas ....................................................19.73 Lanier, Chaz - UT ........................................................19.62 Edwards, Jason - VU ....................................................18.77 Broome, Johni - AUB ...................................................18.15 Fears, Jeremiah - OK ....................................................18.08 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Broome, Johni - AUB ...................................................11.46 Murray-Boyles, Collin - SC ............................................9.31 Nelson, Grant - UA ......................................................8.62 Williams, Amari - UK ...................................................8.46 Kaluma, Arthur - Texas ...................................................8.46 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Zeigler, Zakai - UT .......................................................8.08 Fland, Boogie - ARK ......................................................6.15 Taylor IV, Wade - TA&M ................................................5.00 Larry, Julian - Texas ........................................................4.46 Fears, Jeremiah - OK .................................................... 4.46 Steals Player-Team ...................................................................SPG Matthews, Cameron - MISS ST ...................................... 2.62 Phelps, Zhuric - TA&M ..................................................2.58 Robinson II, Anthony - MO ............................................2.50 Pedulla, Sean - UM........................................................2.46 Tanner, Tyler - VU ..........................................................2.46 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Broome, Johni - AUB .....................................................2.62 Shedrick, Kadin - Texas ..................................................2.00 Cyril, Somto - UGA .......................................................2.00 Ivisic, Zvonimir - ARK ....................................................2.00 Collins, Daimion - LSU ..................................................1.91 (statistics through December 31 games) 2024-25 Associated Press Rankings As of December 30, 2024 (week 9) Team Record Points 1 Tennessee (41) 12-0 1504 2 Auburn (20) 11-1 1481 3 Iowa State 10-1 1392 4 Duke 10-2 1321 5 Alabama 11-2 1238 6 Florida 13-0 1202 7 Kansas 9-2 1084 8 Marquette 11-2 1037 9 Oregon 12-1 979 10 Kentucky 10-2 958 11 UConn 10-3 904 12 Oklahoma 13-0 863 13 Texas A&M 11-2 812 14 Houston 8-3 626 15 UCLA 11-2 571 16 Cincinnati 10-1 551 17 Mississippi State 11-1 483 18 Michigan State 10-2 473 19 Gonzaga 9-4 383 20 Purdue 9-4 281 21 Memphis 10-3 213 22 Illinois 9-3 193 23 Arkansas 10-2 174 24 Ole Miss 11-2 165 25 Baylor 8-3 139 18 @KentuckyMBBWe’re your Shield. 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