< Previous16 @KentuckyMBB Around the SEC Around the Country 2021-22 SEC Standings Team SEC Overall Home Road Auburn 12-2 24-3 14-0 7-2 Kentucky 11-3 22-5 16-0 5-4 Arkansas 10-4 21-6 15-1 4-3 Tennessee 10-4 19-7 14-0 4-5 LSU 7-7 19-8 13-2 3-6 Alabama 7-7 17-10 12-2 2-6 Florida 7-7 17-10 12-3 2-6 South Carolina 7-7 16-10 10-4 4-5 Mississippi State 7-7 16-11 13-2 1-7 Vanderbilt 6-8 14-12 9-6 4-6 Texas A&M 5-9 16-11 11-4 3-5 Ole Miss 4-10 13-14 10-6 2-5 Missouri 4-10 10-17 7-7 2-8 Georgia 1-13 6-21 6-11 0-8 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY ...............................................19.5 JD Notae, ARK ...............................................................18.5 Iverson Molinar, MISS ST ...............................................18.3 Jaden Shackelford, ALA .................................................17.1 Tari Eason, LSU..............................................................16.9 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Oscar Tshiebwe, UK ......................................................15.2 Jaylin Williams, ARK ........................................................9.6 Colin Castleton, UF .........................................................9.1 Walker Kessler, AUB ........................................................8.2 Kobe Brown, MIZZOU ....................................................7.9 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Sahvir Wheeler, UK .........................................................7.1 Aaron Cook, UGA ...........................................................5.6 Wendell Green Jr., AUB ...................................................5.0 Kennedy Chandler, UT ....................................................4.8 Jahvon Quinerly, ALA ......................................................4.5 Steals Player-Team ...................................................................SPG JD Notae, ARK .................................................................2.3 Kennedy Chandler, UT ....................................................2.3 Eric Gaines, LSU ..............................................................2.2 K.D. Johnson, AUB ..........................................................2.0 Tari Eason, LSU................................................................2.0 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Walker Kessler, AUB ........................................................4.6 Colin Castleton, UF .........................................................2.7 Charles Bediako, ALA ......................................................1.7 Oscar Tshiebwe, UK ........................................................1.4 Dylan Cardwell, AUB ......................................................1.4 (through February 21 games) 2021-22 Associated Press Rankings As of February 21 (Week 16) Team Record Points 1 Gonzaga (61) 23-2 1525 2 Arizona 24-2 1461 3 Auburn 24-3 1313 4 Purdue 24-4 1299 5 Kansas 22-4 1297 6 Kentucky 22-5 1248 7 Duke 23-4 1146 8 Villanova 21-6 1071 9 Texas Tech 21-6 1066 10 Baylor 22-5 984 11 Providence 22-3 910 12 UCLA 19-5 802 13 Wisconsin 21-5 735 14 Houston 22-4 734 15 Illinois 19-7 666 16 USC 23-4 586 17 Tennessee 19-7 580 18 Arkansas 21-6 502 19 Murray State 26-2 371 20 Texas 19-8 349 21 UConn 19-7 340 22 Ohio State 16-7 320 23 Saint Mary's 22-6 148 24 Alabama 17-10 63 25 Iowa 18-8 5918 @KentuckyMBB From Press Row Wildcat Wednesday: Kentucky Hopes to Turn Tables on LSU After losing its earlier meeting at LSU, No. 6/3-ranked Kentucky (22-5 overall, 11-3 Southeastern Conference) hopes to turn the tables on the RV/NR Tigers (19-8, 7-7 SEC) on Wednesday in Rupp Arena. Game time is 9 p.m. and it will be telecast by ESPN. On Jan. 4 in Baton Rouge, LSU limit- ed Kentucky to its season-low point total in a 66-60 victory. Kentucky led 50-41 with 13:06 left, but a 20-2 LSU run put the Tigers ahead for good. Tari Eason paced LSU with 13 points, while Xavier Pinson had 11 and Brandon Murray got 10. Davion Mintz and Jacob Toppin came off the bench to lead UK with 16 and 14 points, respectively. LSU comes into Wednesday’s tilt having won three of its last four games. The Tigers have one of the nation’s best defenses, lead- ing the nation with 11.3 steals per game, sixth nationally in turnovers forced with 18.2 per contest, and eighth nationally in field- goal percentage defense (38.2 percent). Although he plays as a reserve in most games, Eason leads LSU in scoring with a 16.9 average. Darius Days is next with 13.3 points per game and is the team’s leading re- bounder with 7.8 per game. Murray chips in 10.2 points per game, with Pinson and Eric Gaines each averaging more than nine points per game. Kentucky leads the all-time series 91-28, including 45-6 in games played in Lexington. Last season in Rupp Arena, UK won 82-69. Kentucky Rallies Past Alabama Knowing his team would have to do more with less meant Kellan Grady needed to take his offense up a notch, at the very least. That urgency resulted in a career day for the Kentucky guard, with his perimeter shooting providing a big spark for the Ken- tucky Wildcats. Grady made seven 3s for a season-high 25 points, Oscar Tshiebwe added 21 points with 14 rebounds and Kentucky rallied twice to top Alabama 90-81 on Saturday. Short-handed because of injuries to start- ing guards TyTy Washington Jr. and Sahvir Wheeler, the Wildcats (22-5, 11-3 South- eastern Conference) trailed 46-34 with 3 1/2 minutes remaining before halftime before closing with 13 straight points for their first lead. Grady’s 3-pointer provided the go-ahead points that drew a thunderous roar before 20,374 in Rupp Arena. The Crimson Tide (17-10, 7-7) erased a 54-48 deficit early in the second with eight points in a row to go up by two before Ken- tucky responded with a 20-2 surge over 5:47 to seize control at 74-58. Grady’s trio of 3s in that surge were critical, not to mention another deep ball later that maintained Ken- tucky’s edge. ‘’I tried not to think about my opportunity to get 20,’’ said Grady, who made 7 of 9 from long range and 9 of 16 overall. ‘’Naturally, this was a chance to get more opportu- nities. I know what I am. My goal was to get the ball across the court and get the five of us to play.’’ Consecutive 3s by Jaden Shackelford and Keon Ellis, who had a career-high 28 points, sparked a rebound that eventually got the Crimson Tide within 80-73 with 4:53 left. Grady just sank another 3 and Davion Mintz added a jumper for a dou- ble-digit cushion. Keion Brooks Jr. leaped high for a huge putback dunk with 57 seconds left to finish with 18 points and seal the outcome as Ken- tucky regrouped from Tuesday night’s 76-63 loss at No. 16 Tennessee. And every contribution mattered in a game the Wildcats sorely needed to stay within sight of first-place Auburn, which lost 63-62 to Florida. Tshiebwe was 9 of 13 from the field as the Wildcats shot 53% to seize a game of runs. Brooks had eight rebounds, while Jacob Toppin added 13 points and six boards. The Wildcats scored 14 points off turnovers, in addition to controlling other phases includ- ing rebounding (39-32), paint points (36-24) and second-chance points (22-15). Kentucky’s key statistic: All five starters played at least 35 minutes, including Grady (39:07). UK reserves totaled just 10 minutes of playing time out of the possible 200 min- utes. ‘’I didn’t know what to expect,’’ said Ken- tucky coach John Calipari, who showed his team a video with famed Alabama football coach Nick Saban discussing the next-man- up philosophy. ‘’I shut down practice and we had 36 hours to figure out who is going to play, how am I going to use timeouts. ... The whole locker room was happy. Sahvir and TyTy thanked the team.’’ Shackelford had 18 points and Noah Gur- ley 12 for the Crimson Tide, who had won their past three. They seemed in control for the first 16 minutes before letting the lead slip away. Alabama recovered for a stretch after halftime to lead again before Kentucky snatched it away for good. ‘’We kept telling them through the hot start, our defense wasn’t going to be good enough to win the game,’’ coach Nate Oats said. ‘’That’s what ended up happening.’’ More Game Notes • It was the second game this season that Kentucky rallied from 13 points down to win, also January 19 at Texas A&M • Kentucky made 9 of 14 on 3-pointers, a season-high 64.3 percent and the fifth-high- est percentage of the Calipari era • Grady became the fifth Wildcat to score at least 25 points in a game this season The Winner is ... Kentucky! Kentucky has earned nine Southeastern Conference weekly awards this season. Os- car Tshiebwe has captured SEC Player of the Week twice, while Sahvir Wheeler and Keion Brooks Jr. have each won SEC Player of the Week once and TyTy Washington Jr. has claimed five SEC Freshman of the Week honors. Kentucky has dominated the weekly SEC awards with John Calipari at the helm. UK has won more weekly SEC honors (119) than any other school during the Calipari era, in- cluding 90 SEC Freshman of the Week awards and 29 SEC Player of the Week honors.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. W, 78-58 Saturday February 12 Tennessee Knoxville, Tenn. L, 63-76 Tuesday February 15 Alabama Lexington, Ky. W, 90-81 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. W, 86-76 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 27-27 830 30.7 179-302 .593 0-0 .000 85-121 .702 443 16.4 143 268 411 15.2 68 30 54 52 38 03 Washington Jr. , TyTy 25-25 720 28.8 127-266 .477 28-80 .350 29-40 .725 311 12.4 16 74 90 3.6 37 102 43 30 5 31 Grady, Kellan 27-27 893 33.1 116-249 .466 82-182 .451 19-28 .679 333 12.3 8 49 57 2.1 27 31 20 22 2 12 Brooks Jr., Keion 26-26 647 24.9 114-234 .487 6-24 .250 60-79 .759 294 11.3 42 79 121 4.7 43 28 33 17 18 02 Wheeler, Sahvir 24-24 732 30.5 92-208 .442 10-36 .278 36-44 .818 230 9.6 14 39 53 2.2 58 170 72 30 1 10 Mintz, Davion 24-3 588 24.5 70-182 .385 37-103 .359 36-49 .735 213 8.9 15 42 57 2.4 34 43 25 13 2 00 Toppin, Jacob 22-2 367 16.7 55-97 .567 3-6 .500 28-36 .778 141 6.4 26 48 74 3.4 29 26 12 9 11 04 Collins, Daimion 23-1 191 8.3 30-52 .577 0-3 .000 17-19 .895 77 3.3 18 34 52 2.3 32 4 14 6 19 11 Allen, Dontaie 17-0 118 6.9 15-50 .300 7-37 .189 4-4 1.000 41 2.4 5 17 22 1.3 11 6 4 2 3 23 Hopkins, Bryce 24-0 158 6.6 19-49 .388 5-15 .333 4-7 .571 47 2.0 16 19 35 1.5 14 7 14 4 3 55 Ware, Lance 21-0 142 6.8 16-22 .727 0-1 .000 9-21 .429 41 2.0 13 29 42 2.0 25 2 13 3 10 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 27 5425 200.9 838-1722 .487 178-491 .363 331-452 .732 2185 80.93 358 750 1108 41.0 381 452 318 191 113 Opponents 5425 200.9 654-1611 .406 173-578 .299 281-396 .710 1762 65.26 242 578 820 30.4 416 305 339 167 83The UK HealthCare John Calipari Show Behind Kentucky Basketball SUBSCRIBE TO PODCASTS TODAY! SPORTS NETWORKSPORTS NETWORK Presented By2021-22 LSU Tigers 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. 5 Mwani Wilkinson 27-23 634 23 38-85 0.447 18-41 0.439 9-18 0.500 103 3.81 34 51 85 3.15 78 23 25 36 20 10 Brandon Egemo 4-0 5 1 0-1 0.000 0-1 0.000 0-2 0.000 0 0.00 0 0 0 0.00 1 0 1 1 0 2 Eric Gaines 27-8 739 27 79-208 0.380 16-67 0.239 83-107 0.776 257 9.52 17 79 96 3.56 66 90 85 60 12 24 Shareef O'Neal 10-0 92 9 11-21 0.524 1-4 0.250 4-10 0.400 27 2.70 8 10 18 1.80 15 0 11 2 3 4 Darius Days 26-26 756 29 128-304 0.421 55-160 0.344 35-51 0.686 346 13.31 50 154 204 7.85 65 26 31 38 6 3 Alex Fudge 23-1 371 16 35-81 0.432 4-14 0.286 20-35 0.571 94 4.09 37 49 86 3.74 29 8 24 24 14 11 Justice Williams 15-1 192 12 11-37 0.297 2-10 0.200 8-10 0.800 32 2.13 6 9 15 1.00 10 12 8 9 2 15 Efton Reid 27-27 535 19 82-163 0.503 5-19 0.263 11-24 0.458 180 6.67 45 83 128 4.74 91 15 40 13 23 0 Brandon Murray 26-25 777 29 99-224 0.442 34-91 0.374 33-47 0.702 265 10.19 20 52 72 2.77 43 44 44 28 4 20 Jerrell Colbert 4-0 26 6 1-4 0.250 0-1 0.000 0-0 0.000 2 0.50 2 3 5 1.25 5 2 1 2 3 21 Bradley Ezewiro 6-0 26 4 4-10 0.400 0-0 0.000 3-6 0.500 11 1.83 4 2 6 1.00 1 0 1 0 1 22 Spencer Mays 2-0 2 1 0-1 0.000 0-1 0.000 0-0 0.000 0 0.00 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 0 25 Adam Benhayoune 1-0 0 0 0-0 0.000 0-0 0.000 0-0 0.000 0 0.00 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 0 44 Adam Miller 0-0 0 0 0-0 0.000 0-0 0.000 0-0 0.000 0 0.00 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 0 13 Tari Eason 26-4 647 24 157-294 0.534 21-59 0.356 105-137 0.766 440 16.92 66 119 185 7.12 63 26 54 51 29 1 Xavier Pinson 21-20 558 26 67-170 0.394 21-74 0.284 47-62 0.758 202 9.62 11 46 57 2.71 52 94 64 40 0 30 Parker Edwards 5-0 26 5 3-11 0.273 2-7 0.286 3-3 1.000 11 2.20 0 1 1 0.20 2 1 0 0 0 Totals 27-27 5425 200 716-1619 0.442 179-549 0.326 362-514 0.704 1973 73.07 339 698 1037 38.41 521 341 405 305 118 Opponents 27-27 5426 200 558-1466 0.381 197-698 0.282 357-545 0.655 1670 61.85 293 640 933 34.56 444 308 492 189 93 Darius Days Shareef O'Neal 24 @KentuckyMBBFind your vibe at VisitLEX.comNext >