< Previous10 @KentuckyMBBIt's Easy to SAVE with the Kroger App Score big with weekly sales and digital coupons Official Grocery Partner of UK AthleticsWEEKNIGHTS 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY 9:00 a.m.KENTUCKY BASKETBALL 14 @KentuckyMBB From Press Row Last Time Out: Marshall Recap Putting points on the board has not been a problem for Kentucky so far this season. But on Friday night against Marshall, the Cats took their scoring prowess to another level. Kentucky put up 69 points in the first half, the most points ever scored by any team in a half at Rupp Arena history. The 69 points is also the fourth-highest first half total in Kentucky’s basketball history. It was all part of a 118-82 Kentucky win. The 118 points mark the most ever scored by a John Calipari-coached Kentucky team. D.J. Wagner had 28 points to lead Ken- tucky in scoring. Antonio Reeves had 23 points for the Cats and Tre Mitchell had 18. Rob Dillingham hit seven of his eight shots on his way to 16 points, while Reed Shep- pard had 12 and Justin Edwards added 10. Four of those players (Reeves 15; Mitchell 14; Wagner 13; and Edwards 10) had dou- ble figures in points by halftime. Calipari was impressed with his team’s of- fense on Friday night. “We played good. It was based on assists, shots made,” Calipari said. “We’re creating great opportunities for guys who can shoot. If you have a bunch of guys who can shoot like this, you play this way.” One of the main sparks for the Kentucky offense this season has been a pair of reserve freshman guards. Dillingham and Sheppard may not start for the Cats but they are mak- ing things happen. On Friday night, Dillingham assisted on five of Kentucky’s first 11 field goals and also made his first seven shots in the game on his way to 16 points. Dillingham dished out a career-high eight assists in the game Sheppard continues to do a little bit of everything for Kentucky. On Friday, the London, Kentucky, native scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out six as- sists and had two steals. Kentucky has now scored at least 81 points in each of its first six games. The last time the Cats did that was in the 1970-71 season. Running, Gunning and Sharing ... Oh, My! To say that Kentucky is clicking offensive- ly through the first six games of the season would be an understatement. • The Cats have scored at least 81 points in each of their first five games for the first time since the 1970-71 season. • UK is averaging 94.3 points per game for the season. That ranks fourth 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 Thunder- ing Herd. • They're playing at a fast pace, aver- aging just 14.9 sec- onds per possession which ranks 16th in the country. • UK is log- ging 19.3 fast-break points per game. That mark is the best in the Southeastern Conference and the 14th best in the na- tion. • Kentucky has made at least 12 3-pointers in four straight games (Kan- sas, Stonehill, Saint Joseph's, Marshall) for the first time since December of 1989. • The Wildcats are averaging 12.3 made 3s per game. That is the best in the SEC and ranks sec- ond nationally. • It's 3-point per- centage (.425) ranks fifth in the country. • UK has six play- ers averaging dou- ble-figure points. • The Wildcats lead the SEC and rank second nationally with a 2.45 as- sist-to-turnover ratio. Tre Mitchell tops the league and is in the top 10 nationally with an 7.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. • Kentucky is dishing out 20.0 assists per game, ranking eighth in the country in that category. Four players have 20 or more as- sists (3.0 per game) thus far. • Per KenPom, UK's offensive efficiency ranks seventh through games on Nov. 24. Cats Historically Don't Count on the 3 ... But are Firing Away in 2023-24 Kentucky has never been reliant on the 3 under John Calipari, but this 2023-24 team is bucking the trend. Through six games, Kentucky is averaging 39.2% of its points from distance and a whopping 42.8% of its field-goal attempts are from 3-point range. The percentage of attempts is the high- est in the Calipari era, while the percentage of makes is also the highest -- although the sample size is extremely low. Against Stonehill, UK drained a Calipa- ri-era record 17 3-pointers. That mark is also the most since making 20 against LSU in 1995. The Cats didn't just make their shots, however, they did it at a 53.1% clip. Kentucky has drained at least 12 3-point- ers in four straight games. That's the longest streak of at least 12 makes since December of 1989. The highest percentage of 3-point shots taken under Calipari was the 2010-11 Final Four team that lofted 32.4% of its shots from beyond the arc. That team is also Calipa- ri's top 3-point shooting team at Kentucky. The most attempts per game in the Calipari era was the 2016-17 squad that took 19.89 3-point shots per game. This squad is cur- rently taking 29.0 attempts per game. Not relying on the three certainly hasn't hurt the Wildcats. UK is 10-3 all-time under Calipari when making one or fewer from long range.Thank You to Our CORNERSTONE PARTNERS OFFICIAL BANK OF UK ATHLETICSNEKENTUCKY BASKETBALL 18 @KentuckyMBB Around the SEC Around the Country 2023-24 SEC Standings and Statistics Team SEC Overall Home Road Mississippi State 0-0 6-0 3-0 0-0 Ole Miss 0-0 5-0 4-0 1-0 South Carolina 0-0 5-0 2-0 0-0 Alabama 0-0 5-1 4-0 0-0 Kentucky 0-0 5-1 5-0 0-0 Texas A&M 0-0 6-1 2-0 2-0 Auburn 0-0 4-1 2-0 0-0 Missouri 0-0 5-2 4-2 1-0 Florida 0-0 4-2 3-0 0-0 LSU 0-0 4-2 2-1 0-0 Tennessee 0-0 4-2 2-0 1-0 Arkansas 0-0 4-3 3-1 0-0 Georgia 0-0 3-3 3-0 0-0 Vanderbilt 0-0 3-3 3-1 0-0 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Wade Taylor IV, TAMU ...................................................21.0 Mark Sears, ALA ............................................................20.3 Allen Flanigan, MISS .....................................................20.2 Antonio Reeves, UK ......................................................19.0 Tramon Mark, ARK ........................................................18.4 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Jimmy Bell Jr., MISS ST ....................................................9.5 Colin Smith, VU ..............................................................8.6 Henry Coleman III, TAMU ...............................................8.3 Tyrese Samuel, UF ...........................................................8.3 Trevon Brazile, ARK .........................................................7.9 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Ta'Lon Cooper, SC ...........................................................5.4 Rob Dillingham, UK ........................................................5.2 Wade Taylor IV, TAMU .....................................................4.5 Walter Clayton Jr., UF ......................................................4.3 Mark Sears, ALA ..............................................................4.2 Steals Player-Team ...................................................................SPG Reed Sheppard, UK .........................................................3.2 Mike Williams III, LSU .....................................................2.5 Wade Taylor IV, TAMU .....................................................2.4 Cameron Matthews, MISS ST ...........................................2.3 Jordan Wright, LSU ..........................................................2.2 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Jamarion Sharp, MISS ......................................................2.6 Aidan Shaw, MIZZOU .....................................................2.3 Jonas Aidoo, UT ..............................................................2.0 Grant Nelson, ALA ..........................................................2.0 Trevon Brazile, ARK .........................................................1.9 (through November 26 games) 2023-24 Associated Press Rankings As of November 27, 2023 (week 4) Team Record Points 1 Purdue (60) 6-0 1572 2 Arizona (1) 6-0 1467 3 Marquette 5-1 1418 4 UConn (2) 6-0 1411 5 Kansas 5-1 1312 6 Houston 7-0 1289 7 Duke 5-1 1194 8 Miami 5-0 1031 9 Baylor 6-0 1030 10 Tennessee 4-2 967 11 Gonzaga 4-1 964 12 Kentucky 5-1 727 13 Florida Atlantic 5-1 664 14 Texas A&M 6-1 646 15 Creighton 5-1 613 16 Texas 5-1 571 17 North Carolina 5-1 567 18 Villanova 6-1 534 19 BYU 6-0 416 20 Colorado State 6-0 330 21 Mississippi State 6-0 309 22 James Madison 6-0 303 23 Alabama 5-1 259 24 Illinois 5-1 134 25 Oklahoma 6-0 120We’re your Shield. 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