< Previous18 @KentuckyMBB From Press Row Another Instant Classic in Store vs. UNC? For the second season in a row because of COVID-19-related issues, the CBS Sports Classic matchups were reshuffled days be- fore the event and will pit Kentucky vs. North Carolina. UK was previously scheduled to play Ohio State, but the game was canceled Thurs- day afternoon due to positive COVID-19 test results within the OSU program. Although the Wildcats were looking for- ward to play the Buckeyes, it is never a con- solation when two bluebloods like UK and UNC -- two of the nation’s No. 1 and No. 3 winningest programs, respectively -- meet on the court. North Carolina is off to an 8-2 start this season and has won five straight games. The Tar Heels have five players averaging double figures, led by sophomore guard Caleb Love at 16.2 points per game. Junior forward Ar- mando Bacot is adding 14.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. The Tar Heels are receiv- ing votes in both major polls. Saturday’s matchup will mark the fourth between the two schools in the CBS Sports Classic. UK is 2-1 vs. the Tar Heels in the event after falling to North Carolina in the event last season. That game was also a re- scheduled matchup last season to closely align COVID-19 testing protocols between the competing programs and their respective conferences. UNC won last season’s matchup 75-63 in Cleveland, but the Wildcats have won five of the last eight matchups overall in the series. The two teams met in Las Vegas in the 2016 CBS Sports Classic in an unforgetta- ble thriller. Malik Monk scored a Kentucky freshman record 47 points in that matchup, including hitting the game-winning shot for a 103-100 victory. “If you watched that game, if you never liked basketball, you’re going to start liking basketball,” John Calipari said at the time. “Like, wow.” Wow indeed. Monk hit 18 of 28 shots, including 8 of 12 3-point attempts. Only Duke’s Dick Groat (48 points) in 1952 has scored more against the Tar Heels. The Wildcats also bested UNC 80-72 in 2018 in Chicago with Ashton Hagans tying a school record with eight steals. North Carolina leads the four schools in the CBS Sports Classic with a 5-2 record. Ohio State is 4-3, UK is 3-4 and UCLA is 2-5 in the event. All-time, UK trails the series vs. North Carolina 25-16. UNC holds a 12-6 edge when the game is played at a neutral site. The CBS Sports Classic annually brings together four of the nation’s most successful college basketball programs. The quartet owns a com- bined 26 national championships, with UCLA (11), Kentucky (eight) and North Carolina (six) ranking first, second and third, respectively, in NCAA history. Additionally, all four programs rank in the top six in all time Final Four berths, compiling 65 total appearances between them (North Carolina, 20; UCLA, 18; Ken- tucky, 17; Ohio State, 11). They are among college basketball’s all-time winningest programs, combining for more than 8,300 victories. ‘Kentucky United’ Telethon Raises More than $3 Million for Tornado Relief Big Blue Nation proved Tuesday that its passion goes far beyond just the athletic fields. The University of Kentucky athletic de- partment, along with JMI Sports and WLEX- TV, produced a “Kentucky United for Tor- nado Relief” telethon that helped generate more than $3 million (with matching funds) to assist victims of the devastating tornadoes that ravaged through the state last week. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to the American Red Cross to aid in the relief efforts in Kentucky and to benefit the victims of the catastrophic event. With donations still coming in at the con- clusion of the telethon, the tabulation had reached $3,031,241 at that point. Through Wednesday, it had surpassed $3.7 million with hope to surpass $4 million by the week- end. Donations can continue to be sent in to redcross.org/donate/cm/wlextv-pub.html/ (site will be active through Dec. 19) or by mailing a check to the American Red Cross (Attn: Kentucky Tornadoes; 1450 Newton Pike, Lexington, KY 40511). Every head coach who was in Lexington on Tuesday volunteered his or her time. The coaches teamed with UK student-athletes, who took time off during exam week to han- dle the multitude of telephone calls. “On an incredible night, the Big Blue Na- tion and all of Kentucky continue to show the special bond that exists throughout the people of the Commonwealth,” said Mitch Barnhart, UK Director of Athletics. “As re- lief organizations and volunteers continue to help rebuild the lives of so many, we are thankful to all who contributed to the tele- thon, the volunteers who made it happen, the American Red Cross, WLEX and JMI Sports. When you raise more than $3 million in four hours through the hearts of wonderful people who care so deeply about those who are hurting, it’s really special. “We will continue to find ways to help rebuild, restore, heal and return stronger than before. Our hearts extend this hope and promise to the people of Western Kentucky.” In addition to Calipari and his wife, El- len, contributing to the cause, several former players also provided support, including: Bam Adebayo (2017), Eric Bledsoe (2010), Devin Booker (2015), Willie Cauley-Stein (2013-15), DeMarcus Cousins (2010), Enes Freedom (2011), Tyrese Maxey (2020), Ma- lik Monk (2017), Jamal Murray (2016), Julius Randle (2014), Karl-Anthony Towns (2015) and John Wall (2010). Ohio State head men’s basketball head coach Chris Holtmann, a native of nearby Nicholasville, Kentucky, called in to an- nounce a $50,000 donation. UK was origi- nally scheduled to play OSU this weekend in the CBS Sports Classic. Additional notable contributions came from Iowa Hawkeyes’ head football coach Kirk Ferentz and Steve Hogan the CEO of the Citrus Bowl. The Wild- cats will play the Hawkeyes in the Citrus Bowl later this month. Nike is also planning to contribute 14,000 pairs of shoes as part of its contributions to the tornado relief efforts. Kentucky United was broadcast by WLEX- TV, with assistance from JMI Sports, as Uni- versity of Kentucky Athletics hosted the event at the Kentucky Farm Bureau Recruiting Room at Kroger Field. Spearheaded by Calipari, UK has held three previous telethons to assist with natu- ral disasters. In 2010, Kentucky and Calipari used a telethon to raise more than $1 million for victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. UK followed that up with another tele- thon in 2012 that generated $1 million for victims of Superstorm Sandy, and again in 2017 following Hurricane Harvey.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. 4 p.m. Saturday February 12 Tennessee Knoxville, Tenn. 9 p.m. Tuesday February 15 Alabama Lexington, Ky. 1 p.m. 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. 7 p.m. Tuesday January 4 Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn. 7 p.m. Tuesday January 11 Texas A&M College Station, Texas 8:30 p.m. Wednesday January 19 Auburn Auburn, Ala. 1 or 1:30 p.m. Saturday January 22 Mississippi State Lexington, Ky. 9 p.m. Tuesday January 25 Kansas Lawrence, Kan. | SEC/Big 12 Challenge | 6 p.m. Saturday January 29 Vanderbilt Lexington, Ky. 7 p.m. Wednesday February 2 Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. 8 p.m. Saturday February 5 South Carolina Columbia, S.C. 7 p.m. Tuesday February 8 Georgia Lexington, Ky. 6 p.m. 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 | 5:30 p.m. Saturday December 18 Louisville Lexington, Ky. 6 p.m. Wednesday December 22 Missouri Lexington, Ky. 7 p.m. Wednesday December 29 High Point Lexington, Ky. Noon Friday December 31 UAlbany Lexington, Ky. W, 86-61 Monday November 22 Home Neutral Away 2021-22 Basketball Schedule Tennessee Lexington, Ky. Noon or 1 p.m. 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 9-9 252 28.0 61-90 .678 0-0 .000 25-35 .714 147 16.3 55 75 130 14.4 22 11 14 13 17 03 Washington Jr. , TyTy 9-9 286 31.8 50-106 .472 11-29 .379 13-16 .813 124 13.8 8 32 40 4.4 13 30 16 9 3 12 Brooks Jr., Keion 8-8 201 25.1 38-81 .469 3-13 .231 15-22 .682 94 11.8 10 29 39 4.9 7 1 13 4 7 02 Wheeler, Sahvir 9-9 286 31.8 35-86 .407 4-18 .222 15-17 .882 89 9.9 8 17 25 2.8 24 69 29 12 1 31 Grady, Kellan 9-9 250 27.8 30-67 .448 18-45 .400 4-5 .800 82 9.1 1 12 13 1.4 3 10 3 10 0 10 Mintz, Davion 6-0 119 19.8 14-38 .368 7-23 .304 10-15 .667 45 7.5 8 16 24 4.0 6 7 5 1 0 04 Collins, Daimion 9-1 119 13.2 20-30 .667 0-3 .000 7-9 .778 47 5.2 12 14 26 2.9 20 3 8 4 13 11 Allen, Dontaie 7-0 79 11.3 13-38 .342 6-27 .222 4-4 1.000 36 5.1 3 14 17 2.4 4 6 3 2 2 00 Toppin, Jacob 5-0 76 15.2 8-18 .444 0-1 .000 2-4 .500 18 3.6 5 11 16 3.2 5 4 5 2 5 23 Hopkins, Bryce 9-0 87 9.7 11-27 .407 3-11 .273 3-4 .750 28 3.1 8 11 19 2.1 4 4 6 1 2 55 Ware, Lance 5-0 27 5.4 3-5 .600 0-0 .000 1-4 .250 7 1.4 1 3 4 0.8 5 0 3 0 2 20 Payne, Zan 5-0 6 1.2 1-4 .250 0-2 .000 2-2 1.000 4 0.8 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1 0 14 Canada, Brennan 5-0 6 1.2 1-1 1.000 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 2 0.4 1 0 1 0.2 0 1 0 0 0 25 Watkins, Kareem 5-0 6 1.2 0-1 .000 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0 0.0 1 2 3 0.6 2 1 2 1 0 Total 9 1800 200.0 285-592 .481 52-172 .302 101-137 .737 723 80.33 139 256 395 43.9 115 147 108 60 52 Opponents 1800 200.0 213-540 .394 55-184 .299 72-104 .692 553 61.44 78 170 248 27.6 129 95 112 57 22The UK HealthCare John Calipari Show Behind Kentucky Basketball SUBSCRIBE TO PODCASTS TODAY! SPORTS NETWORKSPORTS NETWORK Presented By2021-22 North Carolina Tar Heels 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. 02 Love, Caleb 10-10 336 33.6 54-123 .439 21-49 .429 33-41 .805 162 16.2 2 41 43 4.3 13 39 21 16 2 05 Bacot, Armando 10-10 277 27.7 60-97 .619 0-2 .000 23-41 .561 143 14.3 29 69 98 9.8 26 16 16 9 17 04 Davis, RJ 10-10 309 30.9 45-99 .455 19-42 .452 22-28 .786 131 13.1 1 39 40 4.0 23 37 22 9 0 45 Manek, Brady 10-1 251 25.1 48-96 .500 18-50 .360 16-21 .762 130 13.0 15 43 58 5.8 13 12 17 5 7 13 Garcia, Dawson 10-9 241 24.1 41-84 .488 11-23 .478 29-37 .784 122 12.2 21 40 61 6.1 21 10 18 5 2 01 Black, Leaky 9-9 234 26.0 16-29 .552 1-3 .333 12-14 .857 45 5.0 11 34 45 5.0 13 19 8 6 5 24 Walton, Kerwin 10-1 182 18.2 15-41 .366 10-29 .345 0-0 .000 40 4.0 2 12 14 1.4 13 7 9 3 3 00 Harris, Anthony 9-0 86 9.6 5-15 .333 1-2 .500 6-6 1.000 17 1.9 1 2 3 0.3 11 3 5 0 0 34 Farris, Duwe 2-0 3 1.5 1-1 1.000 0-0 .000 1-2 .500 3 1.5 0 1 1 0.5 3 0 0 0 0 22 McKoy, Justin 9-0 53 5.9 1-6 .167 1-2 .500 3-4 .750 6 0.7 3 6 9 1.0 6 5 5 0 1 11 Dunn, D'Marco 5-0 12 2.4 1-2 .500 1-1 1.000 0-0 .000 3 0.6 0 0 0 0.0 2 1 1 0 0 03 Styles, Dontrez 6-0 12 2.0 1-2 .500 0-0 .000 0-1 .000 2 0.3 1 1 2 0.3 1 0 1 1 0 15 Landry, Rob 1-0 1 1.0 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 25 Lebo, Creighton 1-0 1 1.0 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 35 McAdoo, Ryan 1-0 1 1.0 0-1 .000 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1 0 30 Watkins, Jackson 1-0 1 1.0 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0 0.0 0 2 2 2.0 1 1 0 0 0 Total 10 2000 200.0 288-596 .483 83-203 .409 145-195 .744 804 80.40 100 306 406 40.6 146 150 125 55 37 Opponents 2000 200.0 273-633 .431 80-248 .323 83-119 .697 709 70.90 70 229 299 29.9 176 143 101 76 34 Caleb Love Armando Bacot 24 @KentuckyMBBFind your vibe at VisitLEX.com26 @KentuckyMBB 2021-22 Kentucky Wildcats No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown/High School 0 Jacob Toppin F 6-9 200 Jr. Brooklyn, N.Y. / Woodstock Academy 1 CJ Fredrick G 6-3 190 RJr. Cincinnati / Covington Catholic 2 Sahvir Wheeler G 5-9 180 Jr. Houston / Houston Christian 3 TyTy Washington Jr. G 6-3 197 Fr. Phoenix /Compass Prep 4 Daimion Collins F 6-9 202 Fr. Atlanta, Texas / Atlanta 10 Davion Mintz G 6-3 195 Gr. Charlotte, N.C. / Mecklenburg 11 Dontaie Allen G 6-6 205 RSo. Falmouth, Ky. / Pendleton County 12 Keion Brooks Jr. F 6-7 210 Jr. Fort Wayne, Ind. / La Lumiere School 14 Brennan Canada F 6-6 198 Jr. Mount Sterling, Ky. / George Rogers Clark 20 Zan Payne G/F 6-4 215 RJr. Lexington, Ky. / Lexington Catholic 23 Bryce Hopkins F 6-6 220 Fr. Oak Park, Ill. / Fenwick 25 Kareem Watkins G 5-8 170 So. Camden, N.J. / Kingsway Regional 31 Kellan Grady G 6-5 205 Gr. Boston / Northfield Mount Hermon School 34 Oscar Tshiebwe F 6-9 255 Jr. Lubumbashi, Congo / Kennedy Catholic 55 Lance Ware F 6-9 225 So. Camden, N.J. / Camden Coaching Staff Head Coach: John Calipari Associate to the Head Coach: James "Bruiser" Flint Associate Coach: Orlando Antigua Assistant Coaches: Ronald "Chin" Coleman, Jai Lucas Quick Facts Location: Lexington, Ky. Founded: 1865 Enrollment: 31,800 Conference: SECNext >