< Previous10 @KentuckyMBBYou can enjoy FREE * grocery delivery, 2X Fuel Points and more for as low as $59/year. *$35 order minimum. Restrictions apply. Subject to availability. Delivery time not guaranteed. Official Grocery Partner of UK AthleticsWEEKNIGHTS 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY 9:00 a.m.14 @KentuckyMBB From Press Row S-E-C! S-E-C! S-E-C! Kentucky is the Southeastern Confer- ence's gold standard. Since the SEC’s incep- tion in 1932-33, the Wildcats are the most dominant team in the league, recording a 1,035-299 mark (77.6%) 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 11.6 wins and only 3.3 losses per season in 89 seasons in the SEC • Kentucky has won 49 SEC regular-sea- son titles and 31 SEC Tournament champi- onships • Kentucky is 11-3 in the opening game of the SEC season under John Calipari and 13-1 in the first home league opener. UK is 69-20 all-time in SEC openers • The Wildcats have won 16 of the last 29 SEC Tournaments (the 2020 one was not played because of the COVID-19 pandem- ic) • UK has captured at least a share of six of the last 13 SEC regular-season champion- ships under John Calipari • Kentucky has played in the champion- ship game of the SEC Tournament in eight of Calipari’s 11 tourneys, winning six times (2020 tournament not played because of COVID) • 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 regular-season league games in one confer- ence alone • Six teams made the 2022 NCAA Tour- nament field with Arkansas reaching the Elite Eight • The SEC has had 27 NCAA Tournament selections over the last four tournaments, the third most. Only the Big 10 (30) and At- lantic Coast Conference (28) have had more • The SEC went 5-6 in NCAA Tourna- ment games in 2022. SEC teams are 78-49 (61.4%) in the NCAA tourney since 2012 • The league has advanced at least one team to the Elite Eight in 10 of the last 12 tournaments and nine different SEC teams have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the last five NCAA Tournaments • The SEC has held its own in the annual Big 12/SEC Challenge. The SEC leads 31-28 over the last six seasons in the yearly Jan- uary showdown and won outright in 2021 and '22 • Five SEC teams are ranked in the Jan. 9 Associated Press Top 25, with Mississippi State and LSU re- ceiving votes Floor General Wheeler Sahvir Wheeler has paced the South- eastern Conference in assists per game in each of his last two seasons. He's once again leading the conference with 6.6 dimes per game. A Bob Cousy Award finalist a season ago, Wheeler is once again serving the Wildcats with one of the best floor gen- erals in the country. • Wheeler leads the SEC and ranks fifth nationally with 6.6 assists per game. He has generated two games with 10 or more, six with eight or more and 11 with five or more thus far • Since the start of the 2019-20 sea- son, his freshman season at Georgia, Wheeler's 631 total assists rank second nationally, only behind the 727 by Yuri Collins of Saint Louis • A season after becoming just the fourth player in program history to amass at least 200 assists in a season, Wheeler is moving up the career charts as well. In just 44 games with the Wildcats, Wheeler already ranks 18th in program history with 299 dimes Wallace Next Freshman Sensation With a maturity well beyond his years and a calm and cool approach to the game, Cason Wallace has solidified himself as one of the best first-year players in the country. • Wallace ranks fifth in the SEC and 28th nationally with 2.20 steals per game. The 2.20 steals per contest are the most in the country among freshmen • He's induced at least one steal in all but one game, and has multiple steals in nine games thus far • Wallace tied the UK single-game re- cord with eight steals against Michigan State. Ashton Hagans (vs. North Carolina on Dec. 22, 2018), Rajon Rondo (vs. Mississip- pi State on Feb. 19, 2005) and Wayne Turner (vs. George Washington on Nov. 24, 1997) are the others to turn the trick • Wallace is the only freshman in the country averaging at least 12.0 points, at least 3.0 assists, at least 3.0 rebounds and at least 2.0 steals per game • Wallace recorded the second-most as- sists (9) in a UK freshman debut against Har- vard, while becoming the first UK freshman in school history to have at least 15 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists in a colle- giate debut • Wallace was one of only two freshmen to accomplish the season-opening feat since the 2010-11 season, joining Lonzo Ball, who went for 19 points, 11 assists, eight re- bounds and two steals in a 119-80 win over Pacific on Nov. 11, 2016MOP IT LIKE IT ' S HOTMOP IT LIKE IT ' S HOTInside The Numbers 18 @KentuckyMBB SOUTH CAROLINA (7-8, 0-2) AT KENTUCKY (10-5, 1-2) Series Breakdown Overall - UK, 54-13 at Lexington - UK, 29-2 Calipari vs. SC - 16-4 Paris vs. UK - 0-0 Current UK streak - W2 John Calipari Lamont Paris Overall Record: 820-246* Overall Record: 94-80 Record at UK: 375-106 Record at South Carolina: 7-8 Overall Seasons: 31st Overall Seasons: 6th at Kentucky: 14th at South Carolina: 1st * on court record UK Statistic USC 76.9 Points Per Game 64.3 39.8 Rebounds PG 36.0 17.1 Assists PG 11.0 4.5 Blocks PG 3.1 7.1 Steals PG 4.7 11.9 Turnovers PG 12.9 .459 FG Pct. .396 .381 3-Pt. FG Pct. .311 .664 FT. Pct. .628 1.4 Assist-to-TO Ratio 0.9 THE MATCHUPTALE OF THE TAPE • Bring John Calipari to within four wins of passing Harry Rabenhorst (178) for the sixth-most SEC regular-season wins in league history • Increase UK's SEC-leading home win- ning streak to 29 games • Push Calipari's record to 17-4 against the Gamecocks, including 9-0 inside Rupp Arena • Be UK's 14th win in its last 18 games against South Carolina A UK WIN WOULD... 49 SEC regular-season titles in program history 31 SEC Tournament championships 28 Straight home victories in Rupp Arena .381 SEC-leading 3-point percentage by the Cats BY THE NUMBERSNext >