< 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: Arkansas Recap When Kentucky and Arkansas met in Fayetteville on Jan. 27, both teams strug- gled on offense. Kentucky came out on top in a plodding, 63-57 victory. In the re- match on Saturday, the game was played at a much different pace. Kentucky (21-8, 11-5 Southeastern Con- ference) placed seven players in double figures on its way to a 111-102 win and a season sweep over the Hogs on Saturday inside Rupp Arena. Antonio Reeves led the scoring bar- rage with 22 points, but he got plenty of help from his running mates. D.J. Wagner had 19 points, Rob Dillingham and Aaron Bradshaw each had 15, Zvonimir Ivisic had 12 points and a career-high nine rebounds, while Justin Edwards and Reed Sheppard each had 10. It was the first time that Kentucky had seven double-figure scorers since Feb. 19, 2005 in a win against Mississippi State. Randolph Morris led the Cats in scoring that night with 17 points. Saturday’s game marked just the sixth time in school history that Kentucky has had seven double-figure scorers in a game. Arkansas scored the first four points of the game before a Wagner three got the Cats on the board. After the Hogs got a bucket on their next possession, Wagner hit another three to tie the game at 6-6. The Hogs made their first six shots from the floor and took a 12-8 lead in the pro- cess. The game would be tied at 12, 14 and 17 before Kentucky scored five in a row, capped by a pair of Tre Mitchell, to lead 22-17. Arkansas answered by scoring the next seven points to lead 24-22. However, Wag- ner hit his third three of the game to give the Cats a 25-24 lead with 10:23 to play in the half. The Hogs scored the next three points before a Reeves three and a Brad- shaw dunk gave UK a 30-28 advantage. The seesaw game continued as Arkansas scored four in a row to lead 31-30. Brad- shaw then scored on a dunk and converted a subsequent free throw to make it 33-31 Cats with 7:39 left in the half. However, the Hogs would tie the game at 33 and it would also be tied at 36 and 38 before the Hogs scored four in a row to make it 42-38. Kentucky would answer with a Brad- shaw layup, a pair of Sheppard threes and a Reeves layup to lead 48-42. After an Ar- kansas three, Bradshaw hit a three of his own, and later added two free throws to give UK a 53-45 lead. The Cats would lead 53-48 at the half. Wagner got the scoring started in the second half with his fourth triple of the game. The Cats would build a 10-point lead, 60-50, before Arkansas went on an 12-1 run to re-take the lead, 62-61. A Dilling- ham runner gave UK the lead back, 63-62. Sheppard then hit a runner in the lane and Bradshaw knocked down two free throws to give UK a 67-62 lead. After two Arkansas free throws, UK got three free throws, one from Bradshaw and two from Reeves, to lead 70-64. However, Arkan- sas fought back with an 18-5 run to lead 84-75 with 9:06 to play. Kentucky would re- spond with an 12-4 run, sparked by five points from Ivisic, to get within one, 88-87 with 6:31 re- maining. After Arkansas got a pair of free throws, Dillingham hit a pair from the charity stripe, then made a driving layup to give the Cats a 91-90 lead. After Arkansas took the lead back, Dill- ingham found Edwards with a lob pass for a dunk and the Cats led 93-92 with 4:45 left. Dillingham added a pair of free throws to give the Cats a 95-92 advantage. The run continued for the Cats when Dillingham found Ivisic for a dunk, mak- ing it 97-92. An Edwards free throw made it 98-92 with 3:18 to play. From there, the Cats were able to keep the Hogs at bay and secure the victory. Reed Sheppard Wins SEC Freshman of the Week for Third Time Kentucky men’s basketball freshman guard Reed Sheppard was named the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Week for the third time this season, it was announced on Monday. The 6-foot-3 guard from London, Ken- tucky, had the game of his life in UK’s come-from-behind win at Mississippi State on Feb. 27. The London, Kentucky, native poured in a career-high 32 points and add- ed five boards, seven assists, two blocks and two steals. Twenty-three of his points came after halftime. Eleven of them came in the final 93 seconds. It was the only game of 30-or more points, seven-plus assists, five-plus rebounds, two-plus blocks and two-plus steals in the NCAA this season and one of only 11 such games going back to 1996- 97. It is only the second by an SEC player in that time frame. Furthermore, Sheppard is the first Kentucky player in the last 25 seasons to record multiple games with 25 points, five rebounds and five assists and the first Kentucky player with 30 points, five boards and five dimes in a game since Derek Anderson in November of 1996. For the week, he averaged 21.0 points on 66.7% shooting, 54.5% from 3-point range and a perfect 1.000% from the line. He added 6.5 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 steals per game. For the season, he has 76 steals which already ranks third on UK’s single-season list. Kentucky has had a record-breaking five Wildcats win SEC Freshman of the Week this season. Sheppard along with D.J. Wagner have both earned the honor three times, while Aaron Bradshaw, Rob Dilling- ham and Justin Edwards have all claimed the award once. UK has dominated the weekly SEC awards with John Calipari at the helm. UK has won more weekly SEC honors (134) than any other school during the Calipa- ri era, including 103 SEC Freshman of the Week awards and 31 SEC Player of the Week honors.Thank You to Our CORNERSTONE PARTNERSNEKENTUCKY BASKETBALL 18 @KentuckyMBB Around the SEC Around the Country 2023-24 SEC Standings and Statistics Team SEC Overall Home Road Tennessee 13-3 23-6 14-1 7-3 South Carolina 12-4 24-5 14-2 7-3 Alabama 12-4 20-9 13-2 5-4 Auburn 11-5 22-7 14-1 4-5 Kentucky 11-5 21-8 13-4 6-3 Florida 10-6 20-9 13-1 3-6 Mississippi State 8-8 19-10 11-3 2-7 LSU 8-8 16-13 11-5 3-7 Ole Miss 7-9 20-9 15-3 4-6 Texas A&M 7-9 16-13 9-5 5-6 Georgia 5-11 15-14 11-6 4-5 Arkansas 5-11 14-15 10-6 2-6 Vanderbilt 3-13 8-21 7-10 1-8 Missouri 0-16 8-21 6-10 2-9 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Dalton Knecht, UT ........................................................20.8 Mark Sears, ALA ............................................................20.6 Antonio Reeves, UK ......................................................20.0 Wade Taylor IV, TAMU ...................................................18.7 Sean East II, MIZZOU ....................................................17.5 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Andersson Garcia, TAMU ................................................9.5 Johni Broome, AUB .........................................................8.6 Tyrese Samuel, UF ...........................................................7.9 Jonas Aidoo, UT ..............................................................7.6 Micah Handlogten, UF ....................................................7.6 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Zakai Zeigler, UT .............................................................5.9 Zyon Pullin, UF ...............................................................4.9 Aaron Estrada, ALA ..........................................................4.5 Ta'Lon Cooper, SC ...........................................................4.4 Reed Sheppard, UK .........................................................4.3 Steals Player-Team ...................................................................SPG Reed Sheppard, UK .........................................................2.6 Cameron Matthews, MISS ST ...........................................2.1 Wade Taylor IV, TAMU .....................................................2.0 Zakai Zeigler, UT .............................................................2.0 Jordan Wright, LSU ..........................................................1.8 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Jamarion Sharp, MISS ......................................................2.3 Johni Broome, AUB .........................................................2.3 Jonas Aidoo, UT ..............................................................1.9 Grant Nelson, ALA ..........................................................1.6 Dylan Cardwell, AUB ......................................................1.4 2023-24 Associated Press Rankings As of March 4, 2024 (week 18) Team Record Points 1 Houston (52) 26-3 1539 2 UConn (6) 26-3 1462 3 Purdue (4) 26-3 1459 4 Tennessee 23-6 1364 5 Arizona 23-6 1252 6 Iowa State 23-6 1212 7 North Carolina 23-6 1201 8 Marquette 22-7 1056 9 Duke 23-6 1051 10 Creighton 22-8 983 11 Baylor 21-8 901 12 Illinois 22-7 834 13 Auburn 22-7 746 14 Kansas 21-8 723 15 Kentucky 21-8 711 16 Alabama 20-9 592 17 South Carolina 24-5 579 18 Washington State 23-7 484 19 Gonzaga 24-6 396 20 BYU 21-8 343 21 San Diego State 22-7 338 22 Utah State 24-5 285 23 Saint Mary's 24-7 268 24 South Florida 22-5 154 25 Dayton 22-6 50We’re your Shield. 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