Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Kentucky could win SEC by record-tying number of games

UK has already clinched its 45th regular season SEC title.  Now it's just a question of "by how much?"


If they finish 16-0, it will be only the third time any SEC team has done that.  The first two were also Wildcat teams, in 1996 and 2003.


If UK wins its final two games, AND Vanderbilt loses its final game on the road at Tennessee (a decent chance of that), UK would win the whole SEC by a 6-game margin.


But that wouldn't be unprecedented.  It would only tie the 1996 team, which not only won the SEC by 6 games over eventual national semifinalist Mississippi State, but also won the East by a whopping 7 games over the 9-7 Georgia Bulldogs.


Largest league-winning margins in SEC divisional play (since 1991-92 season):
1) 1996 Kentucky (16-0) - 6 games
2) 2003 Kentucky (16-0) - 4 games
3) 2007 Florida (13-3) - 3 games
3) 2009 LSU (13-3) - 3 games


Largest division-winning margins in SEC divisional play:
1) 1996 Kentucky (16-0) - 7 games
2) 2004 Mississippi State (14-2) - 6 games
3) 1995 Kentucky (14-2) - 5 games
3) 1999 Auburn (14-2) - 5 games

Rating the conferences by median Basketball Power Index

ESPN's new BPI, or Basketball Power Index, is more comprehensive and logical than the established RPI, or Ratings Percentage Index.  I have immediately adopted it as a preferred measure.

As with any index, if you want to examine pools of teams against one another, especially to compare conferences, you want to compare median rather than mean.  This gives you an indication of how difficult an average game is for any team in that conference.


It paints a slightly surprising picture:


1) Big 12 - median BPI 28 - much better than mean, shows that most game nights are no cakewalk in the 2012 version of this league


2) Big Ten - median BPI 47 - everyone knows this is a strong league, no surprise here


3) Big East - median BPI 59.5 - also ranked third in mean BPI and mean RPI


4) ACC - median BPI 63 - better than they fare in mean BPI


5) SEC - median BPI 77 - worse than they rate in mean BPI


6) Pac-12 - median BPI 78 - much better than their mean BPI


6) Atlantic 10 - median BPI 78 - much better than their mean BPI


8) MWC - median BPI 80 - worse than their ranking for mean BPI


9) MVC - median BPI 106 - as expected


10) WCC - median BPI 146 - as expected


In some ways, the SEC performed better in this year's nonconference games than would've been expected.  However, the overall rigor of the league is still roughly on a plane with the Pac-12, A-10 and MWC.  As always, the NCAA tournament will provide us with much more data for assessment of each league's strength.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Kentucky's records on Senior Day

This Thursday, the University of Kentucky will honor Darius Miller and Eloy Vargas, and then face the Georgia Bulldogs.


In the 108 final home games of each previous season, UK is 93-15 (86.1%).

In the 78 final home games since UK joined the SEC, UK is an absurd 74-4 (94.9%). 


In fact, UK won on 30 straight Senior Days (1933 through 1963, no season in 1952-53), and then topped that by winning on 32 straight Senior Days (1965 through 1996).


The vast majority of matchups have been with conference opponents, and among those teams, only Arkansas has never been scheduled on Senior Day.


With all that winning, the losses really stand out in your memory.  Who can forget the 1997 disappointment against Eddie Fogler's Gamecocks, allowing South Carolina to steal the regular season crown?  Or the 2009 loss to Georgia, which probably sealed Billy Gillispie's fate?


UK's most common opponents on Senior Day and their record against them:
Vanderbilt: 24-1
Tennessee: 13-1
Auburn: 7-0
Florida: 6-1
Mississippi State: 5-0
Centre: 4-1
Xavier: 4-0
Alabama: 4-0
LSU: 4-0
Georgia Tech: 4-0
Georgetown College: 3-1
Georgia: 3-1


UK's largest margins of victory on Senior Day:
1) +62, 2003 against Vanderbilt (106-44)
2) +47, 1995 against LSU (127-80)
3) +43, 1955 against Tennessee (104-61)
3) +43, 1946 against Xavier (83-40)
5) +39, 1974 against MSU (108-69)
6) +38, 1996 against Vanderbilt (101-63)
7) +37, 1947 against Georgia Tech (83-46)
8) +36, 1954 against Vanderbilt (100-64)
9) +35, 1972 against Auburn (102-67)
10) +33, 1949 against Vanderbilt (70-37)

Among other websites consulted, one of my main sources for this and many other posts is the peerless UK resource (and probably the best site of its kind for any sports team) known as "The Kentucky Basketball Statistics Project" operated by Jon Scott.  Available at http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/statistics/statistics.html 

The most efficient stat collectors in UK history

Since Anthony Davis is filling up the stat sheet every night, I wanted to see what the best statistical seasons were.  I calculated this one by simply adding all the positive stats (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots) and dividing by minutes played.  

Some issues here:
1) There are more advanced measures out there (taking into account pace, etc.)
2) Before 1979-80, no steals or blocked shots stats are available
3) Before 1962, no minutes played data are available


So we'll have to look at it by era.


Since 1980:

1) Demarcus Cousins 2009-10 = 1.223 stats per minute.  29th best scoring year in UK history and 8th best rebounding.

2) Jamal Mashburn 1992-93 = 1.071 per minute.  8th best scoring year in UK history.


3) Jamal Mashburn 1991-92 = 1.010 per minute. 3rd best scoring year in UK history.


4) Randolph Morris 2006-07 = 1.006 per minute.  9th best blocked shots year in UK history.

5) Anthony Davis 2011-12 = 0.996 per minute.  Already the #1 shot blocking season in UK history.

6) Kenny Walker 1984-85 = 0.993 per minute.  9th best scoring year in UK history.






1962-79:


1) Dan Issel 1969-70 = 1.299 per minute.  Top scoring season, 9th best rebounding season.  Achieved highest per-minute stat collecting rate without even having steals or blocked shots accounted for.


2) Dan Issel 1968-69 = 1.106 per minute.  4th best scoring, 6th best rebounding season.


3) Cotton Nash 1963-64 = 0.989 per minute.  13th in points, 22nd in rebounds.


4) Kevin Grevey 1974-75 = 0.974 per minute.  5th in points.


5) Jim Andrews 1971-72 = 0.971 per minute.  22nd in points, 24th in rebounds.






Prior to 1962:

Because there are no data for minutes played, I won't bother to list these numerically.  But the top three, in some order, would be:

Bill Spivey 1950-51
Cliff Hagan 1951-52
Cliff Hagan 1953-54

Among other websites consulted, one of my main sources for this and many other posts is the peerless UK resource (and probably the best site of its kind for any sports team) known as "The Kentucky Basketball Statistics Project" operated by Jon Scott.  Available at http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/statistics/statistics.html 

Updates on Miller, Davis, Jones, Lamb in UK career rankings

Here are a number of statistical categories where current Wildcats are climbing the career rankings - some in just their first year on the team.  Along with the current ranking, I also listed where they will likely finish this season in the rankings.

Blocks:
Anthony Davis - 10th - likely to finish 5th
Terrence Jones - 14th - likely to finish 11th
Darius Miller - 18th


Scoring:
Darius Miller - 46th (one of 58 in the 1000-point club) - likely to finish 38th
Terrence Jones - 70th - likely to reach 1000 points and finish 55th
Doron Lamb - 74th - likely to finish 64th


Rebounds:
Terrence Jones - 47th - likely to finish 30th


Assists:
Darius Miller - 29th - likely to finish 23rd


Steals: 
Darius Miller - 29th - likely to finish 27th
Terrence Jones - 43rd - likely to finish 39th


Made 3's:
Darius Miller - 10th
Doron Lamb - 21st - likely to finish 18th

Who are the top scorers in Kentucky basketball history?

Here are the top ten cumulative scorers in UK history:

1) DAN ISSEL - 2138

2) KENNY WALKER - 2080

3) JACK GIVENS - 2038

4) KEITH BOGANS - 1923

5) TONY DELK - 1890

6) JAMAL MASHBURN - 1843

7) KEVIN GREVEY - 1801

8) TAYSHAUN PRINCE - 1775

9) COTTON NASH - 1770

10) ALEX GROZA - 1744


And the top ten per-game AVERAGES:

 1) DAN ISSEL (1st in total scoring) - 25.8 points per game from 1967-68 through 1969-70 (only played 3 seasons)


2) COTTON NASH (9th in total scoring) - 22.7 points per game from 1961-62 through 1963-64 (only played 3 seasons)

3) KEVIN GREVEY (7th in total scoring) - 21.4 points per game from 1972-73 through 1974-75 (only played 3 seasons)


4) BOB BURROW (56th in total scoring) - 20.1 points per game from 1954-55 through 1955-56 (only played 2 seasons)

5) JAMAL MURRAY (102nd in total scoring) - 20.0 points per game in 2015-2016 (only played 1 season)


6) LOUIE DAMPIER (12th in total scoring) - 19.7 points per game from 1964-65 through 1966-67 (only played 3 seasons)

7) BILL SPIVEY (39th in total scoring) - 19.3 points per game from 1949-50 through 1950-51 (only played 2 seasons)

8) CLIFF HAGAN (17th in total scoring) - 19.2 points per game from 1950-51 through 1953-54 (only played 3 seasons)

9) JAMAL MASHBURN (6th in total scoring) - 18.8 points per game from 1990-91 through 1992-93 (only played 3 seasons)

10) MIKE CASEY (14th in total scoring) - 18.7 points per game from 1967-68 through 1970-71 (only played 3 seasons)

Interestingly, there has been a shift in the scoring trends at UK lately.  Notice that eight of the top ten scoring averages are from before 1980?

Only four players since 1980 have finished their UK careers with an average of 17 points per game or higher:

Rex Chapman (17.6 ppg)

Jamal Mashburn (18.8 ppg)

Brandon Knight (17.3 ppg)

Jamal Murray (20.0 ppg)

In spite of the trend since 1980 of lower "star" scoring averages for UK teams, we might see the second player in two years to break into the top 10 - Malik Monk!

What are the best jersey numbers in UK basketball history?

Here are what I consider to be the top jersey numbers in UK men's basketball.

#44One 2000-point scorer (Dan Issel), Three 1000-point scorers (Cotton Nash, Chuck Hayes, Bill Lickert)


#34One 2000-point scorer (Kenny Walker), Three 1000-point scorers (Mike Casey, John Pelphrey, Scott Padgett)

#12 - Four 1000-point scorers (Ralph Beard, Deron Feldhaus, Rodrick Rhodes, Tom Parker)


#15 - Three 1000-point scorers (Alex Groza, Ed Davender, Jeff Sheppard) plus DeMarcus Cousins (575)


#10 - Three 1000-point scorers (Louie Dampier, Keith Bogans, Dirk Minniefield) plus James Blackmon (866)


#4 - Three 1000-point scorers (Kyle Macy, Gerald Fitch, Derrick Miller) plus Rajon Rondo (654)

#3 - Three 1000-point scorers (Rex Chapman, Ramel Bradley, Terrence Jones) plus Allen Edwards (819)

#20 - Three 1000-point scorers (Jimmy Dan Conner, Jim Master, Doron Lamb)

#21 - One 2000-point scorer (Jack Givens), one 1000-point scorer (Tayshaun Prince)


Then there are a lot of jerseys with two 1000-point scorers each:

#24 - Johnny Cox, Jamal Mashburn...plus Antoine Walker (806), Kelenna Azubuike (970)

#25 - Winston Bennett, Jim Line...plus Anthony Epps (811)

#32 - Joe Crawford, Derrick Hord...plus Jared Prickett (998), James Lee (996), Richie Farmer (898)

#33 - Ron Mercer, Randolph Morris

#35 - Kevin Grevey, Reggie Hanson...plus future AD C.M. Newton

#42 - Pat Riley, Jamaal Magloire

#54 - Melvin Turpin, Patrick Patterson

#55 - Mike Phillips, Jim Andrews

And some other solid numbers with only one...

#6 - Cliff Hagan

#22 - Only Mike Pratt reached 1000, but Patrick Sparks (714) and Alex Poythress (966) wore the number too

#23 - Only Jodie Meeks reached 1000, but Derek Anderson (674), Anthony Davis (567) and Jamal Murray (720) wore the number too

#27 - Wallace Jones

#30 - Only Frank Ramsey reached 1000, but Julius Randle (599) wore the number too

#31 - Only Sam Bowie reached 1000, but good ol' Joe B. Hall also wore it (never scored in 3 games)

#50 - Only Bob Burrow reached 1000, but Marquis Estill (936) wore the number too

#52 - Vernon Hatton

#53 - Rick Robey

#77 - Bill Spivey







Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Southeastern Conference Title history

Updated through the 2012 SEC Tournament.

Here are some random stats and facts concerning SEC titles through the years.

The first SEC basketball season was 1932-33.  Tulane, Georgia Tech and Sewanee were among the 13 original members.  Those three eventually left (in 1966, 1964 and 1940 respectively).  In 1991-92, Arkansas and South Carolina joined to make it a 12 team league split into two divisions.  Now, it's a 14-team league with no divisions.

This is the 81st regular season of SEC basketball.  


Here are the regular season title winners (including shared titles):
Kentucky - 45
LSU - 11
Alabama, Tennessee - 8
Mississippi State - 6
Florida - 5
Vanderbilt - 3
Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia Tech - 2
Georgia, South Carolina, Tulane - 1
Ole Miss, Sewanee - 0


So altogether, Kentucky has 45, and the rest of the SEC 50.


SEC regular season titles with sole possession:
Kentucky - 35
LSU, Alabama - 6
Mississippi State - 4
Tennessee, Florida - 3
Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Auburn - 2 
Georgia Tech, Georgia, South Carolina - 1
Tulane, Ole Miss - 0


Altogether, Kentucky has 35, and the rest of the SEC 31.




SEC East Division Titles (including shared titles) - note that the divisions no longer exist...
Kentucky - 13
Florida, Tennessee - 5
South Carolina - 2
Vanderbilt, Georgia - 1


Altogether, Kentucky has 13 East Division titles, and the rest of the division 14.




SEC East Division Titles with sole possession:
Kentucky - 9
Tennessee - 3
Florida, Vanderbilt, South Carolina - 1
Georgia - 0


Altogether, Kentucky has sole possession of 9 East titles, and the rest of the division 6.




Just for the heck of it, the West Division titles:
MSU - 7 (4 unshared)
Ole Miss - 5 (3 unshared)
Arkansas, LSU - 4 (both have 3 unshared)
Alabama - 3 (2 unshared)
Auburn - 1 (1 unshared)


I certainly wouldn't have recalled Ole Miss having that level of success...




SEC Tournament championships (note that there have only been 52 tournaments in 79 seasons)
Kentucky - 27
Alabama - 6
Tennessee - 4
Mississippi State, Florida, Georgia - 3 (one of Georgia's is UK's forfeited 1988 title)
Vanderbilt - 2
Georgia Tech, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Arkansas - 1
South Carolina, Sewanee, Tulane - 0


Altogether, UK has 27 tournament titles, and the rest of the SEC 26.




Double-title years (won the regular season and the tournament)
Kentucky - 15 (12 unshared regular season titles, 3 shared titles)
Florida, Alabama - 1 (Florida in 2007, Alabama in 1987, both were unshared)


Kentucky accomplished the triple crown, with the NCAA title, in 1948, 1949, and 1998.  




Based on all-time success within conference regular season and tournament play, here are the rankings:
1) Kentucky - 72 combined titles
2) Alabama - 14
3) LSU, Tennessee - 12
5) MSU - 9
6) UF - 8
7) Vanderbilt - 5
8) Georgia - 4
9) Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia Tech - 3
12) Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tulane - 1
15) Sewanee - 0 


Altogether, Kentucky has 72 titles, and the rest of the SEC 75.
 

First 30-win regular season in UK history?

The top regular season win totals in UK history:
1) 29-2 (2010)
2) 27-1 (current)
2) 27-2 (1948)
2) 27-4 (1997)
5) 26-1 (1996)
5) 26-3 (2003)
5) 26-3 (1986)
8) 25-0 (1954)
8) 25-1 (1949)
8) 25-1 (1970)
8) 25-2 (1978)


UK has exactly 3 games remaining, so they have to stay perfect to set the new school mark. 


They wouldn't be the first in NCAA Division I history to accomplish it, however.  


Examples I've found of 30+ win regular seasons:
1987 UNLV (30-1)
1998 Kansas (30-3)
2008 Memphis (30-1) (now vacated)


I will add to this list as I research this further.  You'd be surprised by how inconsistent/inaccurate various sources can be on a question like this.

Kentucky's longest winning streaks

After their gutsy win in Starkville, our Cats are now 27-1, and riding the nation's longest winning streak (19 games).

That's tied for the 8th longest single-season winning streak in school history.  The 2009-2010 team also won 19 in a row (to start the season) before falling at South Carolina in late January.

UK's top single-season winning streaks:
1) 27 games (1995-96 - ended with a loss to MSU in the SEC tournament final)
2) 26 (2002-03 - lost to Marquette in NCAA Elite 8)
3) 25 (1953-54 - went undefeated that season)
4) 23 (1965-66 - lost at Tennessee in March)
4) 23 (1951-52 - lost to St. John's in NCAA regional final)
6) 21 (1950-51 - lost to Vanderbilt in SEC tournament final)
6) 21 (1948-49 - lost to Loyola Chicago in NIT, then won the NCAA tournament)
8) 19 (2009-10 - lost at South Carolina in January)
8) 19 (2011-12 - still active)

UK's top overall winning streaks:
1) 32 games (25 in 1953-54, 7 in 1954-55, lost at home to Georgia Tech to end it)
2) 27 (1995-96)
3) 26 (2002-03)
3) 26 (15 in 1945-46, 11 in 1946-47, lost to Oklahoma A&M in the Sugar Bowl)
5) 25 (2 in 1964-65, 23 in 1965-66)
6) 24 (16 in 1947-48, 8 in 1948-49, lost to St. Louis in the Sugar Bowl Championship)
6) 24 (8 in 1932-33, 16 in 1933-34, lost to Florida in the SEC tournament)
8) 23 (1951-52)
9) 21 (1950-51)
9) 21 (1948-49)
11) 19 (2009-10)
11) 19 (2011-12, still active)

UK's final winning streaks in title seasons:
1947-48 = 16 games
1948-49 = 3
1950-51 = 5
1957-58 = 5
1977-78 = 13
1995-96 = 6
1997-98 = 13
 

Comeback stats on the comeback Cats

Last night was a huge win for a number of reasons, including:
- clinched at least a tie of our 45th regular season SEC crown
- beat our current most hated rival in the SEC West


Let us not forget the halftime score: MSU 41, UK 28.


This game was tied for the third largest halftime deficit from which UK recovered to win its storied history.  The only two to beat this one were both historic games that any fan will easily recall:


1994 @ LSU: down 16 in Baton Rouge, eventually fell behind by 31, then somehow won 99-95
2004 @ UofL: down 16 in Freedom Hall (only scored 16 in the first half), and Patrick Sparks' free throws won it


Later that same 2004-2005 season, UK was down 29-16 at the half in Oxford, MS, and came back to win.


The true "Comeback Cats" (the 1998 championship team) were down 10 twice at halftime in the NCAA tournament - the title game against Utah, and the regional final against Duke - another famous game of course, as UK would eventually trail by 17.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Will there be a 5th bid for the SEC? If so, who gets it?

We all hate our conference rivals throughout the regular season, but it's good to have some conference bragging rights at tournament time.

One positive is that at least our overall conference RPI is OK this season - 4th behind the Big Ten, Big East and Big 12, and ahead of the MWC, ACC and Pac 12.

The issue at hand is whether we can get a 5th team in. In the 20 tournaments since the SEC expanded to 12 teams, the SEC has had at least 5 bids in 14 tournaments (70% of the time), and 6 bids in 8 years (40% of the time).

The only exceptions:
1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2010 = 4 bids
2009 = 3 bids

Kentucky and Florida are locks.
Mississippi State and Vanderbilt are nearly locks as well, barring collapses.


Lunardi currently has Alabama listed as an 8 seed, comfortably in the tournament. But as we all know, they've suspended a number of star players and just lost at lowly LSU. They are in real danger of blowing their bid, and most likely will, unless those players return to action.


Some details on the three teams with a chance, all of whom have 5-5 league records:


Alabama - around 30th in the RPI, with a great win over Wichita State and one bad loss at South Carolina. Two SEC road wins, and 4 of 6 remaining games are at home. If it weren't for the suspensions, I think they would easily make it into the tournament.

Ole Miss - around 50-55 in the RPI, with two good wins over Miami and Mississippi State, and one bad loss at Auburn. One SEC road win, and they have 3 home and 3 road remaining.

Arkansas - around 65-70 in the RPI. A great team at home (undefeated in league play and an excellent win over Michigan, although one puzzling early loss to Houston). A horrible team on the road. They have chances to improve their rating with home wins over Florida and Alabama...but they'll also probably lose at Tennessee and take an RPI blow from that.

My unfortunate conclusion is that if Anthony Grant can't right the ship quickly, the SEC will only have four bids
.

What a difference a coach makes

After coaching his Cats to a tough win in Memorial Gym last night, Cal has still never lost to any SEC team more than once.


Let's compare his SEC records to the 4-year horror show known as the "Tubbispie Era."  This includes SEC tournament games.


Cal overall SEC: 41-8 (84%)
Tubbispie overall SEC: 42-30 (58%)


Cal regular season SEC: 35-8 (81%)
Tubbispie regular season SEC: 38-26 (59%)


Cal at home SEC: 21-0 (100%)
Tubbispie at home SEC: 22-10 (69%)


Cal on the road SEC: 14-8 (64%)
Tubbispie on the road SEC: 16-16 (50%)


Cal in the SEC tournament: 6-0 (100%)
Tubbispie in the SEC tournament: 4-4 (50%)


Tubbispie also had a losing record against four different teams (UF, LSU, MSU and VU).
Cal's record against those four: 15-2 (88%)
Tubbispie against those four: 8-18 (31%)

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Stats from the Florida game, in perspective

1) UK beat hated SEC rival Florida by 20 points.

On the surface, that already sounds nice.  But consider the following:

- this is only the 14th time in AP poll history (since '48-49) that UK has beaten a top-10 opponent by 20 points

- UK hasn't beaten Florida by 20 since Senior Day 2004

- UK has now won four SEC games in a row by 20 or more points.  They haven't done that since 1993, and haven't won five in a row by that margin since 1959.  The school record is 12 SEC victories in a row by 20+, which happened in the undefeated 1954 season.

2) UK made 60% of its threes (9 of 15)

- this was the best percentage since making 10 of 16 (63%) against Boston University 11/30/10

- last time they bested this in league play was 12 of 19 (63%) at #24 UT 1/13/09 (the Meeks 54 game)

- last time they made 60% or more of their threes against a top ten opponent was....never

3) UK held hot-shooting Florida to 6 of 27 from behind the arc

- the last time an opponent shot a worse percentage while still hoisting up 27+ attempts was Liberty, which went 6 of 28 on 11/21/07

- the last time a league opponent "accomplished" that was South Carolina, which went 6 of 28 on 1/11/03 at Rupp

Friday, February 3, 2012

The Kentucky-South Carolina series

Updated March 15th, 2013

Overall series: UK 47-10
In Lexington: 25-2 (only lost in '97 and '09)
In Columbia: 18-6
In Carolina's current home (Colonial Life Arena): 7-3
In the postseason: 4-2 (3-2 SEC, 1-0 Southern)

Other specific game sites
Rupp: 22-2
Memorial: 1-0
Alumni: 2-0

Frank McGuire Arena: 11-2
Carolina Fieldhouse: 0-1

Georgia Dome (Atlanta): 2-1
Gaylord Entertainment Center (Nashville): 1-1
Atlanta Municipal Auditorium: 1-0

Highs and Lows
Regular season home high: beating Carolina by 45 in Rupp in 1979.  Macy, Bowie, Anderson and Hord all scored at least 18 points as UK racked up 126.

Regular season road high: winning by 38 in Columbia in 2007.  Joe Crawford led the way.

Regular season low: losing at home on Senior Day 1997, thanks to BJ McKie's 13 free throws.  UK was whistled for 29 fouls at Rupp.

Postseason high: UK winning 86-56 in the 1998 SEC Tournament Championship game, without Jeff Sheppard.

Postseason low: UK losing in the quarterfinals (their first game) of the 2002 SEC Tournament.  UK was ranked 12th in the country, and Carolina was the lowly E6 seed.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Three interesting stats from last night's Kentucky-Tennessee game

1) UK shot 54% and UT only 28%.  

The 26% difference is the largest since a 29% advantage against Marist earlier this season.

For a bigger difference in an SEC regular season game, though, you have to go back to January 16th, 2007 when UK won 87-49 at South Carolina, and shot 63% to their 27%.

2) UK won by 25 points while only hitting a single three-point field goal (out of 10 attempts).

Over the years, the Wildcats' streak of games with a made three-pointer has had a number of similarly close calls.  The most recent was the SEC Tournament quarterfinal against Alabama on March 3rd, 2010, when they hit only 1 of 13.  Darnell Dodson hit that three.

The last regular season game with only 1 made three-pointer:
11/29/08 vs WVU (made 1 of 5, won by 11, Jodie Meeks hit the lone three)

The last SEC regular season game with only  1 made three-pointer:
2/12/08 at Vanderbilt (made 1 of 10, lost by 41, Ramel Bradley hit the lone three)

The last time UK made only 1 three-pointer, and won by 25 or more:
12/20/03 vs Indiana (made 1 of 8, won by 39, Kelenna Azubuike hit the lone three)

Finally, to meet all the criteria of last night's game (SEC, regular season, one made three-pointer, won by 25+):
2/1/97 vs Georgia (made 1 of 9, won by 25, Allen Edwards hit the lone three)

3) UK made 24 of 27 free throw attempts (89%).

The last superior performance (with at least 20 attempts) was against Georgia on 2009 Senior Day.  In spite of their ridiculous accuracy at the line (26-28, 93%), UK managed to lose to an atrocious team and assure Billy G of being fired after the season.

Earlier that same season (1/13/09), UK won by 18 at Tennessee in the infamous Jodie Meeks 54 game.  UK was 18 of 20 from the line (90%), with Jodie going 14 for 14.