Monday, December 5, 2022

Kentucky 73 - 69 Michigan (London, England) (No. 2,359)

Huge win for the Cats, who get their first victory of the year against a major-conference opponent.  Since the beginning of the 2020-21 season, here's UK's record in games where the margin at the end of regulation was four points or less:

12/01/20:  Kansas 65 - 62 Kentucky
12/12/20:  Kentucky 63 - 64 Notre Dame
12/26/20:  Louisville 62 - 59 Kentucky
01/02/21:  Mississippi St. 73 - 78 Kentucky (2 OT)
01/05/21:  Kentucky 77 - 74 Vanderbilt
01/20/21:  Georgia 63 - 62 Kentucky
02/09/21:  Kentucky 80 - 81 Arkansas
02/13/21:  Kentucky 82 - 80 Auburn
02/17/21:  Vanderbilt 78 - 82 Kentucky
02/27/21:  Kentucky 67 - 71 Florida
03/11/21:  Mississippi St. 74 - 73 Kentucky (SEC Tournament)

12/11/21:  Notre Dame 66 - 62 Kentucky
01/25/22:  Kentucky 82 - 74 Mississippi St. (OT)
02/26/22:  Arkansas 75 - 73 Kentucky
03/17/22:  Kentucky 79 - 85 St. Peter's (OT) (NCAA Tournament)

11/15/22:  Kentucky 77 - 86 Michigan St. (2 OT)
12/04/22:  Kentucky 73 - 69 Michigan

So that makes UK 6-11 in these games over the last three seasons.  If those could even out, we might have an enjoyable season.  Cats are now number 5 overall on Ken Pom, number 16 in the AP, and number 254 in luck.  Here's the breakdown in scoring yesterday:

UK:
18-43 in 2-point shots (41.9 percent)
9-15 in 3-point shots (60.0 percent) (4-4 from Cason Wallace, 3-4 from Antonio Reeves)
10-20 from the line (50.0 percent) (2-6 from Sahvir Wheeler, 0-2 from Cason Wallace)

Mich:
17-44 in 2-point shots (38.6 percent)
8-20 in 3-point shots (40.0 percent)
11-17 from the line (64.7 percent)

UK outrebounded Michigan 46-33, but had 14 turnovers to only 7 for the Wolverines.  On the whole, you'd say it was a rare example of UK winning a game with its outside shooting.  We don't see that very often.

6 comments:

  1. Given how well UK shot from the outside, it's a shame the Cats can't play more games in that arena.

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  2. Also, it should be noted that this win made UK 1-0 all time in the UK.

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  3. Actually, the 1948 USA Olympic Team was basically a combination of UK's Fabulous Five (Cliff Barker, Ralph Beard, Alex Groza, Wah Wah Jones, and Kenny Rollins) and the Phillips 66ers, an amateur team sponsored by Phillips Petroleum). That team played eight games in London during the 1948 Olympics, and won all eight to capture the gold medal. So UK's history in the UK is pretty good.

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  4. At this point last year, UK was 7-1 and was ranked 17th by Ken Pom.

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  5. Here's how the Cats did in games decided by four points or less the rest of the 2022-23 season:

    01/03/23: Kentucky 74 - 71 LSU
    01/10/23: Kentucky 68 - 71 S. Carolina
    02/15/23: Mississippi St. 68 - 71 Kentucky
    03/01/23: Kentucky 66 - 68 Vanderbilt

    So the Cats went 8-13 in these games over the last three seasons.

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