Pregame Notes for Kentucky vs Duquesne, 11/20/16
From University of Kentucky Athletics Media Relations:
• UK opened the season with three victories in five days, including a victory over No. 13/13 Michigan State in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York.
• If Kentucky can beat Duquesne on Sunday, all signs points to the Wildcats taking over the No. 1 spot in the polls on Monday after Duke’s loss to Kansas. Should UK end up No. 1, it would be the sixth time in John Calipari’s eight seasons at Kentucky the Wildcats have been ranked No. 1.
• With the victory over MSU, UK improved to 4-2 in the Champions Classic, the best among the four teams in the annual event.
• Sophomore Isaiah Briscoe leads UK in scoring with a 19.7 average. He’s scored 21 in both of the last two games.
• The Wildcats’ defense has been relentless in the first three games. UK is forced an average of 22.0 turnovers per game. The Wildcats did not allow a single Michigan State player to score in double figures.
• Freshman guard De’Aaron Fox was tabbed the SEC Freshman of the Week after averaging 16.5 points, 7.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals in UK’s two opening victories. Fox dished out 12 assists in the season opener, the most ever by a Wildcat in a season opener and the most by a Kentucky player in his career debut (with assist records dating back to the 1971-72 season). He’s averaging a team best 7.0 assists per game.
• Freshman guard Malik Monk scored 23 points in the win over Michigan State, including seven 3-pointers. He’s averaging 16.3 points per game, the second most on the team.
#1 losing a close game to #7 at a neutral site should take some votes away from Duke in the polls but, in my opinion, the loss shouldn’t be enough to unseat them from being #1. The UK dominating performance in the win over Michigan State was impressive but I think voters will want to see how consistent they are before elevating them to #1. Go Cats!