Ten notes from Kentucky basketball’s win at South Carolina
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Game day: No. 5 Kentucky 86, South Carolina 76
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday night’s game between Kentucky and South Carolina at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C.
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Ten leftover notes from Kentucky basketball’s 86-76 win at South Carolina on Tuesday night:
1. Kentucky shot 56.7 percent from the floor on Tuesday night. That’s the 12th time in 24 games the Cats have shot 50 percent or better. They are 11-1 in those games, the lone loss coming at Auburn, when UK shot an even 50 percent. By comparison, last year’s team shot better than 50 percent just twice in 25 games.
2. South Carolina shot 37.8 percent from the floor. That’s the 11th time in 24 games that UK has held is opponent under 40 percent. The Cats are 11-0 in those games. Alabama’s 28.1 percent last Saturday was a season-low for a Kentucky foe.
3. The bad news: UK point guard Sahvir Wheeler is 0-for-19 from the floor over his last three games. He missed all five of his shots in Columbia. The good news: Wheeler has 27 assists compared to 11 turnovers over his last three games.
[Sahvir Wheeler is proving skeptics wrong]
4. After averaging just 0.892 points per possession at Alabama last Saturday, Kentucky averaged 1.117 points per possession at South Carolina. UK is 18-1 this season when it averages at least one point per possession. The exception was the loss at Auburn.
[Kentucky-South Carolina final box score]
5. Heading into that loss at Auburn, Kentucky had outrebounded 17 of its 18 opponents. Starting with the trip to Auburn Arena, the Cats have been outrebounded in four of the last six games, including the last three straight. South Carolina edged Kentucky 41-40 on the boards Tuesday night.
6. South Carolina grabbed 22 offensive rebounds out of 54 chances for an offensive rebound percentage of 40.7. That’s the highest ORP by a UK opponent since Auburn posted a 48.8 at Rupp Arena on Feb. 13, 2021. Kentucky won that game 82-80.
7. Oscar Tshiebwe has recorded 18 double-doubles on the season. That puts the Kentucky center tied for second nationally in that category. Utah Valley’s Fardaws Aimaq leads the way with 19. North Carolina’s Armando Bacot and Tshiebwe are tied for second at 18. Morehead State star Johni Broome has 17 double-doubles on the year.
8. Over the last five games, Keion Brooks is averaging 16.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Brooks had 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists on Tuesday night. Brooks’ points totals his last five games -- 12 vs. Mississippi State; a career-high 27 at Kansas; 20 vs. Vanderbilt; 10 at Alabama; 15 at South Carolina.
[UK basketball individual game-by-game statistics]
9. UK’s 25 assists on Tuesday was UK’s second-highest total of the season, behind the 27 in the win over Western Kentucky on Dec. 22. It was Kentucky’s highest assist total in an SEC game since the Wildcats had 26 assists in a 94-77 win over LSU on March 5, 2016.
10. Kellan Grady has made a three-pointer in 17 straight games. That is UK’s longest streak since Jamal Murray made at least one three-pointer in all of the team’s 36 games in the 2015-16 season.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 11:22 AM.
