NO. 25 KENTUCKY (15-4, 4-1 SEC) - University of Kentucky Athletics

1
Rupp Arena (20,444)
Lexington, Ky. • Nov. 15, 2006
Miami (Ohio) 46
Kentucky No. 22/22 57
Freshman forward Perry Stevenson blocked seven shots and
No. 22 Kentucky scored the final 10 points of the game to pull away
from Miami of Ohio 57-46 in its season opener.
The Wildcats led by 10 in the second half before two free
throws by Nathan Peavy cut the edge to 47-46 with four minutes
left.
Ramel Bradley hit a jumper in traffic and Randolph Morris made
two free throws, then scored from the post to stretch it back to a
seven-point deficit.
Joe Crawford led the Wildcats with 18 points.
Kentucky got off to a sluggish start, making only two of its first
11 shots while Miami hit six of its first 11, including four from 3-point
range.
An open three by center Monty St. Clair midway through the
half capped a 13-3 run for the RedHawks, who took their biggest
lead at 16-6. Peavy led the RedHawks with 17.
Kentucky didn't reach double-digits on the scoreboard for 13
minutes, until Crawford hit a jumper to cut the lead to 18-10. The
junior guard connected on five of 12 shots - including three from
long-range.
The Wildcats got back into the game with a 16-3 run in the final
three minutes of the first half.
Freshman guard Jodie Meeks tied it at 27 by grabbing
Bradley's miss and scoring on the putback. Crawford made a 3-
pointer and added a free throw on the next possession to give
Kentucky a 31-27 halftime lead.
A layup by Morris early in the second half gave Kentucky its 10-
point lead, but fouls and turnovers kept the RedHawks in it. Morris
picked up his fourth foul, making him a non-factor for much of the
second half.
Kentucky played the game without two key players. Senior forward
Sheray Thomas was suspended for an undisclosed rules violation
and sophomore center Jared Carter is out with a dislocated
right shoulder.
Carter hurt himself in practice and could miss about a month.
His injury was part of the reason Kentucky coach Tubby Smith
opted to start Stevenson.
The team's two healthy centers, Morris and Lukasz Obrzut,
have been prone to foul trouble, and Smith didn't want to risk a
quick exit for either.
Miami, Ohio (0-2) FG 3FG FT R F Pts A TO B S M
31 Peavy f 3-9 2-2 9-10 6 3 17 3 1 3 0 36
50 Pollitz, T. f 3-11 0-0 0-1 4 3 6 2 5 0 0 29
30 St. Clair c 2-3 1-2 0-0 3 5 5 2 1 0 0 24
05 Richburg g 1-7 1-4 0-0 3 3 3 3 4 0 0 32
24 Bramos g 4-9 2-4 1-2 5 3 11 0 2 2 0 30
01 Penno 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 21
02 Dierkers 2-4 0-0 0-0 5 2 4 0 1 0 1 19
04 Moosmann 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 8
21 Pollitz, E. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM 4
Totals.............. 15-48 6-15 10-13 30 20 46 11 16 5 1 200
Kentucky (1-0) FG 3FG FT R F Pts A TO B S M
13 Perry f 2-5 2-3 0-0 3 3 6 1 1 1 0 27
21 Stevenson f 1-3 0-0 0-0 6 1 2 0 1 7 0 35
33 Morris c 5-7 0-0 2-2 10 4 12 0 1 0 0 22
03 Bradley g 5-10 0-3 2-2 0 3 12 5 6 1 1 35
32 Crawford g 5-12 3-7 5-8 6 1 18 3 1 0 0 36
01 Porter 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
05 Jasper 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 11
10 Obrzut 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 8
20 Meeks 2-8 1-2 2-4 4 1 7 1 0 0 2 24
TEAM 1
Totals.............. 20-47 6-17 11-16 32 14 57 10 12 9 3 200
1st 2nd Tot FG% 3FG% FT% Paint P-TO 2nd Bnch
Miami, Ohio 27 19 46 .313 .400 .769 14 2 4 4
Kentucky 31 26 57 .426 .353 .688 26 16 5 7
Officials: Karl Hess, Everett Summers, Tony Turner; Technical: None.
KENTUCKY BASKETBALL
2
Rupp Arena (22,879)
Lexington, Ky. • Nov. 17, 2006
Miss. Valley St. 56
Kentucky No. 22/22 79
Ramel Bradley had a career-high 21 points and No. 22
Kentucky started with a 15-0 run in defeating Mississippi Valley
State 79-56 in Tubby Smith's 500th game as a college coach.
Bradley, who has been working on his shot selection as
Kentucky's new point guard, picked good ones against the Delta
Devils. He made 8 of 11 attempts from the field and 5 of 7 from 3-
point range.
Randolph Morris had 18 points and nine rebounds.
Smith, now in his 16th year as a head coach and 10th at
Kentucky, improved his record to 367-133. He has coached 314
games at Kentucky, 122 at Tulsa and 64 at Georgia.
In their final tune-up before heading to the Maui Invitational, the
Wildcats signaled they're ready for stiffer competition. They'll get it
in Hawaii with a first-round matchup Monday against DePaul and
possibly a second-round game Tuesday against national runner-up
UCLA.
The Delta Devils didn't score until Larry Cox made a layup four
and a half minutes into the game. In the first 12 minutes, Kentucky
added an 11-0 run to their beginning burst.
Mississippi Valley State had only five points with eight minutes
remaining in the first half and Kentucky used eight steals and 14
fast break points to build a 41-18 halftime lead.
Bradley ignited the early rally and began both halves with a 3-
pointer. In one 20-second span, Bradley made a jumper then
grabbed a loose ball, using an underhanded flip from beneath the
basket to score again.
Bradley fed freshman forward Perry Stevenson one of his two
first-half dunks.
Stevenson, who had seven blocks in the Wildcats' opener
Wednesday against Miami of Ohio, had three Friday in his second
straight start. He set the defensive tone by swatting away the Delta
Devils' first shot - a 3-point attempt by Carl Lucas.
Another freshman, guard Jodie Meeks, had 13 points for
Kentucky, but was cold from 3-point range, hitting only 1 of 6
attempts.
Miss. Valley St. (0-3)FG 3FG FT R F Pts A TO B S M
22 Cannon f 0-5 0-2 0-0 4 2 0 1 1 1 0 18
42 Alexander c 1-4 0-0 0-0 4 2 2 1 1 0 0 14
02 Snow g 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 1 0 3 2 0 0 17
10 Barnes g 3-7 2-3 0-0 1 0 8 0 2 0 0 20
23 Clark g 1-2 1-2 0-0 2 0 3 0 3 0 0 25
01 Cox 7-12 0-0 3-4 8 3 17 0 3 4 0 28
03 Parks 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 10
11 Davis 2-6 2-3 0-0 1 1 6 2 3 0 2 22
12 Cury 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
13 Carter 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
15 Pittman 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
21 Lucas 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3
24 Simmons 6-12 1-3 3-3 2 0 16 0 1 0 1 20
25 Price 2-4 0-0 0-0 1 2 4 0 0 0 0 14
44 Bryant 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 6
TEAM 4 2
Totals.............. 22-56 6-16 6-7 29 11 56 9 21 5 4 200
Kentucky (2-0) FG 3FG FT R F Pts A TO B S M
13 Perry f 1-4 0-2 0-0 2 4 2 3 1 0 1 15
21 Stevenson f 2-3 0-0 4-4 2 0 8 0 1 4 0 23
33 Morris c 8-11 0-0 2-3 9 0 18 2 1 2 0 25
03 Bradley g 8-11 5-7 0 0 3 21 5 2 0 2 25
32 Crawford g 3-14 1-8 0-0 4 2 7 1 2 0 1 24
01 Porter 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 2 2 0 0 12
05 Jasper 3-4 1-1 0-0 3 1 7 4 3 1 5 22
10 Obrzut 0-2 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 13
20 Meeks 5-11 1-6 2-3 2 0 13 1 2 0 0 21
23 Thomas 0-2 0-1 1-2 3 1 1 2 1 1 1 17
43 Coury 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
TEAM 6
Totals.............. 30-63 8-25 11-14 36 11 79 20 15 9 12 200
1st 2nd Tot FG% 3FG% FT% Paint P-TO 2nd Bnch
Miss. Valley St.18 38 56 .393 .375 .857 22 11 12 43
Kentucky 41 38 79 .476 .320 .786 34 25 12 23
Officials: Pat Adams, Bruce Benedict, Carlos Villanueva; Technicals:
None.
3
Lahaina Civic Center (2,400)
Honolulu, Hi. • Nov. 20, 2006
DePaul 81
Kentucky No. 20/22 87
Randolph Morris scored 20 points, including nine of Kentucky's
final 11, and the 20th-ranked Wildcats held off DePaul 87-81 in the
opening round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
Kentucky was never able to shake the Blue Demons in a game
that saw both teams shoot better than 53 percent from the field.
Sammy Mejia and Wilson Chandler both had 17 points for
DePaul, which was within 74-69 on a 3-pointer by Marcus Heard
with 4:45 to play. Morris scored the last four points of a 6-0 run that
had the Wildcats up 80-69 with 2:50 to play.
Morris' last field goal of the game, a baseline move with 2:10 to
play, put Kentucky up 82-71, but DePaul scored six straight points
to get to 82-77 with 1:22 to go.
Kentucky went 5-for-6 from the free throw line over the final 53
seconds and the Wildcats drew two charges to finally seal the win.
Ramel Bradley had 16 points for Kentucky, which shot 57.1 percent
(32-for-56).
Heard had 11 points for the Blue Demons, who finished 32-for-
60 from the field (53.3 percent).
Morris, who was 7-for-13 from the field and 6-for-9 from the free
throw line, had nine rebounds as the teams finished even on the
boards with 28 each.
Kentucky, which won this tournament in 1993, scored the first
10 points and was up 16-4 five minutes into the game. The
Wildcats led 18-7 with 14:29 left after making eight of their first 11
shots from the field.
Draelon Burns of DePaul then scored the next seven points of
the game - he finished with nine. Kentucky was able to take one
more double-digit lead in the first half - 33-21 with 8:50 left on a 3
by Jodie Meeks - but DePaul was within 43-38 at halftime.
The Blue Demons took the lead twice, the last time at 50-49 on
a layup by Mejia with 14:59 to play.
DePaul (1-3) FG 3FG FT R F Pts A TO B S M
05 Clarke f 4-10 0-2 1-3 7 0 9 0 2 0 1 31
22 Chandler f 7-14 2-3 1-2 6 4 17 1 0 2 1 39
01 Currie g 1-2 1-1 0-0 0 2 3 4 3 0 0 12
03 Burns g 4-5 1-2 0-0 1 2 9 1 2 0 0 14
11 Mejia g 8-16 0-2 1-1 4 2 17 2 3 0 2 35
04 Green 2-4 0-0 2-2 3 3 6 3 1 0 0 18
12 Clinkscales 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 2 3 0 0 0 13
15 Moses 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
21 Heard 3-5 1-2 4-4 2 2 11 0 0 0 0 16
30 Walker 2-3 1-2 2-2 0 4 7 1 0 0 1 19
32 Thompson 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 3
TEAM 3
Totals.............. 32-60 6-14 11-14 28 22 81 15 11 2 5 200
Kentucky (3-0) FG 3FG FT R F Pts A TO B S M
13 Perry f 4-6 1-2 2-2 2 1 11 1 2 2 0 31
21 Stevenson f 1-2 0-0 0-0 3 2 2 1 1 1 0 12
33 Morris c 7-13 0-0 6-9 9 3 20 2 1 1 0 32
03 Bradley g 5-11 2-6 4-4 2 1 16 4 3 0 2 36
32 Crawford g 5-11 1-4 2-2 4 4 13 6 1 0 1 29
01 Porter 2-2 1-1 0-0 1 0 5 0 2 0 1 4
05 Jasper 1-2 0-0 1-1 3 0 3 2 1 0 1 7
10 Obrzut 3-3 0-0 2-3 0 1 8 0 0 0 0 8
20 Meeks 3-4 1-2 0-0 0 1 7 2 0 0 0 15
23 Thomas 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 26
TEAM 3
Totals.............. 32-56 6-15 17-21 28 14 87 19 11 4 5 200
1st 2nd Tot FG% 3FG% FT% Paint P-TO 2nd Bnch
DePaul 38 43 81 .533 .429 .786 52 14 15 26
Kentucky 43 44 87 .571 .400 .810 38 12 14 25
Officials: Bob Donato, Jeff Nichols, Tony Greene;
Technicals: None.
2006-07 KENTUCKY WILDCATS