LEX18.com - Lexington, KY

Posted: Dec 5, 2009 5:51 PM
Updated: Dec 5, 2009 5:52 PM

FINAL SCORE: No. 4 Kentucky 68, No. 10 North Carolina 66

Team Records and Series Notes

With the win Kentucky improves to 8-0, and with the loss, North Carolina falls to 7-2.

Off to an 8-0 start, UK has jumped out to the best start to a season since the 1992-93 campaign when UK opened 11-0.

UK owns an 11-21 all-time record against North Carolina with a 6-6 mark against the Tar Heels in Lexington.

The Wildcats have a 122-61 record against teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

UK has a 43-31 all-time record against teams from the state of North Carolina.

UK will return to action, facing Connecticut in the DirectTV Big East/SEC Invitational, at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. The game will be televised by ESPN, with a tipoff on Dec. 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET.

First-Half Notes

UK and Cousins won the tip for the seventh time in eight games.

UNC's Will Graves opened the scoring with a three-pointer from the corner, putting UNC up 3-0 early.

Cousins' put-back under the basket put the Wildcats on the board with 19:04 left in the half.

At the 15:28 mark of the first period, North Carolina held a 9-6 lead, with UK getting four points from Wall in transition.

Ramon Harris and Daniel Orton were the first UK players to check in off the bench, coming in with 16:46 left in the half. That is the team-best fifth time Orton has been the first sub and the third time Harris has checked in off the bench first.

Patterson's jumper in the paint gave UK its first lead, a 10-9 advantage with just under 14 minutes left in the half.

Miller's three-pointer with 12:36 remaining in the half extended UK's streak to 719 consecutive games with a three-pointer made. UK's 719 consecutive games with a three-pointer ranks third in the NCAA.

At the 12:36 mark of the first half, UK was in the midst of a 16-0 run to take an 18-9 lead.

Cousins' two points gave UK its first double-digit lead of the game, a 22-11 advantage with 10:52 remaining in the half.

With just under nine minutes in the first half, UK was in the midst of a 28-2 run, owning a 30-11 lead with 8:25 remaining in the first period.

After UNC hit a three to cut the lead to 30-14, Darnell Dodson drilled his second trifecta of the half to put UK up 33-14 with 8:05 left.
Wall connected on 1-of-2 free throws with 3:06 left in the half, with UK holding a 40-23 lead.

At the end of the half, UK held a 43-28 lead, with the Wildcats shooting 57-percent (16-for-28) from the field and 67-percent (6-for-9) from behind the arc.

North Carolina won the battle of the boards, totaling 17 rebounds to UK's 16. UK had nine assists and nine turnovers in the first half.

UK's 43 points in the first half are the fourth-most points for the Wildcats in the first half this year. Kentucky's 53 points against Sam Houston State is the most in the first stanza this season.

Wall led the Wildcats with 13 points, three rebounds, five assists and two steals in 19 minutes. Patterson totaled 11 points, five rebounds, a block and a steal in 17 minutes.

Second-Half Notes

UK started the lineup of Wall, Miller, Bledsoe, Patterson and Orton in the second half. This is the second time this season that UK opened with this lineup in the second period.

Wall found Harris for a dunk with 19:15 left in the game, getting UK's first points of the half and putting the Wildcats up 45-28.

With a three-point play, North Carolina cut the UK lead to single digits, with UK holding a 45-36 lead with just under 17 minutes left in the game.
Eric Bledsoe's two points in transition advanced UK's lead back to 49-38 with 15:17 left in the contest.

Patterson netted four consecutive points to give the home team a 53-40 edge with 13:25 remaining.

Crossing the 10 minute mark in the game, UK held an eight-point lead, 54-46.

UNC freshman forward Travis Wear sank a three-pointer from the corner with 9:25 left in the game to cut the UK lead to 54-49.

At the under-eight timeout (7:29 left in the game), UK held a 56-49 advantage, with Wall totaling 13 points and Patterson registering 19 points.

Graves hit a free throw for UNC, cutting the UK lead to 59-54 with 5:26 remaining.

At the under four-minute timeout, UK was holding a 59-56 lead with 3:34 left in the game.

Two free throws from Bledsoe extended UK's lead to 61-56 and then he connected on an up-and-under layup to make it 63-56 with 1:52 remaining.

UNC immediately countered with a three-pointer from Graves, cutting it to 63-59 with 1:45 left.

Deon Thompson sliced the UK lead to 63-61 with a basket with 32.4 seconds remaining.

Bledsoe was fouled with 30.5 seconds remaining and connected on both free throws to extend the lead to 65-61.

Bledsoe was fouled with 16.5 seconds left and made the first of two free throws, making it 66-61. His miss on the second free throw snapped 11 consecutive made free throws by Bledsoe.