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Visit UKathletics.com/ UKSportsNetwork for radio and TV affiliates in your area.12 @UKFootball12 @KentuckyMBB PRESENTED BY 14 @KentuckyMBB Around the SEC Around the Country 2019-20 SEC Standings Team SEC Overall Home Road Auburn 0-0 11-0 6-0 1-0 Arkansas 0-0 10-1 8-0 1-1 Kentucky 0-0 8-3 7-1 0-0 Mississippi State 0-0 8-3 5-1 1-0 Ole Miss 0-0 8-3 6-1 0-1 Tennessee 0-0 8-3 6-1 0-1 Georgia 0-0 8-3 7-0 1-1 South Carolina 0-0 8-4 5-2 3-0 Florida 0-0 7-4 3-1 0-2 LSU 0-0 7-4 6-1 0-1 Missouri 0-0 7-4 5-1 1-1 Vanderbilt 0-0 7-4 7-2 0-1 Alabama 0-0 6-5 3-1 1-2 Texas A&M 0-0 5-5 5-1 0-0 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Aaron Nesmith, VANDY ................................................23.5 Mason Jones, ARK .........................................................19.6 Anthony Edwards, UGA.................................................19.4 Breein Tyree, MISS .........................................................17.8 Saben Lee, VANDY ........................................................17.0 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Austin Wiley, AUB ...........................................................9.4 Reggie Perry, MSU ...........................................................9.2 Rayshaun Hammonds, UGA ............................................9.0 Kerry Blackshear Jr., UF ...................................................8.5 Darius Days, LSU ............................................................8.2 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Ashton Hagans, UK .........................................................7.3 Lamonte Turner, UT .........................................................7.1 J'Von McCormick, AUB ...................................................5.8 Saben Lee, VANDY ..........................................................5.6 Andrew Nembhard, UF ...................................................5.3 Steals Player-Team ................................................................... SPG Skylar Mays, LSU .............................................................2.2 Anthony Edwards, UGA...................................................2.1 Ashton Hagans, UK .........................................................2.1 Mason Jones, ARK ...........................................................2.0 Nick Weatherspoon, MSU ...............................................2.0 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Josh Nebo, TAMU ............................................................2.9 Yves Pons, UT .................................................................2.5 Nick Richards, UK ...........................................................2.3 Anfernee McLemore, AUB ...............................................2.1 Clevon Brown, VANDY ....................................................2.0 2019-20 Associated Press Rankings (Week 8) Team Record Points 1 Gonzaga (54) 13-1 1608 2 Ohio State (9) 11-1 1520 3 Louisville (1) 11-1 1460 4 Duke (1) 10-1 1429 5 Kansas 9-2 1388 6 Oregon 10-2 1286 7 Baylor 9-1 1207 8 Auburn 11-0 1107 9 Memphis 10-1 1040 10 Villanova 9-2 950 11 Michigan 9-3 889 12 Butler 11-1 853 13 Maryland 10-2 785 14 Michigan State 9-3 775 15 San Diego State 12-0 763 16 Virginia 9-2 595 17 Florida State 10-2 583 18 Dayton 9-2 541 19 Kentucky 8-3 411 20 Penn State 10-2 332 21 Washington 9-2 326 22 West Virginia 10-1 229 23 Texas Tech 8-3 178 24 Arizona 10-3 153 25 Iowa 9-3 125Sestina Catches Fire, but Ohio State Outlasts Wildcats in Vegas D.J. Carton had 13 points, Kaleb Wesson added 12 before fouling out and No. 5 Ohio State outlasted No. 6/6 Kentucky 71-65 in the CBS Sports Classic last week. The Buckeyes (11-1) played with Duane Washington Jr., their second-leading scorer, limited to eight minutes due to a rib injury and had a hard time shaking the Wildcats in a physical game. Kentucky (8-3) kept Ohio State within reach despite a poor-shooting second half be- fore the Buckeyes stretched the lead to seven with 1:17 left. The Buckeyes made four straight free throws in the final 18 seconds to prevent Kentucky from mounting a comeback. Nate Sestina scored 17 and hit a career-high-tying five 3-pointers, and Tyrese Maxey added 15 points for the Wildcats. "We fought," UK head coach John Calipa- ri said. "We tried. Thank God we had Nate. I think we put ourselves in a position where we had a chance to win. We just wouldn't pass the ball. We're still, we're opening up the courts to drive people because everybody will collapse and they did collapse and we tried to shoot it anyway. ... We came down three straight times with guys wide open and shot it into a guy 6-10. We're still learning. But if this is who we are, we'll be fine." Kentucky has struggled at times with its shooting and had a hard time finding the perimeter mark in the first half -- except for Sestina. The graduate transfer from Bucknell matched his season total in the first half by go- ing 3 for 6 from 3 while his teammates went a combined 0 for 7. "I'm not spending much time on it," Cali- pari said. "We're just taking a lot of shots and we chart every shot. And at some point you say, 'Fall back on your training. You made 60 in five minutes. You made 67 in five min- utes. You can't make them when you're wide open?' But I think I got a good shooting team. Thank goodness for Nate today." Young had 10 points to give Ohio State a 37-36 halftime lead. Sestina, who just returned from a left wrist fracture, hit a couple of early 3s in the second half, but the rest of the Wildcats continued to clank, going four minutes without a field goal. "Just coming back for my first game after an injury I was a little hesitant, didn't want to put my hand out there, put it in passing lanes, go up with two hands to rebound," Sestina said. "And I talked to the coaching staff and they were just like, 'Listen, you need to just forget about it. Forget about the injury.' Talking with our trainer Geoff (Staton), he kind of said the same thing, just go out and play and don't think about it. And I tried to do that today, diving on the floor, not thinking about it." But, just as it did against Utah, Ken- tucky found a way to keep it close, ral- lying from seven down to pull within 55-54 with 6 1/2 minutes left. Ohio State made a late push to go up seven and hit enough shots and free throws down the stretch to keep Kentucky at bay. The Best Rivalry in College Basketball With all due respect to all other ri- valries, fans of Kentucky and Louisville will tell you the UK-Louisville game is the best rivalry in all of sports. Given the tradition, there is a strong argument. Separated my a mere 80 miles, the two schools are the bluebloods of the Bluegrass State. They have combined for more than 4,000 wins, 11 on-court national champion- ships and 27 Final Fours, including a com- bined six since 2011. Countless All-Ameri- cans have put on uniforms for the two schools. UK owns an all-time record of 36-16 against the Cards, including a 10-2 mark since John Calipari took over the reins. Kentucky has not lost to the Cardinals at home since Calipari became the head coach. Two of UK's victories were when the stakes were at their highest in the NCAA Tournament. The first was in the 2012 Final Four in which Kentucky went on to win the national title. The second was in 2014 in the Sweet 16, as the Wildcats went on to the Final Four again. Only three times -- all UK victories -- in those 12 games since Calipari took over has the game been decided by more than 10 points. The two schools had a 24-year gap with- out a game following the 1959 meeting before the “Dream Game” revived the series in 1983. The two schools have played each other every year since. The highest-scoring game came in 1991 when UK won 103-89. Prior to Louisville’s win in 2016, Kentucky’s four-game winning streak in the series was the longest since UK won five straight from 1916-51. As is often the case in most games, the team that has won the battle of the shooting percentages has won 10 of the 12 games in the series under Calipari. In last season's game vs. Louisville -- a 71- 58 victory for the Wildcats -- Ashton Hagans recorded 11 points to go along with three steals and three assists. Immanuel Quickley played 18 minutes and contributed two points, two as- sists and two steals, and EJ Montgomery posted two points and two rebounds in 10 minutes. Blue-and-Red Connections In a rivalry that divides houses in the Com- monwealth of Kentucky, it should come of little surprise that the rivalry features connec- tions on both sides. Louisville Athletic Director Vince Tyra and Kentucky associate head coach Kenny Payne know the history of the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry better than most people. They're two of the teams most important figures and they've been on both sides of this historic rivalry. Payne is in his 10th season as a coach with Kentucky but was a letterman for the Cardi- nals from 1985-89. He scored 1,083 career points and was a freshman on the 1986 NCAA championship team. Payne averaged 14.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and shot 50.8% from the field as a senior. Tyra was a four-year letterwinner and two- time captain for the Wildcats baseball team from 1985-88. He started 37 games for UK during his career and started 37 career games on the mound. From Press Row 16 @KentuckyMBB 90785_BHLX_Cyberknife_8_375x10_875c.indd 110/13/16 1:17 PMNext >