The numbers game from UK’s win over Duquesne

Anthony Crawford

No. 2 UK avoided any drop-off returning to Rupp Arena following a successful trip to New York City, beating the Duquesne Dukes 93-59 Sunday night.

Here’s what the numbers say about the Cats’ victory:

5-for-8: What freshman De’Aaron Fox finished from the free-throw line in the game. The three misses were uncharacteristic of him, as he started the season going 21-for-21 from the line in UK’s first three games. It probably doesn’t means much going forward as he was bound to miss one eventually. John Calipari joked that the misses were because of Fox’s new hairdo, but it also could have easily been a body-switch taking place between him and Isaiah Briscoe. Briscoe, who rarely made free-throws last season, was a perfect 5-for-5 from the line.

11-2: The run UK closed the first half with. The game was not in question at that point, but the run did break up some chippy play from the Dukes. The run followed a hard foul on Briscoe that earned a Duquesne player a Flagrant 1 foul, and put the game out of reach to start the second half.

+17: UK finished the game with a 49-32 advantage over the Dukes on the boards. The team has struggled on the glass to start the season, coming off a game against Michigan State where the Cats were out-rebounded despite having a noticeable size-advantage. The double-digit rebounding margin was the first time UK had reached that level of dominance on the glass this season, and only second time winning the battle of the boards overall. After this game, UK now sits a +13 margin overall this season.

13: The point total for Mychal Mulder off the bench, giving him a new career-high as he continues to try to make a case for himself to get consistent minutes this year. He was the first guard off the bench for a change instead of Dominique Hawkins, and he showed that he deserves some consideration to stay in that spot as he didn’t hesitate in firing from deep and finished 3-for-8 from three. He shot 5-for-11 from the floor and added four rebounds, one assist and one block in 20 minutes of play. He also started out his night with an impressive alley-oop slam off a lob from Briscoe, so that’s fun too.

122: The number of wins Calipari has in Rupp Arena, tying him with Joe B. Hall for the lead. His record moves to 122-4 at home while at UK, something he credited to the great fanbase and being able to “outlast” all the other UK coaches. He’ll have a chance to take the all-time lead on Wednesday when the Cats play Cleveland State. 

21,327: The attendance for tonight’s game at Rupp Arena, which is ridiculous when considering the cold weather and the late start for the game. As Calipari always says, “You people are crazy.”