By the Numbers: UK vs. Maryland
November 10, 2012
By Les Johns | @KernelJohns
28
Maryland dominated the glass, grabbing 28 offensive rebounds and converting the rebounds to 19 second-chance points.
“They set an NCAA record of offensive rebounds,” UK head coach John Calipari jokingly said after the game. “I’d never seen anything like it. I don’t even know if they should have run a play.
“Just come down and shoot it, rebound it, shoot it, rebound it and then score.”
Maryland’s 7-foot-1 sophomore center, Alex Len, led the Terrapins with 12 rebounds, and 6-foot-8 freshman forward Charles Mitchell added 10.
19
While junior (former walk-on) guard Jarrod Polson captured the nation’s attention with his surprisingly solid play Friday night, it was sophomore forward Kyle Wiltjer who quietly led the Cats in scoring. Wiltjer scored 19 points in 24 minutes of play, hitting 4-of-6 from behind the arc.
“I really focused in practice this week. I shot the ball bad in the last couple games, so I just tried to get in the gym and work on my shot as much as possible, getting game-like shots,” Wiltjer said. “We had a good walk-through this morning and I shot the ball well, and Coach always says if we have a good shoot-around we’re going to have a good game, so I just went in there confident and kept shooting.”
$1 million
Calipari and the Cats presented the American Red Cross with a check for $1 million before the game Friday at the Barclays Center. This donation, which was designated to help the relief efforts for those affected by Superstorm Sandy, was raised by the team during a telethon Wednesday evening.
“If you think about it, our state is one of the poorest states. I just can’t thank the people in this state enough for how they give money and of their time,” Calipari said Thursday. “I told everybody we are not rebuilding Queens or Staten Island, you are keeping people alive.
“You are feeding them, you are housing them, you are giving the shelter, you are giving them clothes, you are giving them medicine and you are giving them water. That is what you are doing, and that is all we were trying to do. Pretty good though.”
