Vanderbilt’s John Jenkins, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound junior guard from Hendersonville, Tenn., was named SEC Player of the Week after averaging 27 points, two rebounds, two assists and 1.5 steals in wins at Ole Miss and at Georgia. Jenkins scored 26 points at Ole Miss on only five shots, and was 8-11 from the floor in a 28-point effort against Georgia. For the week, Jenkins was 81.3 percent from the floor (13-16), 83.3 percent from three (10-12), and 85.7 percent from the free throw line (18-21). His free throws made (12) and attempted (15) against Ole Miss were new career highs, and his three steals against the Bulldogs set a new career-best. 

Florida’s Bradley Beal, a 6-foot-3, 207-pound freshman guard from St. Louis, Mo., was named SEC Freshman of the Week after averaging 17.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and three assists, two blocks and two steals in wins at Alabama and at Arkansas. Beal scored 14 points and added a team-best eight rebounds in a victory at Alabama. He followed up his strong performance against the Crimson Tide with a 21-point and nine rebound outing at Arkansas, his fourth 20-point game of the season.

Cats are 26-1 after beating Ole Miss 77-62. Cal’s comments after the game.

Q. Coach (Andy) Kennedy said this Kentucky team is the best team he’s seen as a head coach here in the league; what do you think?
COACH CALIPARI: I’ve got a pretty good team. You know, I haven’t been here that long, so I don’t know. I’ve been here three years and I’ve had three pretty good teams, and they are all different.

Let me say this: They played well. I mean, I’ve watched a lot of tape. They played well. They had guys make shots that had not made shots and they made them. They were physical going to the rim. They made baskets. They shot 47 percent against us, including 60 from the 3. People have not done that to us.
You know, I’m happy we out rebounded them because that’s a terrific rebounding team but they didn’t have many offensive rebounds because they didn’t miss many shots; didn’t have many opportunities to rebound. So I would say this to you: If they play like that to finish out, they are going to be fine.

Q. The stretch in the first half when you had Anthony (Davis) on the bench and you also had Michael (Kidd-Gilchrist) get in foul trouble, you’ve been talking about that’s a situation you thought your team could grow and respond and show you some things; is that a good learning experience for this team?
COACH CALIPARI: Well, we are going to watch tape and figure out what happened, because again, if Anthony is out, then who is going to block shots? Somebody in there better. Or Kyle better take charges.

Now I will say this: Kyle played great today. He was outstanding. And the reason we had a lead at halftime was because of Kyle Wiltjer, in the middle of the zone, he made shots, he defended well. He took a charge. I mean, he played well today. And it just shows you what I keep saying. We really probably have seven starters. He plays different. He definitely stretches the defense. He’s pretty good. So you know, it gave Kyle a chance to step up and play and he played well.

Q. When you look at the stat sheet and you see ten 3 pointers, do you say 3 pointers bailed us out today or 3 pointers is just as much a part of our offense?
COACH CALIPARI: You have got to understand, they were giving us that shot, versus letting us get near the rim. In the middle of the zone, they were not giving us the lob to Anthony Davis; they were back.

So you know, you talk about Jeremy Lin, he scored, scored, scored, because the other teams were saying, make him score and beat us, and he did. So then they came back and said, no, we are not letting him score, and he had 13 assists. That’s basically this. You just whatever they are giving you, you’ve got to take. I’ve got a terrific three point shooting team, I really do. But we just don’t take a whole lot of 3s because we don’t have to. I like 3s; I love dunks.

Q. You mentioned the physical play of Ole Miss, how do you think your kids responded to that? Because they kind of took it to you.
COACH CALIPARI: I thought we all did pretty well. I thought Terrence (Jones) played pretty well, a double double. I think we had a couple break downs, but I think Michael did fine, physically he got pushed once or twice. I thought Anthony did fine. I love the fact that Kyle was in that kind of game and held his own, knowing that he’s got to, to stay on the court. But it was you know; it was a good game for us that way.

Q. Coach, kind of mentioned it, but how much do you see foul trouble specifically with Anthony as a possible Achilles heel for you guys?
COACH CALIPARI: Well, I think he ended up with two fouls and I think he’s probably in minutes played, if you look through the country, I bet you he’s up in the high, least amount of fouls in minutes played.

So you know, it could happen. And it’s like any other team; if Fab Melo goes down and has foul trouble, Syracuse isn’t as good. You can go just right down the line. If Thomas Robinson is foul trouble, guess what, Kansas is not as good. The same with Ohio State; big man is out, they are not the same team. Obviously with Anthony not in, we are not the same, but we do have a talented team, even when he’s not on the floor.

Q. You were talking about teams don’t do this to you shooting the ball as well as they did. Did you have any lag on defense that allowed that?
COACH CALIPARI: I’ll watch the tape and I’ll figure out, you know, we are handed down. That means if they shot this high percentage, they got layups. Whether it be breakaways if you look at it, there must have been, you know, eight or nine layups, which is eight for eight. That doesn’t happen to us very often.

Q. Can you talk about Darius’s play today?
COACH CALIPARI: Well, I think I thought he played well. I think the dunk is one of the biggest plays I’ve seen him make. My point is, if you can do that, why don’t you do that all the time. Why isn’t that you?

You know, I look to Doron Lamb. You are playing well but when you go to the rim and get bumped, you don’t ever make that basket. That’s the differencebetween you being special, being that lottery pick that you should be, and not.

And you know, it’s the same thing with Terrence. Terrence, this is what you should be every game we play. It should be a double double. Without an excuse, I don’t want to hear it, you should be a double double, you’re a top five player.

And as we get closer to guys playing near their potential, that’s when this team will take off again.

Q. With today’s win, you guys are now 12 0 in the SEC. Have you talked at all about running the table and – finishing the year (undefeated in SEC play)?
COACH CALIPARI: No, we are just trying to get better. Here is what happens. There’s two things I try to do. One, we are staying in the moment, like right now. I wanted them to enjoy this game, because Mississippi played a great basketball game. Then, the second part of it is, we’ll watch tape, we’ll learn from this game and when this game is done, move on.

We are allowed to lose. This isn’t football. You don’t lose the national title in February. So you can lose. My point is, are we getting better. If we are getting better and we take an L, it’s okay.

The second thing is, you know, as a coach, when things are not going well, you try to take responsibility so they know, just go play. Even if you’re not great, play, I’ll take the hit.

And so those are some things we are just trying to do. This is a young team. We start three freshmen, Kyle Wiltjer is a fourth freshman, think about that. So four freshmen, two sophomores and Darius Miller who basically played today.

Q. What sort of lift did Kyle give you in the first half when Anthony did have the two fouls?
COACH CALIPARI: Well, what he did was he came in and he’s not afraid. He played aggressive. He made shots. He got in the middle of the zone. He kicked it out from there. He made a shot in there. He was terrific.

Q. Can you talk about Marquis’ play over the last seven game stretch? I know he’s averaging about six (assists) in the last six and had another 8 tonight.
COACH CALIPARI: He’s playing I told him, you missed a bunch of shots today. I don’t really care. That’s not why you’re here. You’re here to run this team, and as long as you run this team well, we’re happy.

You know, we have been really on him hard not to get layups blocked, so he went in there today and he shot it. The guy tipped it, but it was not blocked and it went to the rim and we tip-dunked it. You know, he’s getting us involved in offense.

The only thing he did in this game and he’s a freshman, he doesn’t know. They switched the big man on him. Well, the big man knows he can’t guard you. The only thing he can do is take a stab at the ball, so you don’t mess with the ball. You get it by him and clip him so he fouls you. He messed with it off the knee behind the back twice and he tipped it away from him. Those are all those teaching points that we need to stay on to just keep him moving at that next level.

Q. Andy Kennedy, saying he was a basketball Jones, compares your teams to the UNLV teams that almost went back to back in the ’90s, and he says the only thing that could stop you quite possibly is your own execution or foul trouble. What’s your take on that?
COACH CALIPARI: Or somebody making 15 3s against you, something like that could happen and you don’t get another chance to get them, it’s one and done. I think we have got a good team. I’m not satisfied. I’m happy, but I’m not satisfied at all. I just want us to keep climbing, and then we’ll see how good we can be. If at the end of the day, we’ll see if we have the best team. If we don’t, someone else is better than us.

Q. The home winning streak reached 50 games today; what is your reaction to that and how does it make you feel that you’ve been able to sustain that?
COACH CALIPARI: Well, it’s the first I’ve thought of it. It is 50? That’s a lot of games. I made an executive decision with the radio group outside, the 9,000 people that stay after, if we lose, I do not sign one ball. So you guys better cheer your guts out for us to win. If I walk in there after an L, no balls get signed. So now I’ll be out there signing 200 basketballs before I leave the building.

 Behind a dominating nine-strikeout performance from junior starter Taylor Rogers and a monster home run from senior third baseman Thomas McCarthy, the Kentucky baseball team posted a 10-4 win over Wofford in the season lidlifter, on a sunny Friday evening at Russell C. King Field.

 Kentucky (1-0) rode the stellar outing from Rogers, who tossed his 12th career quality start in the season debut. Rogers, a native of Littleton, Colo., tossed six innings, allowing one run on five hits, walking one and striking out a career-high nine. Walter Wijas relieved him in the seventh inning and tossed two strong innings with two strikeouts, before Wofford touched him for three runs without an out in the ninth inning. Chris Garrison came in to get one strikeout in the ninth before freshman southpaw A.J. Reed finished off the game with two outs. 

 Offensively, UK was paced by a 12-hit, 10-run attack, with balanced production throughout the lineup. Michael Williams, Lucas Witt and Cameron Flynn each recorded two hits, with both of Flynn’s knock coming as doubles off the outfield wall in rightfield. McCarthy, Flynn, Witt, Michael Williams, Luke Maile, J.T. Riddle and Matt Reida each recorded RBI.

 Wofford (0-1) ace starter Cash Collins (0-1) – who won eight games in 2011 – turned in a quality start, going 6.1 innings, allowing five hits and three unearned runs, walking one and striking out three. He was relieved by Anthony Rowland, who allowed one run in 0.2 innings. Wofford also used Dominick Del Monte, Gus White and Mason Bradley.

 The Wildcats got on the board in the top of the third inning, as Austin Cousino chopped a grounder to the hole between first and second, with second-baseman Josh Hyman ranging to his left and misplaying it for an error. With a 3-2 count on McCarthy, Cousino took off on the pitch, with McCarthy grounding down the third-base line. Cousino motored around second to third base, beating the throw from first after the routine grounder. With one out, Maile ripped a grounder up the middle allowing Cousino to score with the play ruled an error and Maile awarded an RBI. After Maile stole second base, Williams scored him with a single to leftfield, giving UK a 2-0 lead.

 Wofford cut the UK lead to 2-1 with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Eric Brenk led off with a single into leftfield, taking second on a slow grounder on the first base chalk. Brenk then stole third base on a ball in the dirt, scoring on Luke Feisal’s RBI groundout to shortstop.

 UK added to its lead with a run in the top of the fifth inning, as McCarthy reached on a throwing error by the second baseman, Hyman. After two outs moved McCarthy into scoring position, Riddle ripped his 11th career two-out RBI through the right side, scoring McCarthy for a 3-1 UK lead.

 Kentucky added a run to its lead with a mammoth home run from McCarthy, who connected on a two-strike, two-out offering for his first homer of the year, sending it screaming over the trees in deep leftfield.

The Wildcats added three runs in the top of the eighth inning, taking a 7-1 lead. After a groundout to start the frame, freshman pinch hitter Reed drew a four-pitch walk. Witt then smacked a single into the gap, with Reed thrown out at third base. Pinch hitter Flynn then scored Witt with a double off the top of the 15-foot wall in right-centerfield. Reida then scored Flynn with a two-out single up the middle and Reida plated on a double from Cousino into the right-centerfield gap, his first career hit.

 UK stretched its advantage in the ninth inning, as a walk from Maile, a single from Williams and an infield error hit by Riddle allowing the bases to be loaded with no outs. Reed then lofted a high sacrifice fly deep into centerfield, scoring Maile. With Witt at the plate, Williams scored on a wild pitch on a 2-2 offering, with Riddle scampering from first to third on the wild offering. Witt then grounded out to the left side, allowing Riddle to score on the RBI grounder.

 Wofford narrowed the UK lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, as David Roney doubled to centerfield and Clark Wise drew a walk. James Plaisted then followed with a first-pitch three-run homer.

 GAME NOTES: Freshmen Austin Cousino (CF) and Thomas Bernal (DH), and junior Zac Zellers (RF) made their first career starts … Bernal and Zellers each recorded their first career hits … Lucas Witt extended his hitting streak to a career-long seven games … J.T. Riddle notched his 12th career two-out RBI in the fifth inning … Luke Maile stole his ninth career base … Taylor Rogers tossed a quality start, his 12th career … Thomas McCarthy extended his team and career-long hitting streak to 11 games with a two-out homer … The two-out homer was McCarthy’s 21st career two-out RBI and his eighth homer in his two-year career … Freshman A.J. Reed made his collegiate debut as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning, drawing a four-pitch walk … Cameron Flynn made his UK debut and cranked a double off the top of the wall in right-centerfield … Matt Reida notched a two-out RBI single in the eighth inning, his third career two-out RBI … Reida stole his first base of the year in the eighth … Cousino got his first career hit in the eighth, a double to right centerfield … The win was Kentucky’s seventh season-opening win in the last eight years … Reed got his first career RBI with a sacrifice fly in the ninth … Witt’s two-hit game was his fourth career two-hit game … Chris Garrison made his first career UK appearance in the ninth frame … Reed made his first collegiate pitching appearance with the final two outs in the ninth.

Seventh Inning Rally Paces UK to Win over Pacific Riley and Joiner blast seventh-inning bombs to rally Wildcats to first win of the year

Trailing 2-0 heading into its final at-bat, sophomore Emily Jolly opened the inning by reaching on a fielding error by Pacific’s third baseman. UK’s starting pitcher, Riley, got a hold of a 1-1 offering and drilled the ball over the left-center wall to knot the score at two apiece. After the Blue and White suffered back-to-back outs, the freshman placed a ball just over the left field fence for the game-winning round tripper and her first career hit.

Riley earned the win in the circle to help UK improve to 1-1 on the season. Pacific begins the season with a loss.

All three of Kentucky’s hits in the game came in the form of extra bases. Sophomore Emily Gaines earned her first career hit with a double in the sixth inning to couple with the pair of long balls.

Kentucky will resume action with its second tilt vs. UCLA at 9 p.m. ET this evening.

After falling in order to open the top of the first, Kentucky yielded a two-out infield single in the home half of the inning. Riley, however, wasted little time in ending the threat by getting the third out with a strikeout.

The teams traded outs back and forth over the course of the next three innings with neither team generating offensive opportunities.

Pacific struck first with a pair of runs in the home half of the fourth to grab a 2-0 lead. The Tigers notched four consecutive singles to plate the scores.

Kentucky escaped further damage in the fifth as the Tigers put a pair of runners in scoring position with two outs in the inning. Senior Macy Allen teamed up with Joiner and Lauren Cumbess to score the first double-play of the season. Allen robbed Pacific of a hit and alertly tossed the ball toward home where a runner was attempting to tag up. Joiner corralled the ball and found Cumbess who completed the out with the tag.

Gaines broke open the no-hitter effort with her first career hit in the top of the sixth. The sophomore drilled a double into the right-center gap to open the frame. UK would leave her stranded, however, with three consecutive outs to end the frame.

– The No. 13/18 Kentucky Wildcats needed late-game heroics to complete a comeback effort and down Pacific, 3-2, in its first game on Friday afternoon in Los Angeles. UK smacked a pair of home runs off the bats of senior Rachel Riley and freshman Griffin Joiner to overcome a two-run deficit in the final frame for its first win of the season.

Kentucky baseball standouts Jerad Grundy, Taylor Rogers and Brian Adams have been honored and UK has been picked as an NCAA Tournament team, in the annual comprehensive Southeastern Conference preview, released on Wednesday by Baseball America.

Kentucky was picked as one of the nine SEC teams to make a 2012 NCAA Regional in the in-depth preview by Baseball America, joining Florida, South Carolina, Arkansas, LSU, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Mississippi and Mississippi State.

In a breakdown of the top-20 prospects in the SEC available for the 2012 MLB Draft, UK southpaws Grundy and Rogers were on the listing, with Grundy tabbed the 14th-best SEC prospect available in 2012 and Rogers as the 20th-best in the circuit in 2012.

Also included in the preview, Baseball America surveys the head coaches in the SEC during the preseason to complete a listing of the best tools in the league. Adams was tabbed as the best athlete in the talent-laden SEC.

“Kentucky has plenty of reasons for optimism,” John Manuel detailed in his Baseball America breakdown.  “From athletic 6-foot-4, 215-pound speedster OF Brian Adams, to LHPs Taylor Rogers and Jerad Grundy, both are solid prospects, with Rogers coming off an all-star turn in the Cape Cod League; to a veteran infield led by junior 1B/C Luke Maile and senior 3B Thomas McCarthy.”

Overall, Baseball America picked Florida catcher Mike Zunino – the defending SEC Player of the Year –and South Carolina southpaw Michael Roth as the preseason picks for Player and Pitcher of the Year.

 Grundy, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound lefty transfer from Miami (Fla.) and Heartland Community College, is poised to compete for a key role in the weekend pitching staff immediately. Rated as the 57th-best prospect available in the 2012 MLB Draft by Baseball America, Grundy was tabbed as the No. 14 SEC prospect. A two-time draft pick who was most recently selected by the Miami Marlins in the 42nd round of the 2011 MLB Draft, Grundy posted a 2-0 record and a 3.57 ERA while a freshman at Miami (Fla.). While at Heartland, Grundy posted 70 strikeouts in 62 innings, with a 7-3 record and a 3.77 ERA.

 A native of Littleton, Colo., Rogers is coming off a dominating summer in the Cape Cod League, where he was the starting and winning pitcher in the all-star game played at Fenway Park. Rogers has been in the UK weekend rotation since his collegiate opening weekend, making 27 starts in his two years, with 88 strikeouts in 160 innings. A 37th-round draft pick out of high school by the Baltimore Orioles, Rogers was named SEC Freshman of the Week after his collegiate debut, where he carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning against West Virginia in 2010. In his two-year career, Rogers owns 11 quality starts.

 A two-sport standout, Adams has been a member of the football wide receiver playing rotation since the 2010 season, catching eight passes over his two seasons. On the diamond, Adams owns staggering athletic ability, appearing in 59 games with 48 starts during his career, despite playing spring football both baseball seasons. In 2011 as UK’s primary starter in centerfield, Adams hit .288 (36-for-125) with eight doubles, one triple, two homers and 13 RBI, stealing nine bases, with his average in non-conference play leading the club. Adams came on late in his freshman season, making the final nine starts of the year while UK pushed for the SEC and NCAA Tournaments. In his 2010 season finale, Adams carried UK to a must-win at Georgia, batting 4-for-5 with a triple, grand slam and six RBI. One his most memorable moments came after starring in the UK football spring game in 2011 in the afternoon with seven catches, 121 yards and two touchdowns, before traveling across the street to start in centerfield for the Wildcats against No. 12 Arkansas in the evening.

 Kentucky opens its 2012 season on Friday, Feb. 17 at Spartanburg, S.C., facing off with Wofford in the season opener.

 Former Kentucky standout pitcher James Paxton was named by Baseball America as the fourth best prospect in the Seattle Mariners organization, it was announced.

A native of Ladner, British Columbia, Paxton was a member of the World Team in the Futures Game during the 2011 All-Star Weekend in Arizona. Baseball America’s staff tabbed him as the fourth-best prospect in the organization after being drafted by the Mariners in the fourth round of the 2010 MLB draft.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound southpaw checks in as the third-best pitcher for the Mariners minor league organization and the second best left-handed hurler, also ranking Paxton as having the best curveball in the organization.

“Paxton is the rare power lefthander who combines high strikeout totals with above-average groundball rates,” Baseball America’s Conor Glassey said in the prospect breakdown. “His fastball sits at 91-95 mph and peaks at 98. He can pitch up in the zone effectively but has just as much faith in his two-seam fastball as he does his four-seamer. He can use his plus 76-79 mph curveball to get ahead in counts or put away hitters. His changeup made a lot of progress after he switched to a circle grip in 2011, and should be at least solid in the future.”

The Delta Secondary School product pitched in 17 games (17 starts) between low A Clinton and double-A Jackson. Paxton ended his 2011 minor league season with a 6-3 record while registering a 2.37 ERA while holding opposing batters to a .204 average. Paxton, who starred at UK from 2007-09, also struck out 131 batters, while only issuing 43 walks in 95 innings on the bump. His two most notable performances came in double-A against the Carolina Mud Cats where Paxton went five innings allowing one earned run and fanning 11. The next performance came vs. the Huntsville Stars when Paxton pitched seven strong innings of four hit, one earned ball while striking out 10 and not issuing a walk.”

“Paxton has a number two starter ceiling,” Glassey detailed. “He could reach Seattle at some point in 2012.”

During his three-year UK career, Paxton appeared in 55 games with 24 starts, totaling an 11-5 record and a 4.91 ERA, striking out 168 in 148.1 innings. As UK’s Friday night starter in 2009, Paxton ranked third in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings (13.2), fanning 115 in 78.1 innings. In 13 starts in 2009, Paxton totaled a 5-3 record and a 5.86 ERA. With 115 punchouts, Paxton ranked fifth-best in the history of the Kentucky program, marking just the 10th player in program history to eclipse 100 strikeouts in a season.

Paxton, southpaw Chris Rusin (108 strikeouts in 94.1 IP)  and then-freshman right-hander Alex Meyer (80 strikeouts in 59.2 IP) teamed to help UK set a new season strikeout record, as the UK staff fanned 523 in 2009, breaking the previous record of 502 team strikeouts in 1995. Paxton’s ERA was inflated in 2009 courtesy of three outings that saw the lefty allow five or more runs. Without those three outings, Paxton totaled a 5-0 record and a 3.95 ERA in 10 starts, hurling 66 innings with 101 strikeouts and a .218 opponent batting average. Seven times in 2009, Paxton struck out 10 or more hitters in a game.

When UK womens play at home, you will find some of Cal’s guys watching.

The coaches are friends.

It also isn’t everyday when you have both teams undefeated in conference play this late in the year.

But, Bria Goss, who led UK to a blowout against Ole Miss with 19 points, believes that her Cats play tougher defense than the guys, and that she doesn’t believe the men could play as hard as they do on defense.

“Let me just say I know Marquis (Teague) personally,” says Bria Goss. “I don’t think he can do it.”

Samarie Walker, who is really coming into her own for Matthew Mitchell wasn’t as strong.

“I will just say it’s not easy and obviously it was tough for me when I came in to get used to this but, I mean, I don’t know if they could do it. I’m not taking anything away them but, I don’t know if they can do it.”

It was fun sharing those thoughts with Doron Lamb. The look he gave me when I told him was priceless.

“I don’t pay them no mind,” says Lamb. “We’d beat the girls team by like a hundred points if we played them in a game so, I’m not going to say nothing.”

Defense or not?

“Yeah, don’t matter.”

Doron was on a roll. He steps up his talking game by saying the men could spot the ladies by 20 and still beat them by 100.

To Doron the prankster. His roommate is Marquis Teague.

“Sometime at the beginning of the season I used to, when he was trying to go to sleep I would wet him when he’d sleep, but I stopped doing it because he would get mad, so I understand how he feels so I stopped wetting him a little bit.”

Part of him being a rookie?

“No, I do it to everybody. Everybody knows that they can’t sleep in front of me because I will wet you if you go to sleep in front of me so. It’s hard to take naps in front of me.”

Doron admits that some of the Cats wouldn’t want to room with him.

University of Kentucky men’s tennis senior Eric Quigley has been named the Co-Southeastern Conference Player of the Week after an impressive week of tennis where he broke the school record for career singles wins. 

“Eric Quigley is the type of student-athlete that our program is all about,” UK head coach Dennis Emery said. “We are really proud of what he has accomplished and excited about what our team can accomplish now that we are in dual-match season. We are condiment that our team can be very special this year and I know, as one of our team leaders and co-captains, that Eric is focused on helping our team achieve those goals.”

 

The senior entered the week needing two singles wins to become the all-time winningest singles player in school history. Quigley tied the record with win 144 against Indiana before breaking the record with a straight-sets win at No. 1 singles in the Eastern Kentucky match.

 

The native of Pewee Valley, Ky., currently holds a 147-44 career record, passing former UK All-American Paul Varga for first all-time in career singles wins at Kentucky. Varga, who played from 1982-85, ended his career with a 144-80 record and has held the title as the winningest singles player in school history for over 27 years.

 

Quigley, who is ranked fifth in the nation in singles, went 4-0 in singles play throughout the week, helping Kentucky defeat three top-60 ranked teams in No. 22 Tulsa, No. 29 Indiana and No. 57 North Carolina State. Quigley’s fourth win came against in-state foe Eastern Kentucky. In doubles action, Quigley went 2-1 with sophomore Panav Jha, helping Kentucky win the doubles point over Indiana and NC State.

 

So far this season, Quigley is 31-5 in singles action, including deep runs into some of the best tennis tournaments in the nation. During the fall, Quigley earned a berth into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championships where he won the singles consolation title. The win would punch the senior’s ticket to the United State Tennis Association/ITA National Indoor Championships, where he would defeat three ranked players before falling to a top-three ranked player in the semifinals. Quigley also advanced to the finals of the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Indoor Championships and the Southern Intercollegiate. Most recently, Quigley advanced to the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Coaches’ Indoor Championships. The UK star is 6-0 this year in dual matches.

 

As a team, the Wildcats are 6-0 this season in dual matches, including four wins over teams ranked in the top 60 in the nation. Kentucky’s 4-1 win over Tulsa on Saturday punched UK’s ticket to the National Indoor Team Championships for the third-consecutive season. The national team event will be held from Feb. 17-20 at the Boar’s Head Tennis Club in Charlottesville, Va.

 

UK will continue its dual-match slate Sunday with a doubleheader against Pepperdine at Noon and Abilene Christian at 6 p.m. ET. The Wildcats’ contest against Pepperdine will be at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex, while the dual match with Abilene Christian will be played at the Lexington Tennis Club.

Vanderbilt’s Jeffery Taylor, a 6-foot-7, 225-pound senior forward from Norrkoping, Sweden, was named SEC Player of the Week after averaging 20 points, 7.5 rebounds and two assists in wins over Tennessee and Middle Tennessee. The 6-foot-7 senior tallied 23 points and nine rebounds against Tennessee, and 17 points and six rebounds against MTSU, all while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 66.7 percent from three. Taylor, the league’s leading active scorer with 1,680 points, is third in the league in scoring in all games and leads the league in SEC-games only in three-point field goal percentage with a 68.2 percent mark. 

Florida’s Bradley Beal, a 6-foot-3, 207-pound freshman guard from St. Louis, Mo., was named SEC Freshman of the Week after averaging 14 points, three rebounds and 2.5 assists in wins at Ole Miss and against 18th-ranked Mississippi State. Beal scored nine points and added three assists and two boards against the Rebels. He followed up his performance at Ole Miss with a team-best 19 points, on six-of-nine shooting, including three-of-four from distance, against Mississippi State. The team-leading 19 points marked the sixth time this season that Beal has led the team in scoring.

A total of 47 University of Kentucky student-athletes were named to the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll for fall sports, the league office announced. Kentucky had the fourth-most honorees out of all 12 SEC schools.  

The football team led the way for Kentucky, posting 22 student-athletes on the honor roll, while the women’s soccer team earned 10 honorees. The men’s soccer team had eight student-athletes on the honor roll, while the volleyball team earned seven. 

The 2011 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll is based on grades from the 2011 spring, summer and fall terms. Kentucky also had 47 honorees on last year’s fall honor roll. 

Any student-athlete who participates in a Southeastern Conference championship sport or a student-athlete who participates in a sport listed on his/her institution’s NCAA Sports Sponsorship Form is eligible for nomination to the Academic Honor Roll. The following criteria should be followed: (1) A student-athlete must have a grade point average of 3.00 or above for either the preceding academic year (two semesters or three quarters) or have a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or above at the nominating institution. (2) If a student-athlete attends summer school, his/her grade point average during the summer academic term must be included in the calculation used to determine eligibility for the Academic Honor Roll. (3) Student-athletes eligible for the Honor Roll include those receiving an athletics scholarship, recipients of an athletics award (i.e., letter winner), and non-scholarship student-athletes who have been on a varsity team for two seasons. (4) Prior to being nominated, a student-athlete must have successfully completed 24 semester or 36 quarter hours of non-remedial academic credit toward a baccalaureate degree at the nominating institution. (5) The student-athlete must have been a member of a varsity team for the sport’s entire NCAA Championship segment. 

A complete list of UK honor roll recipients is below. 

Brian Adams                 Football            Business Management

Tyler Brause                 Football            Exercise Science

Steven Duff                   Football            Business Management

Antwane Glenn              Football            Community Communications and Leadership Development

Max Godby                   Football            Communication

Stuart Hines                  Football            Finance

Lionel Inanzala              Football            Kinesiology

Cody Jones                  Football            Special Education

Jake Lanefski                Football            Community Communications and Leadership Development

Jake Lewellen               Football            Agricultural Economics

Joe Mansour                 Football            Undergraduate Studies

Luke McDermott            Football            Integrated Strategic Communication

Craig McIntosh              Football            Exercise Science

Anthony Mosley            Football            Community Communications and Leadership Development

Billy Joe Murphy           Football            Social Studies Education

Morgan Newton             Football            Business Management

Toba Omotinugbon        Football            Business Management

Jacob Russell               Football            Marketing

Pat Simmons                Football            Chemistry

Sam Simpson               Football            Marketing

Matt Smith                     Football            Middle School Education

Taiedo Smith                 Football            Psychology

Pedro Andreoni                        Men’s Soccer   Business Management

Sam Brooks                  Men’s Soccer   Psychology

Craig Heard                  Men’s Soccer   Civil Engineering

Jacob Kemper              Men’s Soccer   Marketing

Josh Mulvany                Men’s Soccer   Psychology

Steven Perinovic           Men’s Soccer   Finance

Tyler Riggs                   Men’s Soccer   Mechanical Engineering

Cameron Wilder            Men’s Soccer   Marketing

Jenna Goblirsch            Women’s Soccer          Exercise Science

Natalie Horner               Women’s Soccer          Accounting

Kelsey Hunyadi                         Women’s Soccer          Political Science

Brooke Keyes              Women’s Soccer          Business Management

Kayla King                    Women’s Soccer          Agricultural Biotechnology

Danielle Krohn              Women’s Soccer          Elementary Education

Kacie Kumar                 Women’s Soccer          Marketing

Taylor Parker                Women’s Soccer          Linguistics

Alyssa Telang               Women’s Soccer          Exercise Science

Ashley VanLandingham Women’s Soccer          Human Nutrition

Ann Armes                    Volleyball         Nutrition and Food Science

Ashley Frazier               Volleyball         Marketing

Gretchen Giesler           Volleyball         Mechanical Engineering

Christine Hartmann         Volleyball         Integrated Strategic Communication

Jessi Greenberg           Volleyball         Marketing/Integrated Strategic Communication

Elizabeth Koberstein     Volleyball         Nursing

Becky Pavan                Volleyball         Mathematics