By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
One month into the season, Kentucky coach Mark Pope says the Wildcats haven’t reached their peak.
“We are trying to learn from every game,” Pope said. “The last two games (Western Kentucky and Georgia State) have been great learning games for us. The data we are bringing in is so good and our guys are experiencing things together really good.”
Kentucky (7-0) is off to its best start in eight years and ranked No. 4 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday. The Wildcats will attempt the keep the perfect record intact this week with a road game at Clemson in the second installment of the ACC/SEC Challenge on Tuesday night, followed by a neutral-site encounter against No. 7 Gonzaga Saturday night in Seattle.
“We are excited about it,” Pope said. “We will learn more about our team — our job is to go win.”

The players also are looking forward to the challenge against Clemson, which is off to a 7-1 start and is unbeaten in five home games this season. Kentucky hasn’t played the Tigers since meeting back-to-back in the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons, splitting a pair of games early in the season.
“It’s a test,” Kentucky guard Jaxson Robinson said. “We haven’t really had our first real road game yet and I think everybody is excited to get out to Clemson and just compete. We know they’re a tough, physical team, so we’re excited to get out there and hopefully win the ballgame.”
Kentucky defeated 77-72 Duke in a neutral-site encounter on Nov. 12 in the State Farm Champions Classic in Atlanta. This time, forward Amari Williams expects things to be different.
“There will be a lot of noise against us, but it’s going to be like that all season when we go into SEC play,” Williams said Monday. “It’s a good test to go into someone else’s arena.”
Poll position
Kentucky is one of three SEC teams ranked in the top 5 this week. Kansas (7-0) is No. 1, followed by Auburn (7-0), Tennessee (7-0), Kentucky (7-0) and Marquette (8-0).
Overall, eight SEC teams are ranked in the Top 25. Alabama (6-2) is No. 10, Florida (8-0) is 13th, Oklahoma (7-0) is 21st, followed by Texas A&M (6-2) is ranked No. 22 and Ole Miss (6-1) is No. 23 in the rankings.
UConn (5-3) took the biggest fall in the weekly poll and fell 23 spots to No. 25 after dropping three games in the Maui Classic last week.
Chasing a milestone
Kentucky guard Kerr Kriisa needs just three points to reach 1,000 for his career. During the final minutes of Kentucky’s win over Georgia State Friday night, Lamont Butler reminded Pope late in the game that Kriisa needed three more points to reach the elusive mark.
“I knew he needed three more,” Butler said. “It was something we talked about. He said he needed 12 points before the game and, once he had nine, I was like, ‘coach he can get three more’. I wanted to see him get one, but he didn’t.”
Kriiisa missed three rushed 3-pointers inside the last minute of the game.
Pope was aware and added Kriisa “is such a piece of galvanizing our team.”
“He’s super special,” the Kentucky coach said. “I’m so grateful he’s here, he’s helping transform this team into something special. He’s brilliant.”
Fast and efficient
Kentucky leads the nation in scoring (96.7 points per game), is No. 2 in assists per game with 21.2 and is 12th with an average of 11.1 3-pointers per outing.
Known as a fast-paced team, the Wildcats also are No. 1 in fast-break points with 23 per game.
“We have been at 25 percent almost at 1.4 points per possession in transition which is insanely good,” Pope said. “Our guys are capable. We are not a massive turnover-forcing team but we have guys that can get live ball steals. Lamont (Butler) can drive and grab live ball steals and Otega (Oweh) can grab live ball steals.
“We have guys that can go up and grab a rebound and push our fives and fours and get pushed in transition and all of those things really help. It’s an important part of who we are.”
Gametracker: Kentucky at Clemson, 9:30 p.m., Tuesday. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Radio Network.