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Reed Sheppard tallied five more steals Wednesday night.
That puts him five steps closer to a Kentucky basketball record.
Following UK’s heartbreaking, 75-74 loss to LSU, the Wildcats freshman is now up to 70 steals on the season with five more games to play before tournament time begins. He’s also on pace to surpass an all-time program mark that was set by a UK Hall of Famer just nine months after Kentucky’s reigning Mr. Basketball was born.
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Sheppard rocketed from 12th to No. 5 overall on Kentucky’s single-season steals list with Wednesday’s performance, passing up such names as Kyle Macy, Tony Delk, John Wall and Ron Mercer on a single night. He’s now only 17 steals behind Rajon Rondo, who holds the Wildcats’ record with 87, set when he was a freshman 19 years ago.
Rondo accomplished his mark in 34 games during the 2004-05 season, an average of 2.56 steals per game, which also stands as a Kentucky record. Sheppard has achieved his current total in 26 games, an average of 2.69 steals per game.
If Sheppard simply stays level at his current season rate, he would go into the SEC Tournament with a total of 83 steals, just four behind Rondo with at least two more postseason games to play. Even the absolute-worst-case scenario of an opening loss in the league tourney and then a first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament would give him enough games — at his current rate — to squeak past Rondo’s record. If the Cats play just 33 games and Sheppard plays up to his average, he’d end up with 88 steals — one better than Rondo’s tally 19 years ago.
Obviously, the Wildcats have much higher hopes than that. And Sheppard’s defensive numbers have only gotten better recently. On Wednesday night, he became the first player in program history to record at least five steals in three consecutive games, according to UK statistician Corey Price. Steals have been an official stat since 1979.
