Wildcats point guard Marquis Teague has shown steady improvement, cutting down on his turnovers and making strides at the defensive end.

"The biggest thing with Marquis Teague that he's doing better is defending and rebounding," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "You all want to look at his offense. He's defending and rebounding. So he's not stopping. He's going in and getting balls."

After a rough start, Teague’s more at ease of late in running the ship and serving as a distributor.

"On a team like this, that's what you have to do," Teague said. "You've got to pick and choose when to go. People would like to come down and shoot the ball, but if you play for a team like this, you've got to find guys. You've got Doron Lamb, Michael (Kidd-) Gilchrist, Terrence Jones. You've got to feed them guys. They all can score very easy and very well."

Kentucky is on pace to finish the season with six players averaging double figures in scoring.

Doron Lamb averages 13.7 points, followed by forwards Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Anthony Davis at 13.2 each, forward Terrence Jones at 11.6, Darius Miller at 10.3 and point guard Marquis Teague at exactly 10 a game. No team in Kentucky’s rich history has finished a season with six players averaging in double digits.

“We have seven players who have taken 100 shots or more,” Wildcats coach John Calipari said. “Think about that. In most cases, you have teams that their three leading scorers take 250 to 300 shots and the other guys are taking 50 shots, 70 shots. We have seven guys that take 100 shots. That means we have an unselfish team that’ll pass the ball to each other.”

Kentucky held Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to seven points in their 57-44 win over Georgia.

“We put our best defender on him," said John Calipari. "We chased him. But he's good. I mean, he's really good. But this is a team where he knows, normally he can get by the guy guarding him and get something to the rim. Here, he's got 6-10 guys down in there and it's just a little bit tougher.”

Caldwell-Pope is averaging 16.5 points per 36 minutes in his freshman season, shooting a TS% of 52.3%.

Nerlens Noel has decided to remain in the Class of 2013 instead of enrolling in college this fall. Noel is the top center in the class of 2013 and in the top-3 overall.

“It was a possibility but I’ve been coming to the decision that… I’ll be staying 2013,” Noel said. “I’m just staying to get stronger. I think it’s going to be a good summer, a good school year. I tried to stay stress-free, just really focused on working hard academically, in the weight room and on the court and just leaving that recruiting stuff for when I got free time.”

Noel is being targeted by Syracuse, UConn, Kentucky, Louisville and Georgetown.

“The type of program thats fits me is probably up-tempo, that likes to move the ball and just go,” Noel said. “But then again I think I can play in a good offense running system that gets their big men the ball, high and low.”

When asked Monday about Kentucky’s highly rated defense refuting the perception that he’s more a recruiter of talent than a wily tactician, Kentucky coach John Calipari used Phil Jackson as an example of good coaching: Uniting star players in a collective effort.

Coincidentally or not, the standard would apply to Calipari, who has recruited three straight classes of prospects to Kentucky rated No. 1 in the nation.

"To get a mediocre group to come together and be a good team, there's a bunch of coaches (who can do that)," Calipari said. "To get all-stars, like Phil Jackson, to play the triangle offense and defend together and communicate together and have a 'Breakfast Club' together, that's the challenge."

Wildcats forward Terrence Jones believes that clearing his mind will go a long way toward making him more productive on the court.

"I'm just not thinking as much," Jones said after scoring 13 points, grabbing 9 rebounds, and blocking a career-high five shots in a win over Arkansas on Tuesday night.

Jones vowed to be "less conscious" about his hand, a reference to the finger he dislocated against Chattanooga on Dec. 17.

Asked if the finger is completely healed, Jones said, "Nah, it's not. But I don't use it as an excuse. I just play."

Anthony Davis blocked seven shots, bringing his single-season total to 89 and breaking a school record, in an 86-63 win against Arkansas on Tuesday.

UKAthletics.com broke down play-by-play data prior to Kentucky’s win over Arkansas and found the Wildcats gained possession on 57.3 percent of Davis’ blocks.

Even more impressively, 63 of Davis' 82 blocks (76.83 percent) stayed in bounds.

Kentucky has drawn only nine charging calls this season.

Wildcats coach John Calipari said he'd rather Kentucky concentrate on blocking the opponents' shots rather than cede to referees a block/charge decision.

"Because (a blocked shot) leads to a fast break," he said. "A couple guys are told to take charges. The rest of you, block shots. So it's a little bit by design."

Thomas Robinson of Kansas is the leader in the Player of the Year straw poll released by ESPN. Robinson received 25 first place votes and 98 total points.

Jared Sullinger of Ohio State received 13 first place votes and 73 total points.

Doug McDermott of Creighton received 10 first place votes and 69 total points.

Anthony Davis of Kentucky and John Jenkins of Vanderbilt received the other two first place votes. Davis had 12 points in total.

Harrison Barnes of North Carolina was ranked fifth with 11 points, followed by Kevin Jones (West Virginia), Perry Jones III (Baylor), Jenkins, Draymond Green (Michigan State), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Kentucky), Jeremy Lamb (UConn), Damian Lillard (Weber State), Jorge Gutierrez (Cal), Julian Mavunga (Miami Ohio), Mike Scott (Virginia), Marcus Demon (Missouri) and Kendall Marshall (North Carolina).

Kuran Iverson, a 6-foot-8 small forward, is one of the top recruits of the 2013 recruiting class.

Kentucky and Connecticut appear to have separated themselves at the top of Iverson's list.