Monk Unfazed by Big Stage in Record-Setting Performance

The lights couldn’t have been much brighter.

It was two of the marquee names in the sport – Kentucky and North Carolina – facing off. The setting was a beautiful new arena in Las Vegas. The audience was national.

Malik Monk, meanwhile, was playing like he was in the driveway with a few friends.

“Like a pick-up game, that’s what it felt like to me,” Monk said.

Pickup games featuring Monk are something to behold.

The freshman phenom had shown a penchant for scoring prior to Saturday, what with his six 20-point games in his first 10 college outings. His outing against the No. 7/6 Tar Heels (10-2) was a downright explosion. Monk poured in 47 points – the single-game freshman record at UK and the sixth most in the program’s illustrious history, tying him with all-time leading scorer Dan Issel’s game against Alabama in 1970.

“Definitely I was in the flow, so I wasn’t nervous at all,” Monk said. “I knew I was going to get my shot off how I wanted to, and I was able to knock it down.”

It would have been one thing for Monk to do what he did in a blowout win over an overmatched opponent, but Monk’s record-setting performance came in a high-stakes, nip-and-tuck affair. Whenever UK punched – and more often than not it was Monk throwing the haymakers – UNC had a counter. The result was a 103-100 classic in which the No. 6/7 Wildcats (10-1) emerged the victors.

“It’s not just that he had a bunch of baskets,” John Calipari said. “He made like daggers that gave us a chance.”

And with the way Monk was feeling it, it’s no wonder he did some freelancing en route to hitting his last dagger.

UK had seemed to grab some small measure of control of the game when Bam Adebayo put in a ferocious dunk with 5:08 to go to give UK a 93-86 lead. The Tar Heels, though, weren’t about to go gently, rallying to take a 98-95 with a furious 12-2 run. Of course, Monk tied it with his seventh 3-pointer, but Justin Jackson answered with the go-ahead basket.

That’s where Monk’s ad-libbing came in.

The instructions were clear with the Cats holding the ball in the final minute down two points. Coach Cal wanted UK to use its overwhelming athleticism and drive to the basket.

“But I was hot, so I didn’t,” Monk said.

Instead, Monk rose for a 3-pointer. Of course, he buried it. 

“I said, great shot, kid, way to shoot that ball,” Calipari said.

UK would go on to get the stop it needed on the ensuing possession – a rarity on Saturday – and De’Aaron Fox buried a free throw to cap off his 24-point, 10-assist and a victory in an instant classic.

“If you watched that game, if you never liked basketball, you’re going to start liking basketball,” Calipari said. “Like, wow, if that’s what it is, I’m going to watch that.”

In games like this one, it’s normally the veteran team that comes up with the kind of plays UK made to win. The freshman-laden Cats, however, managed to overcome a Tar Heel team that fields two seniors and two juniors in its starting lineup.

“As soon as we walked to the court,” Monk said. “It was crazy. It was a packed house; everybody was going crazy. But we executed well and we were able to come out with the win.”

Coach Cal, no doubt, was happy about that. It didn’t change his priorities though.

“Now my thing is: Where are we going to be one month from now?” Calipari said. “Now we’ve got another war in three or four days after we traveled half a country away to go back home and play Louisville on the road, which is going to be another war.”

War? To Monk, it’ll just be another game of pickup.