Richards Facing New Responsibility as Breakout Continues
The game was going exactly as Missouri wanted…almost.
The pace was slow. The play was physical. Kentucky’s offensive rhythm was nonexistent.
But then there was Nick Richards.
Coming off one of the best performances of his college career in an overtime win over Louisville, Richards one-upped himself in the Wildcats’ Southeastern Conference opener. Richards helped No. 17/14 Kentucky (10-3, 1-0 SEC) withstand a sputtering start and take down Missouri (8-5, 0-1 SEC) in Rupp Arena, 71-59.
“I think it was vital for us to come out and get a win just to show the country we’re not just going to come out and play Louisville just because we need to,” Richards said. “We’re going to come out here and try to get better and get another win.”
No Wildcat other than Richards scored until the 10:05 mark of the first half, as the junior big man tallied UK’s first nine points. By halftime, he had 17 points, eight rebounds and three blocks en route to finishing with 21 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. The performance was his second straight double-double and seventh in 13 games this season after he had just one in his first two years at UK.
“I felt pretty confident out there,” Richards said. “My teammates, they put me in the right positions, right spots for me to be successful on the court. All praise goes to them. They’re the ones who are out there trying to get me better, trying to help me play confident.”
Richards’ scoring came from all over, ranging from alley-oops to jump hooks all the way to mid-range jumpers.
“We take hundreds of those shots every day in practice, especially with workouts with my coaches,” Richards said. “It’s a shot that I’m comfortable taking now. I’m just trying to get better at it every day, hopefully extend it to the 3-point line.”
Richards did foul out of the game even though he didn’t have a foul in the first half, which limited his production after halftime. Included in those five fouls was a double technical whistled on him and Missouri’s Jeremiah Tilmon.
“I kind of let myself get into a little bit of a battle with the other players,” Richards said. “That wasn’t really smart of me to go back and forth with them. I should have just kept on playing my game. I could have had more points and more rebounds. I could have helped my team get even a bigger lead.”
It was another coachable moment for Richards, as John Calipari expects Richards to see opponents attack him in light of the way he has played lately.
“So if I’m watching our game and I’m a coach of another team, would you stick in a bad player and say grab his shorts, push him a little bit?” Calipari said. “Wouldn’t you? You’d put in a bad player and push him and shove him, and he pushes back and double technicals, and all of a sudden he’ll get out of the game. He doesn’t have the composure because he’s never been this guy. Now he’s this guy, you have a different responsibility.”
That responsibility is a far cry from the last two years, when Richards was just trying to contribute something on a regular basis. Now, with the way he’s playing, Richards has a chance to be the best player on the floor every time he suits up. Hard work pays off, which is exactly why Richards needs to continue to put it in.
“Just every day in practice all the workouts I’ve been through,” Richards said. “Eventually it’s going to show up on the court and you can see that it’s coming through for us right now. My coaches told me not to get arrogant with it, don’t get selfish, just be smart with it, be humble with it and everything will just fall through.”
@nickrichards_ w/ some next-level stuff ??????
A post shared by Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@kentuckymbb) on Jan 6, 2020 at 2:42pm PST
