Karl-Anthony Towns scored all 12 of his points in the first half of UK’s 70-55 win over Alabama. (Barry Westerman, UK Athletics)
It was yet another double-digit win.Kentucky built a double-digit lead in the first eight minutes against Alabama, but John Calipari didn’t sound afterward like he is coaching the nation’s lone unbeaten team.”We’re just, we’re reverting, doing some things that are just absolute sins in this program,” Calipari said.Coach Cal went on to talk about the Wildcats too often going for rebounds with one hand. On a night when UK shot a season-high 58.5 percent and committed just five turnovers, Calipari still found reason to say the Cats were “just a little bit off.” Considering UK has blitzed through the first three months of the season and has trailed only 103:43 of a possible 855 minutes after its 70-55 win over Alabama on Saturday night, that might sound like nitpicking.Well, that’s kind of the point.”I may be wanting these guys to be perfect on every possession, but you know what?” Calipari said. “I just think we have to keep that standard high of what we’ll accept and what we’re not accepting.”The perfection that everyone else is talking about – 40-0 – isn’t the perfection Calipari and the Cats have in mind. If it happens along the way so be it, but each step in the journey is the focus.”Right now, you should just try to find out how good you can be,” Calipari said. “And that’s all we’re doing.”Take Karl-Anthony Towns as an example.The freshman wasn’t subtle about showing his potential in the first half against the Crimson Tide, scoring in the post on each of UK’s first two possession en route to 12 points. But for the second consecutive game, Towns took a step back in the second half. He wouldn’t score again after dealing with foul trouble.”Gotta keep playing, play through a lot of things that happen in the second half and no excuses,” Towns said. “Just keep playing through what the game is giving me in the second half. I just gotta keep making sure that I play the game (like) I played the game in the first half.”Anywhere else, Towns’ line of 12 points in 15 minutes is solid. At UK, it’s merely a tease of what he should be all the time.”We’re trying to get them to be confident and we did some stuff with Karl that I think helped him, but that second half is just like, come on now,” Calipari said. “No way. This should have been a 25 and 8 night for him, it really should have.”Towns has remained near the top of NBA Draft boards throughout, but he admits adjusting to the physicality of the college game has been more difficult than he expected. He’s learning.”That’s the biggest thing for me,” Towns said. “Just keep being physical and keep playing my game. Now sometimes I get too aggressive and then I pick up fouls, but I’m just trying to play the game, trying to make sure I control the paint at all costs, defensively and offensively. It’s a process.”Though the process is far from over, Saturday was a step forward for Towns and his fellow post players.Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein each made all four of their field-goal tries to tie for the team lead with 12 points, while Dakari Johnson got to the free-throw line eight times and chipped in six points. Add in Marcus Lee’s eight points and UK’s bigs combined for 38 points on 13-of-16 shooting.”Today our post play was good, which is why we shot over 50 percent,” Calipari said. “Because now it opens up everything else.”Considering UK’s size, the Cats projected to have that kind of post presence all season, but that hasn’t been the case in recent weeks. Opponents began to worry less about the interior with Devin Booker, Aaron Harrison and Tyler Ulis hitting from the outside and the post players were unable to make them pay.They changed that against Alabama.”You either got to double team or you got to dig, you got to do something or the guy’s going to score,” Calipari said. “That’s what Karl and Dakari and Willie should be able to do. Even in a physical game they should be able to do that.”If they do, UK’s ceiling becomes even higher. That’s a frightening proposition.”Like I said, this team, the question is, how good can we be,” Calipari said. “And I don’t know yet. I’m trying to get guys to go to that next level. I’m prodding and pushing and screaming and yelling, go, because I really do want to see how good can we really be.”