UNCG the First Test in a December Full of Them
With Kentucky set to host UNC Greensboro on Saturday, Kenny Payne naturally has been watching plenty of film on the Spartans.
Based on what he’s seen, Payne believes he can save the Selection Committee a little time.
“To be honest with you, I believe just from watching the games that I watched, we’re playing an NCAA team,” Payne said on Friday as he filled in for John Calipari at Kentucky’s pregame media availability. “We’re playing a tournament team that are very capable of beating us.”
UNCG will bring a 7-1 record into Rupp Arena on Saturday at 1 p.m., its only loss coming on the road to LSU. The Spartans field an experienced roster, with their top three scorers – Francis Alonso (19.3 points per game), Isaiah Miller (13.9) and Kyrin Galloway (13.9) – all on last year’s squad that nearly upset Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament first round a year ago.
Needless to say, No. 10/9 Kentucky (6-1) will be tested.
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| Kentucky vs. UNC Greensboro | ||
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Fri., Nov. 28 – 8:30 p.m. ET |
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| Coverage | ||
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TV: ESPN2 |
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| UK | 2018-19 Stats | UNCG |
| 85.3 | PPG | 87.6 |
| 71.0 | Opp PPG | 64.8 |
| .497 | FG% | .535 |
| .433 | Opp FG% | .424 |
| 41.0 | RPG | 34.8 |
| .348 | 3PT FG% | .374 |
| .403 | Opp 3PT FG% | .373 |
| .757 | FT% | .690 |
| 14.4 | APG | 16.0 |
| 6.3 | SPG | 9.0 |
| 5.4 | BPG | 4.1 |
“They are really good at shooting the ball,” Payne said. “They’re really good at passing the ball. And a true test of being an excellent offensive team is a good passing team. They are a good passing team. Their guard play is really good. Again, we’re playing an NCAA Tournament team.”
The statistics back up Payne’s evaluation of the Spartans’ shooting. UNCG is fourth in the country in field-goal shooting, hitting 53.5 percent of its tries so far this season. The Spartans are especially strong inside the arc, where they are making 63.5 percent of their 2-point tries.
“We will have to play with the same intensity that we played this last game with and be energetic and athletic and focused on defense for long stretches because they don’t make many mistakes,” Payne said.
That will serve as an excellent barometer for a team working toward better focus, particularly on defense. As Payne mentioned, UK made strides its last time out when the Wildcats held Monmouth to 44 points and 27.6-percent shooting, both season best totals.
“I think competing the whole possession,” Immanuel Quickley said when he was asked to account for the improvement. “Sometimes in the beginning of the season we would stop, whether it was the young guys or the veteran guys. Playing the whole possession for the 30 seconds of the shot clock is really getting better for us, I think.”
That’s no accident, as Coach Cal has, for lack of a better word, tweaked his approach to coaching defense with this team. The Cats are doing plenty of reps in Cal’s Perfect Stop drill, which requires them to defend for the entirety of the 30-second shot clock, while also responding to Calipari’s new challenge to string three defensive stops together for what he is calling a “kill.”
“I think it just helps us to lock in,” Quickley said. “When we got two stops in a row, everybody – especially everybody on the floor – is saying, ‘Get this last stop. Let’s get this kill.’ Getting three stops in a row can translate to momentum on offense and ultimately what gives you runs and that’s how you win games.”
In December, winning games will become a bit tougher for UK. The month features neutral site games against Seton Hall and North Carolina, a road game at Louisville and a home game against Utah, but it all starts Saturday against a quality UNCG squad.
“Greensboro is really good, by the way, had LSU on the ropes at LSU,” Calipari said. “I mean they’re— this will be a hard game for us. And so we need it going into this stretch of games that we have coming up, which are all going to be hard games.”
Kentucky Tightens up Defense in Rout of Monmouth
John Calipari had few complaints about No. 10/9 Kentucky’s domination of Monmouth.
The Wildcats not only shot the ball well, they did so from long range for a change. Calipari was even more pleased by his team’s defensive performance in its most complete victory this season.
Tyler Herro scored 16 points, Keldon Johnson added 15 and Kentucky cruised past Monmouth 90-44 on Wednesday night for its sixth straight victory.
The Wildcats (6-1) never trailed, though the winless Hawks (0-8) used a 12-5 spurt to get within 22-18. Kentucky took charge from there, closing the first half on a 22-4 run over 8:46 for a 44-22 halftime lead and stretching the lead to as many as 47 with 2:40 remaining.
UK got plenty of opportunities behind a defense that held Monmouth to 27.6-percent shooting, a season low for field-goal defense, including 12.5 percent from long range. Kentucky also allowed its fewest points this season.
“I told them, this is the best we’ve played,” Calipari said, “and it’s because of what we did defensively. … When you guard and you build confidence in yourself, you’re going to be aggressive on offense, too.”
Just ask Herro.
The freshman guard was strong on both ends, making 6 of 10 attempts to pace Kentucky’s 56.6-percent shooting, including 64.0 percent in the second half. Herro added eight rebounds and matched a career high with five steals. The Wildcats scored 28 points off 16 turnovers by the Hawks.
Asked about his defense, Herro said, “I’ve been taking a lot of pride in it personally. Obviously, as a team we’ve got to get better, but the coaches have been telling me if I can defend, it’s going to be hard to keep me off the floor.”
Just as impressive was Kentucky’s season-best 10-of-24 shooting from behind the arc. After insisting this was the best 3-point shooting team he’s had in Lexington, Calipari saw his team start to back it up.
“When you have a team like this, they should shoot 18 to 24 3s,” Calipari said.
Quade Green had a career-best four 3-pointers for 14 points, and Reid Travis scored 13 for the Wildcats.
Ray Salnave had 14 points for Monmouth, which shot just 2 of 16 from behind the arc.
• Kentucky held Monmouth to just 44 points, a season best for the Wildcats. UK is now 64-0 under Calipari when limiting the opponent to 55 or fewer points. The Wildcats are also 156-7 (.957) when limiting opponents to 63 points or fewer during Calipari’s tutelage.
• Monmouth’s 27.6-percent shooting is also a season best for the Wildcats
• Kentucky won the rebounding battle 40-25, the sixth straight game winning the glass. UK has a nation-best plus-16.9 rebounding margin through the first seven games of the season
• UK posted its best field-goal percentage (.566) and free-throw percentage (.870) of the season
• The Wildcats’ 10 3-pointers are the most of the season
• UK is now 229-38 under John Calipari against unranked competition.
• Kentucky is now 9-5 as the AP No. 10-ranked team under Calipari.
• UK improved to 239-5 (.980) under Calipari when leading by at least 10 points at any point in the game
Beware of UNC Greensboro
The name UNC Greensboro may not jump off the schedule like other traditional opponents will this season, but Kentucky would be wise to heed the warning of its head coach when preparing for UNC Greensboro. The Spartans, as John Calipari has said multiple times in recent days, are very good, and if the 7-1 record isn’t enough to catch the Wildcats’ attention, just look at some of their scores.
UNCG has won games by 48 (105-57 vs. Johnson & Wales) and by 78(!) (111-33 vs. Greensboro College). No matter who the opponent is, those are incredible margins. Four of the Spartans’ seven wins have been by 19 points are more.
How is UNCG doing it? Simple: taking care of the ball and putting it in the basket.
Through games on Nov. 28, the Spartans were ranked seventh in the country with a plus-7.3 turnover margin and ranked fourth in field-goal percentage at .535. Although they’re quite adept at shooting (37.4 percent) and making (7.1 a game) the 3 — as has been the case for most of UK’s opponents this season (more on that below) — UNCG has been particularly efficient inside the 3-point line. The Spartans are making 63.5 percent of their 2-point shots, ranked fourth in the country.
UNCG’s lone loss was a “good” loss. The Spartans nearly pulled an upset at LSU, losing by just six, 97-91, against the Tigers, who were nationally
ranked at the time.
Keldon Johnson Named SEC Freshman of the Week
After leading the Kentucky men’s basketball team to a pair of victories last week, including a career-high 27-point performance against Tennessee State, freshman Keldon Johnson was recognized as the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Week on Monday.
Johnson led the Wildcats in scoring at 20.0 points per game and also chipped in with 7.0 rebounds in wins over Winthrop and Tennessee State. Johnson was second on the team for the week with 14 rebounds.
The 27 points against the Tigers are the most any UK player has scored this season. Johnson got to the total behind 7-of-15 shooting from the floor and sinking 13 free throws. The 13 free throws tied for the second most of any John Calipari-coached player at UK and the most since De’Aaron Fox made the same number against UCLA in the NCAA Tournament in 2017.
The honor is the first of the season for Johnson and the first of the season for Kentucky. Kentucky has won more weekly SEC honors (90) than any other school during the Calipari era, including 72 SEC Freshman of the Week honors and 18 SEC Player of the Week awards.
