Hagans Emerging as One of Nation’s Best Point Guards
Less than three weeks ago, Ashton Hagans scored 26 points to help Kentucky avert a Utah Valley upset bid.
The lanes to the basket were there, so he took them.
“If my teammates were open, I would have given it to them,” Hagans said that Nov. 18 evening, “but I had the layups so that’s just what I took.”
Hagans has proven to be true to his word in the four games since. He had seven assists against Mount St. Mary’s, nine against Lamar and threatened John Wall’s program record before finishing with a career high-tying 12 last week against UAB. On Saturday, he kept up his giving ways by dishing another 11 assists to go with 11 points as UK dominated Fairleigh Dickinson, 83-52, and won its 600th game at Rupp Arena.
“It’s my teammates helping me, moving and getting open as I drive,” Hagans said. “If it’s not there, I just rely on them to knock down the shot and they knock it down. That just comes with reps at practice, going hard in practice and things like that.”
Hagans now has the longest streak with of games with at least five assists for a UK player since De’Aaron Fox in 2016-17. He also has an assist rate of 42.3% according to kenpom.com, which ranks 11th nationally, and his turnover rate is 24.1% – down 4.3% from a season ago – after he had just two against Fairleigh Dickinson.
“He’s getting the idea of, you gotta be more careful with the ball,” John Calipari said. “I think the last two games he’s (23) and four assist-to-turnover ratio. Let me see if anybody in the country is doing that.”
Going back a little further, Hagans has 39 assists and 10 turnovers over his last four games. That’s on the heels of a stretch that saw him commit that many turnovers in just two games. That progress has led his coach to make the case for Hagans as one of the best point guards in America pretty much every chance he gets.
“He’s talking to me every day and he’s believing in me,” Hagans said. “I’m just trying to go out there and let him believe in me.”
Hagans certainly has another believer in EJ Montgomery, the primary beneficiary of his unselfishness. Hagans assisted on six of Montgomery’s 12 field goals to pave the way for the 6-foot-10 sophomore’s career-high 25 points.
“He’s doing a great job,” Montgomery said. “I’m loving it, because he’s passing it to me some and everybody else. He’s just a great point guard.”
Hagans’ approach is apparently affecting his team, as UK has the highest assist rate (56.7%) of any Calipari team at UK. The Cats had 20 assists on their 32 baskets Saturday, with Tyrese Maxey adding five and Immanuel Quickley three.
Kentucky will need more of the same moving forward, as the Wildcats will now face only power-conference teams the rest of the season. That begins with a four-game stretch to close the 2019 calendar year that includes games against Georgia Tech, Utah, Ohio State and Louisville.
“We’ve just gotta go out there and play our game,” Hagans said. “No matter who we’re playing, we know we’re going in starting a tough schedule right now. We got Georgia Tech coming up. As long as we’re sticking together, we’ll be OK.”
