UK Showing Will to Win Entering Georgia Rematch
John Calipari likes to mention that the expectations of Kentucky fans are so high that not only do they want to win every game, but they want to win every game by 20.
That’s not happened of late for the Wildcats, but UK’s coaching staff sees a silver lining.
“It’s a good thing because this is a competitive sport,” assistant coach Tony Barbee said. “You’re fortunate when you can blow somebody out, but that’s not going to happen at the level that we’re playing at in this conference.”
Four of UK’s first five games in Southeastern Conference play have been decided by single digits, including the last four in a row. The Cats also haven’t won a game by more than 14 points in well over a month, but they have come out on top in five of their last six outings – including a thrilling overtime victory over Louisville.
“You’re going to have games that go down to the wire and then, in the season when there’s a lot of parity all across the country and there’s not a lot of separation from what might be the top and the bottom, you’re going to have a lot of close games,” Barbee said. “It’s good that we’re getting this experience, and we got quite a bit of it in the nonconference schedule. We’ve learned and we’ve grown from it. Our young guys are a little more comfortable in those situations where it is a nip-and-tuck game at this level.”
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| Kentucky vs. Georgia | ||
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Tue., Jan. 21 – 7 p.m. ET |
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TV: ESPN |
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| UK | Stats | UGA |
| 13-4 | Record | 11-6 |
| 4-1 | Conference Record | 1-3 |
| 74.9 | PPG | 77.6 |
| 63.8 | Opp PPG | 74.3 |
| .460 | FG% | .458 |
| .384 | Opp FG% | .444 |
| 38.6 | RPG | 39.6 |
| .323 | 3PT FG% | .304 |
| .295 | Opp 3PT FG% | .325 |
| 14.8 | APG | 14.8 |
| 5.3 | SPG | 7.9 |
| 5.0 | BPG | 3.5 |
The Cats faced a pair of nip-and-tuck affairs last week, dropping the first at South Carolina before using a 15-0 run with their coach in the locker room after an ejection to hand Arkansas its first home loss on Saturday. The fans inside Bud Walton Arena went from raucous to filing toward the exits with time still on the clock in a matter of minutes.
“It was a good thing that we could quiet them down,” Ashton Hagans said. “They were very loud. They were loud when we got off the gym to go to our pregame shootaround, so we expected it. We just tried to come out and stick together.”
UK’s coaches already knew what they had in this group before Saturday, but that game was the clearest example yet of the Cats’ undeniable will to win.
“We’ve got a group that hates to lose, and it doesn’t mean you’re going to win every game,” Barbee said. “But these guys are going to battle, scrap and fight. And if you lose a game, it’s only because we ran out of time, not because we gave up or stopped trying. That makes a special group when you’ve got talented guys like we do that care about winning and losing.”
At the top of that list is Hagans, the point guard who picked up his fourth foul with 15 minutes left before playing some of the best ball of his two college seasons down the stretch at Arkansas. UK went to a zone defense late in large part to prevent Hagans from fouling out.
“We’ve got interchangeable parts, but if there’s one guy who would be indispensable, it would be him just because of how disruptive he is on the defensive end of the floor for the other team’s offense,” Barbee said. “How much he means to our offense and his ability to make shots for himself, but probably more importantly how easy he makes the game sometimes for the other guys on the floor.”
Left unsaid by Barbee, however, is Hagans’ toughness. There isn’t a challenge the sophomore will back away from, which has prompted Coach Cal to compare Hagans to Lynn Bowden Jr. and call him a “tough hombre.”
“I think he really just knows that no matter what I’m going to go out there and fight against whoever it is, with whoever it is,” Hagans said. “Whatever goes down, I’m behind anybody.”
That mentality does lead to mistakes at times for Hagans, leaving him prone to step outside of UK’s scheme to try to make a play on his own. Hagans did exactly that two weeks ago when the Cats traveled to Georgia and took 10 shots in the first half alone. He calmed down after halftime and led UK to a comeback win. Now he’ll be looking to duplicate that second half for 40 minutes when No. 15/14 Kentucky (13-4, 4-1 SEC) hosts Georgia (11-6, 1-3 SEC) in a rematch at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
“I had a lot of people there, so it was like, dang, let me try to do something for the fam,” Hagans said. “But I came out the second half, slowed it down a little bit. I (am not) going to be doing any of that tomorrow. I’m going to sticking to the game plan, getting my teammates involved, stuff like that. I’m just trying to come out there and get the win.”
That, more than anything else, is what Hagans and the Cats care about.
“We played them one time already,” Hagans said. “It was a good game. It was good to be back at home, but now we’re back in Lexington playing them. It’s the same game plan. We just go out there and play our game, stick together and try to get the win.”
Late Run Lifts Cats Past Hogs
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Nick Richards and No. 10/12 Kentucky could have wilted after coach John Calipari was ejected in the second half. They had other ideas. Richards had 17 points and nine rebounds, and the 10th-ranked Wildcats held off Arkansas for a 73-66 victory Saturday.
Kentucky (13-4, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) had five players score in double figures. Ashton Hagans had 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Immanuel Quickley finished with 13 points and 10 boards, including a key 3-pointer and free throws down the stretch.
Mason Jones scored 19 points for Arkansas (14-3, 3-2), which has dropped eight straight in the series. Jimmy Whitt Jr. added 14 points.
The game was tied at 44 with 8:19 left when Calipari became upset after forward EJ Montgomery was whistled for an offensive foul for an illegal screen. He received two technical fouls as the sellout crowd at Bud Walton Arena cheered wildly.
“I think it happened so fast we couldn’t really react to it,” associate head coach Kenny Payne said when asked about getting between Calipari and the officials. “Unfortunate for me especially, sitting there having to coach the game in the end in a critical point in the game where it’s turning in their favor. But these kids are resilient.”
Jones then made three free throws to give the Razorbacks their first lead since the opening minutes. But the Wildcats stepped up their defensive effort and put together a 17-2 run following the ejection.
Quickley made a 3-pointer and Keion Brooks Jr., who contributed 10 points and seven rebounds, scored to make it 61-49 with 2:44 left.
“It’s an execution game (at that point),” Payne said. “The last thing they’re expecting us to do is rebound and push the ball up the court. Well, that’s what we did. By doing that, we got a couple layups, we got a wide-open 3 and it opened the game up for us and gave us a cushion.”
Of note …
• Arkansas shot 33.3%. UK improved to 196-18 in the Calipari era and 9-2 this season when keeping the opponent to less than 40%
• Kentucky shot 44.4% from the field and dropped to 12-1 this season when outshooting the opponent
• UK led by as many as 12 points in the second half. UK is 273-7 under Calipari when leading by at least 10 points at any time in the contest
• After struggling recently on the backboards, Kentucky rebounded — literally and figuratively — with a 47-29 domination on the glass
• It’s the second time this season at least five Wildcats have scored in double figures
• Kentucky’s 15-0 second-half run was its third best of the season
• This is the eighth time in 11 seasons that UK has started 4-1 or better in league play under Calipari
• The Wildcats handed the Razorbacks their first loss in 11 games at home this season
• UK has won eight in a row in the series vs. Arkansas, including three in a row in Fayettevlle, Arkansas
• Quickley notched the first double-double of his career and played all 40 minutes. His 10 rebounds are a career high
• Richards scored in double figures for the sixth straight game
• With 11 points, Tyrese Maxey scored in double figures for the seventh time in the last eight games
• Hagans extended his streak of five or more assists to 14 straight games, the best run since Tyler Ulis did it 24 straight games in 2015-16
Bounce Back
Kentucky doesn’t lose very often during the John Calipari era, but when the Wildcats do, they almost always bounce back and its extremely rare for the Wildcats to drop more than one in a row. UK is 53-13 under Calipari following a loss (record does not count end-of-season losses) following the win at Arkansas on Saturday.
Kentucky’s back-to-back losses to Utah and Ohio State marked just the 13th time the Cats have lost consecutive games during the Calipari era and the most recent since dropping four in a row from Feb. 3-14, 2018. That stretch was the first four-game losing streak under Calipari and the only time Kentucky has lost more than two games in a row under Calipari.
Previously, the last time UK lost four games in a row was in February 2009, when the Wildcats dropped four straight games to end the regular season. It was the first time Calipari had lost four straight since the end of the 2004-05 season at Memphis.
UK has never lost back-to-back home games under Calipari.
Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Week
Kentucky coaches and staff will wear sneakers on Tuesday vs. Georgia as a part of the annual Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Week.
Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Week is a nationwide event when basketball coaches across the country unite for a common cause – saving lives from cancer. Coaches and their staff across the nation wear sneakers with their suits during games to raise awareness and help save lives from cancer by raising funds and encouraging people to educate themselves about cancer prevention, screening and early detection.
The Coaches vs. Cancer program is a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. This initiative leverages the personal experiences, community leadership, and professional excellence of coaches nationwide to increase cancer awareness and promote healthy living through year-round awareness efforts, fundraising activities, and advocacy programs. Since 1993, coaches have raised more than $100 million for the American Cancer Society.
