Is Kentucky’s opening night game an aberration? The Wildcats looked very much like a national title contender on that night, although as we’ve seen many times before, opening night tells us little. (Remember when many thought Duke had already won the national title a year ago after they annihilated the Wildcats on opening night?) Since then, they have looked quite ordinary, especially the star of that night.
On Monday night, they almost paid the price for the second week in a row. They barely got past Utah Valley 82-74, having to hold off the Wolverines.
With Tyrese Maxey looking like a star, the Wildcats knocked off Michigan State almost two weeks ago. That’s the same Michigan State team that by and large was viewed as the national title favorites entering the season, though not prohibitively so. They blew out Eastern Kentucky after that by 42, but then lost to Evansville before Monday night.
It hasn’t helped that the Wildcats have not been whole. They were without Immanuel Quickley due to a chest injury, and E.J. Montgomery has sat the past three games due to an ankle injury, bringing them down to seven scholarship players. Ashton Hagans, who led them with 26 points, hasn’t been fully healthy but has continued to play.
Kentucky led by 16 in the second half on Monday night, but that lead was never really safe. Utah Valley slowly rallied and eventually got within 68-67 with 3:26 left before they got a little more distance between the teams.
Montgomery’s injury has opened the door for Nick Richards to play a key role, and he certainly did on Monday night. Richards has gotten lost in the shuffle a bit in Lexington, but he’s plenty talented, and he had 21 points on 8-11 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds on Monday night. Maxey, meanwhile, had 14 points but was just 4-14 from the field. The Wildcats had 14 turnovers while forcing just seven and were 1-12 from deep on the night. The owned the boards, though, with a 46-27 edge to win the possession battle there.
Getting healthy will certainly help, but the Wildcats also need Maxey to look more like he did on opening night. Hagans is a defensive stopper and leader, but he’s not wired to be a big scorer. While Richards is capable inside, the reality is that only once last year did he score in double figures and only one other time reached double digits in rebounds in SEC play. He needs to continue to emerge given the opportunity he has in front of him to become another reliable contributor for this team.
Kentucky has a chance to get rolling, as their biggest challenge the next couple of weeks will come against UAB the night after Thanksgiving – a game they should certainly win. They get Georgia Tech two weeks later, another they should win, before a little tougher test against Utah and then Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic and arch-rival Louisville to close out the bulk of non-conference (they go to Texas Tech in late January in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge). How the Wildcats respond to this and whether or not they can get healthy will tell us something about how far this team might go.
Side Dishes
Utah State continues to be without big man Neemias Queta, as he continues to recover from a knee injury. The Aggies have done well without him thus far, including an 82-50 blowout of UTSA on Monday that puts them at 5-0.
UAB dismissed Zack Bryant from the program for conduct detrimental to the team. The junior guard is no small loss from a productivity standpoint, as he is averaging 11 points per game, but production isn’t the only thing needed from a player.
Results of note on the evening: In a battle of undefeated teams, visiting SMU remained so by edging Evansville 59-57; West Virginia got a double-double from Jermaine Haley (18 points, 12 rebounds) and held off Northern Colorado 69-61; Oklahoma used a big second half to knock off Nathan Knight (30 points) and William & Mary 75-70, the first loss of the season for the Tribe; Auburn used a big first half to clobber Colgate 91-62; Kofi Cockburn had a big double-double (15 points, 14 rebounds) to help Illinois take care of Hawaii 66-53; Colorado pulled away from UC Irvine 69-53; and Big Sky favorite Montana was nipped by NAIA member Montana Tech 74-72.
Tonight’s Menu
The slate picks up both in terms of number of games and the quality of matchups.
- In an NIT Season Tip-Off campus game, Bucknell visits Penn State (6:30 p.m.)
- A really good matchup to watch is Virginia hosting Vermont, while an intriguing one early on is Davidson hosting Nevada (7 p.m.)
- A sleeper mid-major matchup is Saint Francis U hosting Delaware, and another good one tipping at the same time is Bradley hosting Norfolk State (7 p.m.)
- Dayton will get a challenge at home from Summit League contender Omaha (7 p.m.)
- Kansas is known for playing many of the best mid-majors, and this season is no exception, with the latest instance coming in the form of a visit from East Tennessee State (8 p.m.)
- Alabama has a tough one at home as Furman comes to town (8 p.m.)
- A really good matchup that unfortunately is not on any TV is UT Arlington traveling to Gonzaga (9 p.m.)
- The best game tipping any later than that one is probably CSU Bakersfield at San Francisco (10 p.m.)
