Veterans stepped up and led tonight. They won this game with their play Ashton Hagans, Nick Richards, Immanuel Quickley and EJ Montgomery. Kentucky will be fine if the Veterans give us consistent play on the court.
Ashton Hagans tied his carer high with 12 assists to only 2 turnovers. He looks healthy now which has helped his shooting and confidence in shooting the basketball. He had 9 points with 1 for 3 from three point shooting. He's 50% from three in the last two games. Yes a small sample size but have to do little steps to get to where he needs to be with his outside shooting. He had 2 steals and was a very good floor general tonight.
Nick Richards is giving consistent effort and giving consistent performances this year. He had 16 points 9 rebounds and 1 block but a lot of rim protecting. Nick did not miss a shot tonight with 7 for 7 shooting though he misssed 2 fre throws. He's chasing down rebounds and is more confident with his offense. He had 4 fouls tonight but two of them were on Hagans for not letting him set a screen and get still on it. They have a good two man game going though.
EJ Montgomery played one of the best games of his career with 16 points 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. He played very aggressive on the glass and protecting the rim. If Kentucky can get a consistent effort like this every game, then he will be very dangerous on the court. He's aggressive hunting his shots which means he's hitting them at a higher rate. he was 7 for 13 from the field 2 for 2 from the free throw line.
Tyrese Maxey 7 points 4 rebounds 3 assists and ZERO TURNOVERS!!!!!! Very efficient floor game though he needs to be more efficient shooting the ball as he was 3 for 9 from the floor and 1 for 4 from three. He needs to be a little more aggressive hunting his shots and knowing which shots to take so he can be more efficient with his offense.
Kahlil Whitney 2 points 2 rebounds 2 assists on 2 for 2 from the free throw line(YES!!!!!!!!). He needs to become a more consistent scorer from the wing. His help defense is getting better but not quite there. He needs to learn to be able to take players off the dribble and have confidence doing it. He does not look confident with his offense but I think it will come.
Johnny Juzang 5 points and 2 rebounds. He hit a three tonight and a pull up 18 foot jumper. He looked confident in taking his shots tonight and also had 2 offensive rebounds. I think he's going to have a big breakout game shooting the ball real soon. He's playing better on the defensive end also. He will have an uptick in his playing time. He's slowly learning how to light it up off the bench.
Keion Brooks Jr 5 points 4 rebounds 1 assist tonight. He played solid once again, he looked comfortable shooting the three pointer that he hit. He hit the glass, played okay defense though he let a guy hit a three without putting a hand up on the shooter. He's very good at that mid rang jumper, and the uptick in playing time with Nate Sestina out will help him get his rhythm on the court.
Immanuel Quickley 9 points 4 rebounds 0 assists 2 turnovers. He needs to get more efficient in the assists/turnover ratio, but he was very solid tonight. He was aggressive on the offensive end hunting his shot. He was 1 for 2 from three but he looked at the basket and was aggressive being an offensive threat.
Kentucky is progressing like they normally do from game to game. This team needs to learn a killer instinct. They outrebounded UAB by 13 as we should and 12 for 16 from the free throw line. Three point shooting was 5 for 15 but 0 for 4 in the second half. Will need to hit some in the second half in future games as Kentucky will be in some dogfights later in the season. Very good performance tonight by the Cats, especially the Veterans.
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