Kentucky played a little bit better tonight. They rebounded like they were supposed to vs a Mid Major team. Defense was terrible tonight, on the ball, and help side defense. What happened to getting some three point shooters? One for twelve from three. Seven scholarship players with injuries to EJ Montgomery and Immanuel Quickley. 31 for 34 from the free throw line was excellent.
Ashton Hagans had a career high 26 points 5 rebounds 5 assists 6 turnovers 12 for 12 from the free throw line. He was okay finishing at the basket tonight but still can't shoot from three point range. He'll have to get in the gym and work on those three pointers and needs to cut down on his turnovers.
Nick Richards had a double/double tonight with 21 points and 10 rebounds. He did a lot of good things like hedging on the pick and roll and defending the small guys on the perimeter very well. This might get him a spot in the NBA believe it or not. He has to still be more consistent when playing against mid major schools. He finished better tonight on the interior but still needs work. Hit a couple of big baseline jumpers to keep Utah Valley at bay.
Tyrese Maxey 14 points 5 rebounds 5 assists but some bad shots taken tonight and was 1 for 5 from three. The bad shots contributed to 4 for 14 shooting tonight. He also missed another front end of one and one in the clutch. 5 for 7 from the free throw line but has to do better down the stretch.
Kahlil Whitney 4 points 5 rebounds on 2 for 5 shooting. He has to be more aggressive on the offensive end and do better on help side defense. He's very good on the ball defense but needs to work on his team defense. Coach Cal hollered at him once to shoot the ball over the zone, so no one is telling him not to shoot the ball. He has to be more decisive with his moves once he receives the basketball.
Nate Sestina 8 points 12 rebounds and loved his aggressiveness tonight. He is not a post up player but is good at the pick and pop shooting. He cut down the lane for a key and one three point play tonight. He needs to keep hitting the glass and getting double digit rebounds against mid majors.
Johnny Juzang 4 points 2 rebounds 2 for 2 from the free throw line and 0 for 2 from three. He played better on the ball defense tonight, but needs to get better off the ball. He also looks lost out there on offense, seems to be gun shy shooting the basketball. He needs to look at the rim and shoot some shots when he's in the game. He had a key rebound and one bucket in the last five minutes of the game.
Keion Brooks Jr did not do much tonight. He had 5 points and 4 rebounds but you didn't know he was out there tonight. He hit a nice mid range jump shot which is his strong suit. He needed to crash the offensive glass better and be more aggressive.
The best thing we can say tonight is this is a win. It is hard practicing with 7 scholarship players healthy. Kentucky teams usually struggle at this time of the year, but we have not had a regular season game yet where we had all our players healthy. This team will get better but three point shooting is alarming. This team shoots only 21% from three right now. That is abysmal can't hide from that. Shooting, shooting, shooting. Have a blessed night.
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