LSU-UK notes: Quality, not quantity, becoming Murray’s shooting trademark

Shooting less, but enjoying it more.

That might describe Kentucky guard Jamal Murray’s last two games. He followed up taking only 10 shots at Florida on Tuesday by taking 12 in Saturday’s victory over LSU.

Murray, who averaged 15.2 shots prior to last week, still led UK in scoring in both games with 21 and 22 points.

“He may be the most efficient guard who’s a volume scorer, but not a volume shooter,” UK Coach John Calipari said Saturday. “No one wants to play with a volume shooter, a guy who’s trying to take 25 shots. No one wants to play with that guy.”

The first half showed how Murray can contribute without hardly shooting at all. He took only one shot in the opening 20 minutes, yet UK led 41-32 at halftime. The attention opposing defenses must pay on Murray helps his teammates.

“He’s the guy that creates the gap for us to be up 20, he and Tyler (Ulis),” Calipari said. “But the other guys playing with confidence, you know you can still be up if they’re not getting shots or making shots.”

Murray scored 20 or more points in a 10th straight game. That’s the longest such streak for a UK player since Kevin Grevey did it in 12 straight in 1974-75.

Murray has hit a three-pointer in every one of Kentucky’s 31 games. Only Tony Delk has a longer streak. He made a three-pointer in 32 straight games.

Senior Day

Alex Poythress, the honoree on Senior Day, contributed 12 points and three rebounds. The fans treated him to an ovation as he exited the game in the final minutes.

“It was great,” Poythress said of Senior Day, which included a recorded comment from former teammate Aaron Harrison shown on the video screens. “There were a lot of memories. I really loved Aaron’s speech.”

Calipari saluted UK fans.

“Our fans are the best,” he said. “And, you know what, they love Senior Night in this state. It’s a big deal. . . .

“Bigger deal for our fans than those players. They’d rather have been drafted already. If you want me to lie, I’ll lie.”

Supporting cast

Point guard Tyler Ulis, the odds-on favorite to be named Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, saluted the help his teammates provide.

“I have a great supporting cast,” he said. “Guys who play well off me, who I can feed the ball to. In Jamal, I have a shooter. Skal (Labissiere) pick-and-pop. Alex pick-and-roll. Everybody knows their job.”

Simmons: ‘I’m the best’

Although his team lost, LSU star freshman Ben Simmons’ self-confidence did not wane.

“I still believe I’m the best player,” he said. “As long as I believe, it doesn’t really matter (what others think).”

Simmons was responding to not being a finalist for the Wooden Award, which is one of the national Player of the Year awards.

Go Big Boos

On several occasions, UK fans booed when Simmons touched the ball. When asked about the booing, Simmons shrugged.

“This wasn’t anything,” he said. “I’ve heard way worse. That was on the low scale.”

Self-inflicted

Kentucky’s victory may have snuffed out LSU’s chances for an NCAA Tournament bid.

Of the Tigers’ up-and-down season (18-13 record), Simmons said. “A lot of it is self-inflicted. We’ve lost a lot of games just because of how we played. Not necessarily the way other teams have played.”

When asked how this made him feel, Simmons said, “A little annoyed. I’m frustrated.”

Bow and arrow

After making a shot, Murray gestured as if shooting an arrow.

Ulis favors the re-load gesture that Klay Thompson uses.

“I’ve got to go with my boy,” Ulis said with a laugh.

Calipari said he preferred a player’s reaction to a made shot to be getting back on defense.

“He still does some freshman things,” Calipari said of Murray. “Let me say this. Really, all these guys, but him especially, I love coaching him because he always has a smile on his face.”

Easy pickings?

LSU came into the game ranked 13th in points allowed (77.2 ppg) and 14th in field-goal defense (46.6 percent). That’s in league games.

ESPN analyst Dan Dakich worked a recent LSU game and said the Tigers go into “occasional defensive snoozes.”

Kentucky scored a season-high 94 points and made 52.8 percent of its shots. The latter is UK’s seventh-best shooting accuracy of the season.

Etc.

UK’s 26 assists were the fourth-most in Calipari’s seven seasons as coach, and the most against an SEC opponent in his time. … UK had more assists (26) than turnovers (11) for a 14th straight SEC game. That hadn’t happened since 1995-96. … Calipari improved his record in Rupp Arena to 119-4. He tied Tubby Smith for second-most victories in Rupp by a Kentucky coach.

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 8:08 PM with the headline "LSU-UK notes: Quality, not quantity, becoming Murray’s shooting trademark."