Ex-Cats

Led by DeMarcus Cousins, five of NBA’s top 25 scorers are ex-Cats

By Dennis Varney

Updated February 5, 2017 1:04 AM

Sacramento Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins called time out Friday during a scramble for a loose ball with Indiana Pacers forward Lavoy Allen, left, and forward Paul George during overtime. The Pacers defeated the Kings, 115-111. Michael Conroy AP

A look at where the University of Kentucky’s 24 former players in the NBA stand statistically through Sunday, Jan. 29:

Five top-25 scorers

Eric Bledsoe’s career-high 41 points on Saturday night helped move him up to No. 25 in the league, giving the University of Kentucky five players among the top 25 scorers in the NBA.

It was Bledsoe’s second 40-plus effort in his past four games. He has averaged 25.2 points in January and is at 21.4 a game for the season.

DeMarcus Cousins, fourth in the league at 28.1 points a game, is slightly ahead of Anthony Davis (fifth, 28.0).

Also in the top 25 are Karl-Anthony Towns (18th with 23.0) and John Wall (20th with 22.9). And Devin Booker averages 20-plus points, too, at 20.8 per game (tied for 27th).

Three double-digit rebounders

Davis’ 17-rebound effort Sunday night moved him up to sixth in the league at 12.2 per game.

Karl-Anthony Towns also is in the top 10: eighth with 11.9. DeMarcus Cousins is 12th at 10.5 per game, and Julius Randle is 20th (8.4).

Ex-Cats second in assists, steals and blocks

Wall tied a career high with 19 assists Sunday, moving him up to second in the league at 10.3 per game.

Wall’s also second in the league in steals, with 2.18.

Davis (2.34 blocks per game) trails only Utah’s Rudy Gobert (2.55) in that category.

These guys are on a roll, too

Devin Booker: The Phoenix Suns guard has scored 20-plus points in 12 straight games and has averaged 26.7 points and shot 48.4 percent from three-point range (31-for-64) during that span. He tied a career high with 39 points on Jan. 14.

Willie Cauley-Stein: The former UK center has put his super-slow start to the season behind him, averaging 7.7 points and 4.2 rebounds in 16.3 minutes over the past six games. Not huge numbers, but an improvement over his season averages of 4.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 11.7 minutes that don’t account for seven DNPs.

NBA statistics

Statistics (through Jan. 29) for the 24 former Cats playing in the NBA:

Player	Team	G	Min	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk
Eric Bledsoe	Suns	47	33.3	21.4	5.0	6.3	1.4	0.4
Devin Booker	Suns	46	34.5	20.8	2.8	3.2	0.9	0.2
Willie Cauley-Stein	Kings	40	11.7	4.7	2.4	0.3	0.4	0.4
DeMarcus Cousins	Kings	46	34.7	28.1	10.5	4.4	1.4	1.4
Anthony Davis	Pelicans	44	35.9	28.0	12.2	2.2	1.3	2.3
Andrew Harrison	Grizzlies	46	23.7	6.7	2.2	3.2	0.9	0.4
Terrence Jones	Pelicans	46	24.2	11.3	6.0	1.2	0.7	1.1
Enes Kanter	Thunder	47	21.6	14.4	6.7	1.0	0.4	0.7
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist	Hornets	47	29.7	9.3	7.4	1.3	0.8	1.1
Brandon Knight	Suns	44	21.9	11.8	2.4	2.4	0.6	0.1
Skal Labissiere	Kings	5	6.6	3.0	1.8	0.0	0.2	0.0
DeAndre Liggins	Cavaliers	38	15.1	2.8	1.7	1.0	0.8	0.3
Trey Lyles	Jazz	49	19.3	7.8	3.8	1.2	0.5	0.3
Jodie Meeks	Magic	24	21.7	8.9	2.3	1.5	1.2	0.1
Jamal Murray	Nuggets	46	19.4	8.1	2.5	1.8	0.5	0.3
Nerlens Noel	76ers	20	17.6	8.2	4.9	0.9	1.2	1.0
Patrick Patterson	Raptors	37	27.8	7.2	5.6	1.5	0.8	0.4
Julius Randle	Lakers	44	29.2	13.0	8.4	3.8	0.8	0.5
Rajon Rondo	Bulls	40	27.3	6.7	6.6	5.5	1.3	0.2
Karl-Anthony Towns	Timberwolves	47	36.2	23.0	11.9	3.0	0.7	1.5
Tyler Ulis	Suns	30	9.0	3.0	0.7	1.1	0.6	0.0
John Wall	Wizards	45	36.3	22.9	4.5	10.3	2.2	0.5
Kyle Wiltjer	Rockets	9	3.2	1.1	0.8	0.0	0.0	0.1
James Young	Celtics	14	6.3	1.7	1.0	0.3	0.2	0.0

D-League statistics

Statistics (through Jan. 29) for the six former Cats playing full-time in the NBA D-League:

Player	Team	G	Min	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk
Archie Goodwin	Greensboro Swarm	21	32.6	16.5	4.7	1.7	1.2	0.2
Ramon Harris	Grand Rapids Drive	27	22.0	7.0	4.0	1.1	0.7	0.4
Aaron Harrison	Greensboro Swarm	18	34.5	19.2	4.9	3.2	1.3	0.3
Dakari Johnson	Oklahoma City Blue	29	30.3	17.8	7.9	2.6	1.0	1.6
Doron Lamb	Westchester Knicks	24	28.0	11.6	3.1	1.4	1.0	0.1
Alex Poythress	Fort Wayne Mad Ants	27	30.9	19.2	7.6	1.4	0.5	1.6

Dennis Varney: 859-231-3514, @ExCats

This story was originally published January 30, 2017 at 9:55 AM with the headline "Led by DeMarcus Cousins, five of NBA’s top 25 scorers are ex-Cats."