UK’s guard trio, Humphries, Wynyard will debut in game against Clarion

Kentucky’s exhibition game Sunday against Clarion should be a bountiful harvest of treats. UK fans will see:

1. The team’s likely three-guard lineup of Isaiah Briscoe, De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk playing together for the first time in public.

2. The first public playing appearance for Isaac Humphries this preseason, and the first time Tai Wynyard has played in a game since arriving at UK last December.

3. A bouncier Mychal Mulder.

Briscoe, Fox and Monk are expected to anchor this Kentucky team much as another backcourt trio (Tyler Ulis, Jamal Murray and Briscoe) did last season. But only recently did the three begin playing together in practice.

“It’s going OK,” UK Coach John Calipari said Thursday. “It’s going to be a work in progress. But it’s going good.”

When asked why the trio had not worked together until only recently, Calipari said, “You want them to go nose to nose against each other. It brings out their competitive spirit.”

Humphries and Wynyard did not play in the Blue-White Game. Humphries, who Calipari said had shown significant improvement since last season, has been battling knee soreness. Wynyard broke a facial bone this preseason, further delaying his debut on the public stage.

Calipari also confirmed what the eye suggested: Mulder has shown obvious improvement.

“Mychal Mulder has been shooting the pee out of the ball,” Calipari said. “He’s making every shot now. . . . It’s driving me crazy. We don’t like to give up threes, but he’s making them.”

Mulder seems leaner and fitter, but he said he’d actually gained weight since last season. He looked lighter and bouncier in the Blue-White Game and an earlier practice attended by media.

“I feel like I’ve progressed body-wise,” he said. “And when it comes to confidence and (being) an all-around basketball player, I feel I have progressed.”

Junior-college transfers generally need a year to adjust, Calipari said. That might be even more the case at Kentucky, given the bright lights and scrutiny, plus the competitive zeal of UK opponents, Calipari said.

Meanwhile, Calipari may be checking his to-do list of improvements he’d like to see at this embryonic stage.

“Playing harder” is one item, he said Thursday. “Playing each possession the whole way through.”

Calipari also said he wanted the players to play a more fundamentally sound brand of basketball and not try to “invent stuff.”

Individually, Calipari shared goals he’d set for Fox and Monk.

For Fox, “I want him to be more aggressive,” the UK coach said. “I told him, ‘I can always tell you not to do something.’”

He’d like to see Fox get in the lane more and play faster, Calipari said.

For Monk, “I’m trying to get him to go to the basket more” rather than settling for jump shots, Calipari said. “I’m never going to say, ‘Don’t take it.’”

However, time-and-score considerations or possessions with plenty of time on the shot clock may lead to a yellow light, if not a red light, Calipari said.

“Part of his deal is he can just jump over you and get his shot,” the UK coach said.

“As a matter of fact, we’re looking at posting him and Briscoe, and they’ve both done well in the post.”

This story was originally published October 27, 2016 at 4:19 PM with the headline "UK’s guard trio, Humphries, Wynyard will debut in game against Clarion."