UK’s desire for ‘kills’ fuels new-found defensive energy

A matchup billed as defenseless Kentucky against winless Monmouth was no contest.

Kentucky routed Monmouth 90-44 Wednesday night in a fashion the Cats — and no doubt UK fans — longed to enjoy. UK had not won by a larger margin since beating Missouri 86-37 on Jan. 13, 2015.

“The energy was unbelievable, and we just rode the guys that had energy,” Coach John Calipari said.

What produced this new-found energy was tying it to playing time. Calipari said that he labeled three straight defensive stops as a “kill.” More “kills” means more playing time.

“Nobody wanted to come out,” Ashton Hagans said. “I think that’s what really brought the energy, and that’s going to keep everybody’s intensity up.”

Calipari said the coaches counted as many as nine times when Kentucky got two straight stops. He said UK had five “kills.”

In the last 9:34 of the first half, Monmouth had one basket. The Hawks had no baskets the final 6:13. So if three straight stops is a “kill,” what’s a six-minute drought?

“A slaughter, basically,” Hagans said.

The one-sided nature of the slaughter showed most obviously with the teams’ three-point shooting.

UK, which improved to 6-1, made a season-high 10 three-pointers. Monmouth, the only team on the schedule averaging fewer three-point baskets than UK (4.7 per game), missed its first nine shots from beyond the arc and made only two of 16 three-point shots. A second three with 61 seconds left allowed the Hawks to avoid becoming the first UK opponent since Missouri on Jan. 13, 2015 (1-of-18), to make no more than one three-point shot.

Kentucky came into the game ranked fourth from the bottom among 353 Division I teams in three-point defense. Opponents had made 43.4 percent of their three-point shots.

Tyler Herro, who led a balanced Kentucky attack with 16 points, attributed the marked improvement to “just knowing what our rotations are, staying in front (of the opponent). When you don’t have to help as much, it’s hard for them to shoot threes.”

Monmouth Coach King Rice came to Lexington with no illusions about his team pulling off a shocking upset.

“We’re not a high major, so their kids are going to be stronger and bigger,” he said Tuesday. “So they’re really going to try to pressure us, I think, and we have to handle the ball and have good spacing so their athleticism don’t really, really take over.”

Monmouth also planned to shorten the game — and test Kentucky’s willingness to defend — by milking the shot clock. Of course, Calipari had repeatedly called for more pride in defending. The Cats came into the game ranked No. 279 in field-goal defense (opponents making 45.8 percent of their shots).

“Try to make them play defense longer than 10, 15 seconds. . . . ,” Rice said. “Every coach knows if you play defense for 25 seconds, you have a chance to make a mistake. . . . We’ve got to slow down a little bit, make them guard us a little bit longer. Take great shots so they can’t get out in transition.”

Monmouth slowed the game down. But “great shots” were not in abundance. The Hawks had only two fast-break points. For the near shutout, Calipari credited assistant coach Tony Barbee’s suggestion to add drills aimed at improving transition defense.

A 44-22 halftime lead suggested Kentucky played defense deep into the shot clock. Opponents had been averaging 35 points in first halves.

Monmouth had only one basket in the final 9:34 of the first half. In that time, Kentucky outscored the Hawks 22-4 to greatly expand what had been a 22-18 lead.

In the half, Monmouth made only nine of 27 shots. None of the Hawks’ five three-point shots went in. This continued a pattern. Monmouth came into the game ranked No. 337 in scoring (60.6 ppg) and No. 332 in shooting (37.8 percent).

By contrast, Kentucky exceeded its average of 5.0 three-point baskets in the first half alone. UK made six of 15 before halftime. That included Hagans’ first three-pointer of the young season and Reid Travis’ third.

Monmouth’s chances of competing faded early. The Hawks started only one player taller than 6-foot-4. And that player, 6-8 Mustapha Traore, picked up two quick fouls and played only three minutes in the first half.

It was already apparent that the idea of “kills” translating into playing time was making a difference.

“It’s a pride thing, really,” Quade Green said. “A pride thing to stay on the court. The more stops you get, the more minutes you get.”

Next game

UNC Greensboro at No. 10 Kentucky

When: 1 p.m. Saturday

TV: ESPN2