How good can PJ Washington be? UK sets the bar high.

While talking about PJ Washington on Friday, Kentucky associate coach Kenny Payne became a contrarian.

“Contrary to most people, I believe PJ Washington is a dominant basketball player who is super talented,” Payne said, “that can put this team on his back.”

The inference was others do not believe Washington is so capable.

“I think there’s a he-is-a-solid, good-college player, and that’s good enough,” Payne said of the prevailing opinion of Washington. “That’s not good enough. Not for this program. Not for who and what his talent is.

“I would challenge PJ Washington to max out, to give 110 percent, not just 100 percent. It’s easy for PJ to give 85 (or) 80 percent, and be a good player. He will not reach what he’s trying to attain by giving 85. He has to give 110 percent. And then if he does — again, I don’t like to put it on one player — this team becomes dominant.”

Payne cited a three-game stretch within eight days this month when Washington scored a career-high 25 points against North Dakota, grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds to go with 19 points against VMI and then posted another double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds) against Winthrop.

“We want him to play like those three games when he was dominant in every game,” Payne said. “That’s his test.”

‘Sam Perkins’

In assessing EJ Montgomery’s upside, Payne likened the freshman to the North Carolina big man who played with Michael Jordan.

“I hate to say it because the guy was an unbelievable player, (but) he reminds me a lot of Sam Perkins,” Payne said of Montgomery. “Can shoot it. Can rebound it. Pass it. Fluid. Real smooth with it. That’s how I see it.

“But we’ve got to get him to play hard every possession.”

Montgomery must also get stronger in his lower body, Payne said. “Once that happens, the sky’s the limit.”

Random is good

Here’s how Payne assessed Immanuel Quickley:

“I want him to play confidently when it’s not structured. . . . As a coach, as a program, as a (preferred) style of play, you don’t want it to be predictable. You want it to be as random and instinctive as possible because instinctive is unpredictable.”

Message: random is harder for an opponent to game plan against.

Cal’s ‘pet peeve’

Nick Richards said rebounding with one hand is John Calipari’s “pet peeve.” It’s also a bad habit he must break, Richards said.

“Everybody has bad habits,” Richards added. “It’s not the easiest thing in the world to break those bad habits.”

111-33

In its last game, UNC Greensboro beat Greensboro College 111-33. The assist-to-turnover ratios were also eye-catching. UNC Greensboro had 27 assists and nine turnovers. Greensboro College, a Division III team, had six assists and 37 turnovers.

“Something of an aberration,” UNC Greensboro Coach Wes Miller said. “You get something every time you step on the floor. But certainly that was a different experience.”

‘NCAA team’

Payne spoke confidently of UNC Greensboro, which is off to a 7-1 start, playing in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

The Spartans played in the 2018 NCAA Tournament as a 13-seed, losing 68-64 to Gonzaga. It was the program’s third NCAA Tournament appearance, and first since 2001.

Guard Francis Alonso, a native of Malaga, Spain, is the leading scorer (19 ppg) and has made 46.2 percent of his three-point shots.

James Dickey, a 6-10 junior, was the Southern Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year last season.

In winning 52 games in the previous two seasons, UNC Greensboro has made a 1-2-2 three-quarter-court press a signature strategy.

Etc.

▪ Through games on Thursday, the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rated UNC Greensboro at No. 59. That was higher rated than seven SEC teams: No. 61 Mississippi State, No. 66 Ole Miss, No. 113 Georgia, No. 114 Alabama, No. 123 Missouri, No. 151 Texas A&M and No. 192 South Carolina. Kentucky was No. 43.

▪ UNC Greensboro’s lone loss was at LSU by a score of 97-91.

▪ Tom Hart and Jimmy Dykes will call the game for ESPN2.