‘Hit first before they hit us.’ UK’s Montgomery stands up to physical challenge.

Though EJ Montgomery is arguably the most skilled of Kentucky’s big men, the knock on the freshman was he needed time to adjust to the physical nature of college basketball.

That his first double-double came against a team with a reputation for toughness made Montgomery stand out all the more Tuesday night.

Montgomery’s 11 points and 13 rebounds helped UK physically dominate South Carolina and win 76-48.

“This was a great game for him to prove it against a really physical team,” UK Coach John Calipari said. “That they’re going to get body-to-body on you. He was able to still get it done.”

Montgomery had scored a total of nine points in UK’s five most recent games. He had totaled nine rebounds in the last six.

“It’s a good feeling when you put in all the hard work that we did to prove you can do it,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery’s breakout performance further validated one of Kentucky’s recruiting pitches. Don’t be afraid of the many heralded recruits UK gets every year. Instead, be confident that practicing against high-level players every day will help you improve.

For Montgomery, he has been practicing against Reid Travis, PJ Washington and Nick Richards. That quartet led Kentucky to a 50-27 rebounding advantage, its best in conference play this season. Even more eye-catching, UK outrebounded the Gamecocks 21-18 on shots UK missed.

“It definitely gets you ready for a physical game like this one,” Montgomery said of the competition in UK’s practices. “Just going against them every day is a challenge, and gets me better.”

Montgomery got an assist on the double-double. He had to make a three-pointer with 16 seconds left to reach double digits in scoring.

“Some of my teammates were telling me,” Montgomery said. “Cal ran a play for me.”

Washington, who led UK with 20 points, smiled broadly when asked about Montgomery’s performance.

“I’m one of his biggest fans …,” Washington said. “I’m really close to him. We do a lot of things together.”

The two play the video game NBA 2K19 regularly, Washington said. “I’m happy for him and I’m glad he played well. I can see myself in him.”

UK, which improved to 19-3 overall and 8-1 in the Southeastern Conference, said that South Carolina’s reputation for physical play served as motivation.

“That’s what the game plan was,” Montgomery said. “Go out there and play physical. Hit first before they hit us. That’s what we did, and got the win.”

Kentucky held South Carolina to a season-low point total. In fact, it was 17 points fewer than the Gamecocks’ previous low, which came in a 65-52 victory over USC Upstate on Nov. 6.

The Cats also limited South Carolina to 35.8-percent shooting, which was the team’s poorest accuracy since making only a third of its shots against Wyoming on Dec. 5. The Gamecocks did not score their 10th point of the second half until only 8:03 remained in the game.

It didn’t help South Carolina that its leader, center Chris Silva, got in foul trouble and failed to reach double figures in points or rebounds for only the third time since Nov. 30. He finished with four points and four rebounds. He only played 15 minutes.

“We played good today …,” Calipari said. “I loved our toughness, especially from our young guys.”

Montgomery, a McDonald’s All-American, had not scored in double digits since getting 10 against Southern Illinois on Nov. 9. His previous high in rebounds was seven.

Montgomery acknowledged the struggles that come with such a lack of production. He said he concentrated on keeping his head up and continuing to work.

A breakthrough of sorts came at Florida last weekend. His rebound of a missed free throw gave UK a timely second-chance opportunity.

“That’s my focus now going into games,” he said. “Just focus on getting rebounds and playing defense. And let my offense come to me.”

Next game

No. 5 Kentucky at Mississippi State

1 p.m. Saturday (CBS-27)