PJ Washington continues to prove a Kentucky player can come home again

A surprisingly one-sided 80-53 victory over Auburn on Saturday continued PJ Washington’s Ken Burns-esque miniseries on the benefits of going against the Kentucky grain.

Rather than be latest in UK’s loooong line of one-and-done players, Washington participated in the NBA Draft process last spring and then chose to return for his sophomore season.

Washington’s team-high 24 points — his eighth 20-plus performance in the last 11 games — provided further evidence of the wisdom of Washington’s decision. A career-high five three-pointers, which matched his total for all of last season, put an exclamation point on that conclusion.

“This is a great lesson …,” UK Coach John Calipari said. “His life just changed now because he decided to come back when other kids all left.”

Calipari likened Washington’s decision to that made by ex-Cat Willie Cauley-Stein. “I’m coming back because I need to come back,” the UK coach phrased it.

“The ego of this sometimes forces kids out early. ‘If he leaves, I’m leaving.”

Washington denied that ego or peer pressure played any part in his decision.

“Nah,” he said. “I try to do the best thing for me. And that was coming back. I wasn’t thinking of anybody else during the process. At the end of the day, you can’t think of anybody else in a process like that. You’ve got to focus on what you’ve got going on and do what’s best for you and your family.”

To borrow from horse racing, Washington broke from the gate early and bolted Kentucky into the lead. He scored 11 of UK’s first 13 points. That included three three-point baskets before the first television timeout.

“If he’s doing that, keep giving him the rock,” point guard Ashton Hagans said, “and let him hoop.”

The feedback Washington received in the NBA Draft process included the need to improve his perimeter game. At the NBA Combine, he was often at the top of the key as his team looked for high-low feeds into post players.

Washington took only 21 threes as a freshman. He made five.

“Last year, I wouldn’t even shoot threes, honestly,” said Washington, who already had four by halftime against Auburn. “Last year, I was just trying to bully people and get easy layups. This year I feel my game is a lot more expanded.”

Perhaps this sounded like a touch of irony. Because strongman Reid Travis sprained his right knee at Missouri on Tuesday, Calipari had repeatedly alerted Washington of the need to play a “muscle game” and “roughhouse” opponents.

Calipari went so far as to say Washington could be “begging” for Travis to return ASAP in order to be relieved of this duty.

When reminded of what Calipari had said, Washington offered a diplomatic comment. “I think we need him back,” he said of Travis.

Against undersized Auburn, this was less the case.

Washington did not do a lot of posting. “They were kind of denying me the post,” he said. “They wouldn’t really let me catch the ball. So I guess I was hitting shots today, so I kept shooting them.”

Washington made five of eight three-point shots. Overall, UK made 11 threes. That marked only the fourth time this season UK reached double digits from long distance.

Auburn, 18-9 overall and 7-7 in the SEC, made only eight of 27 three-point shots. The Tigers’ two leading scorers, guards Bryce Brown and Jared Harper, made a combined five of 18 shots.

Auburn made 32.8 percent of its shots. That nearly matched the season low of 32.7-percent accuracy against Ole Miss.

Kentucky, which improved to 23-4 overall and 12-2 in the SEC, dominated the basket area. UK outrebounded Auburn 43-24.

Kentucky also moved into a first-place tie in the SEC with Tennessee and LSU. This served as further, if unneeded, validation of Washington’s decision to return for a sophomore season.

“Yeah, I feel it was the best choice for me,” he said. “I said that from day one, and I stand by it now. I try to make the most of it every day, try to get better at something every day. If it’s not basketball, it’s school work or something like that.

“I changed my mindset. I changed everything.”

Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl suggested Washington had positioned himself to be a candidate for national player of the year. “Without question,” Pearl said.

Washington did not back away from this suggestion.

“Just keep doing what I’m doing,” he said. “Stay in the gym and keep working with coach Kenny Payne. Just building my confidence and get better every day.”

Next game

Arkansas at No. 4 Kentucky

9 p.m. Tuesday (SEC Network)

This story was originally published February 23, 2019 at 6:23 PM.