Nick Richards grabs 15 rebounds. ‘He could have had 18,’ Calipari says

By grabbing 15 rebounds Tuesday night, Nick Richards not only helped Kentucky defeat Arkansas 70-66. He also joined the UK players who have seen John Calipari react to stellar performances with a call for more, more, more.

Earlier this season, Calipari suggested PJ Washington score 35 points and grab 20 rebounds on a regular basis. He said Keldon Johnson’s 17 rebounds against Auburn set a standard.

Of Richards’ 15 rebounds, the UK coach said, “He had three one-handed (attempts at) rebounds. … He could have had 18.”

This did not surprise Richards, who had totaled 15 rebounds in UK’s most recent eight games.

“That’s Coach for you, man,” he told reporters after the game. “I don’t know what to tell you. He always wants the best for me. No matter what I do, he’s always going to tell me I could have done this more. I could have done this more. But, you know, he’s a great coach. He always looks after me. He always tells me what I do wrong. I appreciate that. …

“He sees something in me that probably no one else sees in me. That I don’t even see myself. He just tries to get me to that level.”

Tennessee next

UK outrebounded Arkansas 40-27. That meant that the Cats outrebounded the two opponents with strongman Reid Travis sidelined by a combined 83-51.

Probably the toughest test yet comes at Tennessee on Saturday.

“It’s going to be a war,” Tyler Herro said. “Our ‘bigs’ are going to have to fight inside. … We’ll have to bring the same fire that we brought here and do it.”

Of course, Travis sprained his right knee at Missouri last week. He’s expected to be sidelined for about two weeks.

“If Reid plays, it’s great,” Richards said of the game at Tennessee. “If Reid doesn’t play, me and EJ (Montgomery) have to step up to the challenge.”

Breather?

Calipari suggested that his players might have expected “a real breather” against Arkansas, a team that came to Rupp Arena on a five-game losing streak.

Herro and Richards were philosophical about falling behind by 15 points early in the second half.

“I think we just got off to a slow start,” Herro said. “They were just playing harder than us. I felt, like, they wanted it more in the first half. We just had to come out and compete in the second half.”

Added Richards: “I’d probably say it’s one of those things every team goes through. Every team has sluggish starts. It’s just basketball. It just tells you what kind of team you are. Just coming back from that sluggish start (and) find a way to get a ‘W.’”

Oh those refs

Four times in his post-game news conference Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson spoke of the disparity in free throws. Arkansas made 10 of 15. UK made 22 of 32.

“Difference in the game, I don’t think it’d take a rocket scientist: free throws,” Anderson said.

Twice with UK trying to inbounds the ball in the final seconds, the referees went to a sideline monitor to review the action.

“I don’t want to get in trouble,” Anderson said. “I’ll say this. They both went against us. I can’t talk about officiating … Thirty-two free throws! Thank you.”

When asked if UK walked on the first inbounds attempt, Anderson winced. He did the same when asked if Herro pushed off the defender in trying to free himself for the second inbounds.

A reporter suggested to the defender, Isaiah Joe, that it appeared Herro pushed off.

“I thought he did, too,” Joe said. “I thought we were going to get that call. But you know on the road you might not get all the calls. So you’ve just got to be able to play around it.”

Herro denied pushing Joe off.

“I think he flopped,” Herro said. “Yeah.”

Triple play

The Saturday of the upcoming SEC Tournament (March 16) will bring together what the league calls “three southern staples”: music and a fashion show at the Opry Plaza in addition to basketball action.

Musical artists scheduled to perform include Riley Green, Maddie & Tae, Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry, Craig Morgan and Country Music Hall of Famer Ricky Skaggs.

Tickets went on sale Tuesday. Fans who buy tickets before March 9 using code “SECOPRY” can save $5 per ticket on up to eight tickets, the league said. The discount is available at (800)-SEE-OPRY and opry.com.

Condolences

Jim Mazzoni, a member of the stats crew for UK basketball and football, died Friday night at age 65.

Mazzoni recorded play-by-play and then did the shot chart in his time on the basketball stats crew. His seat was left empty.

This story was originally published February 27, 2019 at 2:32 AM.