Nick Richards’ injury puts a damper on Kentucky’s win over Georgetown
As expected, Kentucky showed its superiority in defeating Georgetown College in Sunday’s exhibition game Sunday in Rupp Arena, 80-53.
But the one potential downside to these dress rehearsals — injury — was realized early in the second half.
Nick Richards crumpled to the court with 19:03 left after apparently landing on Georgetown guard Jake Ohmer’s foot. Richards was attempting to block a three-point shot taken from the top of the key. The SEC Network reported that Richards sustained a lower left leg injury.
With the lack of depth among its “bigs” a talking point this preseason, the sight of Richards laying on the court made Rupp Arena fall silent. “C’mon, Nick,” one fan could be hear yelling in a tone that sounded more fearful than hopeful.
Richards got up with the assistance of a UK staffer under each arm. The Rupp Arena crowd applauded. As he moved carefully toward the sideline, Richards needed only one staffer to steady him. He exited with six points (looking comfortable shooting hook shots), five rebounds and no fouls in 15 minutes of play.
In Richards’ absence, Kentucky struggled to establish a post game. EJ Montgomery missed more than one shot from the low post. Freshman Keion Brooks, who started at power forward alongside Richards, missed a post-up shot.
Nate Sestina contributed a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The misses did not threaten Kentucky’s chances of winning. Georgetown got as close as 45-33 early in the second half when Olmer drove to an old-fashioned three-point play. That gave him 21 points (or almost two-thirds of Georgetown’s total) with 16:15 remaining.
But Georgetown went scoreless over the next five-plus minutes. Ohmer did not score again until he made two free throws with 3:44 and finished with 25 points.
Back-to-back baskets by Ashton Hagans — a three-pointer and a fast-break drive — steadied Kentucky. He finished with 14 points.
Kentucky went into the game talking about showing toughness, a question that Coach John Calipari had pondered publicly more than once this preseason.
“That could be a major factor we want to show,” Richards said of toughness on Friday. “Really show physicality. Are you mentally focused when you’re tired? And can you stick to the task at hand?
But Calipari pointed out that instilling toughness in practice must be balanced against UK’s relatively small number of healthy players. Richards’ injury accentuated that balancing act.
Kentucky wasted no time showing that competitive basketball would not be on display. The Cats scored the game’s first 11 points. Immanuel Quickley led the way, scoring seven of UK’s first nine points. His three three-pointers barely four minutes into the game helped erased any doubt the winning team. He led UK with 16 points.
Georgetown, which started no player taller than 6-foot-7, struggled with Kentucky’s height advantage. UK had as many blocks (three) as Georgetown had baskets (three) until freshman Jaquay Wales drove to a layup with 6:38 left in the half. His basket reduced UK’s lead to 30-11.
Ohmer, who starred on the Rupp Arena court as a high school player in the 2017 Sweet 16, led all first-half scorers with 15 points. He contributed eight points to an easy-to-overlook 12-0 Georgetown run late in the half.
Still, Kentucky led 43-25 at halftime.
The first half included one freshman moment. With 13:32 left, Calipari ordered Johnny Juzang into the game. The freshmen followed orders, but unfortunately forgot to first report to the scorer’s table. A referee re-directed him there.
Next game
Exhibition: Kentucky State at No. 2 Kentucky
7 p.m. Friday (SEC Network)
This story was originally published October 27, 2019 at 7:11 PM.
