Increased playing time tells the story of Nick Richards’ blossoming for UK
On Sunday, Nick Richards continued to prove that time does more than heal all wounds. It also can serve as a leading indicator of a player’s progress.
Richards played less than 50 seconds in Kentucky’s loss to Auburn in the Elite Eight of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. That seemed a fitting punctuation on Richards’ two seasons of struggle to establish himself as a college player.
Richards played a career-high 35 minutes (to be exact it was 35 minutes and 13 seconds) in leading Kentucky to an 81-56 victory over Lamar. He scored 10 points, grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds and blocked a career-high seven shots.
Hidden in his flirtation with what would have been the fourth triple-double in Kentucky’s storied basketball history was this: His total of 182 minutes of playing time in UK’s first six games is the second most on the team, trailing only freshman Tyrese Maxey’s 192.
“I’ve just got to give it to my coaches,” he said of this night-and-day difference in minutes and presence. “They stuck with me throughout the whole entire process.”
Foul trouble contributed to Richards needing time to become more productive. He averaged a foul every 5.9 minutes last season. That was actually fouling at a faster rate than the average of 7.1 minutes as a freshman.
So far this season, Richards is averaging a foul every 12.1 minutes.
“Fouling is just one thing I’m trying to avoid in trying to protect this team,” he said, “because I know we don’t have that many bodies on the bench. So that’s always in the back of my mind.”
Against Lamar, Richards picked up his first foul less than two minutes into the game. This prompted point guard Ashton Hagans to immediately go to Richards to offer on-court counseling. It was another example of the seemingly telepathic connection Richards and Hagans have established.
“We both thought it was a bad call,” Richards said when asked what Hagans said. “But, you know, everybody is not perfect. Everybody makes mistakes. But, you know, we just said it’s just part of basketball. We just have to move on.”
UK Coach John Calipari saluted the difference Richards has made already. UK fans might recall that Richards turned an ankle during the first exhibition game and did not play again until the opener against Michigan State.
“We were lucky to have Nick against Michigan State,” Calipari said. Richards had seven points, five rebounds and helped UK compete with the Spartans’ older front line.
Richards’ double-double was his third in six games. But his seven blocks brought to mind his refusal to take a bow for his 21-point, 10-rebound performance against Utah Valley. After that game, he lamented only blocking one shot.
Calipari noticed the blocks against Lamar.
“I thought Nick did some good stuff,” the UK coach said. “I liked the fact that we blocked shots today.”
UK’s 13 blocks tied for the fourth most by a UK team in Calipari’s 11 seasons as coach. Richards’ tied for the seventh-most blocks by a UK player in Calipari’s time as coach.
Calipari said he had called for more shot-blocking.
“I told the guys, ‘How are we not blocking shots?’” the UK coach said. “We should be one of those teams in our league.”
Kentucky also turned heads on the offensive end. UK made 10 of 22 three-point shots.
The opening half saw the Cats make a season-high seven three-pointers inside the first 16 minutes.
UK made its first three three-point shots. That exceeded the total number of threes the Cats had made in two earlier games (two against Eastern Kentucky, one against Utah Valley). Of more immediate concern, the early sharp-shooting enabled UK to zoom to a 15-2 lead barely five minutes into the game.
Expectations of an early knockout disappeared when Lamar’s Davion Buster got hot. The 5-foot-10 sophomore hit threes on back-to-back possessions helping the Cardinals scored 10 straight points. He led Lamar with 19 points.
Lamar tied it at 19-all. Then Kentucky took another turn making long shots.
Maxey gave UK the lead to good with the first of his four three-pointers in the first half. His three with 5:15 left enabled Kentucky to equal the season-high of six made against Michigan State and Mount St. Mary’s.
The seventh – again by Maxey – came with 4:12 left. It was part of a 20-0 run that put Kentucky ahead 39-19.
Meanwhile, Richards continued to impose his will. He suggested even more in the future.
When asked about his transformation as a player, Richards said, “It’s all about progress. Some people aren’t really patient until they get the end result. I don’t think I’m at the end result of my development as a basketball player yet.”
This story was originally published November 24, 2019 at 10:40 PM.
