Montgomery showing signs of breakthrough with more physical play for UK
Perhaps a telling moment in EJ Montgomery’s development as a college player came in the second half of Kentucky’s victory over Georgia on Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs’ star freshman, Anthony Edwards, busted Montgomery’s lip when the two collided.
“When I blocked the shot, he came down and hit me with his hand,” Montgomery said.
Did the blow hurt?
“Just a regular busted lip,” Montgomery said. “I was good.”
For a player who concentrated in the offseason on trying to handle the physical nature of college basketball, it looked like a breakthrough.
“I feel a lot better” about playing a more physical style of basketball, Montgomery said. “That was my main thing over the summer. To try to get stronger and come back and have an impact on the game.”
The impact Montgomery made against Georgia included double-digit points (10 exactly) for the first time since he had 25 points against Fairleigh Dickinson. He had totaled 36 points in the nine subsequent games leading to round two against Georgia. He had two points in 21 minutes in the game at Athens two weeks earlier.
For a second straight game, Montgomery left an arena feeling he had made a notable contribution to a Kentucky victory. Although he scored only one point at Arkansas on Saturday, he helped limit the Razorbacks’ Jimmy Whitt Jr. to 14 points. Earlier in the week against Vanderbilt, Whitt had scored a career-high 30 points.
Of defending Whitt, Montgomery said, “that was the main focus they tried to give me, to stop No. 33 for that game.”
UK Coach John Calipari cited better conditioning as a key in Montgomery’s recent contributions. The player agreed.
“I’m just trying to get in better shape, in tip-top shape,” he said, “and then go out there and play physical.”
‘Only’ 85 percent
Immanuel Quickley, who came into the game with the seventh-best free-throw percentage in the country, missed a free throw for a third straight game. This produced an audible expression of surprise from the crowd.
In this relative three-game “slump,” Quickley made 17 of 20 free throws (85 percent).
Record in sight
Ashton Hagans got credit for nine assists. With an average of 7.3 assists per game, he’s on a pace to break Tyler Ulis’ UK record of 7.0 assists set in the 2015-16 season.
Hagans would like to set the record.
“It would mean the world to me,” he said. “… If I do get that, it’ll be a dream come true.”
Georgia killer
Hagans continued to be a Georgia killer. Besides the nine assists, he led UK with 23 points. He also equaled a season-high of four steals.
Hagans originally committed to play for Georgia. Then he decommitted when the school dismissed Mark Fox as coach.
When asked if that coaching change fueled him, Hagans said, “That’s a big part of it. You know, I was supposed to be in that uniform. But, you know, things happen.”
Defensive stopper
While Hagans is UK’s defensive disruptor, Quickley is becoming UK’s defensive stopper.
Quickley led the defense that limited Louisville’s Jordan Nwora to eight points. He was back at it against Anthony Edwards, who came into the game with the highest scoring average (19.1 points) of any freshman in Division I. Edwards went scoreless in the first half, missing five shots, and finished with 16 points.
Although assistant coach Tony Barbee said on Monday it would not be wise keep the same defender on Edwards, Quickley showed he could handle the assignment.
Invitation in mail?
Georgia is one of four SEC teams not playing in this coming weekend’s “challenge” against the Big 12.
Coincidentally or not, three of the four teams not invited went into this week’s play in 11th place (Georgia) and tied for last place (Ole Miss) and (Vanderbilt) in the SEC standings.
The exception was South Carolina, which was in eighth place with a 2-2 SEC record. Georgia was 1-3, while Ole Miss and Vandy had each lost its first four league games.
Deep end
Georgia’s 1-4 start to SEC play could be attributed to not having the luxury of easing into league water. The Bulldogs had to jump into the deep end of the SEC pool.
Two games with Kentucky are part of Georgia starting the SEC schedule with six straight games against teams that played in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Those first six opponents are Kentucky, Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Kentucky and Ole Miss.
Hello, Georgia
Actor Wayne Knight grew up in Ashton Hagans’ hometown of Cartersville, Ga., and attended the University of Georgia.
Fans of the television comedy “Seinfeld” know that Knight played the neighbor, Newman, on the show.
Etc.
Looking ahead to this weekend’s Kentucky-Texas Tech game, Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes will call the action for ESPN.
Next game
No. 15 Kentucky at No. 18 Texas Tech
6 p.m. Saturday in Big 12/SEC Challenge (ESPN)
This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 12:39 AM.
