Kentucky’s backcourt trio leads second-half surge at LSU
Ashton Hagans has been called the heartbeat of Kentucky’s team. Immanuel Quickley has been described as a “killer.” And Tyrese Maxey was a three-time Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week.
After an uninspiring first half, the trio came alive to lead Kentucky to a 79-76 victory at LSU on Tuesday night.
The winsome threesome scored UK’s first eight points of the second half, and 23 of the first 29. That enabled Kentucky to improve to 21-5 overall and move its first-place record in the SEC to 11-2.
But looking ahead, Coach John Calipari said Kentucky cannot depend solely on its three star guards. He called EJ Montgomery, Keion Brooks, Nate Sestina and Johnny Juzang “probably the key to where this thing goes. And they don’t have to be crazy, out of their minds. But you got to add to what’s going on.”
Ideally, Calipari said, UK would have five or six guys who’ve scored 25 or more points in a game. UK has had four: Nick Richards (against Texas Tech and Mississippi State), Montgomery (Fairleigh Dickinson), Maxey (Michigan State and at Vanderbilt) and Hagans (Utah Valley).
“Immanuel hasn’t,” Calipari said pointedly. “But he plays so steady, I think in his mind (he thinks), ‘If I have to go get 25, I can. So, I’m fine.’”
Quickley, Maxey and Hagans combined to score 31 points in the second half. Quickley led all scorers with 21 points, 14 of which came after the break. Maxey added 14 (11 in the second half) and Hagans had 11 (six in the second half).
Quickley acknowledged the stark contrast in the halves.
“I think I air-balled my first shot,” he said. “That kind of threw everybody off.”
Kentucky’s defense key to win
A constant for Kentucky this season — defense — also played a big part in the victory. UK stifled a LSU team that came into the game with the eighth-best scoring average in the nation at 80.8 points. The Tigers also ranked 20th in shooting at 47.7 percent.
But LSU (18-8 overall and 9-4 in the SEC) made only 39.4 percent of its shots.
Kentucky was up 29-28 at halftime. That seemed like a sizable lead given how UK’s three leading men played.
Hagans, Maxey and Quickley combined to commit five turnovers and make only five of 20 shots in the half. That included two of eight three-point shots. The second make — by Hagans with 30 seconds left in the half — gave UK its lead at intermission.
“We’re up one and we cannot make an open shot,” Calipari said. “… I’m whistling, dancing and skipping.”
Defense helped put Kentucky ahead. LSU made only 10 of 32 shots in the first half. The Tigers’ five starters — all of whom carried a double-digit scoring average into the game — made only eight of 27 shots.
Both teams twice led by four points in the first half. Neither led by more. There were 10 lead changes.
UK’s three guards came alive early in the second half. They scored UK’s first eight points. Then Juzang’s three-pointer gave Kentucky its largest lead yet, 40-32 with 17:37 left.
Juzang’s basket marked the only score for Kentucky in the first nine-plus minutes of the second half not scored by Maxey, Quickley or Hagans.
Sestina’s corner three-pointer — set up by a pass from Hagans — broke the three-guard monopoly of scoring and gave Kentucky its largest lead to that point: 56-47 with 10:47 left.
The lead twice grew to 15 points late in the game. But as if to test its nerves — not to mention the anxiety of its fan base — UK saw its lead dwindle to 78-74 with 18.9 seconds left.
Calipari noted how an injury to Hagans made the final minutes more difficult. Hagans hobbled off the court with 7:16 remaining with what the team said was a left thigh contusion.
“I haven’t heard anything about Ashton’s injury,” Quickley said. “If he doesn’t play, that’s a big piece we’d be missing, obviously.”
Calipari credited Juzang for making a key contribution late by safely inbounding the ball.
Quickley, too, had to deal with pain. He said knee-to-knee contact caused him to go to the bench with 17:46 left. Three minutes later, he was knocked to the floor on a drive.
“My hip has been hurting a little bit the last couple games,” he said in explaining the second time he went down. “Nothing crazy. But I fell on my hip.”
But Kentucky held on.
Next game
Florida at No. 10 Kentucky
6 p.m. Saturday (ESPN)
This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 1:00 AM with the headline "Kentucky’s backcourt trio leads second-half surge at LSU."
