Kentucky guards sink Georgia Tech, but are there new questions about UK post play?
Analysis from No. 8 Kentucky’s 67-53 win over Georgia Tech:
How the game was won
Kentucky guards Ashton Hagans and Immanuel Quickley carried the load as UK slowly pulled away from its first Power Five conference foe since Nov. 5.
Who’s hot
1. Ashton Hagans. The Cartersville, Ga., product — playing against a team from his home state — was dynamic (21 points, seven rebounds, seven assists).
2. Immanuel Quickley. The Kentucky sophomore (16 points, 6-of-12 field goals) had his runner off the dribble working and made jumpers.
3. Keion Brooks. The UK freshman small forward (10 points, four rebounds) gave the Cats a major energy boost.
4. Kentucky foul shooters. Continuing an early-season trend, the Cats knocked ’em down from the foul line (15-of-18).
Who’s not
1. UK post players. Coming off back-to-back strong games (16 points vs. UAB, 25 against Fairleigh Dickinson), UK power forward EJ Montgomery never got started (no points, three rebounds) vs. Tech.
Nick Richards (12 points, four blocked shots) was much better, but only snared four rebounds against a long Georgia Tech front line.
2. Ashton Hagans’ ball security. Assertive point-guard play can equal some turnovers. Six, which Hagans had, is more than ideal, however.
3. Josh Pastner. That second-half sequence where there were two timeouts preceding a Georgia Tech offensive possession — and the Yellow Jackets still took a shot-clock violation was not a stellar coaching moment.
Key number(s)
Seventeen and zero. John Calipari has now coached 17 regular-season games against former assistant coaches. The ex-assistants have won zero of those games. Georgia Tech head man Josh Pastner was an assistant on Calipari’s final Memphis coaching staff in 2008-09.
The ‘Cat-mosphere’
1. In a piece shown on the Rupp Arena video boards, UK players were asked to name their favorite Christmas carol. About 80 percent of the Cats said “Jingle Bells.”
2. During the pregame, a representative from the Kentucky Lions Eye Foundation presented former Pendleton County star Dontaie Allen with his 2019 Kentucky Mr. Basketball ring. Allen’s UK teammates joined him at midcourt for the ceremony.
3. Everett McCorvey, UK professor and operatic tenor, directed the Rupp Arena fans as they sang the national anthem.
4. UK football coach Mark Stoops, Paul Hornung Award winner Lynn Bowden, Ray Guy Award winner Max Duffy and other UK football notables brought the Governor’s Cup to midcourt to show to the Rupp Arena crowd. Bowden’s introduction brought an especially boisterous roar.
5. Kelly Craft, the Kentuckian currently serving as United States ambassador to the United Nations, was “the Y.”
Craft planned to bring members of the U.N. security council, in Kentucky this week for a retreat, to Rupp Arena for the game.
6. Ex-UK standout Larry Conley and Tom Hammond, the longtime broadcast team on syndicated TV broadcasts of SEC basketball, received warm applause when introduced on the Rupp Arena court with 11:54 left in the game.
Up next
No. 8 Kentucky (8-1) will face Utah (8-2) on Wednesday night (Dec. 18) in the Neon Hoops Showcase at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (capacity 18,000 for basketball). The game will tip off at 11 p.m. (EST) and be telecast by ESPN2.
Utah defeated Weber State 60-49 Saturday.
The two most impressive wins this season for Coach Larry Krystkowiak’s Utes both came at home, a 73-69 win over Big Ten foe Minnesota on Nov. 15 and a 102-95 overtime victory over archrival BYU (coached by ex-Kentucky big man Mark Pope) Nov. 29.
Both Utah losses came in the Myrtle Beach Invitational, a 79-57 loss to Coastal Carolina (Nov. 21) and a 65-61 defeat by Tulane (Nov. 24).
This story was originally published December 14, 2019 at 7:16 PM.
