Kentucky basketball’s thrilling win highlights SEC/Big 12 Challenge, and more links
Links from Kentucky’s win at Texas Tech and around the SEC:
Nick Richards rides to UK’s rescue
Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader writes:
For the 12th time in 19 games this season, Kentucky faced a possession-by-possession test of wills that featured a margin of four of fewer points inside the final eight minutes.
And for the eighth time in such games, Kentucky won.
Nick Richards made two free throws with 10.3 seconds left in overtime to give UK a 76-74 victory. That capped a 25-point game, which equaled his career high (against Fort Wayne on Nov. 22, 2017).
The Nick and Quick Show stars in Lubbock
You can make a strong case that Richards, UK’s 7-foot junior, was the difference in the game. He scored 25 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked four shots. He also did not commit a turnover in 39 minutes of play. And, best of all, he made his final seven free throws, all seven in crucial spots.
Then there was Quickley, the sophomore guard, who scored 21 points, grabbed six rebounds, drilled four three-pointers and made key contributions on a night when teammates Ashton Hagans and Tyrese Maxey struggled. Especially Maxey, who was 2-for-10 from the floor and committed five turnovers.
Kentucky post-game press conference at Texas Tech
Richards comes through again for the Cats
Derek Terry of the Cats’ Pause writes:
Incredibly, Richards posted a stat line in Kentucky’s 76-74 overtime victory over Texas Tech that no other player since Anthony Davis has accomplished in the Calipari era. According to Corey Price, only Davis’ 27 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocks was more impressive than Richards’ 25 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks against the Red Raiders.
Richards’ story is rare in college basketball, but even more so at a school perceived as a one-and-done factory like Kentucky. But Richards has stayed, developed his game, and now has a case to be the SEC’s Player of the Year.
Good old experience helps Kentucky win
Kyle Tucker of The Athletic writes:
It was hard not to notice the extreme irony of the moment: Barely 24 hours after freshman Kahlil Whitney’s stunning departure on the basis of too little playing time, Kentucky had come into a second thunderous road arena in as many Saturdays and stolen a quality win by sheer force of will and veteran poise, then sent to the podium a pair of poster boys for patience to explain how another year in school had steeled them for these very situations.
Sophomore Immanuel Quickley had scored 21 points, including a pair of free throws that put the Wildcats ahead with 47 seconds left in overtime against 18th-ranked Texas Tech. He’s on an epic heater, hitting four more 3-pointers Saturday to make it 22-of-44 from deep — you can do the math on that percentage — over the last eight games. This after a freshman season in which he thought he might be the starting point guard but ended up playing a minor role as a shooting guard off the bench.
No. 18 Red Raiders fall to No. 15 UK in overtime
Carlos Silva of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal writes:
Chris Beard likes to describe the rigors of the Big 12 Conference schedule as an 18-round fight.
The fourth-year Texas Tech coach may add another after his squad took on a Kentucky squad ready to go blow for blow in a game of runs Saturday afternoon in front of a packed crowd inside United Supermarkets Arena.
The No. 18 Red Raiders did their best to deliver the knockout punch after Kevin McCullar, who was knocked out of the game after drawing a foul earlier, rose up to make a layup and drew a foul to knot the game up at 74-74 with 35.4 seconds left in overtime against the No. 15 Wildcats in a Big 12/SEC Challenge game.
Texas Tech comes up short, but gains Calipari’s appreciation
Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal writes:
The night before Kentucky came calling on Texas Tech as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge basketball series, John Calipari had the bus driver take his team by the tents where Tech students had set up camp two days in advance.
Calipari wanted his players to see that, “You bring out the best in people.”
You might wonder what would make him do that. You’re Kentucky. The Wildcats get every team’s best shot, every opposing fan base’s best turnout, their loudest roars, their most clever heckling.
SEC/Big 12 Challenge and regular SEC links
▪ Florida no match for top-ranked Baylor, reports Graham Hall of the Gainesville Sun.
▪ West Virginia proves way too much for Missouri, reports Souichi Terada of the Kansas City Star.
▪ Nate Oats frustrated with Alabama’s win over Kansas State, reports Mike Rodak of AL.com.
▪ Tired Kansas gets win over Tennessee, reports Gary Bedore of the Kansas City Star.
▪ Oklahoma’s Alondes Williams helps edge Mississippi State, reports Abby Bitterman of the Daily Oklahoman.
▪ Texas A&M falls to Oklahoma State, writes Travis Brown of the Bryan/College Station Eagle.
▪ Iowa State’s late rally falls short at Auburn, reports Randy Peterson of the Des Moines Register.
▪ Arkansas overcomes adversity to beat TCU, reports Bob Holt of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
▪ Watford comes big for LSU in win at Texas, reports Sheldon Mickles of the Baton Rouge Advocate.
▪ Georgia drops home game to Ole Miss, reports Jed May of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.
▪ South Carolina buries Vanderbilt, reports Andrew Ramspacher of The State.
