Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s win over North Florida
Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 86-52 win over North Florida on Friday night at Rupp Arena:
1. Sahvir Wheeler keeps wheeling and dealing
Kentucky point guard Sahvir Wheeler contributed 14 assists as the Cats improved to 5-1. And afterward, the Georgia transfer received some advice from North Florida Coach Matt Driscoll.
“I think your kid, I know he’s not a shooter, I know he’s not a good shooter at all, but I told him after the game, Wheeler, ‘If you continue to do what you do and be the player that you are, this team is special. If you try to listen to everybody else that’s on the outside, then you could really, really, really screw up what you guys have.’
“The way he defends the ball at the point and the way he pushes the ball to the rim and puts pressure on you, it’s great to see. It’s exciting for these guys to see. Of the teams that we’ve played, you guys have the best package on both ends of the floor.”
As a frame of reference, North Florida had previously played Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Grand Canyon, Arizona State and UCLA. All on the road. All were losses.
As for Wheeler, he now has 55 assists through six games, an average of 9.2 per game. Last year, UK’s assists leader was Davion Mintz. He averaged 3.1 per game.
2. UK still hasn’t been healthy at the same time
Jacob Toppin and Lance Ware both returned to the floor on Friday. A shoulder injury had kept Toppin, the 6-9 forward, on the sideline since the season opener against Duke. An ankle injury had limited Ware, the 6-10 backup center, to the season’s first two games against Duke and Robert Morris.
Two steps forward steps back. Mintz missed his second consecutive game because of illness. This time, he was joined by Keion Brooks. The junior forward tried to go through warm-ups, but returned to the locker room. He was replaced in the starting lineup by 6-9 freshman Daimion Collins, who said he got the word he was starting right before tipoff.
In fact, Collins handled the opening tip duties instead of Oscar Tshiebwe. And the Texas native scored UK’s first points, jamming home a lob from TyTy Washington. Perhaps a little too excited, Collins took a pair of three-pointers from the left corner on the next two possessions. Both missed. To the bench he went.
“I was like, ‘What are you doing?’” UK Coach John Calipari said “That’s not that (he) was in the game for.”
Still, Collins scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds in 25 minutes. The layoff left Toppin winded. He scored three points in 10 minutes. Ware played seven minutes and scored four points.
How good can Kentucky be with all of its players available?
Said Wheeler, “I think we can go all the way.”
3. Kentucky proved it doesn’t have to make three-pointers
The Wildcats went 1-for-12 from three-point range in the first half. They improved in the second, hitting five of 13 from beyond the arc. Still, for the night, Kentucky was just 6-for-25 from downtown for 24.0 percent. And won by 34 points.
Freshman Bryce Hopkins was two of three from three. His teammates were not so accurate. Normally a sharpshooter, Kellan Grady missed all four of his three-point attempts. Washington was two of five. Wheeler missed both of his three-point tries. And Dontaie Allen went 0-for-3 in the first half — to go with his 0-for-5 last game — before ending up two of eight on the night.
That didn’t matter to Calipari. He complimented Allen for playing hard even though his shot wasn’t falling. After a brief stretch of not doing so early, Allen picked it up on the effort end later in the half, which according to Calipari, drew praise from his teammates at halftime.
Overall, Kentucky shot 47.4 from the floor on the night. Meanwhile, Florida shot 33.3 percent. The Ospreys were 7-for-21 from three. Former Lexington Catholic star Carter Hendricksen had a rough night from the field for UNF. He was just 3-for-14 overall, including 2-for-10 from three. That didn’t matter.
“It was definitely a dream come true,” Hendrciksen said afterward. “Growing up in Mt. Sterling, me and my dad used to come to the State Tournament all the time. Sitting up there like, ‘Man, I really want to play there one day.’ We got really close my senior year in high school, it just didn’t go our team’s way. The (UNF) coaching staff to get our opportunity to play here, nobody’s going to play in a better atmosphere than that, a better arena than that.”
This story was originally published November 26, 2021 at 10:30 PM.
