New York City native Hamidou Diallo (pictured in an earlier game) and PJ Washington led UK to a 93-76 win over Monmouth Saturday afternoon, Dec. 9 before a Madison Square Garden crowd of 10,438 fans.

Diallo hit a game-high 23 points, hitting 8 of 13 shots, and Washington followed with 20 points, including 9 of 9 free throws.

The 6-5 Diallo, a redshirted freshman from Queens, New York, was certainly happy that he played well before his family in the crowd.

"It's just a blessing," he said. "This is my first time playing in the Garden. I never got to play in the Garden, so coming from New York City, that's every kid's dream. He wants to play in the Garden. You grow up watching it, going to games. For me playing in there, having a good game is just a blessing and just gotta do a couple more things, but it's just a blessing."

Washington also blocked four shots and grabbed six rebounds.

Kentucky, which improves its mark to 8-1, will host Virginia Tech of Atlantic Coast Conference on Saturday, Dec. 16 at Rupp Arena. The 2 p.m. game will be shown on ESPN2.

Photo by Ron Morrow