By Penny Deatrick
The Kentucky Wildcats recorded an impressive 25-point win Sunday evening over Lamar 81-56. With the win, UK improved its mark to 5-1 on the season.
Kentucky coach John Calipari said, “ We played better today. A lot of good stuff.”
While happy with the victory, Coach Cal expressed concern in regards to the players' training. The schedule does not allow for a lot of training when you are playing four games in 12 days.
“This, we have a day off, we have three days, and then another game," said Calipari, "and then we have a day off and we have four, five days. This team, we’re still trying to figure each other out.”
Lamar coach Tic Price talked about UK's physical presence. “They’re much bigger, much stronger, very athletic," he said.
Lamar opened in a 2-3 zone defense in hopes that Kentucky’s shooting woes from past games would result in missed shots. Kentucky answered the call shooting an impressive 10 for 22 (45.5 percent) for the game.
Price also had praise for Kentucky’s inside game. “Even when we penetrated, our guys had a pink elephant in the back of their mind," he said. "They had those shot blockers right there.”
Kentucky's Tyrese Maxey finished the game with 21 points. Nick Richards had 13 rebounds, 10 points, and 7 blocks.
When Richards was asked if he knew he was close to a double-double, he responded, “No, people on the bench told me I was close. I was trying to press and get two points. I just want to thank my teammates for putting me in the position to be successful like that and to my coaches for calling plays like that. Everyone on the team is just trying to get better every game.”
Ashton Hagans also finished with 15 points, including 3 of 4 from beyond the three-point line.
With extra time dedicated to “training,” the young Cats should continue to show improvement. Their next opponent is UAB on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. ET in Rupp Arena.
Penny Deatrick is a contributing writer from Louisville.