2019-2020 Kentucky vs UAB (Game 7)

[Music] on this weekend of thanksgiving welcome live to lexington and rough arena for college basketball on the sec network with sec champion damon fischbach i'm paul sunderland as it's number nine kentucky hosting the 4-1 blazers of the university of alabama at birmingham and so far through the non-conference the wildcats have dealt with well you call it a number of minor injuries now they've got a deal and managed with a major setback with a broken wrist to nate sistina the senior graduate transfer and how much damian can this particularly this situation affect a young team like kentucky at this time of year tremendous but you got to remember paul six games in the first 20 days now over the next 40 games they'll only play six games a chance to get better but they will be challenged today you see that man right there tayden loving that's right he's from franklin kentucky this is a homecoming for him he is the leading scorer and wants to come in and try to create another upset i expect the wildcats to be ready after all this thanksgiving basketball we got our own dessert right now very well said there have been some wonderful tournaments and very interesting games over the last three or four days kentucky comes in at five and one nice pass for richards down inside fumbled recaptured and throwed it down threw it down and nick richards 6-11 junior 10 points 14 rebounds and a career-high seven block shots in the win over lamar well he's going to be a determining factor when we look across the country the bigs are making such a huge difference this year whether it be tesco michigan or whether it be gonzaga's biggs nick richards is going to be a key call for the kentucky wildcats this year uab wants to take some air out of the ball and run clock target a wild shot down the lane and ej montgomery back in the lineup third game back after missing three with an injured ankle pull-up jump shot ashton higgins who's been red-hot 19 points five rebounds seven assists over the last three games in an early timeout taken by uab well i like the timeout you got 20 000 people in here excited right now look at this good up pitch ahead transition i think transition basketball is so important this year defenses have been much better across the country scoring is down shooting is down and so the ability to score early and then get out in the break is crucial there is the hall of famer head coach john califari now in his 11th year 30-7 last year 15-3 in the sec advancing to the elite eight four final fours in a national title here with the wildcats in 2012. robert eason in his fourth year as the head coach eighth year at university of alabama birmingham he was an assistant coach on the sideline when they were last in the ncaa tournament in 2015. big challenge for this young man we're number 13 in greece the very slight jalen benjamin 510 freshman out of raleigh north carolina at the point nice rotation defense and that's going to be a charge called against kyrie scott grayson wearing number zero for the blazer you know paul i spoke with ashton hagins at the shoot around today and i said what was the difference in your mindset in the michigan state win versus the evansville loss and he said we just weren't locked in like we should have been he said after that loss we know that now regardless of the team that we're playing against we have to be locked in and make sure that we're playing our best game higgins doubled on the perimeter looking for somewhere to go nice skip pass out to maxi off the edge of the iron offensive rebound note taken by gay uab in order for them to get on the board i think they need to get something at the rim and right now nick richards is such a tremendous rim protector it looks like they're intimidating a little bit you have to go in there you don't you don't fade away from the shot blocker you've got to go right into his chest paul first couple of seasons here in lexington nick richards now a junior averaged five points and four rebounds he's up back to 14 and eight and how special do you think he is or can be and how important is that factor i love his story i love guys that are cassius winston and michigan state that wait for their opportunity and their turn to pay their dues you've got that all across the sec this year and nick richards is a prime story who i think has an incredible ceiling and will continue to get better not only here but in the nba [Applause] pearson on the dribble drive number two in green and the blazers of uab are on the board tamel pearson 6-10 sophomore out of chicago yeah 223 pounds big body that chicago background pretty tough and that's why you see him being one of the first guys that takes it to the basket there is montgomery very very versatile big man nice move couldn't finish on the left-handed hook hagins again he checked that rims in and out nice aggressive rebound taken by scott grayson double-digit threes is what kentucky hit in the lamar win they are such a different team when they're knocking down the three-point shot in the shoot around coach easton said we want to make them beat us from the perimeter we want to pack it in and make them shoot jump shots for 40 minutes pearson again right to the rim and no rotation weak side defense not a surprise the young sophomore playing with a lot of confidence and i love the fact that he's attacking the basket when you go to the rim in the game of basketball it's like body blows to a boxer higgins open off the screen and roll and a foul is going to be called that's against uab and it's going to be pearson on the blockout out to a quick start he's got four points in the game he averages four so far small sample size but he's done very very well for uav absolutely and right now for kentucky you have just a few minutes if if you're the big guy if you're the blue blood or the power school you have just a few minutes early in the game to make your impression if you see loving on the sideline looks like he's going back to the wall he's going back to the locker room and that is a big blow taven loving as you mentioned out of franklin kentucky averaging 13 points five rebounds right now you see uab there in the zone paul and what they're gonna do is keep it packed in they want to see if kentucky can beat them from the perimeter kentucky's going to have to show teams that throughout this season you mentioned the three-point shooting for kentucky one of twelve versus utah valley six of 15 versus mount saint mary's and then got double digits in the win over lamar 10-22 it is a different shot different shot especially for high school players who weren't shooting it just a few months ago missed by gay right at the front of the rim kentucky looking to push that's not a different shot for that guy that's got to be an offensive foul no doubt about it nick richards just lowering his shoulder and plowing through the defender for uav we got a time out here in lexington kentucky and the blazers of the university of alabama at birmingham meeting for the sixth time [Music] and rupp arena once again university alabama birmingham a quick little spurt timeout tied at four low scoring affair with damien fishback i'm paul sunderland first of all on behalf of the sec network a very very happy thanksgiving to everyone but we got to talk about kentucky and the injuries that they've had it's just been a plethora of them and how much again we talked about a little bit earlier but how does that affect them and a lot of people are scratching their heads is this still a team that can compete and get back to national championship level well the answer to that question is absolutely yes but it has been affected on paul anytime you don't have practice time that's two things one that limits your rotation one of the reasons why i think they got upset right they didn't have all their guys they wanted first string the second of all though you don't have the practice time to continue to get better now as we look across the country though we see the top ten we realize that this kentucky team like many other teams has went through ups and downs in that top ten gonzaga with the loss now north carolina with the loss kansas michigan state and there's a lot of teams up there obviously duke the lost at home to stephen f austin and so the ability to still get to national championship and have those aspirations is right there but they have to get healthy and they have to continue to get better coach cal made a point talking to his friend mark few going through a similar situation at gonzaga the bulldogs lost today to a very good team from michigan juwan howard doing a wonderful job there but also dealing with a short bench and lots of injuries in the non-conference well i was impressed with jalon howard you know the humility that he displayed giving credit to the other coaches his opponent and then he reminded you that he was from south side of chicago which is why they still play so tough [Applause] uab with a miss and speaking of misses after a quick start at the rim for kentucky two for their first two they have gone over six all jump shots and i'm sure that was talked about during the timeout listen paul this is going to be cookie cutter for the kentucky wildcats until you put especially with nate christina out until you prove that you can knock down mid-range jump shot and three-point jump shots they're gonna pack it in and make you beat them airball on the turnaround jump shot but an offensive rebound kasim nicholson on the floor now replacing taven lovin who left the floor shot clock at eight benjamin launching a long three-pointer and goodness that looked awfully good as soon as it left his hand looked awfully good and awfully easy from the freshman out of raleigh north carolina 5-10 so as a smaller guard he knows he has to be able to extend the court and pick new nation now starting to get behind their team hagan's nice hesitation dribble gets it up to richards for the slam dunk that's what i'm talking about paul just because someone says i don't want you to hit me in the body doesn't mean you don't quit they're trying to force them to shoot from the perimeter it's up to kentucky whether they whether they continue to be relentless or whether they continue to attack the basket and first shot in the paint in the last five possessions for kentucky gay in traffic not there battle for the rebound and it's going to be off of uab and out of bounds you made the point of jalen benjamin the diminutive point guard 510 yes you left out the most important thing 140 pounds from distance well look this is what i mean when i talk about whether you uh just are passive and timid and just shoot the jump shot it's okay you can get the shot the the jump shot anytime when the shot clock is going down but when you still have minutes on that clock try to get to the basket in particular when you have more athleticism and more size david loving good news for uab back on the floor after he got checked by the medical staff in the locker room loving again averaging 13.5 rebounds played 33 games last year for a uab team only 20 and 15 10 and 8 in conference usa back in the zone long three-pointer off the side of the iron battle for the rebound and nicely taken by number 23 jordan brinson playing in his first basketball game of the year thought that he was going to miss the entire season with a leg injury but here he is out there the freshman from englewood and challenging the trees right away oh there's some contact on the perimeter no doubt about that as hagen looked to push the tempo well uab is obviously a team that when they have played kentucky has had some success now if kentucky wants to have some success this is what they're going to have to do we showed the play in transition but how do they get the transition paul they got to stop on the defensive end in order for kentucky to be a top five team which they could be in the rankings when they come out but in order for them to win it all they're going to have to start to love the defensive end so they can then get out on the offensive end ej montgomery back on along with emmanuel quickly six foot three sophomore out of maryland for the first time for john calipari and the wildcats 13 43 remaining in the opening half and to say it's a low scoring affair would be an understatement just seven to six well to shoot around today coach calipari made some very pointed comments to his team about what the ingredients are for success and defense certainly came up a time or two nice kick ball is loose benjamin looking to kick ahead well he is a confident looking freshman point guard and that's going to be a foul over the top called against uab that's going to go against will butler big body six foot eight seniors 245 pounds out of jamaica paul you have to remember the last time uab beat kentucky robert vaden had 33 points i actually hit the go ahead three-pointer with about a minute 15 seconds left to go back in 2007 where they beat kentucky about three don't think the uav blazers aren't coming in here thinking they can upset the wildcats sixth meeting all time the series record is 3-2 led by kentucky fouls starting to add up now for uab that is five team fouls already with a lifetime left and this opening half in kentucky is a good free-throw shooting team and they get to the line a lot [Applause] [Music] shot clock at four tough turnaround jump shot emmanuel quickly averaging 13 points four rebounds scores for the first time on the night what'd you notice about that play paul the very first time they were able to cross the three-point line they got something positive you cannot be intimidated you have to attack which is something that a young team like kentucky has to become more comfortable with nice move to the basket by loving but unable to finish keon brooks buries the three-pointer his first look beautiful you didn't have to hear coach cal say it but i can hear him saying what he says in practice all the time one more and that's what happened with aston hagan's on that particular extra pass we had an interesting conversation with the injured nate sistina at practice today and he talked about how incredibly talented brooks jr is just needs to see a couple of shots go through the bottom of the basket balls on the floor and here comes kentucky hagan's looking ahead looking to add to a seven nothing run nice move to the basket once again by roof excuse me that was montgomery outstanding job of dj montgomery running the floor so good for big blue nation to have him back if i'm uab though before this gets away i try to get it back inside get to the free throw line or see if i can test the front line of kentucky with nick richards out and they got to believe in their game plan they want to run clock get deep into it and then get a good shot at the end they can't run with kentucky brinson had a couple of good looks butler with the offensive rebound and that rims out maxie pull up jump shot off the wing that time missed by quickly quite a combination of ej montgomery and nick richards how will they develop how will they gel together they're going to play a lot more minutes on the floor now with the injury to sistina you love that as a player right [Music] well to that point last game nice hit off the perimeter again by jalen benjamin number 13 in green but to that point nick richards played 35 minutes against lamar in their last win you're talking about a guy who's really never averaged more than 15 minutes a game really no one on this team outside of aston hagan last year slip screen how versatile is number 13 ej montgomery in order for kentucky to go to that next level he and nick richards have to be incredible especially while nate is out of the basketball game until he gets back benjamin feeling it another three pointer that off the back of the iron heat check i don't mind that absolutely not especially when points are hard to come by uab does not really average a lot of points kentucky does nice hit from the outside by tyrese maxi now 11 of 29 from three-point range time-out called by uab i like the time-out call kentucky can get away from you so quick right now off to a tremendous start just like the lamar game up by eight well we're back here where uk is up eight points let me show you one of the reasons why paul the kentucky wildcats when they defend do a tremendous job in transition now take a look here you're gonna have two bigs in the green freezer right there you've got will butler now his eyes are gonna be focused here ej montgomery is actually going to point let it go when he points he's pointing because he knows they can't guard all of them and so there's too many people in transition when kentucky gets out to run the floor for the blazers to defend e.j montgomery if he runs the floor like that i don't think anyone in the country can stop him but it's got to happen on the defensive end when they get out in transition they are a difficult team to stop e.j montgomery 6 10 sophomore out of fort pierce florida injured his ankle in the opening win over michigan state missed three games was in a boot in the game against evansville lost by kentucky here at rupp arena this is his third game back kentucky on a 14-3 run over the last five minutes paul there's so many positions in basketball whether it's the point guard the shooting guard the small forward the power forward or the center but as this game continues to change you notice the lebron james the kevin durant that power forward position that versatility is becoming so much more valuable that's why ej montgomery and nate sustina when they get back is going to be crucial when they're paying that four and five positions luis hurtada six foot six redshirt sophomore out of venezuela on the floor now wearing number 10. and what we just saw right there was a cheek in the armor right for kentucky i talked about how well ej montgomery can run the floor but number 12 will butler is 245 pounds he's solid and so what what uab has now done is they're saying we're going to slow it down and in the half court we're going inside without nick richards in the basketball game and let's see if e.j montgomery can stop and butler a very welcome sight for the blazers played 17 very important games last year before going down with an acl tear [Applause] shot clock at eight montgomery got that elbow up a little high he's left he's left-handed didn't he wow wow former kentucky great antoine walker i'm sure he's watching he always liked to say pro stuff and that was a pro move by ej montgomery with his opposite hand you saw it paul montgomery now with half a dozen on three or four shooting back door cut not there well defended [Applause] [Music] step inside boy a lot of shots missed right at the rim but there's some shot blockers down inside and some length nice play by ball deflected out of bounds it'll be kentucky's basketball 8 36 remaining in the opening half 20 seconds to shoot when you talk about a guy like ej montgomery i said he's a little bit meaner but look he's even off the block a little bit butler did a pretty good job but he showed that he not only has a jump hook but he has a jump hook with some range give coach kenny payne and this staff coach kenny payne is one of the tremendous assistant coaches that works out with big guys when you talk about carl anthony towns and anthony davis the list goes on of incredible bigs the marcus cousins that have come out of the kentucky wildcats kenny payne in his 10th year on the sideline with coach calipari step back jump shot not there by brooks that's what you talked about paul you see uab when they come up not trying to press anything if they don't see it early they're going to try to run about 25 seconds off of the shot clock and make sure that they get the type of look they want which will increase their offensive rebounding opportunities as well that's going to be a foul on the perimeter called against number two khalid whitney so far as far as kentucky is concerned you can see five team fouls uab got a lot of those very early and now kentucky with their third team foul uav to inbound this is kasim nicholson six foot seven junior out of jackson mississippi came over to the blazers from community college on the floor for the first time for kentucky and that's going to be a traveling violation interesting enough paul looks like the wildcats are starting to like this defense a little bit let's see if uab's down or if they're out coming up next our college basketball doubleheader continues as the herd thunder into gainesville to tip it off with number 424 the florida gators right here on the sec network and the espn app damian florida a couple of early losses to uconn and florida state but a big win over xavier and uh early in the non-conference and start to trend up a little bit yeah i've seen both of those teams in uconn and florida state both quality teams the difference has been carrie blackshear jr the transfer from virginia tech has been outstanding he actually went down in the saint joe's game and which caused them to barely be able to speak that game but florida able to win that charleston classic they'll be facing a martial team tonight thundering hurd who had almost everyone to get in the game scored in their 91 point victory in their previous game but it'll be a different outcome florida's defense one of the best in the nation the blues brothers came to check you out your sartorial magnificence here tonight putting me to shame i gotta up my game sits beside kentucky leading it 20 to 12 still a lot of time left in the opening half as richards comes back on in the post hagen's down the lane tried a little shovel pass and higgins took it too deep and is going to be called for the offensive foul ted valentine one of the best in the business got the charge on number zero ashton higgins uh ashton hagin's doing what we spoke about which is continuing to try to get to the basket but you got to come to that two-foot jump stop and teddy valentine right there on the call nearly four decades officiating for teddy valentine he is one of the best in the business i think he started when he was five though i think so what a contribution he's made to the game though just tremendous nice looking offense here pearson who had a couple of early baskets offensive rebound taken inside by gay remember this year shot clock resets to 20. not back up to 30. second shot opportunities and that knocked down by khasim nicholson well what she had was a kentucky team that was in disarray which is what happens defensively on offensive rebounds which is why they are so crucial in the game of basketball and offensive rebounding speaking of crucial it is absolutely vital for uab in terms of percentage they are second in college basketball right now and offensive rebounds almost 15 per game step back jump shot not there long rebound nice track by whitman nice looking stroke he has got a beautiful stroke the six foot six freshman out of los angeles california paul that was interesting we saw two offensive rebounds on the last two plays that led to three-point shots the best time to knock down the three-point shot is on the offensive rebound benjamin stepped out of bounds jalen benjamin who knocked down a couple of very confident threes early on they're five foot 10 140 pound freshman out of raleigh father aisha played at north carolina state in years gone by 6 17 remaining in the half and uab doing enough to hang around they've gotten inside they just can't finish that's right you talked about the pedigree and lineage of benjamin and right now it's going to be crucial for him on the road to keep this game under control they want to try to keep it within single digits and be within striking distance how about whitney denying benjamin the ball right now trying to make the secondary handler for uab nice two-man game in pearson working inside scores at number two in green averaging only four points four rebounds already above his average nice job a set out of the break that time but uab making sure they were wide open on the opposite side and ej montgomery showing some of that versatility you talked about paul very comfortable in the face up right hand left hand off the dribble he is a superb looking basketball player now with eight four or five shooting kentucky lost so much last year as they do every year but when you look at pj washington tyler hero kelvin johnson reed travis all being gone i like the way the young players of kentucky are stepping up and relishing in their new roles nice pass unselfish play but a traveling violation is called on the perimeter that'll be a turnover against kentucky's khalil whitney turnover number five for the wildcats paul when you look at some of the other teams across the nation the teams that are being successful michigan being one of them we saw them actually this weekend kansas being able to be i think one of the better teams in the country as well but of virginia one of the things they have in common is they realize that each possession is valuable and one thing about kentucky is when they take care of the basketball when they get to the free throw line they take advantage every single team who values possessions are going to get victories here early and if you have a few minutes on your hand check out the score line for virginia so far on the season nice take to the basket but that's going to be an offensive foul some of their scores look like football games in the sec in terms of score a couple of opponents in the in the high 20s low 30s really remarkable for the defending ncaa champs yeah you mentioned the low scoring game i said we've already got as many points here as virginia allowed an entire game and solid defense that time by kentucky and emanuel quickly uav showed some zone back in the man-to-man four minutes and 30 seconds remaining in the half richards nice looking stroke as well boy are these two very very talented basketball players that also happen to be big posts for kentucky paul is a player sometimes when the coach takes that leash off of you a little bit there's not as much pressure because you know you're going to get those minutes so it allows you to make mistakes and feel a little bit more comfortable with ej montgomery and richards i feel like that's the way they're playing tonight with nate sistina out he's got grayson tough shot along the baseline somehow got that over montgomery yeah nice poise and pace that time by scott grayson going into the teeth of that kentucky wildcat defense long pass no catch under the plane of the board no problem at all back up inside richards now with eight matching montgomery for team high so smooth so confident you do not have to go to the nba after your freshman or sophomore year i know college basketball has made us think that that is the case so many quality players stay in college now and still have successful nba careers gay three-pointer on the way that ball deflected out of bounds off the hands of maxey so it'll be uab's basketball when we come back to lexington and rupp arena well one of the easiest ways to get it to a big guy's just throw it up big hands and a big finish by nick richards big time basketball by big blue nation what's up y'all coming up at half pb and pb we'll bring you highlights from the vols and seminoles in the emerald coast classic also ole miss trying to get that nit tip off championship what do you see in this one right now drop feed the big fella four for four from the field get it inside to him we'll talk about that more at half now back to paul and fish erupt now i don't know about that steve the big fella about pat bradley i don't know how much feeding the big fella he did paul he was a shooter man he kind of faked pass to the big fella then shot that three-pointer he did real good at doing it though he was good at doing that he thought about it well he's making the three-pointers paul how about kentucky you mentioned it earlier in our broadcast one of 12 against utah valley and then six of 15 and then 10 of 22 against lamar that season percentage was 29.6 at the time much different tonight they started off much better and they're also sharing the basketball ashton hagans already has seven assists and they had 40. they being kentucky had 40 assists on 56 baskets in the two preceding games yeah he talked about that he loves the fact coach cal that this team is becoming more what a rebound nick richards took that one off the top of the box [Applause] three minutes remaining in the opening half there's the extra pass once again unselfish basketball and that's going to get kentucky for the free throw line good attack of the rim by whitney paul that was interesting to me uh we talked about the three-point line can be challenging for high school players what khalil whitney did was when nick richards had the basketball instead of staying outside behind the three-point line he actually cut to the basket making himself still available but getting a better shot and a better look closer to the rim whitney on a team of really good free-throw shooters has yet to find the reign he's seven of 14 so far on the year mention about kentucky wanting to get to the line 21 makes per game 79 well that's something else that good teams do they make free throws i mean when you are in such close games and pepperdine played arizona last night to a t when you're in those games those free throws whether you're you know shooting 80 or 75 90 that is a difference between winning and losing games and that's a part that is an asset for this kentucky wildcat team right now kentucky now out to their largest lead by 12 31-19 nice attack by scott grayson well i love his ability to get to the basket he is a slasher display and he can do that at all levels here tonight richards and montgomery are all over the glass at both ends maxi left-handed runner not there and the rebound taken by hurtado [Applause] [Music] nice pull-up jump shot by benjamin jaylen benjamin has been really impressive so far again coming into rupp arena just a freshman out of raleigh north carolina benjamin leading the way with eight points on three of six shootings he's made a free a long three he's so efficient he talked about free throws he shoots 95 from the free throw line which is why you don't want to foul him but shoots over 40 percent from the field as well off the front of the iron nice rebound taken by number cassine nicholson how about the fight here being displayed by the blazers i like it paul continuing to play their game they want to try to keep this game in the 60s or 70s max if it gets into the 80s i think they're in trouble with the wildcats benjamin kicks out to nicholson three-pointer on the way not close did not draw iron this is a very important minute 20 to your point in this basketball game can kentucky get some more separation after the first 20 or can uav hang around higgins we talked about it he's been stroking it very well and that continues last three games 16 of 28 coming in he started oh of nine from three-point range and in the last game against lamar went three for four tomorrow is rivalry day right here on the sec network kentucky hosts louisville at noon followed by vandy in tennessee in the nightcap florida state squares off against the number 11 florida gators at the swamp at 7 30. that is a really good day of football on the sec network all three games right here on the sec network and the espn at blood boils a little bit differently a nice back cut that time by gay mctargay continuing to improve another pretty big rivalry game down on the planes in auburn too for the sec i think that a few people are going to watch aha are you going to watch that game absolutely pull up jump shot by emanuel quickly for a three-pointer kentucky now with its largest lead at 12 once again the tying mat kentucky shoots five if they shoot 50 from the three-point line they can beat anyone in the country five of 11 so far shot clock and game clock separated by just a couple of ticks benjamin controlling gay can shoot the three nice play by hagen higgins has got time and we'll get to the free-throw line the reigning sec co-defensive player of the year picked the pocket of a very accomplished ball handler in benjamin well for for benjamin he showed a little bit of his youth that time ashton hagan is one of the better owned ball defenders in the country obviously trey jones at duke does a nice job as well but when you look at ashton higgins if you put it out there and you're not going anywhere with it you give him a chance he's going to pick your pocket and that's what he did on that particular defensive trip hagin shot the ball very well we mentioned the 304 against lamar from outside the arc 15 points nine assists on the year 14 points five and a half assists four rebounds and almost two steals well he is bigger than he looks on tv ladies and gentlemen he is a legit six three and a half six four good size which is another reason why i think he's going to be a tremendous defender at the next level [Applause] the first 20 minutes will come to a close balanced attack ej montgomery and particularly nick richards cook took control of the inside let's join peter burns and pat bradley as they catch up on today's football and hoops and look ahead to a big rivalry saturday on the football field marina is the side of course college basketball on the sec network kentucky a very comprehensive very efficient opening half as they leave uav 38 to 25 back with damian fischbeck would you account it as efficient and very solid both offensively and defensively for the first 20. absolutely i think this team has proven to our viewers that they're still a team that's capable of competing for a national championship and we'll take a look at the ways and how they did that in the first half but i was very impressed paul first of all we talked about they had to start relishing on the defensive end they look like they're having fun right here and when they get out in transition on the open floor they are typical to stop because they have wings that can run they have digs that can run here it is securing the rebound again who are you going to guard then they have wide open three-pointers in which they can knock down they've proven that then how about the way they distributed the basketball coach cal talked about the assist over the last two games ashton higgins and then how about the last one with the three-point shot whenever you distribute the basketball you see quickly there you knock down threes you get out in transition and then you also have the ability to turn defense into offense they did all those paul and look at the efficiency montgomery and richards were a combined eight of nine from the floor rebounded it exceptionally well you talked about the assist and no fast break baskets and also kentucky is dominating the boards and one of the strengths and one of the opportunities for the visitors from uab it was to get on the offensive glass they have not done that only four second chance points second half is underway we've got an early whistle because ted valentine who else would notice the shot clock the shot clock did not start that's right we got four seconds off of the game clock and shot clock still at 30. teddy v right there on it kentucky currently ranked number nine that's going to change with everything that's happened over the holiday weekend and all the tournaments five and one so far uab comes in with a record of four and one they're only lost to utah valley and paul you have to say and kentucky's going to get tested right you look at louisville ohio state two games that pop out to me but they have yet to lose with ej montgomery in the lineup and he is a huge i mean he's a gigantic and a dynamic piece for this kentucky team talked about all of the injuries some of those minor you miss a game or two nice shot coming right out of the locker room tyrek scott grayson knocking down the three-pointer he shot that with confidence there's only four of 20 from outside the arc coming in yeah well the uab has to have someone get hot in this second half and that's typically what has to happen for you to get going on the road at ruff arena that was an offensive foul an illegal screen called against nick richards that is usually the ball handler's fault ashton higgins an expert point guard did not wait for richards to get set that is his second personal foul well these are the type of fouls that you can't have and for ashton hagan a little bit of that foul goes on him he didn't set up nick richards or there wasn't communication i don't know if ashton hagins knew if nick richards was coming to even set the screen scott grayson back and forth still plenty of time on the shot clock particularly if you look for your uav you want to run it down there is pearson who ran out of real estate stepped on the sideline how many times have we seen that in that area this year with the extension of the three-point line numerous amount of turnovers and quite frankly confusion when there's very visible three-point lines in this arena you see the older three-point line of the women's college three-point line is a little bit lighter so it's not as confusing as a lot of four the three-point line this year moved back to the international distance 22 feet one and three-quarter inches montgomery facing the basket rims in and out battle for the rebound off of whitney and deflected out of bounds the official pointed kentucky's direction we will see if it is the wildcats basketball how about the job of kentucky on the offensive glass you mentioned it before that uab was the team that was known for the offensive rebounding but coach cal's teams have always done well on the glass and that's something that he talked to us about this morning out rebounded uav 20 to 14. five of 11 from three-point range very efficient opening 20 minutes pagans had eight assists eight of the 12. right at the rim a foul is going to be called montgomery lost the ball out of bounds because he got hit on the arm it's so it makes you so much more lethal when you can go to either shoulder now most big guys they like to go to one shoulder or the other typically if they're right-handed they like to go to their left shoulder if they're left-handed they like to go to their right shoulder ej montgomery has shown us an ability to do both which is going to make the scouts love him at the next level well you saw the right-handed jump hook at the other end i called him nick richards because it was such a pure right-handed shot i forgot for a moment that he was left-handed when you know you're doing something right paul that's good free-throw shooting and good news for kentucky montgomery was only one for five coming in he made both of those very confidently in kentucky's lead is it 12 at 40 to 28. kick inside the gay spins that up into the bottom of the board it is tough to score inside against kentucky well it was a good offensive execution ej montgomery and his length just made up for it with the rim protection that's going to be a foul on hagins in the back court after the ball was deflected away so paul this is what i'm also interested to see from these wildcats when i watched them in the michigan state game they looked like they had that killer instinct uh you know the john walls the demarcus cousins guys that won't let up whatsoever i'm anxious to see if kentucky allows uab to get back and stay in the game or do they use that killer instinct to separate themselves and the same thing for uab are you going to respond here in the hostile environment on the road just ask tyrik scott grayson knocks down the long three-pointer and it's back inside of single digits yeah brick new jersey jersey's finest showing his poise under pressure here in front of 20 000. [Music] [Applause] richards got hammered inside no question about that the foul is going to go on to mel pearson wearing number two 610 223 pound sophomore out of chicago so it'll be a couple of free throws coming to richards got a beautiful stroke a 76 percenter from the line well we always talk about the fact that it's a guards game but kentucky is a very good example of just how important bigs are when they lost to evansville when you don't have ej montgomery in the game nate sistina a quality player second team all patriot league last year but he doesn't have the athleticism and the ability to be a rim protector like a ej montgomery or nick richards nick richards goes down gets in foul trouble then evansville just like a lot of teams are more comfortable and confident in attacking the paint against kentucky we've got to talk some more about the absence of nate sistina out for a minimum of three weeks there was some hope that he will be back in time for the louisville game somehow somehow that came up in the conversation louisville probably be the number one team in the country after duke lost to steven f austin there is cestina had a very good conversation with a six foot nine graduate student out of emporium pennsylvania yeah just an impeccable personality tremendous spirit about himself you can tell they'll miss his absence and particularly his ability to talk over form but he was so optimistic so positive i was really impressed with the young man as i am mr richards ninth assist for ashton hagins and coach calipari when we talked about missing or how his team will miss nate christina asked him how that elderly voice that fifth year senior he said nate sistina is going to be very very involved keeping track of deflections defensive numbers we want him talking to our players and really active during every time out during his absence and in practice offensive foul again with an illegal screen that's going to go against dj montgomery the only challenge is with nate sistina out he doesn't have a chance to uh truly be what a pass by ashton hagins and that's nate sistina right there he's so positive as i mentioned the only uh difference is you know cal's teams usually get better between november december and they're gonna be missing nate sistino that's a huge part but if there was anybody that they would choose to miss it would have to be him good effort down inside on the second take by tavon lovin left the game very early the native of franklin kentucky battling inside having a good season so far averaging 13 points five rebounds for the blazers now this is what i want to see more of ashton hagins i talked about it got away with the hook he probably didn't get away with it we're going to find out it was clearly a hook and there's not a lot to hook there with jalen benjamin let's see you called it home oh yeah he got him we don't know what they call it but we know it was a hook coach cow it was a hook [Music] coming up tomorrow at 10 a.m sec nation will be in auburn for the iron bowl with laura marty marcus paul tim and damian my partner he's going to be at auburn no question about that as they break down everything from the gridiron to the grill for week 14 of the college football season scc nation is presented by regions bank right here on the sec network and the espn app you know paul that group is kind of like thanksgiving dinner was yesterday you got a mixture and combination of everything with those mixtures of personalities there if you have not seen that show it is must watch tv my partner one of the all-time greats at auburn led the tigers to an sec championship in 2000 well i'm going to tell you something alban right now is playing as good as anyone in the sec coach bruce pearl doing a phenomenal job after the high expectations after going to the final four last year coming out of the timeout got a good look turn around jump shot ashton higgins a little bit of a headline here after that hook he is now saddled with three personal fouls but still on the floor that is the fourth team foul on uab kentucky with three 15-45 remaining in the game kentucky will inbound foul is going to be called quickly down inside on number 11 nicholson starting to add up already five team fouls and we've only played four minutes in 20 seconds [Applause] [Applause] double digit assist now for higgins beautiful in his vision just continuing to you improve to wonder who's going to be that tyler hero that continues to excel beyond our belief for the kentucky wildcats would it be ashton hagans would it be ej montgomery nick richards active hands first by hagins and then deflected out of bounds off tyrese maxi or you can see there wow butler just he stepped up and nick rich is as big and long as he is seven foot five wingspan uh was able to sneak behind the zone defense but he did just pick up a personal foul trying to keep the wide body will butler out of the lane credit to will butler he's only six eight battling against cj montgomery uh and nick richards who you know you're looking at six eleven and six nine this is where you really miss cestina now richards goes to the sideline three personal fouls and a lifetime left in this game that's right loving off the side of the iron offensive rebound taken in traffic by butler and thrown illegally into the back court yeah the senior out of saint catherine jamaica just had the right idea right he was open he was open he was certainly just happy to be on the wrong side of the floor for uab right now they're very much in this basketball game especially with uh the potential of ashton hagin's being in foul trouble with already having 3000 nick richards i think that's going to be the strategy of more teams as they play kentucky with this thin rotation wow what a pass again career high for hagins is 12 assists if my math is right and i know our statistician is right he's got 11. well let's spread the word to big blue nation the record set by john wall back in 2009 was 16. will ashton higgins get that tonight up inside and that's going to be another foul on a big e.j montgomery kentucky look at this how they're sharing the ball 15 assists on 18 made baskets you said montgomery i thought that possibly was on haggins for the region and higgins even thought it was on himself as well but luckily for kentucky it did go to montgomery and i bet they take hayden's out he does he was holding the rabbit's foot that time he thought it was on him six points 11 assists he has had a superb basketball game so far and as mentioned 14-14 a long way to go kentucky on the free throws by uav's hurtado kentucky leading at 46-34 both teams with five team fouls this is interesting for me to see and i want to see if uab can try to take advantage without having ashton hagan at the point guard position right now skip pass wide open three-pointer not there by maxie battle for the rebound and a foul is going to be called do you think we'll see some zone from kentucky we talked to coach pal at practice today they were working on a 2-3 he said only if we get in foul trouble well they're in foul trouble that's right well i think he's working on zone just to be able to have that in his back pocket with so many new faces one of the challenges you have with zone we see here is there's not an assigned rebounding lane oh man you're assigned to an area to complete that defensive possession with the rebound versus having a man and that's one of the reasons coach cal doesn't like playing zone as much he doesn't feel like there's as much accountability on the defensive bandwidth rebound lost the handle got it up to montgomery against the shot puck nice play by butler and a good defensive stand by the blazers up and off the window scott grayson at the other end starting to put together a very nice basketball game now with a dozen to lead uab well and right now the blazers giving the wildcats a little bit of their own medicine turning their defense into offense as you see this crowd starts to get behind kentucky a little bit quickly on the floor now as well as keon brooks jr nick richards with three personal fouls hagins with three fouls off the back of the iron knot there battle for the long rebound 50-50 ball comes up to kentucky and rattled home by emmanuel quickly well if i had a first-team all-improved players in the sec emanuel quickly would certainly be one of my guys on that list he's worked so hard on his game of the off-season and is playing with so much confidence averaging this year 13 points and four rebounds and shooting 92 from the free-throw line that's a travel and nice hustle by the aptly named emmanuel quickly the miscue on the perimeter by scott grayson coming up next our college basketball doubleheader continues as the herd thunder into gainesville to tip it with number 24 florida right here on the sec network and the espn app tennessee taking on florida state tonight tennessee very very good team rick barnes has done a magnificent job well he's one of the best guys in the business to do it i like emmanuel quickly going to the basket florida state had an early loss against pittsburgh but florida state is a top 25 team they're not in it yet but neither was michigan before this week yeah they're going to be right in the thick of it when the michigan team beat oregon and beat gonzaga so far over the weekend both of whom were ranked florida state did go down to gainesville and beat florida to start the season free throw up and good very quickly and that was the fourth personal foul on christine nicholson he'll have to go to the sideline replaced by maktar guy muktar gay we talked about the improvement of quickly last year only average five points per game pretty good three-point shooter at 37 percent he's got a wonderful shooting stroke yeah i would say him along with nate cestino the most proven three-point shooters here today for the kentucky wildcats the coach cal talked to us at practice today oh nice attack of the round tyrique scott grayson giving thanks to the basketball guys yo fella well if you can't finish with a floater you just got to go in there and hammer it home very impressive that is how you attack a shot blocker scott grayson now with 14. the runner not there and speaking of throwing it down nice play on the offensive rebound by richards back on the floor playing with some foul trouble it's kind of like a duck contest the big guy doesn't get as much credit for the dunk as the little guy knows nick pitcher's coming back with example scott grayson feeling it step back off the back of the iron and a whistle and we're going to have a foul called against butler paul we wondered if there was going to be some fight being displayed by the uab blazers i am very impressed scott grayson out of new jersey nick richards i don't care about that 7-5 wingspan take that big feather we're not out of this game yet [Music] it's really important for all of us you know a lot of people aren't as fortunate as us and for us to be able to come here and help out all these people which is really our platform to help other people and to do the right thing is really important you know we out here at the salvation army showing love everything's given to all yeah like we do all the time [Music] you know we always showing love you know y'all show love so we got to give it back give me better always that's what we out here doing paul i absolutely love that by uk and coach cal giving back that's what thanksgiving is all about and i talked with ashton higgins and he said listen i'm from cartersville georgia so i'm used to being in the area where people don't have things that other people have and so we have this opportunity we have this platform he said he absolutely loved just not only doing that but coach cal talked about it if we can't get food or get money we can give hugs just to help increase other people's spirit around this time i thought it was priceless back in time coach talked this afternoon at practice he said if you want to feel good about yourself which does carry over into a basketball game that's right you got to do the right thing whether it's with your teammates or in the community you want to feel good do the right things have good habits be a great teammate day after day it's a prime example we all have so much to be thankful for around this time the wildcats setting a prime example of that richards now with 15 coming off a double double and a new career-high seven block shots in the 81-56 win over lamar good free-throw shooter for a big man who makes both [Applause] the lead is 16 11 15 remaining in the game well it's go time for the blazers right now if you're going to make any push in this basketball game you've got to do it right now look targay has been very quiet he's had some chances right at the front of the rim but just can't get anything to fall see this is where i think uab the strategy is is being used against them a little bit and they're fortunate that time they're going to get a foul i think they have to actually get out in transition you said they don't want to run but they've got to pick and choose when to run because the set defense of kentucky has displayed to be really good and particularly when nick rich is in the game absolutely and montgomery who's on the sideline right now when they're protecting the rim they are able as you've seen all night long to slow down anybody going into the paint except for tyrique scott grayson for uab that you think that's going to be on his highlight reel for life for a long time montgomery does come back on replacing keon brooks who will head to the sidelines looks out of fort wayne indiana nate sistina telling us earlier today just got a world of talent got to get his confidence up see a couple of shots go down gay down inside and stuff right out of the night by montgomery wow makes it tough when they catch it like that [Applause] richardson montgomery on the floor together unselfish pass on pull-up 19-footer is good pretty basketball love the penetration and kick 16 assists on 21 baskets for kentucky brenson again playing his first game the freshman out of los angeles that heavily braced and bandaged left knee uab folks and his coach robert eason thought that he was going to be out for the year and coach easton's own words this morning at their shoot around he told me his recovery has been miraculous so he's out there for the first time well you love to see a guy come back when you think about all the time that they spend in rehab in the weight room and icing and stretching when you get back on the floor a ton of emotions that go through antonio rolot six foot two senior out of san juan puerto rico on for the first time and there is the basket by jordan brinson it didn't take him long to come back and get going he looks extremely mobile and confident with that left knee attacking the basket on that play khalil whitney picks up his first personal foul you see kentucky and uav with seven and eight team fouls respectively both over the limit a lot of pride at uab we've talked about uh the uab blazers and success they've had against kentucky you did a previous game with coach andy kennedy who's actually their second all-time scorer [Applause] step back jump shot knock there and we'll take the rebound and right now for the blazers they've got an opportunity right kentucky going through a little drought right now i like trying to get back where they just left which is in the paint and possibly get to the free throw line gay off the front of the iron from distance well you made a wonderful point about five minutes ago does this kentucky team have a killer instinct right now they're up 56 to 40. your summation your diagnosis at this point i think we'll learn that over the next five or six minutes that's gonna be an offensive foul and if my numbers are right yeah that's four personal fouls on nick richards who was having a big basketball game with 16 points eight rebounds and he's got to come out well this is such a good example right now and nick richards that's the correct call offensively you have to be stationary on that screen now that is a challenge though because you have you learn from a very early age to pick and roll and for nick richards he didn't start playing until high school he's still learning the game right now at this stage of his career beautiful play by benjamin and he'll get the and one that's what we talked about paul how do you come back it's not by shooting an array of three-point shots and hoping that they go in it's like chopping down a tree little by little can you ease your way back into the basketball game that's what benjamin is trying to do for the blazers officially now that is hagen's third personal foul we had him with three earlier on but they gave another one to nick richards and the three-point play is up and good and benjamin now in double figures 11.47 shooting two of three from outside the arc for the freshman point guard [Applause] 56-43 the lead is 13. we approach the eight and a half minute mark oh good defense nicely played by scott grayson [Applause] and loses it out of bounds we got a bunch of big football games tomorrow that was the receiver running before he caught the pass well what we're seeing right now is the evolution of the game and we'll talk about this a little bit later but right now kentucky has went to more of this positionless basketball they've got brooks at the fourth position not as much back to the basket not as big not as strong and so let's see how kentucky can operate this is more of a four out or even five out in one hand what a tough pass amazing pass and what a catch by montgomery in traffic that's the key right there paul in traffic could have easily been a turnover but it's the confidence the camaraderie and chemistry now being developed between ej montgomery who's been out in ashton hagins that is a dozen assists for hagins that high off the window and good scott grayson continues to have a big basketball game with 14 for the blazers he will be feared as he continues to go later on in conference play for uab and conference usa they're going to know where he is at at all times brooks cut for the basket the ball was thrown out of bounds by quickly so a rare turnover for the kentucky wildcats we'll step aside here on the scc network kentucky on top by 13. continuing evolution of college basketball i know that i am definitely old school i think you might be a tweener but take us through your thoughts yeah paul i think that this is going on in college basketball right now old school shot clock was in 35 seconds and it reset the 35 three-point line was 19-9 then went to 29 offensive sets with the power forward and center kind of like your tim duncan and david robinson new school shot clock now is it 30 resets to 20 three-point line is edged out a little further 22 and one and three-fourths it's more about analytics positionless basketball you figure you need to shoot a layup or go to a three-pointer it's more about the stretch four i think that battle is going on right now in college basketball you look at kansas they're playing with two bigs a lot udopa azabuki kentucky can do that here with ej montgomery and nick richards or do you go with the smaller lineup more versatile with guys who can pick and pop kind of like you see with golden state with draymond green and kevin durant that's what's going on as this three-point line has been extended now i'm interested to see which one rules out i think it's going to be the team who can do both and right now one of those teams has been michigan and we're seeing it here today in kentucky who can go new school and old school shot missed at the rim by scott grayson kentucky looking for a chance to run as maxie dribbles it quickly out of the back court maxie down the lane high off the window yeah he got the bounce that was a tough shot yeah beautiful and this is more muscle they've got this the floor spread it out right now you have uh keon brooks who's on the wing and so that leaves more lanes open for penetration and max he's taking full advantage of that good cut benjamin down inside looked around said nobody was here in my neighborhood so he spun it up and what a good game both he benjamin now with 13 and scott grayson are have it what that shows is a promising back court nice future for the blazers right now 4-1 on the season yet to have running into anything like the kentucky wildcats though good entry pass and forget it after that what a beautiful pass that time by brooks that's going to be an end line violation or at least coach calipari wanted that is coach calipari struggling new school old school because he told us i don't want my teams shooting 25 35 three-pointers i want us to play i want us to get at the free throw line i want us to be connected at both ends of the floor is he a little bit ying and yang in that as well well you want to be you want to be balanced and seth greenberg talked about it earlier talked about how balanced michigan was when they had 34 points in the paint and 12 three pointers kentucky's very good when they can do both melvin's been pretty quiet they need some of his scoring up at the room wanted some contact no harm no foul and maxi will come out of the backcourt again ashton higgins running the point he's tied his career high with 12 assists so far on the evening kentucky 18 assists on 24 baskets taxi down the lane using the offhand beautifully now with seven excellent i don't know if there's anyone in the country who can stay in front of maxie in particularly when he's knocking down his long-range three-point shot like you saw in the game versus lamar as well as michigan state lead for kentucky is 17. nicholson thought about it pierson straight away not close and awkward looking play down inside and i think the foul is going to be called on tyreese maxie of kentucky and we've got a timeout four minutes and 59 seconds remaining in kentucky on top of uab 64-47 [Music] coming up tomorrow it's rivalry day right here on the sec network kentucky hosts louisville at noon followed by vandy in tennessee in the nightcap florida state squares off against number 11 florida at the swamp 7 30 all three games are right here on the sec network and the espn app time now also for our mayhem moment brought to you by allstate well you see that 7-5 wingspan in full effect and you love it if you're a kentucky wildcat fan nick richards one of many players who have been able to split on both ends but this particular play he was on the bad end of it tariq scott grayson with an unbelievable finish at the rim montgomery and richards had combined eight of nine from the floor in the first half they continued to be so efficient montgomery with 16 points to go along with eight rebounds richard 16 points eight rebounds and richards has played much of the second half in foul trouble 4 59 left kentucky's lead is 17. kentucky at five and one currently number nine duke losing to stephen f austin pepperdine almost beating arizona and i talked to a friend who's a huge kentucky fan and you know after the loss and make sustina talk to us about this too he said man i was like nervous to even go out well my friend that i talked to he said the only thing that helped us recover from that loss was seeing duke lose against uh stephen f austin and said now if if louisville gets projected to number one they want to see absolutely as well so kentucky fans have been on the roller coaster much different from last year right you saw what happened against duke early and then impeccable recovery this year you kind of were on a high with michigan state and then a tough loss at home michigan state now picked number one in the preseason lost to kentucky and also lost to virginia tech free throw up and goodbye hagins and when we were at shoot around today coach cal he was talking about look i've been watching all of these games and i'm not afraid of anybody that's out there we've got to share the ball continue to do the right thing stay connected and offensive rebound he emphasized it over and over and over again he said some of my kids don't know how to offensive rebound they just run in there so they did a drill with dummy offense and put a lid on the basket he was training them you got to go to the opposite side of the shot why are you standing over there when the ball is bouncing there and why is hagans out on the run the answer is because he's the co-defensive player of the year in the sec [Applause] before the season the conversation was that ashton hagins was the best on ball defender in college basketball i think he's going to get to the next level based on his defense so i think he's a tremendous defender when he's locked in regardless of where he's at off the ball he's very sneaky he's got cat-like quickness and on the ball he's dangerous as well we'll step aside when we come back kentucky leading it by 19 and ashton 429 remaining here in lexington kentucky rough arena wildcats on top 66-47 the officials were looking at the video to see if there was some excessive contact there was not it was a common foul so it'll be two free throws coming up for ashton higgins who came in on a streak of 23 consecutive free throws that went by the wayside as he was three or four so far on the night but he's only shooting 93 from the line pretty good to have your point guard being that efficient when you want the ball in his hands at the end of the game paul did you mention that streak before you waited to laugh i waited till after okay i have put the i have put the curse on way too many too many curses too many games he is an outstanding point guard eight points tonight but the big number is 12 assists and assists have been a tremendous story for hagins in kentucky particularly over the last three games well i think before the year is out in particular because their rotation is limited i wouldn't be surprised if ashton hagans were to be able to get a triple-double on on a night to where the offense is flowing it's up and down maybe a team presses them a little bit well when you mentioned it earlier on in the game ashton higgins is not like his counterpart jalen benjamin he is a stout point guard 6-3 and change 200 pounds or more and very very strong if it's his own change and chance you always got to count the change the lead is 20. gay down the lane gives it up into the corner now to brinson and rattling at home scott grayson is having a career game now with 19 points against the number nine kentucky wildcats beautiful basketball game for number zero in blue yeah played in all 34 games last year making only two starts though you talk about guys who step it up and go to the next level but he had 16 points against number 14 florida state last year so he's proven he likes to step it up against high level competition hagens feeling it for the three that would be a correction on my part that would be kentucky in the blue and the blazers of uab in the brain almost a steel [Music] shot clock at seven step back jump shot once again by benjamin it has been scott drayson and benjamin doing a wonderful job they have combined now for 35 points for uab [Applause] inside of three minutes left uab right now not going to face a lot of teams like the kentucky wildcats as we mentioned before they have yet to lose with ej montgomery and i want to give a lot of credit to evansville and walter mccarty but e.j montgomery would have made a gigantic difference oh no question about that evansville played a magnificent basketball game but they certainly spread the floor and took advantage of the foul trouble on richards look at benjamin down inside at five foot seven his coach wanted a foul at the other end throwing it down as keon brooks jr and you don't think that dump and that play makes a lot of difference before a freshman like keon brooks jr who's trying to continue to gain confidence that's a big play for him to continue to see it go through the basket upcoming schedule farley dickinson on the 7th of december georgia tech utah utah was very well coached and then ohio state and louisville back to back but a week apart we are going to learn an awful lot about college basketball and a lot of other teams around the country over the next couple of weeks of course before conference play well then guys like this young man right here keon brooks top 30 pick uh coming out of espn's top 100 is going to have a chance to get better as well these uab blazers they are not quitting you have to give them credit with the minute 52 left to go the lead is 13. and robert eason now in his fourth year as head coach of the blazers took over when his predecessor jared hass went out to coach the stanford cardinal rebuilding that program but this is an opportunity to really coach time and score you may think that 13 is too much of a lead to overcome and it's about a 95 chance that it is but he's getting his team ready for conference play they're going to be a factor in conference usa well you mentioned you know he's been there four years and has won 20 games and advanced to the conference finals the first time in 2015 post-season birth and the college basketball invitational but i think you're right both of these coaches now in the huddle have a chance to teach their team you asked about the killer instinct for kentucky if i'm coach cal here i'm working on habits making sure my team doesn't allow themselves to let up and for coach robert issan or eason i'm sorry you know it's his third 21 season in four years and so he's trying to continue to build a program take uab to the next level back to the heights that they had when coach dean bartolo exactly right before uh gene bartow and then his son took over uab has a really solid basketball tradition and pedigree this is going to be a competitive team and an always tough conference usa you have been covering the sec since the network started how about the changes you've seen on the on the basketball side of course during during that period of time with the influx of coaches and the improvement eight teams in the ncaa two years ago seven last year sure it's been fabulous and what what made it more impressive last year was how far the teams advanced once again you had kentucky and auburn in the elite eight so you had a guarantee that the sec would get someone in the final four lsu ran into a tough michigan state team who went to the final four uh you look at florida and the job they did ole miss and coach davis mississippi state ben howard getting his team going and so all the teams not only got there but i thought had a pretty good showing shot and a very rare turnover so far on the evening for kentucky average about 14 a game they've got 11. yeah it wasn't so long ago that everybody thought of the sec as strictly a football conference and i know i'm going back seven or eight years because coach allen among others as you mentioned on that list rick barnes has been in tennessee for a while yeah how good a job has he done and how good is benjamin as he takes it in the lane but the sec has done a tremendous job of upgrading and elevating its basketball profile and more importantly its success on the court look at uab back within 11. they're going to run out of time but they have fought right down to the end you mentioned you asked me if i thought kentucky had that killer instinct i give a lot of credit to uab but for kentucky they still have to learn to keep their foot on the gas pedal if they want to continue to go to the heights that i know kentucky wildcat fans expect the story tonight ashton hagins tying his career high with 12 assists he may add to that total before it's over nice rebound taken by richards and that should do it richard 16 points nine rebounds montgomery 16 points eight rebounds ends up with 19 assists on 26 baskets and a good college basketball game kentucky improves to 6-1 and uab will suffer just their second loss so far on the season impressive win by kentucky a uab came in and fought you're looking at coach easton who had a hundred games and coach cal who's close to thousands so uh impressive job by kentucky winning the game who i know most people expected him to win but in a game where it's been a lot of upsets very impressive victory [Music] so the final once again kentucky wins it 69-58 tonight after marshall florida men's college basketball the sec now team peter gene and chris will be back to talk about the latest football news around the conference and get you set for tomorrow's games a solid effort by the kentucky wildcats they were ranked number nine coming into the week they will move up there will be lots of movement in the top 10. hagins again with 12 assists kentucky shoots 47 they were hot from uh outside the arc five of 11 in the first half they were over four in the second half from distance and a really good defensive performance as well against a game uab team tyrique scott grayson was very good along with their freshman point guard jalen benjamin and now let's go over to damien with a record tying ashton higgins ashton higgins you tied a pretty good record tonight did you realize how well you were flowing offensively when you're distributing the basketball yes sir you know coach just told me just keep getting in the lane keep finding my teammates that's what i was trying to do well i talked to you earlier today and you said the difference between michigan state and the evansville game was how locked in you guys were now yes sir how would you assess how well you guys were locked in for this basketball game i think we came in very well starting the game off uh the first half you know with the game plan that we was going through all week but you know we messed up on some of the plays but we just got to get back watch the film on that and fix whatever we messed up on but i think we played well overall nick had a huge game on his birthday ej came in his bounce back game did very well you know everyone just came in and gave us big minutes and that's what we needed well you talked about whatever you messed up on you had six games in your first 20 days now you're only going to have six games your next 40 days what do you need to work on as a team to continue to get better hey just coming together and just having that bond you know we just got to get closer so we can come on the court and just know if somebody mess up just huddle up and talk to him but other than that you know just follow the game you know run through all our sets and just play defense congratulations on your win best of luck the rest of your ass thank you all for having me all right back to you ashton hagans 12 of the 19 assists for kentucky as they win it over uab 69 to 58 for damian fischbach and our entire coron paul sunderland good night from lexington basketball continues with marshall and florida next but first let's send it to the studio

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Id: wwlOLA-R-ds

Length: 83min 11sec (4991 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 01 2020