By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Kentucky had no trouble with Monmouth in the Citi Hoops Classic Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
Hamidou Diallo scored a career-high 23 points to lead the eighth-ranked Wildcats (8-1) to a 93-76 rout of the Hawks at Madison Square Garden. The win increased the Wildcats’ streak to six games.
Diallo, a native of Queens, New York, did most of his scoring in the second half, with 15 points. Diallo tallied just eight points in the opening half.
“He’s trying to do what we’re asking him to do,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said of Diallo’s performance. “He’s getting better defensively. But this is hard. Every player, you come to Kentucky to get better. That’s why you come here. If you don’t think you need to get better, you don’t come here. If you think you need to shoot 30 shots a game, you don’t come to Kentucky.
“You come here like, ‘I want to be challenged. I want to be in a practice where everybody can play. That’s what I’m trying to do. Hami did it for that reason and he’s getting better.”
Diallo said playing in Madison Square Garden for the first time in his career was a “blessing” and enjoyed the experience.
“Coming from New York City, that’s every kid’s dream — he wants to play in the Garden,” he said. “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.”
PJ Washington followed Diallo with 20 points, also a career high. Washington was nearly flawless in the first half, scoring 16 points — one shy of his career high, made all four of his shots from the field and was a perfect 7-7 from the free-throw line. Washington also made his lone field goal attempt from long range.
“Individual players have got to improve before your team can get better,” Calipari said. “So, PJ lost that weight and then all of a sudden he doesn’t even look like the same guy. I wasn’t sure if it would be this game, but he had practiced this way.”
Washington said making his first shot contributed to his first-half performance.
“I felt like my shots were going in,” he said. “I just tried to stay aggressive and that’s what I did. I tried to continue in the second half and I’m glad we came out with the win.”
Kentucky leading scorer Kevin Knox (16.6 points per game) missed his first seven shots before knocking down a 3-pointer late in the second half. Knox finished with a season-low four points.
“It wasn’t one of his better games, but that’s fine,” Calipari said. “It’s good for the soul to go 1 for 9. Now, what you would learn, if you go 1 for 5 would you shoot jumpers or just keep going to the basket until they foul you and get baskets? Or you end up going 1 for 9, which is what he did. It’s a great lesson for him.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander contributed with a career-high 13 points off the bench.
John Calipari’s squad (8-1) never trailed and used a 13-2 run in the opening half to put the game out of reach. The Wildcats shot 58 percent from the field and missed just 12 shots on 29 attempts in the first half.
The Wildcats struggled with 10 turnovers in the first frame, but settled down and finished with18. Kentucky made five 3-pointers during the decisive opening half, paced by Quade Green and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with two each. Green left the game in the second half because of an eye injury and finished with 12 points.
Nick Richards, from Manhasset, New York, played at The Patrick School in New Jersey and scored 10 points in his return to his home state.
Kentucky was without sophomore forward Sacha Killeya-Jones, who suffered a sprained left ankle. Jones, who is averaging 4.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, is listed as day-to-day.
Gametracker: Virginia Tech at Kentucky, 2 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ESPN2, 98.1 WBUL, Lexington.
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com or twitter @keithtaylor21.
