By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
It was an easy night for Kentucky.
The 10th-ranked Wildcats (6-1) pushed their winning streak to six games with a 90-44 win over Monmouth Wednesday night, ending the opening month of the season on a high note after dropping a 118-84 loss to No. 3 Duke in the Champions Classic on Nov. 6 in Indianapolis.
Tyler Herro scored 16 points to lead Cats past Monmouth.
Tyler Herro paced four Kentucky players in double figures with 16 points, two shy of his career high. Keldon Johnson had 15, followed by Quade Green with 14 and Reid Travis with 13.
Herro paced the Wildcats with 12 points in the first half, including eight in an 11-0 run that put the game away early in the first half. Herro made two 3-pointers and had a steal and an easy layup during the brief scoring spree. Herro collected four of Kentucky’s five steals in the opening half.
Kentucky knocked down a season-high 10 3-pointers, led by Green, who knocked down a career-high four shots from long range. Green and Herro combined for six treys, while six Kentucky players each connected on a shot from long range.
PJ Washington, Kentucky’s third-leading scorer (13.3 points per game) fouled out with 5:22 remaining and finished with eight points. Washington has scored just 14 points in the last two games after scoring 53 in a three-game stretch, including a career-high 25 in a win over North Dakota. Washington pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
NO MORE RICE
Monmouth coach King Rice, now in his eighth season with the Hawks, went 2-0 against Kentucky while he was point guard at the University of North Carolina, but fell to 0-2 coaching against the Wildcats. Rice scored 22 points and dished out a career-high 13 assists in a 121-110 win in 1989 and tallied 14 in an 84-81 win a year later at Chapel Hill.
Another former North Carolina standout — J.R. Reid — is in his first season as an assistant coach under Rice.
Kentucky defeated Monmouth 93-76 a year ago at Madison Square Garden in New York.
HIGH SCHOOL REUNION
Kentucky’s Nick Richards and Monmouth guard Marcus McClary were high school teammates at the Patrick School in New Jersey. Richards finished with six points for the Wildcats, while McClary scored four for the Hawks.
Gametracker: North Carolina Greensboro at Kentucky, 1 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ESPN2, UK Radio Network.
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com or twitter @keithtaylor21.
