By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Keldon Johnson carried the load for Kentucky Friday night but was happier the Wildcats finished off feast week with a 77-62 win over Tennessee State.
The freshman guard scored a career-high 27 points, including 20 in the second for the 10th-ranked Wildcats won completed their third win in six days and recorded their fifth consecutive victory.
“It felt pretty good,” said Johnson, who opened his collegiate career by scoring 23 points in a loss to top-ranked Duke in the Champions Classic. “The main thing is that we got the win. That made it even better.”
Johnson made just one field goal in the first half but kept driving to the basket and drawing fouls in the post. He made five free throws on six attempts in the first half. Johnson erupted for 20 points in the final 20 minutes and made seven field goals in the second half. He finished 13-18 at the charity stripe.
UK’s Keldon Johnson scored a career-high 27 points to lead all scorers. (Photo by Bill Thiry, Kentucky Today)
Kentucky coach John Calipari was pleased with Johnson’s performance.
“He was seeing gaps and he was seeing opportunities to go at the basket and was strong at the rim and did a pretty good job,” the Kentucky coach said.
Tennessee State coach Brian Collins liked Johnson’s demeanor on the court.
“I was impressed by his poise when he got in the paint — he just didn’t get in there and run people over,” he said. “He was smooth when he got down there. He’s able to be agile and get around our guards and our bigs and finish through contact. I think he’s going to be a big-time player at Kentucky this year.”
Even when shots were hard to come by early in the contest, Johnson didn’t get discouraged and kept getting into the post.
“I was just staying aggressive and it paid off,” Johnson said. “I just kept attacking and kept attacking and it opened up and by the end of the game I was getting easy buckets.”
Although the Wildcats haven’t had a hard time scoring points, the main issue has been on the defensive end. In order to reach full potential on offense, Calipari said the Wildcats have to become a more defensive-minded team.
“Until we become a defensive team that people know, not only can we rebound, but we can make you take a tough shot until we become that team,” he said. “All this other stuff offensively doesn’t really matter until we become that. … You cannot have confidence offensively if you cannot guard. You just, you don’t. So until we build that and become that team, we become the aggressor, we become the team that anticipates and rotates and trusts and all that and it just takes time. We’ve got a bunch of freshmen still. We got a new team thrown together.”
Like Calipari, Johnson wasn’t happy with Kentucky’s inability to put its foot in the gas on the defensive end and avoid defensive letdowns and metal lapses.
“I don’t think any of us are happy — our defense isn’t really good right now. We could be a lot better than what we are doing. I don’t think we’re going to be satisfied until we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing.”
To become better defensively, Johnson said the Wildcats have to hold each other accountable.
“We just have to pick each other up and be there for each other,” he said. “When we have defensive lapses, we just have to keep fighting. (The defense we’re playing) is unacceptable if we want to be a team that we want to be, we cannot have defensive lapses like that. The main thing, I have to hold myself accountable on the defensive end as well as on offense.”
Calipari said that will come in due time but must start on the defensive end of the floor.
“It’s going to start with we’re all going to commit to defending,” he said. “We’re all going to commit to doing this and rotating and listening and executing on defense. Then the offense will come. I mean offense hasn’t been the issue.”
Gametracker: Monmouth at Kentucky, 8:30 p.m., Wednesday. TV/Radio: SEC Network, UK Radio Network.
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com
