Immanuel Quickley's 30 points essentially guaranteed him another perfect grade in Cats Illustrated's regular Report Card feature.
But how did everyone else fare?
| Player | Grade | Analysis |
|---|---|---|
Ashton Hagans | B | Some might take issue with this because of the five turnovers, and that does hurt his grade, but Hagans scored 11 points on just five attempted field goals, in large part because he was 5/5 from the line. He also dished out seven assists, helping to mitigate the impact of the turnovers, and grabbed four boards. UK was +6 in his minutes. |
Immanuel Quickley | A+ | What else can you give a player who scored 30 points on 11/19 shooting, including 8/12 from three, plus five rebounds? Quickley did turn it over three times, but he was incredible in the best game of his Kentucky career to date. He was in rhythm for the entire game in setting a new career high. |
Tyrese Maxey | B | Maxey's 5/13 field goal night (13 points) is not ideal but is something you can live with. He had five rebounds, three assists, two turnovers, a block, and a steal in a solid all-around performance. |
Johnny Juzang | C | This was close to being an "N/A" because Juzang played only six minutes and didn't do much of note besides a nice "extra pass" assist for a three-pointer by a teammate but he did have more of an impact on the game than Brooks. |
Keion Brooks | N/A | Brooks only played two minutes. His only statistical contribution: Two fouls in those two minutes. With EJ Montgomery playing well and hogging the minutes, he wasn't needed in this game. |
Nate Sestina | C- | In what has become more of a trend, Sestina fouled a lot (3 times) in a limited amount of playing time (13 minutes). He made a nice defensive play or two but also couldn't play above the rim and that cost UK on a couple of possessions. He did knock down a three pointer, his only field goal attempt of the game. However he had no rebounds. |
E.J. Montgomery | A | It is true that Montgomery had a fairly quiet second half but the simple fact that Calipari allowed him to play 38 minutes says something about what Kentucky's coach thought of him and thinks of where he's at. Montgomery had an outstanding first half, helping Kentucky to build a lead it would never relinquish, and he finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, three assists, a block, and two steals in one of the best performances of his year. |
Nick Richards | C | This was probably the least impactful game Richards has played in some time. Could that be cause for concern following what was also a quiet game against Florida? Probably not but we'll see. Richards had four points, making his only field goal, plus six boards and two blocks, but he did commit four fouls. |
