Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Kentucky fans should probably hold off on burning those ’45-0′ t-shirts, at least for now.
Four days after Southern Methodist head coach Larry Brown suggested the Wildcats should go ’45-0′ with all of their talent, they trailed by five at halftime on Sunday to Buffalo at Rupp Arena. That got cleaned up in a hurry, though, as top-ranked Kentucky held the Bulls to 21.1 percent shooting in the second half and had three players score in double-figures to pull away for a 71-52 victory in front 22,175 in Lexington.
Tyler Ulis and Trey Lyles, two of a record nine McDoanald’s All-Americans for head coach John Calipari, each finished with a team-high 12 points, while sophomore big man Dakari Johnson had nine points to go along with 12 rebounds and four blocks for the Wildcats.
With Calipari intent on platooning with this team, all 10 players who played went at least 10 minutes. Of the 10, nine played at least 18 minutes and six went at least 20.
More than 60 NBA personnel are expected at the Champions Classic Tuesday in Indianapolis, sources told SNY.tv.
Kansas plays Kentucky in one game and Michigan State meets Duke in the other.
DraftExpress.com has Duke’s Jahlil Okafor as the projected No. 1 pick in 2015, Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns at No. 3 and Kansas’s Kelly Oubre and Cliff Alexander at 4 and 5, respectively.
Duke’s Justise Winslow is projected as the No. 8 pick, Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein is No. 10, Duke’s Justise Winslow is No. 14, Kentucky’s Dakari Johnson is No. 19, Kansas’s Wayne Selden is No. 25, Kentucky’s Andrew Harrison is No. 26 and Aaron Harrison No. 28.
Derrick Gordon is the first openly gay player in Division 1 men’s basketball, but the UMass guard believes it’s only a matter of time before others follow his trailblazing path.
“There’s a lot of us out there; I guess they’re afraid,” Gordon told Zach Schonbrun of the New York Times Friday when he scored 17 points as UMass defeated Siena, 95-87. “But everybody has their own time to come out. Mine just happened to be April 9.”
Florida has cranked out All-Americans in the past couple years. Terrell Turner could be next on the list.
A 6-foot-4 sophomore, Turner has shown that he can score in a variety of ways, especially from the perimeter. He has emerged as one of the best 3-point shooters in the Class of 2017. He played up two age groups this past summer on a Florida Flash 17U Squad that featured Wake Forest-bound John Collins. Turner said playing against older players was key for his development.
Antonio Blakeney went off for 63 points Friday night as his Sarasota (FL) Oak Ridge team beat Tavares (FL) Liberty Christian Prep, 85-85.
USA Today reported that the 6-foot-4 Blakeney officially scored 63, not 65 as had been reported.
“Really, all I was thinking about was winning the game and doing whatever it took to win,” Blakeney, who added 11 rebounds in the win, told Jason Jordan of USA Today. “It actually didn’t feel like 63 to me. After the game when people were telling me I was shocked! It felt good to be able to break a school record that was set 60-plus years ago.”
LSU assistant David Patrick was courtside to watch it happen.