Kentucky’s Towns Solidifies Top-3 Status With Stellar Play Against Florida

Kentucky freshman big man Karl-Anthony Towns helped solidify his status as a top-3 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft with his stellar play in the No. 1 Wildcats’ 68-61 victory at Florida.

The New Jersey native went for 19 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks as Kentucky remained unbeaten at 23-0, 10-0 in the SEC.

“I thought Karl is finally showing the signs that he’s as good as anybody in the country,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said on ESPN.

Towns has generally been regarded as a top-3 pick, although DraftExpress.com currently has him at No. 4 behind Jahlil Okafor, D’Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay.

“He’s a top-3 pick along with Okafor and Russell,” one NBA scout who watched the game said of Towns. “He is a very skilled big man.”

As I wrote in this story on TheKnicksBlog.com, you can make the case that Towns has a bigger upside going forward than Okafor, who went for 20 points and 10 rebounds earlier Saturday as Duke crushed Notre Dame, 90-60.

Meantime, sophomore guard Aaron Harrison also came up big for Kentucky, going for 23 points in the win, including 18 in the second half.

“Aaron Harrison was unbelievable and made every big play that we needed to make,” Calipari said.

Harrison is projected by DraftExpress.com as the No. 55 pick in the Draft.

“Playing better,” the NBA scout said. “Still a second-round pick at best.”