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The #1 Kentucky Wildcats defeated the Boston University Terriers 82-62 to extend their record to 5-0 on the season. Whose stock is rising and falling after last night's game?
Stock Up
Alex Poythress: Coming off the bench, Poythress put in his best performance of the young season. In 21 minutes on the floor, Poythress was 7/8 from the floor, including multiple dunks. He finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Charles Matthews: Matthews' numbers do not jump off the stat sheet. 3 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists. The seven rebounds are a key to focus on though. Matthews had great hustle throughout the game, crashing the boards and out-hustling Boston players for rebounds. For Matthews to receive consistent playing time, he will need to continue to play hard, rebound, and defend.
Skal Labissiere: This was a game that Skal had the chance to dominate, and he took advantage, putting in a solid all-around game. He finished with 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks. In addition to the 3 blocks, he also affected many other shots with his length. Labissiere showed more aggressiveness on both ends of the floor than he probably had all season, which is an encouraging sign for John Calipari.
Stock Down
Three-point shooting: The Wildcats had a rough shooting night from the perimeter, going 3-15. Jamal Murray was the only Wildcat to have a decent shooting performance from behind the arc, going 2-5. Kentucky settled for several three-point shots against Boston's zone but could not convert on many of those attempts.
Three-point defense: Kentucky's perimeter defense has been solid through the early part of the season, but the Cats struggled to defend the perimeter early on against the Terriers. Boston connected on four three-pointers during the first nine minutes, as a result of defensive breakdowns and struggles with fighting through screens. In total, the Terriers connected on 8-24 three point attempts.
Free throw shooting: The Cats were 13-26 from the free throw line, an even 50 percent. However, if you remove Tyler Ulis' 6-6 free throw shooting, the Cats finished 7-20 from the free throw line (35 percent). The Cats have shot pretty well from the line for the most part this season, hovering around 70 percent as a team, but outside of Tyler Ulis, the team really struggled from the free throw line tonight.