Kentucky Wildcats top Troy: 3 Things to Know, Box Score and Postgame Chatter

Kentucky started strong but struggled in the second half in a 70-62 win over the Troy Trojans. They spread out the attack and they rebounded well but they committed 16 turnovers and went on a long scoring drought in the second half.

Here are three things to know.

There was a very early Brad Calipari sighting

And I mean very early. He subbed in with 9:48 remaining in the first half, the earliest he has ever been in a game for the Wildcats. Given Kentucky’s lack of shooting ability, John Calipari may have just been trying to get a shooter on the floor early. Either way, he didn’t stay in long, as Quade Green checked in and Brad checked out at the 7:58 mark, less than two minutes after checking in. He didn’t take any shots and didn’t see the floor again.

Quade and Kevin are SC Top 10-bound

Green found Kevin Knox from half court and hit him for the play of the game.

Knox and Green both had good games, as Knox had 17 points and five boards, and Green had 13 points, three rebounds and three assists. Those two are really beginning to establish themselves as the two best players on this team.

It’s good to see Knox continues to get comfortable in his role as the best player, but it’s equally as good to see Green showing he’s not only the best point guard, but someone that can carry the offense for stretches of games.

Nick Richards put out a ton of effort

Richards finally gave the effort that Kentucky needs him to give down low. He used his size to get eight rebounds and also had eight points in just 12 minutes of play. The freshman center is already showing great progress on both ends of the floor. He took a major step forward in the rebounding department, grabbing seven boards in his first right minutes of Monday’s contest.

Here is the final box score:

Now, let’s chat about the game.