Thursday Quickies: Quickley Catching Up Edition

The game is slowing down for the freshman point guard, which is leading to increased production

By Zac Oakes@ZacOakes Mar 7, 2019, 6:40am EST

NCAA Basketball: South Carolina at Kentucky

Immanuel Quickley hasn’t set the world on fire in his freshman year at Kentucky, but coach John Calipari likes what he has seen out of Quickley the last few games, particularly on Tuesday night against Ole Miss.

“Immanuel has been unbelievable,” Calipari said in the postgame press conference. “Plus, you know either he was going to get it, or Tyler (Herro) was going to get one of those last free throws because you know you can count on them to make them. He has been terrific. He has gotten better. His mind is slowing down. Early on, his mind just raced and he couldn’t really slow his mind down to do the things that he is capable of doing.”

Quickley hasn’t hit double digits in scoring over the last five games, but he’s been a stabilizing force at the point guard position with Ashton Hagans out of the game or playing alongside Hagans in a two point guard lineup.

Quickley was a highly-ranked recruit coming out of high school, and while he hasn’t been a star in Lexington during his freshman year, Quickley is finding his niche on this team to help be a key contributor as Kentucky looks to make a Final Four run.

Tweets of the Day

Last night gave John Calipari his sixth straight 25-win season at Kentucky and ninth in 10 years. Very good shot at his fifth 30-win season in Lexington. Last night was also his 300th win at UK, good for a cool average of 30 wins per season over a decade. That'll do.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) March 6, 2019