Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Amazing Monk keys Kentucky
Late 3 caps freshman’s 47-point effort, win over No. 7 Tar Heels
If he had listened to his coach, Malik Monk would not have taken the shot. But the freshman guard was forgiven, because the shot won the game.
Monk’s go-ahead 3-pointer from the wing with 16 seconds remaining capped his 47-point outburst and lifted No. 6 Kentucky to a 103-100 victory over No. 7 North Carolina on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic at T-Mobile Arena.
Monk pulled up and fired from long range as Wildcats coach John Calipari was shouting different instructions.
“I said, ‘Drive the ball, drive the ball,’ and he hit a 3,” Calipari said. “I said, ‘Good shot, kid.’”
Two teams expecting to go deep into the NCAA Tournament put on a show that created a March atmosphere before a crowd of 19,298. Elite athletes raced at a fast pace and traded big-time shots
“It was a packed house, and everyone was going crazy,” said Monk, who scored 27 in the first half and finished with the highest-scoring game by a Tar Heels opponent since 1970.
“If you watched that game, and if you never liked basketball, you’re going to start liking basketball,” Calipari said. “Play fast, score quickly, open the court up and let these kids do their thing.”
Monk overshadowed Justin Jackson’s 34-point performance for North Carolina (10-2). Jackson, who made four 3s, sliced down the lane for a layup and was fouled with 45 seconds to go. But he missed the free throw, leaving the Tar Heels’ lead at 100-98 and the door open for Monk’s go-ahead shot.
De’Aaron Fox, who finished with 24 points and 10 assists, hit two free throws with three seconds left. The Wildcats (10-1) held on when the Tar Heels’ Kenny Williams left a 3-point try short at the buzzer.
“These are games you live for,” Fox said. “Honestly, for me, close games are a lot more fun than blowouts. That’s why we play the game, competition like that.”
Kentucky took a 56-51 lead into halftime, and the pace barely slowed in the second half. Both coaches called plays to exploit weak individual defenders, and skilled offensive players prevailed.
“It was a heck of a college basketball game if you don’t care who won, but I do care who won,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said.
Asked what the Tar Heels were trying to do to stop him, Monk said, “I don’t know what they tried to do. I couldn’t tell. It’s like a pickup game, that’s what it feels like to me.”
Monk, who made 8 of 12 3-pointers, said he took the winning 3 instead of driving because he was “in the flow.”
Even after Monk set a Kentucky freshman scoring record, Calipari found a flaw in his 6-foot-3-inch star’s effort.
“How many rebounds did he have?” said Calipari, who knew the answer was zero. “He’s special, but he’s got a lot to learn.”
The Las Vegas venue won over Calipari, who said, “This is an unbelievable arena. Maybe it’s another place we travel to because our fans love it.” 103-100, a game with the intensity and skill level of a Final Four, during which a majority of the 19,298 in attendance were staunch supporters of Big Blue Nation.
Lexington must be a sleepy town those days the Wildcats are on the road, because it seemed as though most of the second largest city in Kentucky were here to cheer wildly as Malik Monk scored 47 points, the most by a player against North Carolina since 1970.
Kentucky and its sensational freshman know all about UCLA, having lost to the Bruins at home 97-92 on Dec. 3, when the nation saw firsthand the level of rejuvenation that has occurred in Steve Alford’s fourth season as coach in Westwood.
It has been proven time and again that great guard play wins in March, and the Bruins are elite and deep with those who handle and pass and shoot from the perimeter. Lonzo Ball, freshman point guard and son to the LaVar the Prognosticator, directs what is an offense that is exciting and incredibly difficult to guard.
The Bruins are just really fun to watch, is all.
UCLA isn’t a great defensive team — it’s not even a very good one yet — but I’m not sure how many nights it needs to be. That’s how quickly scoring runs come for a side averaging 97.0 points, how fast the Bruins can extend a margin, how many capable options for points exist.
“I know what I have,” Alford said. “I’ve got a really good group of guys to coach, but they’re a pretty good basketball team right now. We’re trying to become a great basketball team, and that’s a process. That’s a journey.
“We have a real knack for figuring things out. Whatever we end up re-emphasizing or focusing on, this team just, there’s just a trust factor there. It’s a surreal group. The IQ they have to play the game is at a high level, and that’s fun to coach.”
It’s a team built for a serious run in March, a mixture of veterans and talented freshmen, interchangeable parts, one that can be as deadly from 3-point range as it is efficient finishing around the basket, which it does as well as most nationally.
Alford finished the game Saturday with a lineup that included four guards in Ball, seniors Isaac Hamilton and Bryce Alford, and sophomore Aaron Holiday, all with varying strengths that make getting a defensive stop when one is needed overly difficult. That doesn’t even count freshman forward T.J. Leaf, who leads the team in scoring (17.8) and is second in rebounding (9.3).
“First and foremost, it’s balance,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “You look throughout the course of this game, and there were several times where different guys kind of went on a run, and that’s a great thing to have. You don’t know who it is, but you know it’s coming. The hard part is, it just keeps coming.”
This wasn’t the best UCLA, and yet it still outrebounded the bigger Buckeyes by 10 and shot 48 percent. It’s not even the healthiest UCLA, given starting center and leading rebounder Thomas Welch missed his third straight game while nursing a bruised knee.
But it showed enough to think LaVar Ball’s prediction after just the season’s fifth game could prove correct.
It doesn’t mean UCLA will win it all, just that it’s good enough. Just that it could. So can Duke and Kentucky and North Carolina, all of whom made T-Mobile home for a few hours the past week.
One day, the venue might host a Sweet 16 and Elite Eight.
It already has the electric atmosphere part down pat.