Kentucky’s Monk wants to work McMurray leaving USF:

Sharpshooting Malik Monk chose Kentucky because he felt it was the best place to hone other basketball skills beyond his impressive offensive talents.

Scoring has always been easy for the Wildcats freshman guard, who also wants to become a better rebounder, passer and “lockdown” defender. Even when Monk’s perimeter shots are falling, he wants to share the ball and encourages teammates to shoot to ensure sure he’s not the only one having fun.

“If defenses play me to pass the ball, I’m going to pass it,” Monk said Tuesday. “Coming to Kentucky, you’re surrounded by great players and everybody doesn’t have to focus on you. If the defense focuses on you, somebody else can have a great game and that feels great.”

Still, Monk is the focus of opponents that try to devise ways of containing the sixth-ranked Wildcats’ leading scorer.

The Lepanto, Arkansas native enters Wednesday’s 50th Bluegrass showdown at No. 10 Louisville (10-1) averaging a team-best 21.9 points per game for the Wildcats. If he continues at that pace, he could the highest-scoring college player coach John Calipari has ever had. Dajuan Wagner averaged 21.2 for Calipari at Memphis in 2001-02.

Right now Monk is basking in a higher profile resulting from his 47-point explosion that helped Kentucky beat then-No. 7 North Carolina 103-100 in Las Vegas on Saturday. His point total set a school freshman record and was the Wildcats’ best performance since Jodie Meeks scored 54 at Tennessee in January 2009.

Monk is emphatic about improving his rebounding and acknowledges that phase of the game is a work in progress for Kentucky’s backcourt. Circumstances have just created more chances on the boards for the frontcourt, allowing the guards to focus on pushing the ball downcourt. Sophomore guard Jahmal McMurray will transfer from South Florida. He was averaging 20.3 points in three games this season after being suspended for the first six games for a violation of team rules.