Davion Mintz, right, has become UK's leader. (SEC Photo)
Kentucky’s best offensive player against Louisville was senior guard Davion Mintz, who had four 3-pointers and 19 points. Yet with the Cats down by a point in the final 15 seconds, Mintz gave up the ball to Olivier Sarr who missed the potential game-winning shot.
Kentucky coach John Calipari said Louisville knew UK would like to have Mintz take the shot and defended him that way.
“That guy that you’re going to, has to be willing to make a play for a teammate. And he did. Would I have liked him to shoot it? Yeah. But that’s not what Louisville did,” Calipari said about Mintz giving the ball to Sarr.
That’s the kind of leadership Calipari has been looking for and Mintz seems like the one player who can provide it with his play and words.
“I wish it would have turned out our way. But I feel like right now, it’s kind of a necessity for me to be that guy to come out there and be the voice and kind of talk on both sides of the floor,” Mintz said after the game.
Sophomore Jacob Toppin calls Mintz, a Creighton transfer, a “great leader” for the Wildcats despite the team’s 1-6 record.
“I believe because he does everything the right way whether he’s making mistakes. We’re human we make mistakes, but I believe he’s a good leader,” Toppin said.
“In the games he shows that he can be a leader. He’s always doing the hustle plays. He’s always scoring, and he just looks out for his teammates. I think he took upon that role very well and will continue to do that.”
He did after the Louisville game when he praised Toppin and freshman Lance Ware, who came off the bench like Toppin to provide a needed spark against Louisville.
“I’m super proud of Jacob, a guy who’s not always certain like, ‘Hey, am I going to come in and get huge minutes this game?’ Coach Cal always tells him to stay ready. It didn’t surprise me at all because Jacob had the best practice on the team this week. The past two days, Jacob wasn’t the same. He didn’t even look like the same person, honestly,” Mintz said.
“And Lance, he’s always been a bulldog, a warrior. Lance is probably one of our toughest players, honestly. That doesn’t surprise me either. We really need every single person on this team.”
Mintz even praised freshman teammate Terrence Clarke for trying to play through an injury.
“At the end of the day, we’re fighting, we’re still going to keep our head down and keep running and let the outcome be what it is,” Mintz said.
