Lance Ware’s effort makes impact on teammates

After Kentucky lost to Michigan State Tuesday, Lance Ware admitted the team had “kind of had a bad taste in our mouths” that it partially got rid of when it routed South Carolina State Thursday.

Ware said the players could not do much after the loss except watch film, learn from their mistakes and fix what they could.

“Some people say we lost, [or] we gave away the game – different things like that but [we] can’t go back and rewind time. Just learn from our mistakes that we made,” Ware said. “I think that was the biggest thing between everybody on the team – 1 through 15, just learning from our mistakes and what we did.”

Kentucky will be able to prove today that it really did learn from the loss against an even better opponent — Gonzaga. The Zags have a win over Michigan State but lost 93-74 — the team’s most lopsided loss since a 23-point defeat to Arizona in March of 2014.

Ware had 12 points on 6-for-6 shooting in 14 minutes in the win over South Carolina State and helped spark the win with UK only playing Oscar Tshiebwe limited minutes to protect his knee from any further damage.

“I love being in the game with Lance. He just plays so hard, so I try to find him anytime I can,” UK guard CJ Fredrick, who had 17 points, said after Thursday’s game.  “When he’s running up and down like he was tonight, I always try to find him. He’s like the anchor for our team, for sure.”

Assistant coach Orlando Antigua said Ware did a “lot” of good things, especially on defense.

“He is one of our smartest players. He knows where to be. He did a great job running the court and guys found him around the basket where he could explode,” Antigua said.

Fredrick called him an “energy bunny” who never stops going.

In the season-opening win when Tshiebwe did not play, the 6-9 Ware had a rebound, blocked a shot and dove on the floor to grab a loose ball in the first minute of play. That’s why his game might not always be pretty but coach John Calipari likes the muscle and intensity he adds.

“He’s way more confident but I told Ugonna (Onyenso), what did he do that you didn’t do? He sprinted. So he was in a position to go make baskets. I took Ugonna out because the big kid got two balls from him. You’re out, other guy is in — had a knee, arm — just give me numbers. Give me 7 and 2. Doesn’t matter what you say. He got the ball from you,” Calipari said after Thursday’s win.”

“Lance went in and did it. Now I think we are going to have a lot that have this year and they are going to have to accept it game-to-game. I told them, I think the best way we can do this — seven minutes and then we’ll figure out, you may play 18 because the guy playing 26 or 27 is playing really good. Then we’ll let him go and you’re next game.”

Ware said he’s had to adjust a bit to starting games with Tshiebwe either injured or coming off the bench, something that probably will change today against Gonzaga.

“Usually if I’m coming off the bench, I can see the way the game is being played. Kind of how physical it is – when you start you’re just thrown right into the fire. You just gotta adjust and run … it’s fun either way,” Ware said.