What a night for Cats in the NBA as Fox, Monk and Randle all go over 40 points

Former UK teammates De’Aaron Fox, left, and Malik Monk had historic games for Sacramento Friday. (Twitter Photo)

It was a night to remember for University of Kentucky alumni in the NBA.

Not one, not two but three former Wildcats scored 42 or more points in a game, including Sacramento teammates De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk in a mind-boggling 176-175 double overtime win over the LA Clippers in Los Angeles.

Another former Cat, Julius Randle, had 46 points for the New York Knicks in a 115-109 win over Washington.

Monk and Fox became just the second pair of college teammates to score 40 or more points in the same NBA game as teammates. The only other time it happened was in the 1995 playoffs when Houston’s  Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon did it.

Fox was 17 of 27 from the field (2-for-4 on 3’s) and 6-for-11 at the foul line in his 42-point performance. He also had 12 assists, five rebounds and three turnovers in 45 minutes.

Monk was just the fifth player in the Kings’ history and second in the NBA this season to score 40 off the bench. He was 15 of 24 from the field and 6-for-12 from 3-point range in his 45-point game. He also went 9-for-10 at the foul line and had six assists and two rebounds in 41 minutes.

Kawhi Leonard had 44 points for the Clippers to make it just the fifth time in NBA history there had been three 40-point scorers in the same game and first time it had happened since 2012.

And there was another UK connection for the Clippers — former Cat Trey Lyles had 10 points and two rebounds in 19 minutes of play.

Randle Shines

Randle got 46 points in just 36 minutes. He was a double-double machine at UK with his rebounding prowess but had just two rebounds — along with two assists and two steals — Friday night. But he was 7-for-14 from 3-point range and 16 of 29 overall from the field. At the foul line, he went 7-for-7.

Immanuel Quickley came off the bench to score 16 points for the Knicks on 6-for-11 shooting (3-for-6 on 3’s) and also had three rebounds and one assist in 30 minutes.