Mo Dioubate (23) had 20 points on 8-for-9 shooting, 11 rebounds, two steals, two blocks and one assist in Friday’s win. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky had no problem disposing of Eastern Illinois on Friday night and bounced back from a disappointing loss to rival Louisville.
The Wildcats were focused from start to finish and rolled to a 99-53 rout of the Panthers following a “distracting” performance in the team’s first setback of the year earlier this week at Louisville.
On Thursday, Kentucky coach Mark Pope said his team was “out of character” prior to the instate showdown but downplayed the events that transpired and keep everyone guessing on the “little things” that occurred that he said wasn’t totally “nonsense.”
“When we talk about it, it’s really not going to be very interesting,” Pope said.
The topic of conversation turned to his team’s ability to bounce back in convincing form against the Panthers in a blowout that took no time to transform. Kentucky made the transition from a distracting performance to a dominating one.
“I thought it was a functional game for us,” Pope said. “We have a ton of work to do that we’re really excited about … it was a good night for us.”
Kentucky (3-1) and used a pair of scoring runs to regain its offensive and defensive footing. During the latter scoring spree, the Wildcats overwhelmed the Panthers with a monstrous 23-2 run in the first half to put the game away and limited outmanned Eastern Illinois to just 19 points in the first half after surrendering 53 points in the opening half against the Cardinals.
“They were ready and punched us right in the mouth right from the get-go,” Eastern Illinois coach Marty Simmons said. “We never really regained confidence.”
Mouhamed Dioubate, who led five players in figures with a season-high 20 points and 11 rebounds, said the team’s main focus was to improve on their defensive showing.
“That was our main goal tonight, to be good on defense,” he said.
Just as the Wildcats were getting used to Jaland Lowe running the offense, Kentucky had to regroup without Lowe on the floor for the second time in four games. Lowe reinjured his shoulder in practice on Thursday and watched as Denzel Aberdeen and Jasper Johnson took turns running the offense.
Pope said Lowe’s future status will be discussed in more detail with his family and medical team mixed in with a “bevy of second and third opinions” regarding his shoulder injury that will consist of a “real conversation” about the immediate future.
“We’ll probably have some discussions over the next couple of days about what’s the best thing to do right now,” Pope said. “That’s probably the point where we are right now.”
While missing Lowe, Kentucky welcomed the return of sophomore forward Trent Noah, who missed the two previous games while nursing an ankle injury. Noah made a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight points in the first half.
Denzel Aberdeen followed Dioubate with 13 points and has scored 39 points in the past two games. He scored 26 in the loss to the Cardinals. Otega Oweh scored 10 in the second half and finished with 12, followed by Malachi Moreno and Andrija Jelavic with 11 points each.
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GAMETRACKER: Kentucky vs. No. 17 Michigan State, 6:30 p.m., Tuesday. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Sports Network. Coverage: www.kentuckytoday.com
Kentucky-Eastern Illinois Basketball
Photos by Vicky Graff
5 Responses
I would have called it passable. Is it just me or does Garrison look like he has taken a step back this season?
No, Garrison has been through 4 games the 2nd most efficient player on this team.
Coaches' goal should be to use players and allocate playing time to maximize team efficiency. It seems to me that goal is advanced best by playing your most efficient individual players the majority of the time, and devising game plans that produce the most scoring opportunities for those most efficient players.
Thanks for that info Professor. It just seems that Moreno is outplaying him.
Tuesday night will tell how this team learn from Louisville game with Lowe or without Lowe which i expect will not playing.
Your ANE has been the most accurate and most informative analysis I’ve ever seen. My dear dad used to get some publications sent directly to him in the mail so he could study every aspect of the players on teams he liked to follow. I got interested in studying all sorts of projections & analysis & rankings while in HS and continued to this day.
My favorite players this season, after a couple of games, have been putting up some good ANE values. Noah, Moreno, Dioubate, Garrison & Chandler are the players who look to share the ball and do what is best for the team.
The most points are given too much attention in many games because it does not reveal how they impact the rest of the team.
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