Kentucky Basketball: Wildcats roll past Hofstra in Brooklyn

Kentucky basketball pounded Hofstra in the paint and use their transition attack to beat the Pride by 23.

In their second game since losing at the hands of Lonzo Ball and the UCLA Bruins, the 6th ranked Kentucky Wildcats took a trip to Brooklyn with thoughts of a 9-1 record on the line.

John Calipari’s unit did indeed reach the mark, as they blew out the Hofstra Pride, 96-73, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Malik Monk topped the Wildcats in the scoring department, as he scored 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting. Kentucky also received a lift from Isaiah Briscoe (19 points), De’Aaron Fox (15 points) and Edrice ‘Bam’ Adebayo (14 points on 7-of-10 shooting and seven rebounds).

We performed under the bright lights of New York again. See for yourself in the postgame highlights.

🎥 https://t.co/3f0sNpTIY1
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) December 11, 2016

The Wildcats shot 51 percent from the field, only turned the ball over seven times and recorded 20 assists on 37 field goals. They also shot a decent 35 percent from beyond the arc, with Monk hitting four of the eight 3’s.

While the numbers across the board looked good for Kentucky, the Pride came into this game confident and without fear. They played Kentucky well for the first 17 minutes of the game before Monk and his teammates started to make plays in transition.

Head coach Joe Mihalich put forth a solid game plan by beginning the game in a zone defense. Kentucky struggles to shoot from beyond the perimeter and Hofstra clearly wanted the ‘Cats to launch threes from the 3-point arc.

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But Kentucky showed a sense of maturity. Instead, of forcing shots from three, they attacked the basket (Briscoe and Fox especially) and made a concerted effort to get the ball to ‘Bam’ on the block. From there, they pounded the Pride in the paint (48-28). Adebayo had one of his best games of his season and Briscoe was nearly unstoppable when making plays downhill.

Also, Kentucky flexed their muscles defensively. They may have given up 73 points, but they limited Hofstra to 34 percent shooting overall and 27 percent from beyond the arc. They forced 14 turnovers and while the Pride grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, Kentucky’s length caused problems on the interior.

And that’s the reason the Wildcats are so good. If you don’t score consistently on them (like UCLA did), they will run you into the ground. The 16 missed threes and 14 turnovers only created more easy opportunities on Sunday for one of the fastest players in the country, Fox, one of the most athletic players in the nation, Monk, and a steamrolling Briscoe.

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Kentucky took advantage of Eli Pemberton and Rokas Gustys’ foul trouble and were able to limit Hofstra’s second leading scorer Brian Bernardi to seven points on 1-of-6 shooting. Briscoe and Monk did a terrific job cutting down Bernardi’s space and kept him off the free throw line for the most part. Add in the fact that the Wildcats just have more size, skill and athleticism than the Pride, and asking Hofstra to stick with the ‘Cats for more than a half was a tall task from the beginning.

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