By Keith Taylor
Special to the NKyTribune
Kentucky cruised without its floor general Friday.
The top-ranked Wildcats (6-0) remained undefeated with an 84-63 win over South Florida in the Miami Hoophall Invitational. It was the first meeting between Kentucky coach John Calipari and Bulls coach Orlando Antigua, a former UK assistant coach in his second season at South Florida.
Point guard Tyler Ulis suffered an elbow injury in the first half and didn’t return. Ulis, who scored eight points, collected two steals and had two assists in 14 minutes, hyperextended his elbow and is listed day-to-day.
“I know he’s in a sling,” Calipari said. “Let’s hope it’s not (seriously injured). There was a play where there was a loose ball. The other guy should have dove on it. Because he didn’t, Tyler dove on it. it’s a freak kind of deal, but that’s how it happened. He’s hurt right now, but we’ll see.”
In the absence of Ulis, Kentucky freshman guard Jamal Murray picked up the slack and scored a career-high 21 points to lead all scorers. He tied a career-high with two 3-pointers, marking the fourth time in six games Murray has made at least two shots from long range.
“We just thought that we have to pick it up and somebody has to take over and lead the team,” Murray said. “That was a very valuable piece that we lost obviously, but we were able to handle it by ourselves.”
BOXSCORE: Kentucky 84, South Florida 63
Murray admitted it was “different” without Ulis on the court, but said Isaiah Briscoe and Charles Matthews also picked up the pace on both ends of the floor.
“Charles (Matthews), Isaiah (Briscoe) and I have played point guard basically for most of our lives,” Murray said. “It was a smooth transition for us and that’s the benefit of having us on the team.”
Matthews made four of five shots from the field, finished with a career-high 11 points and connected on his first basket from long range.
“I think Charles has just pushed everybody aside and now has moved his way into that rotation and he’s doing it because he’s working hard,” Calipari said. “He’s rebounding the ball. He’s defending and going up scoring around the basket.”
Although he scored just six points, Briscoe handed out seven assists and grabbed six rebounds.
“It’s a good thing to get Isaiah and Jamal some (playing) time in there without (Ulis),” Calipari said. “I thought Isaiah struggled. You’re flipping balls like you’re in a H-O-R-S-E game. He had like four flips – like he was trying to spin them off the high corner to see if he could knock it in. Like we’re playing ‘Skee-Ball.’ He had three or four plays that were layups, easy passes and he looked away, wrapped around. But this is a great learning experience for him. He played hard. He did some good stuff.”
Along with his all-freshman backcourt, Calipari was pleased with the contributions junior Dominique Hawkins made after the injury to Ulis.
“I liked what I saw from Dominique Hawkins,” Calipari said. “Dom may be that rotational guy. It wasn’t the shot — it was the defensive play where they charged. He’s flying up and down the court. I liked what I saw from him.”
Skal Labissiere rounded out three players in double-figures with 17 points. The freshman center tallied 17 points, made seven of eight free throws and collected three blocks.
“He’s trying to fight more, get open and make the pass easier for us,” Murray said. “He showed that today and we have to keep working on it and keep pushing him to excel.”
Notes
* The Wildcats closed the first-half with a 15-0 run and led 42-21 at the break.
* Freshman guard Johnny David scored his first two points as a Wildcat, notching a pair of free throws in the final minute.
Game tracker: Illinois State at Kentucky, 7 p.m., Monday. TV/Radio: ESPN2, 98.1 FM WBUL.
Keith Taylor is a columnist and senior sports writer who covers University of Kentucky athletics for KyForward.com