When the shots weren’t falling, Bam Adebayo never worried and did the little things necessary to stay on the court in Kentucky’s 93-69 win over Canisius Sunday night.
“It’a team thing and you can’t be all about yourself,” Adebayo said. “I wanted to help my team.”
Abedayo got off to a slow start against the Golden Griffins and missed all six of his field goal attempts in the opening half. Despite the close calls around the rim, Abedayo was active in other phases of the game, collecting five rebounds and a pair of blocks in the first 20 minutes as the Wildcats struggled early before pulling away in the second half.
Adebayo had a big hand in the second-half runaway and recorded his first collegiate double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. In the second half, Adebayo was 3-for-3 from the field and grabbed six rebounds and added a block.
“I just wasn’t focusing like I should,” Adebayo said of his performance. “I started focusing and I started knocking (the shots) down. I had to believe in myself and not put my head down, but just keep playing. You have those days, but it’s just another day that goes by. You get in the gym the next day and get better.”
LINK: BOXSCORE — Kentucky 93, Canisius 69
Kentucky freshman point guard De’Aaron Fox wasn’t surprised by Adebayo’s performance, especially in the second half.
“Bam’s a beast (and) probably the most athletic guy on the court, and he’s, nine times out of 10, the biggest guy on the court,” Fox said. “His rebounding his special. He did that tonight. He did that after the struggling. We struggled on the glass the first couple of games. We’re all just trying to help out.”
One of the top post players coming out of high school, Adebayo said the biggest adjustment from high school to college has been “keeping my hands high and not trying to foul.” He added that rebounding also is a point of emphasis.
“We’re just going to go (into practice Monday) and work on rebounding, working on our game and getting better as a team,” Adebayo said.
In Kentucky’s 87-64 win over Stephen F. Austin Friday night, Adebayo finished with five points and made 3 of 7 free throws, two of which were of the technical variety. Adebayo was surprised he shot the two technicals but understood coach John Calipari’s reasoning.
“It’s just building my confidence to make free throws,” he said. “I agree with what Cal is doing.”
Although Adebayo hasn’t gotten used to contact around the basket, Calipari wants him to get used to physical play underneath because of his ability to finish in the post.
“I want him to get comfortable shooting free throws, because you must foul him to stop him,” the Kentucky coach said. “He’s a beast. Now you’ve got to go make free throws. And you know what? The kid, again, he ended up with 14 and 11, he could have had 25 points and 14 rebounds. But he missed all those five, six, some of them I said it’s sad they didn’t go.
In the midst of playing three games in five days, the Wildcats take on Michigan State in the Champions Classic Tuesday night in New York in the team’s first major challenge of the season.
“We’re not worried about Michigan State,” Adebayo said. “We’re worried about our team and how we can get better. It’s be two Top 25 teams going at each other and everybody loves the excitement of that game.”
Gametracker: Kentucky vs. Michigan State, Tuesday, 7 p.m., at Madison Square Garden. TV/Radio: ESPN, 98.1 FM WBUL.
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter