When Kentucky needed a veteran to fill the void in the absence of Isaiah Briscoe, John Calipari turned to Dominique Hawkins.
Although the Madison Central graduate played a limited role because of a knee contusion in the Wildcats’ 101-70 win over Cleveland State earlier this week, the senior guard was active Friday night.
The senior guard scored six points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out nine assists in Kentucky’s 111-76 rout of Tennessee-Martin.
Hawkins didn’t “feel pressure at all” after Calipari called on him to take Briscoe’s spot in the starting lineup for the second straight game. Briscoe sat out because of an aching back and was scheduled to get an MRI examination before the team departs for the Bahamas Saturday morning.
“I just know that I need to step my game up, be more aggressive, talk to the teammates and try to be a leader on the court,” Hawkins said.
BOXSCORE LINK: Kentucky 111, Tennessee-Martin 76
Inserting Hawkins into the starting lineup was an easy decision for Calipari, considering Hawkins’ ability to make plays, especially on the defensive end of the court.
“Dom is so much better,” Calipari said.
In addition to Hawkins’ defensive presence, Calipari has been impressed with the senior guard’s assist-to-turnover ratio. Through six games, Hawkins has dished out 19 assists and committed just two turnovers.
“(It’s) a ridiculous number,” Calipari said.
Hawkins said the improvement has been because of his ability to dribble and make the extra pass on offense. He added that his experience has also has played a role in his progress this season.
“I’ve been handling the ball more this year and being able to make plays for guys as well,” Hawkins said. “ feel like that’s why my assists have been going up. I’ve been here for four years. I know how he likes it and I know all the plays and if anybody needs help then I can get them in the right position.”
That hasn’t always been the case for Hawkins. Early in his career, Hawkins said he didn’t feel comfortable “with the ball in my hands.”
“I remember freshman, sophomore, junior year, I really didn’t want the ball in my hands,” he said. “I just wanted to go out there and try to catch it and shoot it, but now I can just make plays for other people as well.”
Unlike his first three seasons with the Wildcats, Hawkins said the Wildcats, who have beaten their first five opponents by 21 points or more and reached the century mark in back-to-back games for the first time since 1993, are bonding at a faster rate than the past three teams.
“I feel like we’re connecting really well so early,” he said. “We’ve been playing well as a team and there’s nobody that’s selfish and everybody’s getting up shots and passing the ball to each other.”
Hawkins said his teammates share a common goal, which makes it easier to play so unselfishly on the court.
“I feel like it’s like that because everybody wants to go to the league,” he said, “Everybody wants to be able to show that they can make it at a higher level and perform well. And everybody wants to win. And each game we come and play, we perform at our best level to try to win the game.”
One of those players — Malik Monk — scored a career-high 26 points against the Skyhawks. Hawkins counted former Kentucky star Willie Cauley-Stein as be if the most exciting athletes he’s shared the court with, Monk has gained ground in a short period of time.
“I would say he’s probably the most exciting athletes I’ve played with on a team before,” Hawkins said of Monk. “I don’t know how he blocked that ball (against Tennessee-Martin). He just jumped up there, cuffed it and threw it. You just see him, windmill so lackadaisical. It’s incredible to see a guy like that.”
Now in his last season with the Wildcats, Hawkins wants to continue to make a valuable contribution.
“It’s my last year here and I know what the team needs,” he said. “We need a guy that can make plays for a team and also be aggressive and try to attack the rim and score.”
Gametracker: Kentucky vs. Arizona State, Monday, 7 p.m. TV/Radio: ESPN, 981. 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