OXFORD — A triple-double was nice but a win was even better for Isaiah Briscoe.
The Kentucky guard scored 19 points, dished out 11 assists and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the eighth-ranked Wildcats to a 99-76 victory over Ole Miss Thursday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
“Honestly I was just out there playing as hard as I can,” Briscoe said.
His best landed the sophomore guard in the record books. Briscoe became the third player in school history and the second this season to notch a triple-double. Freshman guard De’Aaron Fox accomplished the feat earlier this year in Kentucky’s 115-69 rout of Arizona State in the Bahamas.
Even when the feat was in doubt before Derek Willis helped the sophomore guard record the elusive triple-double with his 10th rebound late in the second half, Briscoe was more concerned with leaving Oxford with a win above personal accolades.
“Ultimately I just wanted to win,” he said. “That’s what I’m about is winning. But the triple-double is fine. Ultimately, I’m just worried about winning the game.”
BOXSCORE: Kentucky 99, Ole Miss 76
The performance by Briscoe came more than a week after the Wildcats dropped a 73-70 setback at No. 6 Louisville last week. Looking back on the three-point setback, Briscoe said it was a learning experience and credited Kentucky associate head coach Kenny Payne for his motivational sessions following the loss the Cardinals.
“I had a lot of talks with KP and things like that (last week),” Briscoe said. “He was just saying, ‘Clear start. New season.’ Everything like that. So I was just out there playing as hard as I can. I see that I got a triple-double, but I give credit to my teammates for putting me in the position that they were.”
Briscoe was one of three players who tallied double figures in Kentucky’s first contest in the Pavilion at Ole Miss, the Rebels’ new state of the art arena that opened to the public last January. Although Ole Miss wasn’t a serious threat, Briscoe said the win proved the Wildcats can be victorious in a hostile environment.
“It’s a big win for us on the road,” Briscoe said. “Going back to that Louisville game, I think we all grew. We grew as a team. That was a tough road game for us. Unfortunately, it didn’t play in our hands, but I think we all grew from that. We don’t like the feeling of a loss, so we were just coming out here and just trying to give it our all.”
Briscoe got some help from the freshman tandem of Bam Adebayo and Malik Monk, who combined for 59 points. Monk buried five of Kentucky’s eight 3-pointers and finished with 34 points, while Adebayo added a career-high 25 points and three blocks. Briscoe had a hand in those performances, too.
Most of Briscoe’s assists were lobs to Adebayo, especially in the first half as the Wildcats claim a 60-39 lead at the half, Kentucky’s biggest opening half tally of the year.
“When you spread the court out against us with the three guards — us getting into the lane and throwing alley(-oops) to Bam. I think that’s where most of my assists came from – throwing alleys to him,” Briscoe said. “We have a great group of guys who know how to play the game of basketball, and he trusts me out on the court telling those guys what to do and that’s just what we were doing.”
The emergence of Adebayo, who had a career-high eight dunks against the Rebels, has been beneficial for Kentucky, which has has been looking to establish a post presence, a critical ingredient missing from last year’s squad that lost to Indiana in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Adebayo struggled early and tallied single digits in two of Kentucky’s first three games, but has been a force since scoring just six points in a win over Michigan State in the State Farm Champions Classic on Nov. 15. Since then, Adebayo has been a force in the post and has scored double figures in 10 straight games.
Briscoe said Adebayo is Kentucky’s top target in the post, even behind the scenes in practice.
“When we scrimmage, we have segments where the ball has to touch Bam’s hands first before anybody can shoot the ball,” Briscoe said. “We have to play through Bam. If he continues to play like this, we have no choice but to get him the ball. He had a great game today, and like I said, that’s big for us going down the road. We need to keep his confidence up.”
Not only did Kentucky’s first conference victory give Adebayo more confidence, it also was proved to be a team-bonding performance for the Wildcats on the road.
“We were building together,” Adebayo said. “In practice they were throwing me the ball. Just building up my confidence and trusting my teammates. When we got in this game, they found me and I found them. It all worked out for the best of us.”
Gametracker: Texas A&M at Kentucky, 9 p.m., Tuesday. 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