By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
Dominique Hawkins hasn’t forgotten last year’s 87-77 loss to UCLA but doesn’t expect the setback to have any bearing when the two powerhouse programs meet Saturday at Rupp Arena.
“I don’t think it’s really a revenge factor,” Hawkins said Friday. “I just think that we’re going to come out and just play our game and hopefully we can win.”
Making their first visit to Lexington in 55 years, the 11th-ranked Bruins (8-0) won’t be a pushover like Kentucky’s first seven opponents, which the top-ranked Wildcats (7-0) had beaten by an average margin of 30 points per game. The Wildcats rolled to a 115-69 win over Arizona State earlier this week in the Atlantis Showcase in the Bahamas.
“This is a great game in early December for us — hard,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “They could bash us. They beat us last year and they beat us bigger than the score. Score said nine or 10, whatever. It was 20. It was not even a game. We never had a chance. Never had a chance in the game. We got down. Tried to mess around. Never had a chance. And they got the same team back with Ball. We lost everybody and have a brand new team so it’ll be interesting.”
Although Calipari doesn’t know how his team will handle the hype surrounding the contest, the Kentucky coach expects a shootout between the two teams. Kentucky, which has scored at least 100 points in three straight games for the first time since the 1977-78 season, is averaging 95.6 points per game. UCLA has been equally impressive and has tallied an average of 97 points per outing.
“This is a shot maker’s game,” Calipari said. “If either team is not making shots, you’ll be in trouble. I doubt both teams won’t be making shots so you better hope it’s not you. Both are good shooting teams and have players that are able to go on runs. We score in different ways. We score a little bit differently than (UCLA) scores, but if you’re missing baskets and shots, then it’s hard to win a game like this.”
Like his coach, Hawkins expects a shootout against the Bruins.
“I won’t be surprised if it’s a high-scoring game at all,” Hawkins said.
Kentucky’s newcomers, including leading scorer Malik Monk, are looking forward to playing against a team that has a similar offensive style, not to mention size and talent. Bruins freshman guard Lonzo Ball is comparable to Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox, while forward T.J. Leaf, also a freshman has the much of the same post skills as Wildcats forward Bam Adebayo.
“(I am) pretty excited because we know our guard play is pretty fast and we know UCLA’s guard play is pretty fast,” Monk said. “So it’s going to be an up-tempo game. I lick my chops every game because whatever any team tries to make us do we’re going to do the opposite. We’re just going to play how we play. I don’t think anybody’s been able to stop that yet.”
Monk added the Wildcats won’t be intimidated by the atmosphere, Kentucky’s first home game of the season against a ranked opponent.
“Every game is going to be just like this,” he said. “You’re going to have to come out here ready to play.”
Calipari said the key for his team will be to keep an even keel amid the hype and excitement.
“Could they go in here and lose their minds? Yeah, they’re all freshmen,” he said. “They’re all sophomores. The sophomores might as well have been freshmen. So yeah, they can go in here and this be overwhelming for them. Then we’ll move on to the next game.
“We’ll figure out what it was and how we’ve got to do it, what we’ve got to do. What I will tell you is I’m glad I’ve got the team I have. Win or lose I’m glad I’ve got the team I have, and this is all building toward March.”
Gametracker: UCLA at Kentucky. TV/Radio: CBS (Channel 27), 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