By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
NASHVILLE — Malik Monk is struggling but Kentucky keeps right on winning.
Coming off a six-point performance in the regular-season finale, a 71-63 win at Texas A&M, Monk was hoping to get back on track in the Wildcats’ postseason opener but remains in a funk. Monk struggled yet again, this time scoring just two points in a 71-60 victory over Georgia Friday in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
Monk’s lone field goal was a dunk in the first half as the league’s player of the year missed six shots on seven attempts. For Monk, it was the first time he’s scored fewer than two points in back-to-back contests. Although his first game at Bridgestone Arena didn’t produce any offensive fireworks, he was happy the Wildcats escaped the Bulldogs for a third time this season.
“It’s hard to beat a team three times and I’m glad we did,” Monk said.
A prolific scorer who has scored 30 or more points in four games this season, including 30 of Kentucky’s 48 points in the second half of a 76-66 win over Florida last month, Monk is developing in other phases of his game, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
“What Malik has is a will to win,” Calipari said. “There are areas that he’s got to get better, shooting the ball, making free throws. That you can get better at. If a guy doesn’t have a will to win or a fight, he’s never going to be that guy.”
Monk has made just three field goals on 17 attempts during the past two games, but that hasn’t changed Kentucky’s primary focus offensively.
“(We’ve got to) just to keep touching the paint, keeping swinging to him,” Fox said. “If it’s open, we’re not going to tell him to not shoot the ball if he’s wide open. Get to the lane. Sometimes somebody else has to make an outside shot. Malik won’t have 30 points every game. (Isaiah Briscoe and I) both came up big (against Georgia), but next game it could definitely be Malik.“
Monk has a general idea of what it will take to snap out of a slump starting with Saturday’s game against the Crimson Tide.
“I think I just gotta get up and get up way more shots in the morning,” Monk said. “The road games we play early most of the time so we can’t get up to get to a gym. But I think if I get up and get around, start moving, stuff like that, it’ll be better.”
Kentucky senior Mychal Mulder thinks it will only be a matter of time before Monk gets back on track.
“He’s so much more mature as a basketball player on both ends of the floor,” Mulder said. “Not only is he locking in on defense but when things aren’t going well, he’s patient. He knows how to get a shot off within the offense. He knows his opportunity will come and he will knock it down.”
Another plus for Monk is the short turnaround as the Wildcats play their next game in less than 24 hours.
“That’s the great part about basketball and tournaments,” Monk said. “If you win, you can play right back and redeem yourself. So, I just gotta come out with way more focus.”
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