Kentucky found a way to win without its point guard.
The fifth-ranked Wildcats (17-2, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) kept its perfect conference record intact without freshman standout De’Aaron Fox, who tweaked his ankle with 12 minutes remaining in the first half and didn’t return.
South Carolina, the second-best team in the conference, proved to be no match for shorthanded Kentucky as the Wildcats rolled to an 85-69 victory over the Gamecocks Saturday.
Kentucky did so with a makeshift backcourt that featured senior Dominique Hawkins and sophomore Isaiah Briscoe. The two veterans split time at the point-guard slot, while Malik Monk sank four 3-pointers and scored a team-high 27 points to help ease the absence of Fox in the backcourt.
For the Wildcats, not having their point guard on the floor was an awkward experience.
“We’ve never had to really play without him, so without him we had to figure out what to do,” Monk said.
BOXSCORE: Kentucky 85, South Carolina 69
Kentucky coach John Calipari knew exactly what to do and turned to veterans Hawkins and Briscoe and the Kentucky coach wasn’t surprised by his senior leader’s performance.
“I thought Dominique was great,” Calipari said. “Dom looked fine.”
For a while, things didn’t look fine for Calipari’s squad. Kentucky was somewhat rattled following Fox’s departure as South Carolina (15-4, 5-1) turned a 25-10 deficit to three at 30-27 with four minutes remaining in the first half. The Wildcats quickly regrouped and regained their composure behind the steady play of Hawkins.
The senior guard finished with five points, but dished out seven assists and committed just two turnovers in his 28 minutes win the floor. With Fox out of the lineup, Hawkins “felt like I needed to do a little more” and the senior guard did just that.
“I definitely knew that coach (Calipari) was going to put me at point guard since De’Aaron was out,” Hawkins said. “I just wanted to take care of the ball and get other players involved.”
On the practice floor, Hawkins defends Fox and said being patient is the key when he’s called upon to fill that role at any given time during the season.
“I never know when my moment’s going to come,” he said. “I’m always ready for it. Like you said, every time I get that moment I usually do the most I can and try to do my best. It usually works out well for me so I probably should thank the man above that I’m always playing so well when it happens.”
Once they got into a flow, the Wildcats adjusted and figured out a way to overcome the Gamecocks.
“The game changed a lot, because he changes the game as soon as he comes in and as soon as he comes out,” Monk said. “We had to adjust real fast and hopefully he’s well. Fox is a leader and brings energy.”
It was the combination of Derek Willis and Hawkins that produced the proverbial knockout punch in the second half on a one-handed slam dunk by Willis following a nifty assist from Hawkins.
“I feel like that definitely sparked us up,” Hawkins said. “I’ve never seen Derek dunk on anybody like that before. All our teammates were pretty much excited and surprised that he did it.”
A noted rim rattler himself, Monk wasn’t surprised by Hawkins’ performance against the Gamecocks.
“Dom always steps up,” Monk said. “Whenever we need something, that’s who we count on, so he’s great to have on the team.”
For the Wildcats, it proved to be another learning experience. Kentucky learned, even though it was difficult at times, it could survive without a key component in the backcourt. Hawkins said having a versatile team and deep bench will only help going into the final six weeks of the regular season.
“To be able to have a bench to step up big is very important to be able to win a national championship because everybody that goes in has to play their role as well anybody else can,” Hawkins said.
Following the contest, Hawkins received a much-needed pat on the back from Calipari.
“He always tells me I do a great job,” Hawkins said. “He always tells players to get ready for that moment because you never know when it’s going to happen.”
Gametracker: Kentucky at Tennessee, 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