Mark Zerof-US Presswire
The past couple of weeks many people, including coach John Calipari, have questioned the fight in freshman Alex Poythress and have been hoping he could be one of the players to get the Kentucky Wildcats headed back in the right direction.
On Saturday, the 6’7” forward showed why he was a top-10 recruit and helped the Wildcats in a 75-70 win over the LSU Tigers in Rupp Arena. Poythress led Kentucky with 20 points and a career high 12 rebounds.
Related: Kentucky Wildcats Can End Ole Miss’ Unbeaten SEC Start
Poythress was a scoring machine to start his freshman career, but in the past couple weeks has looked uncomfortable on both sides of the floor and had not been putting up the numbers that Wildcat fans had been hoping—in fact he has went from averaging 18.4 points a game to now 12.7 in less than two months.
Center Nerlens Noel, who has been the most consistent player for Kentucky, added 10 points, eight rebounds and six blocks. With Willie Cauley-Stein missing the past week of games with a knee injury, Noel has playing several minutes and has made the most out of each minute.
If players, like Poythress, continue to improve and get healthy, the Wildcats have a great chance of still making a run in March. The question still remains for this young team heading down the stretch; who will be the vocal leader?
With this win the Wildcats are 13-6 on the year, 4-2 in SEC play, but still does not have a “resume building” win. Kentucky has a chance for a big win as they go on the road for two straight games this week against Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
Kentucky’s game against the Ole Miss Rebels will be Tuesday night at 9:00pm (EST) on ESPN.
Follow Jon Hancock on Twitter: @JonKYSportsco
