Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis gets one of his eight blocked shots Thursday in the win over St. John's. (Clay Jackson) |
LEXINGTON — Only once in Kentucky’s illustrious basketball history have the Wildcats had a player record a triple double. That came in 1988 when Chris Mills had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over Austin Peay.
Freshman Anthony Davis came close to one in only his seventh collegiate game Thursday before finishing with 15 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocked shots in Thursday’s 81-69 win over St. John’s. He got his last block with 12 minutes, 5 seconds to play and did not play the final 4:44.
He had one blocked wiped out by a foul call and another taken away when teammate Terrence Jones beat him to the ball.
“He is going to get it eventually. It’s early in the season. He has a lot of games to go. He blocks shots very well, so it will come,” sophomore teammate Doron Lamb said.
“It was crazy performance by Anthony. He told me during the game he was trying to get that triple double and had four more to get, but he didn’t get it. He still had a great game, though.”
How did he know how many blocks he had?
“He knew. He had to know,”¿Lamb said. “I don’t know how he found out really. He just told me. He was probably counting it. Probably every time he blocks a shot, he counts it. But he told me that (about the triple double).”
Davis laughed and said that was not exactly right.
“No, I don’t count them, but everybody on the team reminds me. I¿know I¿have some blocks, but as soon as the game starts I lose track. I don’t worry about that. I just worry about defense, I just forget about it,” Davis said.
“When I got out with four minutes to go, they (teammates) said I¿had eight blocks and should have stayed in the game. They kept telling me after the game I could have had a triple double and kind of made me feel bad that I came out of the game and made them feel hurt.”
Kentucky coach John Calipari said he didn’t know Davis was that close to a historic feat when he took him out, either.
“But he played. He balled,” Calipari said.
Sophomore Terrence Jones, who nearly had a double-double with 26 points and nine rebounds, said he knew Davis was putting up big numbers.
How did he know?
“Just playing,¿I seen it. I¿seen how many blocks he had and how many boards he had. I just knew,” Jones said. “He played hard and he will have plenty of games where he will have another opportunity like that.”
Miller time: Senior Darius Miller had a thunderous one-handed dunk late in the second half off a long alley-oop pass from Lamb that was ranked No. 2 on ESPN’s SportsCenter list of top 10 plays from Thursday. Jones’ putback dunk of his own missed free throw was No. 4 and Davis’ block on one end and dunk on the other end was No. 6.
“Darius’ dunk was great. That was the dunk of the game. He ran the court hard and Doron threw him a good pass. We practice throwing lobs and it worked out good on that play,” Jones said.
Miller’s father, Brian, celebrated the dunk by pumping his fists in the air and high-fiving fans around him. Darius Miller didn’t do anything special on the court as the Rupp Arena fans erupted with cheers.
“I honestly can’t walk you through it. It just kind of happened. I didn’t have time to think about it or anything. I just tried to finish the play,” Miller said. “It doesn’t surprise me my dad was excited. He gets excited about everything a lot more than I¿do.”
Freshman Anthony Davis came close to one in only his seventh collegiate game Thursday before finishing with 15 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocked shots in Thursday’s 81-69 win over St. John’s. He got his last block with 12 minutes, 5 seconds to play and did not play the final 4:44.
He had one blocked wiped out by a foul call and another taken away when teammate Terrence Jones beat him to the ball.
“He is going to get it eventually. It’s early in the season. He has a lot of games to go. He blocks shots very well, so it will come,” sophomore teammate Doron Lamb said.
“It was crazy performance by Anthony. He told me during the game he was trying to get that triple double and had four more to get, but he didn’t get it. He still had a great game, though.”
How did he know how many blocks he had?
“He knew. He had to know,”¿Lamb said. “I don’t know how he found out really. He just told me. He was probably counting it. Probably every time he blocks a shot, he counts it. But he told me that (about the triple double).”
Davis laughed and said that was not exactly right.
“No, I don’t count them, but everybody on the team reminds me. I¿know I¿have some blocks, but as soon as the game starts I lose track. I don’t worry about that. I just worry about defense, I just forget about it,” Davis said.
“When I got out with four minutes to go, they (teammates) said I¿had eight blocks and should have stayed in the game. They kept telling me after the game I could have had a triple double and kind of made me feel bad that I came out of the game and made them feel hurt.”
Kentucky coach John Calipari said he didn’t know Davis was that close to a historic feat when he took him out, either.
“But he played. He balled,” Calipari said.
Sophomore Terrence Jones, who nearly had a double-double with 26 points and nine rebounds, said he knew Davis was putting up big numbers.
How did he know?
“Just playing,¿I seen it. I¿seen how many blocks he had and how many boards he had. I just knew,” Jones said. “He played hard and he will have plenty of games where he will have another opportunity like that.”
Miller time: Senior Darius Miller had a thunderous one-handed dunk late in the second half off a long alley-oop pass from Lamb that was ranked No. 2 on ESPN’s SportsCenter list of top 10 plays from Thursday. Jones’ putback dunk of his own missed free throw was No. 4 and Davis’ block on one end and dunk on the other end was No. 6.
“Darius’ dunk was great. That was the dunk of the game. He ran the court hard and Doron threw him a good pass. We practice throwing lobs and it worked out good on that play,” Jones said.
Miller’s father, Brian, celebrated the dunk by pumping his fists in the air and high-fiving fans around him. Darius Miller didn’t do anything special on the court as the Rupp Arena fans erupted with cheers.
“I honestly can’t walk you through it. It just kind of happened. I didn’t have time to think about it or anything. I just tried to finish the play,” Miller said. “It doesn’t surprise me my dad was excited. He gets excited about everything a lot more than I¿do.”
