Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Share
Column: Hayes gets bullish in UK's win
By JAYME PRICE -- Sports Editor
LEXINGTON - Kentucky guard Keith Bogans sports a tattoo of a bull on his right arm. While somewhat indicative of the stocky senior's style of play when he has the ball, the raging bull title was much more well-suited for Chuck Hayes Saturday in the Wildcats' win over Notre Dame.
At 6-foot-6, 237 pounds, the sophomore forward put his big, bulky, intimidating frame to good use against the Irish, racking up career highs in scoring (17 points), rebounding (16) and assists (five).
"It was totally unexpected," Hayes said. "I was just going in to do my job. Coach noticed I was really getting into the game so he wanted me to do more and I tried to give him more."
Most notably, more than a disappointing first half from Hayes, and all of the Wildcats, against Vanderbilt Tuesday. Hayes said he looked within himself during halftime of that game and bounced back to finish with 11 points.
"I just knew I could play better," Hayes said. "I know my potential, coach (Tubby Smith) knows my potential, that's why he recruited me. I wasn't playing up to my capabilities and I did a lot of soul searching and hopefully I found myself."
Whatever he found, it carried over, more like snowballed, into Saturday.
Hayes engineered the Wildcats' interior train, closely followed by Marquis Estill and Erik Daniels. Hayes and Estill blocked three shots through the first five minutes of play and combined to score 13 of the team's first 27 points.
"Chuck set the tone for us early with his defense," Smith said. "I was really proud to see him play well and step up. He's got the body to bang inside and he threw his body around both on offense and defense."
Estill became even more of a factor in the second half, scoring 14 of his 18 points. After Notre Dame had pulled within eight points with 15:52 left, he scored six straight for the Wildcats, including a putback on a fourth chance at scoring. The Fighting Irish never got within single digits again from that point.
"Our inside play was great today," Daniels said. "Chuck, Marquis and Jules (Camara) played great inside and gave us a big boost. Our outside guys weren't hitting a lot of shots but we kept banging it inside to our big guys and (Notre Dame) couldn't handle it."
But Hayes put the most emphatic exclamation point on the game, swiping a pass near halfcourt and driving in uncontested for a dunk to put Kentucky ahead 71-57.
Hayes, Estill and Daniels joined Bogans as four starters to finish in double-digit scoring. They made the most of an unselfish 19 team assists for several easy shots, especially in the first half, where the Wildcats shot a blistering 57 percent from the field.
"That's one good thing about our team. We love to contribute and get each other in the game; let everybody get a feel for the game," Hayes said.
Daniels made the most of the assists early, getting behind Notre Dame defenders time after time for layups to score 11 of his 15 points in the first half.
"I just keep moving without the ball, even if we're in a special set, I just try to find open spots on the court and get open," Daniels said.
Even with physical players like Hayes, Estill and Bogans, the Wildcats still have one more on the bench that isn't seeing much playing time - Kelenna Azubuike. Weighing in at 208 and standing 6-feet-5-inches, he finally got a chance to play with 2:35 left. But never even got a chance to shoot and lasted just over a minute as Smith cleared the bench.
It was a topic that seemed kind of touchy for Smith after the game when asked about his lack of playing time.
"There's nothing he's not doing right," Smith said. "He's improving immensely on defense and shooting the ball extremely well, but so is everybody else."
Still, the Wildcats got the upset, defeated Notre Dame for the ninth straight time and Smith admits room for improvement.
"We've got to get some other people playing better," he said. "We have a deep bench and we need to keep improving because I think that was a key to today's game, being able to wear Notre Dame down. We have to get better but I like where we are."
Sports Editor Jayme Price welcomes your comments at jprice@maysville-news.com.
At 6-foot-6, 237 pounds, the sophomore forward put his big, bulky, intimidating frame to good use against the Irish, racking up career highs in scoring (17 points), rebounding (16) and assists (five).
"It was totally unexpected," Hayes said. "I was just going in to do my job. Coach noticed I was really getting into the game so he wanted me to do more and I tried to give him more."
Most notably, more than a disappointing first half from Hayes, and all of the Wildcats, against Vanderbilt Tuesday. Hayes said he looked within himself during halftime of that game and bounced back to finish with 11 points.
"I just knew I could play better," Hayes said. "I know my potential, coach (Tubby Smith) knows my potential, that's why he recruited me. I wasn't playing up to my capabilities and I did a lot of soul searching and hopefully I found myself."
Whatever he found, it carried over, more like snowballed, into Saturday.
Hayes engineered the Wildcats' interior train, closely followed by Marquis Estill and Erik Daniels. Hayes and Estill blocked three shots through the first five minutes of play and combined to score 13 of the team's first 27 points.
"Chuck set the tone for us early with his defense," Smith said. "I was really proud to see him play well and step up. He's got the body to bang inside and he threw his body around both on offense and defense."
Estill became even more of a factor in the second half, scoring 14 of his 18 points. After Notre Dame had pulled within eight points with 15:52 left, he scored six straight for the Wildcats, including a putback on a fourth chance at scoring. The Fighting Irish never got within single digits again from that point.
"Our inside play was great today," Daniels said. "Chuck, Marquis and Jules (Camara) played great inside and gave us a big boost. Our outside guys weren't hitting a lot of shots but we kept banging it inside to our big guys and (Notre Dame) couldn't handle it."
But Hayes put the most emphatic exclamation point on the game, swiping a pass near halfcourt and driving in uncontested for a dunk to put Kentucky ahead 71-57.
Hayes, Estill and Daniels joined Bogans as four starters to finish in double-digit scoring. They made the most of an unselfish 19 team assists for several easy shots, especially in the first half, where the Wildcats shot a blistering 57 percent from the field.
"That's one good thing about our team. We love to contribute and get each other in the game; let everybody get a feel for the game," Hayes said.
Daniels made the most of the assists early, getting behind Notre Dame defenders time after time for layups to score 11 of his 15 points in the first half.
"I just keep moving without the ball, even if we're in a special set, I just try to find open spots on the court and get open," Daniels said.
Even with physical players like Hayes, Estill and Bogans, the Wildcats still have one more on the bench that isn't seeing much playing time - Kelenna Azubuike. Weighing in at 208 and standing 6-feet-5-inches, he finally got a chance to play with 2:35 left. But never even got a chance to shoot and lasted just over a minute as Smith cleared the bench.
It was a topic that seemed kind of touchy for Smith after the game when asked about his lack of playing time.
"There's nothing he's not doing right," Smith said. "He's improving immensely on defense and shooting the ball extremely well, but so is everybody else."
Still, the Wildcats got the upset, defeated Notre Dame for the ninth straight time and Smith admits room for improvement.
"We've got to get some other people playing better," he said. "We have a deep bench and we need to keep improving because I think that was a key to today's game, being able to wear Notre Dame down. We have to get better but I like where we are."
Sports Editor Jayme Price welcomes your comments at jprice@maysville-news.com.
Share this Article
 |
 |
|
| Bucs handle McNabb, cold to win NFC | Kentucky defense too much for Irish |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of maysville-online.com.
