LEXINGTON, Ky. — One sparkled, the other struggled.
Ryan Harrow continued his upward trend. The sophomore turned in his best game of the season on Saturday as Kentucky (8-3) mashed Marshall in an 82-54 victory at Rupp Arena - one where he scored a career-high 23 points, and earned the holiday cheer of his head coach.
“When he’s playing the right way, with aggressiveness, talking to his teammates, that look in his eye, he’s as good as anybody in the country right now,” Coach John Calipari said.
In contrast, Archie Goodwin went every which way.
Goodwin, a freshman from Sylvan Hills, hoisted up 17 shots. He made 4. Goodwin notched 18 points, but the bulk came from a 10 of 11 day at the line. Oh, and he had 4 turnovers.
Calipari’s dismay, though, didn’t come from shot selection.
“He missed four layups,” Calipari said.
It’s part and parcel of breaking in novice, but talented guards. Trouble is, next Saturday at the KFC Yum Center, life gets very real. Kentucky plays fifth-ranked Louisville. A Rick Pitino coached team. They have what Kentucky doesn’t: Experienced, versatile guards.
Peyton Siva is a senior and the preseason Big East Player of the Year. Russ Smith is a junior, has a horse named after him (Russdiculous) and is the subject of a lengthy feature in this week’s Sports Illustrated.
“Who are we playing next week?” Calipari asked rhetorically. “We’re playing Louisville? Whoa, that’s going to be a hard game. I’m just worried about my team right now.”
With perhaps an eye on next Saturday, Calipari’s postgame intent as far as his team was concerned appeared to be confidence-building. After a tearing-down process and an intense week of “Camp Cal” full of nonstop practicing and eating, apparently, the coach was in full buildthem-back-up mode.
Harrow has made strides by leaps and bounds. His minutes and production have grown with each game since his return to the team in late November. The minutes-played column reads 9, 18, 21, 25, 31 to 33 on Saturday. The points column reads 2, 2, 2, 8, 12 and 23.
He of the soft voice may not be his team’s yell leader, but he’s talking more, trying to lead. Along the way, said Calipari, Harrow has traded being “cool” for being “good.”
Louisville feasts off the nonaggressive. Timidity against the Cards is a turnover waiting to happen. But you have to play smart, too, which leads us to Goodwin.
Goodwin, a native Arkansan,is aggressive on the offensive end, we know that. It’s his calling card. Goodwin does not turn down many shots or drives to the basket.
But most hoops gurus will tell you a bad shot is just an uncounted turnover, especially against transition teams adept at turning them into points.
To be fair, for the most part, Goodwin has shot the ball fairly well this season before Saturday. He was 22 of 43 in his previous four games. But he can’t miss 13 of 17 shots next Saturday if UK expects to pull the upset.
“Believe me when I tell you, I’m not worried about anybody we’re playing,” Calipari contended. “I’m worried about my team. If we go in and Louisville is way better than us, we move on to the next game. We’re going to go in, we’re going to play our game. We’ve gotten better. Is that good enough? I don’t know.”
Sports, Pages 14 on 12/24/2012