The Kentucky freshman was in flamethrower mode vs. the Gators.
When Florida visited Rupp Arena on Saturday afternoon, Kentucky had to face its biggest remaining test in the regular season without freshman star De’Aaron Fox. Fox was ruled out minutes before the opening tip with a knee injury, which put extra pressure on his counterpart in the backcourt, fellow freshman Malik Monk, to carry the scoring load for the Wildcats.
It didn’t look so good after the first half: while Kentucky and Florida were tied going into the break, Monk had just three points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field with five turnovers. Could John Calipari’s team really beat their stiffest competition in the SEC without one star freshman and with the other turning in one of his worst performances of the season?
We’ll never know. Monk erupted in the second half to lead Kentucky to a 76-66 victory. The freshman guard scored 30 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field with four assists, one turnover and three rebounds in the final 20 minutes.
Promise this is not Fake News.
Malik Monk went nuts in the second half today. Scored 30 of his 33 points. Most in 1 half under Calipari. pic.twitter.com/AiA78vtDQa
— Jamie McCracken (@JamieWYMT) February 25, 2017
Monk was scoring in every way possible all over the floor: off the dribble and on spot-up jumpers, in halfcourt sets and in transition, from three-point range and at the rim. It was another memorable effort for Monk in a season full of them and it came when Kentucky needed it most.
This is the fourth time Monk has topped 30 points on the year. It’s the sixth time he’s hit at least five three-pointers in a game. It’s also Kentucky’s sixth straight win and puts them in pole position to win the SEC once again.
Here’s Monk’s shooting chart on the afternoon:
Malik Monk scored 30 of Kentucky's 48 points in the second half, after scoring 3 on 1-5 shooting in the 1st half. pic.twitter.com/YaYKjZVjBb
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 25, 2017
Monk didn’t just score. He also made some brilliant passes as the Gator defense started to key in on him:
More looks at this perfection. pic.twitter.com/UaC8nwK9fc
— Scott Charlton (@Scott_Charlton) February 25, 2017
Kentucky is going to need a healthy Fox to make a deep tournament run, but it’s nice to know Monk can go bananas at any given moment to will the team to victory.
Enjoy watching him at the college level while you still can.