Kentucky Notebook: Birthdays and Blowouts

By: LARRY VAUGHT

LEXINGTON — Montana State trailed host UCLA only 53-46 in the second half before eventually losing 113-78.

Sunday night in Rupp Arena, Montana State managed only 11 points the first 30 minutes of the game before losing 86-28 to No. 1 Kentucky.

"I think we made them mad. They missed their first seven or eight shots (actually 10), whatever it was to start the game and we threw a jump zone at them because we knew man-on-man we couldn’t stop them," said Montana State coach Brian Fish. "They missed some shots and we couldn’t advance it early on up the floor against the press."

So how do Kentucky and UCLA, who play each other Dec. 20 in Chicago, compare?

"UCLA (and Kentucky) are totally two different teams. You guys play in waves and UCLA plays five guys 35 minutes a game," Fish said. "I think Bryce Alford is an NBA player. I think Norman Powell – even last year being in the Pac 12 at Oregon (as an assistant coach) – I thought Norman Powell was as good as anyone last year in transition and he has gotten better and can shot it.

"They are a very, very good team but I think the one thing you have seen that Kentucky can do is they are going to get everybody’s best shot. But at some point with that length and athleticism and that skill that they have, they just wear you down over time.”

Fish said he was "really disappointed" in his team's effort even though it has been on a 12-day, four-game road trip.

"I don’t want to add pressure to coach Cal’s team, but a very, very good team and I thought they played very well tonight. I knew if they played well, we’d be in trouble and they played well and the results were what I expected when they played that way," Fish said.

Fish said it was "hard to simulate" Kentucky's length even though he tried in practice.

"Somebody told me the other day that Kentucky was the eighth tallest team in the country, including the NBA. It’s hard to simulate that length, and we understand that," Fish said. "We practiced two-on-one drills and three-on-two drills, bringing the ball up.

"I credit coach Cal for how hard they played tonight. I want to reiterate what he said ‘that was UK’s second best game they played all year,’ and it certainly looked that way. At times, you felt helpless, and you don’t know which guy to attack.

"There are a lot of teams out there that if you get a certain guy in foul trouble, then you get a guy coming in that you can attack. With them, it is McDonald’s All-American after McDonald’s All-American.”

Right day: Calipari came into his postgame press conference with a Happy Birthday balloon after social media had noted how Calipari had wished his daughter Megan's a happy 25th birthday on Saturday, one day before her birthday.

She tweeted "awkward" after her father got the date wrong.

Calipari opened his postgame by insisting that he knows her birthday/

"I don't know if I've ever — I think I said it, you guys have heard it, the day she was born — she was born on Thanksgiving. And I always will remember the day because I had practice later that day, and I can remember telling my team, it doesn't matter what you do today, you cannot make me angry. And I still remember the day when I said that," Calipari said.

"So, she's a good girl. Meg and — why does that go all over the world, by the way? The whole world, yeah, but it was like they invited me to Good Morning America to talk about it. What? It is my daughter's birthday. Man I got platoons and…"

Calipari later explained that he was just joking about the Good Morning America invitation.

No Poythress: Junior Alex Poythress did not play for the second straight game because of illness but he was back in street clothes on the bench Sunday night.

He'll practice tomorrow, so he should be good to go on Tuesday," Calipari said after Sunday's win. "Or Wednesday. What day of the week is that? Tuesday. What day of the month is it?"
Kentucky hosts UT-Arlington on Tuesday night.