By LARRY VAUGHT
Nick Richards has had his ups and downs this year at Kentucky.
The freshman center has shown some flashes of brilliance. Other times like Tuesday’s win over Mississippi State he played only 11 minutes.
At West Virginia Saturday night he played well when it counted most to help UK upset No. 7 West Virginia 83-76. He had nine points, eight rebounds and one block in 20 minutes. He was 2-for-4 from the field and 5-for-6 at the foul line.
With P.J. Washington out with a knee contusion, coach John Calipari stuck with Richards most of the second half. He helped UK hold together in the final minutes to get its biggest win of the season.
"That's what the game came down to at the end, whoever was the toughest team ended up with the win. We fought for offensive rebounds, second-chance points in the second half, guys weren't making the same mistakes that we did in the first half. Basically, it came down to we got the W just because of second-chance points,” Richards said.
Calipari even ran plays for Richards at crunch time, and the freshman had a huge follow basket in the final minute.
"It doesn't make a difference, whoever is on the court, we're going to make big plays to win the game, but in the end we all came together and we got this W."
Richards said it was “crazy” in the locker room after the game — which is kind of how his up and down season has been.
"I was just trying to play to the best of my ability. Coach KP (Kenny Payne), coach Tony Barbee, coach Cal, they all just sat me down and talked to me. I gotta start playing with more energy. My energy will take over the game. It's a big part of my game and you can see how better I am going through the game,” Richards said.
Kevin Knox, who had a career-high 34 points, said teammates know Richards will keep fighting and that his confidence has not suffered.
“He had a couple bad games, but the last two games, the last three games, he's playing really good. He's fighting for rebounds, tip-dunks and all that, and that's why he's in at the end of games because he's making big plays for us,” Knox said.
“That big dunk at the end was really big for us. That got us kind of the final play to close the game. Just gotta keep playing hard and he'll keep playing good."
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