DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Maybe John Calipari was onto something when he suggested Kentucky was under-seeded.
Jamal Murray led five players in double figures with 19 points and the fourth-seeded Wildcats, behind an NCAA Tournament-record 15 blocked shots, routed Stony Brook 85-57 on Thursday night to set up a showdown with rival Indiana in the second round on Saturday.
“Every game you play in this tournament is like a rivalry game,” Calipari said of playing Indiana. “Everybody is going to play with high energy. I said after the game, my opinion, [Tom] Crean is the National Coach of the Year for what he did…
“It’s kinda unfortunate that this game is being played this early. This should be another round or two later. But it is what it is, so both of us are going to have to play. Tom knows the respect I have for him as a coach and as a leader and what he does. They’re really, really good.”
Isaiah Briscoe scored 13 with 11 rebounds for the Wildcats (27-8), who haven’t faced the Hoosiers since beating them in the Sweet 16 in 2012.
“I like to win, so whatever my team needs me to do to win, I will go out and do it, if it’s rebounding, if it’s scoring, playing defense, just locking down the other team’s best guy.,” Briscoe said. “I will do whatever my team needs me to do to win.”
Kentucky opened the second half on a 20-6 run and was ahead 53-25 with 14 minutes to go. The Wildcats hit 13 of their first 16 shots after the break.
Jameel Warney, who like Briscoe attended Roselle (N.J.) Catholic High School, had 23 points and 15 rebounds for Stony Brook (26-7), which was making its first NCAA Tournament appearance. The Seawolves, who shot 47.6 percent entering the game, was just 20 of 76 from the field and played like a team not used to the big stage.
“I said this kid could go for 40 against us, so let’s not let him get going,” Calipari said of Warney. “I thought Alex [Poythress] did a great job of trapping, and Skal [Labissiere] did a great job of making shots tough and he still got 23 points. He still got 23.”
Asked if he thought Warney was an NBA player, Calipari said yes “if he’s on the right team” and compared him to Malik Rose of the Spurs.
“He’s a little bit bigger, probably doesn’t shoot it as well as Malik and one of the things he will probably have to do is prove he can make 15, 17-footers,” Calipari said. “But he’s a great kid and works hard and you can tell so proud of being a part of that, basically bringing Stony Brook into what it is today.”
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