Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the new guys at Kentucky, but he’s already playing like an old soul.
The 6-foot-11 Towns notched a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds and added a trio of assists off the bench as Kentucky beat Champagne Chalons-Reims Basket, 81-58, Monday to improve to 2-0 on their Bahamas trip. The French team has an average age of 28.
The reigning Gatorade National Player of the Year out of St. Joe’s-Metuchen High School in N.J., Towns is Kentucky’s leading scorer and rebounder over the first two games in the Bahamas, averaging 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
“I think that my size sometimes deceives people, but at the end of the day, I have to do what’s best for the team, and today, for me, the best thing I could do for the team was give them an inside presence,” Towns said.
Kentucky associate head coach Kenny Payne, who coached the team in the game, called Towns’ performance on the glass “unbelievable,” but he said the coaching staff is not satisfied because of Towns’ tendency to want to be a perimeter big man.
“In order for him to be the best player in the country, in order for him to be a professional, in order for him to dominate college basketball, it has to start from the inside-out,” Payne said.
Towns could take a page out of Alex Poythress’ book. Poythress strung together his second straight solid performance with 16 points and eight rebounds.
“He came back to school to prove to the world I’m one of the best forwards in the country,” Payne said of Poythress. “You see his athleticism. (He) is one of the most athletic forwards in the country. Now mentally he has to put together the fight, the determination to go out and prove to people how good he is because some people still question because they see the inconsistencies. Me personally, I think he’s going to have a phenomenal year. That’s why he’s here. That’s why he came back.”
Dakari Johnson, a Brooklyn native who played part of his high school career at Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick, added 10 points.
“They’re a really big team,” said Champagne forward Da’Sean Butler, who was a star on the 2010 West Virginia team that got a firsthand look at one of Calipari’s most talented teams at UK and knocked it out of the NCAA Tournament. “I heard (Jay) Bilas had them picked to win (the national title). I might have to jump on the bandwagon. They’re a really good team, man.”
Butler was impressed with the younger team’s ability to respond to an early eight-point deficit, step on a much older team’s throat and not let it off the mat.
“They just kept punching,” Butler said. “… If they can keep us down like that, I’m pretty sure they can keep some good teams down too.”
(Release/Photo: UK Athletics)
