By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
LEXINGTON, KY - The Missouri Western men's basketball team defended Division I No. 4 Kentucky well throughout Sunday's exhibition at Rupp Arena, and kept it close for much of the time.
The Griffons trailed by only eight points at halftime and were only down nine with 9:18 left in the game.
Kentucky, however, made five second-half threes and held the Griffons' offense in check all night, as the Wildcats pulled out a 56-38 win on Sunday night in Lexington.
Still, Missouri Western battled for all 40 minutes, outrebounding Kentucky 36-35 and outscoring the Wildcats 24-14 in the paint. The Griffons held Kentucky to a 21-of-52 shooting night Sunday
"I'm so proud of the way our guys played defense tonight," Missouri Western coach Will Martin said. "I thought we were really bad in our first exhibition (against Benedictine) defensively. I probably hurt our guys a little bit the last week, because all we focused on was defense. I think people saw that, and they saw we're tough and gritty."
The Griffons got down 26-14 in the first half, as Kentucky at one point reeled off a 17-2 run, but Missouri Western held its own, ending the first half on a 4-0 run and holding Kentucky scoreless for the last 2:54 of the first half to make it a 26-18 game at the break.
A fast break dunk by Missouri Western sophomore Taye Fields made it a 42-33 game with 9:18 remaining, but that's as close as the Griffons got, as Kentucky outscored Missouri Western 14-5 the rest of the way.
The Wildcats, a preseason favorite to win the SEC, were without their reigning national and SEC Player of the Year Sunday in junior forward Oscar Tshiebwe, who had a minor knee procedure earlier this month.
Kentucky got a spark in the second half from redshirt senior guard C.J. Frederick, who scored a game-high 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Senior Jacob Toppin added 12 for the Wildcats.
Kentucky blocked 11 shots Sunday. The Wildcats also turned Missouri Western over 16 times. The Griffons shot 16-of-52 from the field, including 2-of-15 from three.
Junior Will Eames led Missouri Western with 12 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Taye Fields logged nine points and eight rebounds.
"I'm just really proud of our team, because we responded," Eames said on KFEQ Radio after. "Last week, our exhibition (against Benedictine) did not go the way we wanted it to. We did not bring the effort and failed to bring any energy. Tonight was a whole 180. We're just really proud of how we competed."
Sunday's game was a special homecoming for Coach Martin, who was a team manager for Kentucky coach John Calipari and the Wildcats from 2008-2012. Two of Martin's assistants, Jon Hood and Perry Stevenson, also played at Kentucky for Coach Cal.
Both coaches were quite complimentary of each other after the game.
"Everything I am as a man and a coach is because of Coach Cal," Martin said in an emotional opening statement at his postgame press conference. "I wiped up sweat here for four years, and I got an opportunity to coach here with two guys that I love in Perry Stevenson and Jon Hood who played here. That just shows Coach Cal's character."
"We all appreciated him," Calipari said of Martin, whose time as a team manager included the national title season for Kentucky in 2012. "What he's done here and the mark he's left. On top of that, he's a heck of a coach. Heck of a coach."
Missouri Western is next in action on Friday, November 11 at home against Minnesota-Crookston in the Hillyard Tipoff Classic. That'll be the first official game of the season after two exhibitions in October.
Tip-off from the MWSU Fieldhouse in that game is set for 7:30 p.m. Missouri Western will also face Northern State at home on Saturday, November 12 at 6 p.m.
"Exhibitions are done and every game from here on out counts," Eames said. "So, we really have to bring it this week in practice. No more excuses. We just have to show up on that Friday and come to work and I think our team will be ready for that."
Will Eames interview
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