By David Schuh | @KernelSchuh

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UK basketball head coach John Calipari said Thursday’s exhibition game against Northwood was better than he expected.

He hopes he can get even more from his team Monday when the Cats take on cross-town foe Transylvania University.

“To really improve you’ve got to make yourself uncomfortable,” Calipari said. “You have to make yourself uncomfortable at practice.

If you’re willing to do that, I will and I’ll do it however I have to to make you uncomfortable.”

One of the key points to watch will be the Cats’ use of several different lineup combinations. Calipari substituted almost constantly Thursday night, hoping to find what group out of the top seven works in every given scenario.

“Coach Cal has been working on it every day,” freshman Nerlens Noel said. “I think we will be able to improve on the execution within those lineups. Every lineup is different; you have to know a couple of different spots.”

Early on, freshman Archie Goodwin has emerged as maybe the top scoring option for UK. With 32 points in the Blue-White game and 22 against Northwood, Goodwin appears to have the aggressiveness and play-making ability to be one of the top scorers in the SEC.

Sophomore Ryan Harrow will continue to work on his progression as the next Calipari point guard. After a quality stat line against Northwood with 15 points, five assists, four steals and only two turnovers, Harrow will have the opportunity to show what he has against a slightly better opponent in Transy.

They’ve got most of their guys back,” Calipari said. “I watched the tape from last year…(Anthony Davis) couldn’t score on Transylvania. We won the national title and that was our first or second outing, which is kind of crazy.”

It’s difficult to take anything legitimate from a game against sub-Division I opponent. But, what UK has to do is improve their efficiency and discipline on both sides of the ball.

The Cats turned the ball over 17 times Thursday and allowed 17 Northwood offensive rebounds. If they can improve in each of those categories, it will be a successful tune-up for the first regular season game against Maryland on Friday.

“The focus is better,” freshman Willie Cauley-Stein said. “Yesterday (Saturday) was probably one our best practices and one of the longest. We can see what we have to work on and all the bad habits we have to break.”