By Tom Hurley | @TomHurleyKernel

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UK head coach John Calipari saw his team overcome a slow start to knock off LIU Brooklyn 104-75 at Rupp Arena on Friday night.

The visitors came out fighting, outhustling the hosts from the onset as they held an early lead.

“We’re just learning,” Calipari said post-game. “That’s why we wanted to play these kind of teams that would come after us and not be afraid.”

Good body and ball movement on offense was key for the Blackbirds as they took advantage of UK’s early season defensive woes.

Calipari cut out a frustrated figure on the sideline as he repeatedly watched senior guard C.J. Garner and senior forward Julian Boyd get the better of freshmen forwards Nerlens Noel and Willie Cauley-Stein in the paint.

Brooklyn’s experienced lineup, including senior forward Jamal Olasewere, had their way with their young opponents for the majority of the first half as they attacked the rim with energy for easy buckets.

Noel and Cauley-Stein proved little opposition against their smaller opponents, being continually outworked as the visitors kept in the game with strong drives and hard-earned rebounds.

“That’s a good team. That’s a senior team. They’ll win their league, i’ll be stunned if they don’t,” Calipari said of LIU.

Once again without the services of starting point guard, sophomore Ryan Harrow, Calipari saw UK’s offense look static as freshman guard Archie Goodwin brought the ball up the floor.

Calipari gave a rare first half outing to junior guard Jon Hood as he tried to find a way for his squad to match their opponents for effort on both ends of the floor.

Junior guard Jarrod Polson took over point guard duties late in the half and the Cats began to look more like a team worthy of their No. 8 national ranking.

A series of intelligent passes from Polson and energetic play from Goodwin got the Rupp Arena crowd on their feet as the young squad began to take command.

Polson’s arrival signaled better movement on the offensive end, which combined with a team field goal percentage of 70 percent, helped UK close out the first half with a 15-0 run.

“I’m definitely getting a lot more comfortable being out there, playing the minutes I am,” Polson said.

Were it not for Brooklyn’s 49 percent shooting from the field, the halftime score of 55-42 would have better reflected the closeness of a scrappy first half.

Polson started the second half in place of sophomore forward Kyle Wiltjer. With the Cats looking hungrier, UK quickly stretched their lead to 21 less than five minutes into the half.

“It was unexpected, I’ve never started a second half before,” Polson said. “But we had a run going with the lineup that was in right before the half and I think Cal just wanted to keep that going.”

That lead quickly became 25 points when freshman forward Alex Poythress checked in to provide some athleticism at both ends of the court as the Cats pulled further ahead.

“He’s a good athlete, he’s long,” said Calipari of Poythress. “The one thing the dribble drive gets you to do is play through bumps, and he’s playing through bumps as well as anybody.”

Despite the improvement on offense, the Cats still looked vulnerable on defense, with Boyd continuing to play well against Noel down low.

Brooklyn tired as the half wore on and the young Cats lineup began to play more freely.

Wiltjer’s lob to Cauley-Stein brought the crowd to its feet as UK took a commanding 85-57 lead with little over ten minutes to play.

From there on out it was more of the same, with the home side’s less-than-spectacular defense not enough to slow them down against the unranked Blackbirds.

LIU Brooklyn gave more for Calpiari to shout about late on with several uncontested baskets, but his team’s superior skills on offense were enough to see the job through.

Poythress and Goodwin led the Cats in scoring with 22 points apiece, with the latter one assist and one rebound shy of a triple-double.

“I knew I was close to (a triple-double) and I tried to get it,” Goodwin said.

The guard revealed the UK coaching staff informed him he was within touching distance of a triple-double with three minutes remaining in the game.

“I wish they wouldn’t have told me because then I started thinking about it too much and trying too hard to get it. It was still a good night for me so I can live with it,” he said.

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