By Nick Gray

“He’s getting well-adjusted and he’s getting faster,” freshman guard Tyler Ulis said. “He’s been great for me because I’m a passer and he can score the ball.”

Ulis, the passer, had an urgent message for Lyles, the scorer.

“I’m trying to get him to shoot the ball a little bit more,” Ulis said. “I catch him in a lot of spots where he should shoot. But he doesn’t want to shoot the ball all the time; he wants to get other people involved. But I feel like he’s a scorer so he should score the ball.”

Lyles was 4-5 from the field, finishing the game with 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal. The rookie is not only the best scorer on that platoon, he came out with the activeness that coach John Calipari wished UK would have started the game with, and on the platoon that is supposed to bring the energy.

“I wanted to go out there and play with energy in the second half,” Lyles said. “That’s what our platoon is supposed to do.”

Lyles said after UK’s exhibition schedule that he would be well-conditoned to where he would like to be by the end of the next week.

Fully conditioned or not, Lyles put his 37 minutes in his two games to good use, scoring in double digits in each game and setting the tone for UK’s second half bludgeoning of Buffalo. He also made the case that he deserves more than just over 18 minutes per game as he learns his collegiate role.

“There’s a quick pass shot for him, but he’s not prepared because he’s never played this fast,” Calipari said. “But Trey Lyles gives us unbelievable scoring ability on the second platoon.”

The 6-foot-10 freshman from Indianapolis will return home to face No. 5 Kansas on Tuesday, a game he marked on his calendar. Ulis predicts his upward swing will continue in his hometown.

“I feel like he’s going to be a little nervous and a little excited, being in his hometown and against a top five team,” Ulis said. “He’s going to have a great game.”