3 things we learned: UK 85, Penn State 47

Three things from UK’s 85-47 win over Penn State:

1. How crucial Doron Lamb can be — Lamb led all scorers with 26 points. At halftime, he was outscoring Penn State 17-15. Lamb is providing more than just an outside shooting presence so far this year, getting into the lane and scoring in multiple ways. He said before the season he wanted to become a more well-rounded offensive player. After this game, and a 17-point performance, he’s showing he can do just that. His play on offense can really be the difference for UK’s offense. When he’s rolling, UK is on another level.

2. Kyle Wiltjer needed more minutes, and got them — he played only three minutes against Kansas because the game was too rough for him. He needs to develop into a player UK can count on in big-time games. He scored 19 points against Penn State, and while that may not be conclusive evidence that he can contribute right now in big games, it provided a solid opportunity for him to get valuable minutes. He was playing when the game mattered, checking in within five minutes, and when it didn’t, staying on the court with the other bench players to run out the clock. His development will be needed, and most of it will have to come on the defensive end, where he’s not tough enough to guard post players and get rebounds.

3. Lamb’s punny assessment of how his homecoming week-long road trip is coming, when asked by ESPN’s Andy Katz after the game: “I’m having a ball.”

or email him at [email protected]