Calipari on Jacob Toppin: "This guy, he's one of the best players in the country"

For the 12th game in a row, Jacob Toppin scored in double-figures. Kentucky is 9-3 during that stretch, including a streak of four straight wins with the most recent one coming in dominant fashion on Saturday afternoon. Toppin wasn’t the main star in the Wildcats’ 86-54 blowout against the Auburn Tigers — and he typically isn’t even when he plays at this high of a level — but he’s quietly becoming Kentucky’s most consistent player.

When Toppin plays how he has over the last 12 games, it’s tough to deny the value he brings to the floor. It’s not just all about scoring the ball, though. Toppin is rebounding better than he ever has. His playmaking abilities no longer bring a shock value. He’s a genuinely good shooter from beyond the arc right now, which had never been the case throughout his college career.

While Toppin isn’t going to make any National Player of the Year ballots at the end of the season, he’s certainly making a similar type of impact over the last few weeks for Kentucky. This current version of Toppin isn’t anywhere close to the one who was so down on himself that he got benched in back-to-back games in late December. Instead, this version of Toppin is playing a huge role in UK picking up victory after victory.

“I’m on him in the game now because he’ll like to try to take his foot off the gas and act hurt. And I’m like, Are you hurt? You need to come out? Your body language affects us,” Calipari said after Saturday’s win. “And he is playing so well, I’m just saying, why would you want to be that other guy? This guy, he’s one of the best players in the country.”

Jacob Toppin earns a standing ovation as he fouls out with 13 points (6-11 FG, 1-1 3PT), 12 rebounds, five assists and a steal.

Kid deserves his flowers. Dug himself out of rock bottom and has put together a spectacular second half of the season.

— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) February 25, 2023

Coming from a coach who also rosters the actual reigning national player of the year, it can sound like Calipari is being slightly facetious, but the numbers back up his statement to a degree. Toppin has played at least 32 minutes in all of the previous 12 contests. His scoring has shot up to 14.3 points per game during this recent stretch as he’s shooting 47.7 percent overall and a red-hot 50 percent from long range (9-18). Toppin is hauling in 7.4 rebounds and dishing out 2.8 assists per game over his last 12. Kentucky has still yet to lose when he snags at least 10 rebounds in a single game (7-0).

Against Auburn, Toppin had it all rolling — 13 points, 12 rebounds (a career-high), five assists, and one steal on 6-11 shooting, which included a made triple. He finished with 33 minutes but likely would have gone for more if he didn’t foul out (for the first time this season) with 4:06 left in regulation and Kentucky already leading by 30-plus points.

“He’s becoming the player that we always knew he was,” Freshman guard Cason Wallace said. “Crashing every time, getting those easy putbacks for us, that’s something that we’ve been stressing about — easy points, rebounds — and he’s been getting them for us.”

Wallace’s words are almost poetic. This version of Toppin is the player that everyone knew he could be, especially when he was putting on a show down in the Bahamas roughly half a year ago, much like this version of Kentucky is the one fans were expecting to see all season. It took both Toppin, and Kentucky as a whole, more time than hoped to turn the ship around, but once it happened, no one looked back.