Calipari: "We don't win the game" against Ohio without Bryce Hopkins

A little over four minutes into Friday night’s 77-59 win over the Ohio Bobcats, Kentucky was down two frontcourt players due to foul trouble.

Starting center Oscar Tshiebwe picked up two (questionable) fouls in the opening 65 seconds before Daimion Collins did the same by the under 16-minute timeout. Before either team could establish any rhythm, Kentucky was in a situation it had yet to face this season.

Enter freshman forward Bryce Hopkins.

“Let me say this. Bryce Hopkins, without him playing, we don’t win the game cause we’re down 15 at half,” Kentucky head coach John Calipari said after the game. “He fought. Still has things to learn. He fought.”

Hopkins’ numbers weren’t extraordinary–seven points, seven rebounds (three on of the offensive glass), and one assist in 15 minutes of action. But Calipari wasn’t blowing smoke when he said UK likely loses without him. Hopkins recorded his points, rebounds, and the one assist all in the first half.

Kentucky managed to survive 19 minutes with its best player on the bench. UK was holding onto a 40-38 lead heading into the halftime break. All this with a backup, rookie wing playing spot minutes at center.

With Tsheibwe and Collins on the court for eight first-half minutes, while grabbing zero rebounds, Hopkins was Kentucky’s only legitimate option left in the paint. UK was already down forward Jacob Toppin and Lance Ware to injury prior to tipoff. Hopkins had no choice but to fill as the temporary big man in Calipari’s small-ball lineups.

“Bryce Hopkins, he stepped up tremendously,” Kentucky freshman point guard TyTy Washington said following the win. “He came in there and got us a lot of offensive boards. He got us free throws, he hit a three too. Just seeing him go out there and play how he normally plays, how the whole team knows Bryce can play, was obviously a huge plus. So it just shows when guys are subbing in and out there’s no drop in our performance at all. It’s still gonna stay consistent.”

Hopkins played just one minute in the second half, but the ‘Cats didn’t need him at that point. Tshiebwe came back in and snagged 10 rebounds over the final 20 minutes. Kentucky blew the game wide open with roughly 15 minutes left and won by 18 points.

But the freshman wing came in and played critical minutes despite being put in a tough spot. If he can continue to do that the rest of the season, we’ll be seeing even more nights like this from Hopkins.