Jacob Toppin reaches double-figures in scoring for 11th straight game

There’s been no stoppin’ Jacob Toppin as of late.

In fact, there’s been no stopping him for over a month now. The Kentucky senior forward went for 19 points and 11 rebounds in the Wildcats’ 82-74 victory over Florida on Wednesday night, the 11th straight outing in which he’s hit double-figures in scoring. Toppin shot 7-10 from the field, including a 2-3 clip from beyond the arc and 3-4 from the free throw line. He grabbed eight defensive rebounds in his 35 minutes played.

Dating back to Kentucky’s win against Georgia on Jan. 17, Toppin has been arguably the team’s most productive player. He’s averaging 14.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per outing during this 11-game stretch while shooting over 50 percent from the floor and 8-17 (47.1 percent) from beyond the arc. Toppin has played at least 32 minutes in all 11 games, registering a double-double in four of them.

Kentucky is 8-3 during this stretch, including three straight wins. Additionally, UK is 9-1 this season when Toppin scores at least 15 points and a perfect 6-0 when he grabs at least 10 boards. When he plays well, the ‘Cats typically do, too.

It’s not just surface stats for Toppin, though. He’s been constantly making winning plays for his team. Toppin knocked down the dagger three-pointer against Florida that put the ‘Cats ahead by nine with four minutes left, which he soon followed up with an alley-oop finish that made it an 11-point Kentucky advantage. Toppin also hit three clutch shots from the charity stripe in the closing 30 seconds to ice the win.

“Jacob in the second half was really good,” Head coach John Calipari said postgame. Toppin went for 14 points (5-7 shooting) and six rebounds after the halftime break.

JACOB TOPPIN, CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF ✈️ pic.twitter.com/ApHqaYVzVk

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) February 23, 2023

Although he’s playing the best basketball of his life right now, there is still room for improvement with Toppin, especially when it comes to playing a consistent 40 minutes. He’s still prone to making untimely mistakes, whether it’s a lazy pass or a one-handed rebound attempt. There were a pair of ugly turnovers committed on his behalf against Florida. A few good plays are brought back by a couple of bad ones far too often.

But when Toppin is on, there aren’t many players out there tougher to guard than him.

“First half I was on Jacob. And I told him at halftime, that guy there that plays cool and jogs around — he stinks. The other guy that you are, you’re one of the top players in the country.” Calipari said. “So why would you go back to that?”

There appear to be two vastly different versions of Toppin — the one who heavily contributes to winning and the one who waltzes through every other possession. If Kentucky can get the first option more often than not — which is slowly beginning to happen — it only makes the ‘Cats that much more dangerous heading into March.