Justin Edwards took a step in the right direction against Louisville

Justin Edwards didn’t quite fill up the box score during No. 9 Kentucky’s 95-76 win over Louisville on Thursday night, but the freshman’s solid all-around game was encouraging to his head coach.

“He came out and he missed a wide-open three, then he bank missed one, and then I ran a play for him, to get him another shot, and he made it,” Kentucky head coach John Calipari said of Edwards. “And I looked at him and said ‘That’s how much I believe in you. I think I believe in you more than you believe in you.’ It’s not your offense, go rebound, go tip-dunk, go at the rim, and-ones. He’s a great free-throw shooter, so what would you try to do? Try to get fouled, maybe ball-fake, do anything to get fouled. He’s a great free-throw shooter.

“But here’s the point: he’s a freshman trying to figure it out. And the guys are doing everything they can to help him and today was a breakthrough for him and I’m happy for him. He’s a terrific player. He’s just, he’s young.”

Edwards finished with 13 points, seven rebounds (tying a career-high), and two steals in 24 minutes. The 6-foot-7 wing shot 6-10 from the field and even drilled his first three-pointer since Nov. 24. Three of his boards came off the offensive glass. 11 of his points came in the second half as he was cleaning up around the rim and knocking down mid-range jumpers.

“I was just so happy for him because he needed to break through,” Calipari added. “You just think about him blocking shots, rebounding, open-court scoring, he should be a better defender. He should be our best defender, but he’s never been asked to do that before. So this is all new to him.”

There’s an argument to be made that this was Edwards’ best outing of the season. It was certainly his best since Kentucky’s second game of the season, an 81-61 win over Texas A&M-Commerce. There were moments of brilliance against Louisville, like when he turned down a tough shot at the rim in transition in favor of hitting a wide-open Antonio Reeves in the corner for three easy points. He was enjoying himself out there. Maybe even a little too much.

Edwards was tagged with a technical late in the second half after knocking down a jumper in the paint. He hit his defender with the “too tiny” celebration but the refs were having none of that. Calipari wasn’t happy with Edwards busting out that style of trash talk, but it’s easy to understand why the freshman did what he did — he was finally feeling good.

Thursday night was important for Edwards’ confidence moving forward. His talent is undeniable, it just needs to translate into production on the floor. Eventually, the hard work will pay off.

“That’s all Justin. He puts the work in every single day. That’s all him,” Kentucky veteran forward Tre Mitchell said. “All I can be for him is his support system. To keep reminding him of what he’s capable of. Sometimes as a player, it’s easy to overthink things, no matter what your age is. It comes with the game. He’s stayed the course and he’s fought every second he’s got, so he deserves a night like tonight.”

To make a deep tournament run in March, Calipari is going to need more of these performances from Edwards. More importantly, they need to be more consistent. This was a good first step in making that happen.