Freshman Malik Monk Scores 47 as Kentucky Beats North Carolina 103-100

There was a great matchup of two traditional college basketball powers on in Las Vegas on December 17th, when seventh ranked North Carolina faced #6 Kentucky. This one did not disappoint either, going down to the wire. The Wildcats’ freshman guard Malik Monk hit a go ahead three point basket in transition with 16.7 seconds to play to put Kentucky in the lead 101-100. A pair of free throws by De’Aaron Fox with two seconds left sealed the deal for the Wildcats, who won 103-100.

Fox scored 24 points for Kentucky, but Monk led all scorers with 47 points. That’s a school record for points by a freshman. Twenty four of those points came on three point shots; he was eight of 12 from beyond the arc. Monk leads the Wildcats with an average of 21.9 points per game. With those kind of numbers, we should enjoy watching him before he departs for huge NBA money next year. North Carolina’s Justin Jackson had a heckuva game himself, scoring 34 while Joel Berry contributed 23 to the Tar Heel cause.

Kentucky (10-1) will be at # 10 Louisville (10-1) in another great nonconference matchup on December 21st. North Carolina hosts 5-5 Northern Iowa that same day.