KENTUCKY REIGN: Julius Mays (right), one of defending national champion Kentucky’s new freshman stars, battles with Maryland’s Nick Faust for a loose ball during the Wildcats’ 72-69 win in the Barclays Center Classic last night in Brooklyn. (Paul J. Bereswill)
Jarrod Polson did not know how many texts and voice messages he had on his cell phone after helping Kentucky to a season-opening win over Maryland last night. It’s safe to say, however, the former Kentucky prep star with the Matt Damon smile and the uncanny basketball savvy is going to have his choice of prom dates this year.
Oh, wait, you don’t know who Polson is.
No worries. Maryland coach Mark Turgeon didn’t know who Kentucky’s No. 5 was either when Polson squatted down at the scorer’s table last night at Barclays Center. Now Turgeon — and the college basketball world — know.
With all of the freshman stars Kentucky brought in this year, including a couple of 7-footers named Nerlens Noel and Willie Cauley-Stein, it was a 6-foot-2 junior who made the winning plays in the Wildcats’ season-opening 72-69 win over a rugged Maryland team in the second game of the Barclays Center Classic (LIU-Brooklyn lost, 77-74, to Morehead State in the opener).
How much had the Terrapins prepared for Polson?
“Absolutely zero,’’ Turgeon said. “When he was subbed in at the table I said, ‘Who’s that?’ He was the whole key to the game. The kid gave them confidence.’’
The other members of Kentucky’s latest collection of elite recruits need little introduction. Noel is a 6-foot-10 shot-blocker with a fantastically-coifed afro. Alex Poythress is considered the best all around player. Archie Goodwin goes to the lane like there’s money on the rim. Cauley-Stein needs a hyphenated last name because his wingspan covers two zip codes.
But it was Polson who scored 10 points, three more than in his first two seasons at Kentucky combined, including two free throws with seven seconds left. He was 4-of-5 from the field. In his first two seasons, he made one shot.
His good buddy, sophomore Kyle Wiltjer, was Kentucky’s leading scorer with 19 points. Goodwin added 16.
Polson played 22 minutes because North Carolina State transfer Ryan Harrow, who is expected to be the starting point guard, was suffering from flu-like symptoms. So in front of a sellout crowd of 17,732 and a national TV audience, Polson did his best John Stockton impersonation.
“Obviously I’ve been going against some of the best players in the nation every year in practice,’’ Polson said.
But this year, Kentucky, the defending NCAA champion, is a brand new team. Out went the likes of Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Darius Miller, Doron Lamb and Terrence Jones and in came Noel, Cauley-Stein, Poythress, Goodwin, Harrow and Julius Mays.
The Wildcats (1-0) looked as if they were the equal of last season’s team in the first half. They built a 15-point lead and scored 49 points.
The lead was still 15 early in the second half when Turgeon, who certainly knows his team, slowed the pace and started getting the ball inside to center Alex Len (23 points, 12 rebounds). The Terps (0-1) went on a 15-0 run and Barclays Center sounded like a Joan Rivers audition — it was loud.
Maryland went ahead 61-60 on a Len dunk, but with the score 63-62, Kentucky scored six straight. The last two came with 2:17 left when Polson grabbed the offensive rebound of a missed Noel foul shot and converted.
Wiltjer converted two free throws with 24.6 seconds left and Polson, who admitted to being nervous, calmly drained his two.
At the buzzer, Pe’Shon Howard tried a desperation heave over Noel that hit the side of the rim. Even if it had gone, Howard was inside the 3-point line.
Wildcats coach John Calipari’s latest edition of the one-and-done wonder bunch clearly has the talent to develop into a Final Four squad. Maryland is not that far behind. Both coaches learned a few things last night.
And the nation learned about Jarrod Polson, whose Twitter handle is @jpolson05, just in case you want to know who he is.