Kentucky coach John Calipari appears to have specific roles in mind for his trio of star freshmen. While Doron Lamb and Brandon Knight have seemed to embrace theirs, Calipari would probably like Terrence Jones to perform his more consistently.
Following a five-day Christmas break, Jones will try to give a better effort on the boards when the 11th-ranked Wildcats take on visiting Coppin State on Tuesday night.
Lamb has proved effective off the bench for Calipari, especially in an 89-52 victory over Winthrop on Wednesday. The guard broke a freshman school record with 32 points while making 7 of 8 from 3-point range.
Leading the SEC in 3-point shooting at 55.6 percent, Lamb is averaging 14.2 points to rank third on the Wildcats behind Jones (18.2 ppg) and Knight (17.5 ppg).
"I've got three really good freshmen," Calipari said. "One of the other two may break (Lamb's record)."
Knight scored 21 points despite hurting his left knee in a collision with Jones, and Calipari said he was almost perfect as the team's ballhandler and distributor. The Wildcats coach, though, has a high standard for his point guard.
"I'm expecting him to play flawless, which probably isn't fair to him. But you know we need him to really play well," Calipari said.
Calipari's standard is almost as high for Jones, saying he wants the 6-foot-8 forward to become the leading rebounder in the nation - not just the SEC - and work more on the boards when his shots aren't falling.
Calipari sat down Jones to start the second half after he missed seven of his first nine shots Wednesday. He finished with 11 points but had one rebound over the final 20 minutes.
Jones averaged 10.5 rebounds in his first eight games but 7.3 in the last three. He still holds a slim team lead (9.6 rpg) over senior Josh Harrellson (9.4).
"Obviously (he's) not listening to what I'm saying," Calipari said. "If everybody else is scoring, just do something else, defend and rebound. We are not quite there now yet. We are not quite there with our team."
The Wildcats (9-2) and Jones will try to get closer to "there" Tuesday in a game that should serve as little more than a tune-up for Friday's matchup with No. 22 Louisville.
Coppin State (4-5) has lost 19 straight road games and 34 in a row to ranked opponents.
The Eagles are halfway through a brutal stretch of four consecutive road games. After falling 76-64 at then-No. 4 Connecticut on Dec. 20, they were held to their lowest point total of the season in Thursday night's 80-56 defeat to Wisconsin. Following the Kentucky game, Coppin State visits No. 13 Texas on Friday.
Eagles guard Tony Gallo is averaging 17.3 over the past six games, and leading scorer Michael Harper (15.3 ppg) has reached double figures in all nine contests.
Kentucky, which won 77-46 in its only previous meeting with Coppin State on Nov. 20, 2004, is seeking its 25th consecutive home victory and a season-high fifth in a row overall.
