DES MOINES, Iowa — On the bright side for Stony Brook, Kentucky lost seven players from last season’s 38-1 team to the NBA, including four dominant frontcourt players. The bad news is that John Calipari had five-star sophomore point guard Tyler Ulis waiting in the wings and added five-star guards Jamal Murray and Isaiah Briscoe to form the nation’s top backcourt.
That’s the matchup SBU perimeter players Carson Puriefoy, Lucas Woodhouse and Ahmad Walker must control for the Seawolves (26-6) to have any chance of shocking the Wildcats (26-8) in their East Regional opener Thursday night. Ulis is a national player of the year candidate, Murray is projected as an NBA lottery pick, and Briscoe likely will be ready for the NBA in another year.
The Seawolves simply don’t see lineups like that in the America East.
“I’m excited, and I know my backcourt mates are, too, because they have a bunch of NBA players potentially in their backcourt,” Puriefoy said. “Ulis and Murray are the highest-scoring backcourt in the country [37.3 points]. It’s definitely going to be a challenge, and we’re ready for it, I think.”
Stony Brook ranks 19th nationally in scoring defense (63.4 points), and coach Steve Pikiell has three America East all-defensive players in forwards Jameel Warney and Rayshaun McGrew and wing man Walker. Pikiell regards Puriefoy as one of the most improved defenders he’s ever coached.
“I don’t know if you ever have good matchups against Kentucky,” Pikiell said. “We’re going to mix and match to give them some different looks. But how do you feel when you see lottery picks in the lineup? You feel like our guys have got a hell of a task in front of them, and they better do a real good job.”
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As the Seawolves’ fastest defender, Puriefoy expects to start against the 5-9 Ulis. Walker has the athleticism to try and contain Murray but also the strength to match Briscoe’s driving style. Woodhouse gets whomever Walker isn’t guarding, and Pikiell will use Kam Mitchell off the bench.
Puriefoy noted he faced former Duke guard Quinn Cook in AAU ball, current Indiana point guard Yogi Ferrell in high school and Notre Dame’s Demetrius Jackson this season. “I’ve played against high-level guards, and I’ve definitely held my own,” Puriefoy said. “I think I’m one of the better guards in the country as well, so it will be a fun matchup.”
Disrupting the three-point shooting of Murray, who is 14th in the country with 3.2 made threes per game, is critical. “I love trying to guard the best player on the other team,” Walker said. “Every game our emphasis is defense, but even more so this game. They have great guards who can get in the lane. We want to try to keep our bigs out of foul trouble.”
In that regard, even Warney must worry about Ulis darting into the paint to score because he often comes to help and block shots and might be exposed to whistles that are likely to benefit Kentucky. Warney said he can’t be too eager to help because he’d be vulnerable to lobs over the top.
“Ulis puts so much pressure on you,” Warney said. “He’s one of the best guards in the country, if not the best. It’s crazy how he grew from being the sixth man last year to being the best player in that conference.”
Woodhouse, who is Stony Brook’s top assist man, also must worry about Ulis defending and making it difficult to pass inside to Warney. “He’s a two-way player,” Woodhouse said. “We’ll have our hands full. They’re all great players, five-star guys. It’s going to be an extreme challenge for us.”
- Newsday