Cason Wallace Exceeds Expectations in Win Over Howard
Cason Wallace's first real college game as a Kentucky Wildcat was nearly one for the history books.
In a team-high 35 minutes, the true freshman stuffed the stat sheet like a Thanksgiving turkey, totaling 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in the Cats' 95-63 win over Howard.
Without senior Sahvir Wheeler available to play, the point guard spot was all Wallace's on Monday. He showed all of the features of a quintessential John Calipari PG, providing both Calipari and his teammates with plenty of positives to take away from the season-opening performance.
“It’s crazy. It’s his first college game, kid’s 19 years old, that’s not normal," shooting guard CJ Fredrick said of Wallace post-game. "There are not many people in the country doing that, let alone as a freshman. He brings such a different dimension to our team. What he’s doing at his age and at his first college game is special.”
“He’s a great player," guard Antonio Reeves added. "You know, he’s well beyond his years – I feel like. Coming in as a freshman, doing the things that he does … that’s what we need on the team and he provides that.”
With plenty of names to pick from, Calipari was able to draw a couple of comparisons when thinking about who Wallace reminds him of on and off the court.
"He's a guard is what he is. And the best players I've had have been guards. They can play on the ball, they can play off the ball. But they're tough as nails. He is tough," Calipari said. "If you remember, Jamal Murray used to make me smile. He would go, Smile. This kid walks in, Where's your energy, coach? Energy. And so he's fun to be around. He's a competitor. It's kind of like Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) where he says, I trust you. Tell me how you want me to play. I trust you. And he's special."
That special ability nearly led to what would have been just the fourth triple-double in UK history.
Towards the end of the second half, Wallace and his teammates realized just how close he was, needing just another assist and a pair of boards to complete the feat. While he came up short on Monday, he's still got at least 30 more chances at it if he's able to stay healthy and play all season.
“I didn’t until late in the game. Lance [Ware] was like ‘yo, everybody box out, let Cason get the rebound.’ That’s my man right there. But he made both free throws," Wallace said. "I’m getting one this year.”
For some, it's no surprise to see a 5-star recruit ball out in his first game in a Kentucky uniform. Wallace isn't the first one to do it and he certainly won't be the last.
But there is a distinct advantage that the Dallas native has over some of the other great guards who have played under Calipari — Wallace gets to go toe-to-toe with Wheeler every single day.
“I feel like I did pretty good. Going against Sah [Sahvir Wheeler] in practice really helped me in this situation- going against quicker guards, using my body, and hitting the open man when they’re open,” he said.
While Wheeler wasn't on the court against Howard, he still made an impact on Wallace, coaching the true freshman from the bench all night.
"He was just trying to get me to go over screens instead of going under," Wallace said. "He's really good at helping me out on the bench, just keeping me sharp."
Expectations are high for Wallace, even he knows it.
With the season finally underway, he doesn't have to listen to preseason projections and thoughts on how he may play under Calipari and with another experienced point guard. He just gets to go out there and play basketball, doing so at a very high level.
"I'm just going out there and playing my game now, free from all the stress and butterflies. Just going out there and performing as well as I can."
For more on the Wildcats' win over Howard, click here.
Watch: Calipari, Wallace, Fredrick and Reeves Talk Post-Game
Game Notes from the win can be found here.
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