by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Kentucky Wildcats capped off their “Midnight Madness Weekend” by hosting a NBA preseason game between the Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night. The Wildcats had three of the top 10 basketball recruits in the nation on campus for the big weekend.

The Kings – Pelicans game featured four former Kentucky players (three of whom played for head coach John Calipari) and two of Calipari’s former Memphis players. The Kings DeMarcus Cousins and Willie Cauley-Stein played for Kentucky under Calipari. Rajon Rondo played for Tubby Smith at Kentucky.

The Pelicans star center Anthony Davis played for Calipari in Lexington. New Orleans players Tyreke Evans and Chris Douglas-Roberts played for Calipari at Memphis.

That is not a bad way to impress high school recruits. Please meet these five NBA players who I coached in college. Did you say you would like to play in “the association”?

Now on to the game

This contest was the Kings sixth and final preseason game. The next time the Kings play an opponent it will be on October 28th when they open the season with the Los Angeles Clippers in Sacramento. It was George Karl’s last opportunity to see his players in actual game situations.

The Kings started the game slowly falling behind the Pelicans 31-20 after the first quarter of play. The Kings then turned up the tempo and outscored New Orleans in each of the final three quarters.

The Kings won the game 107-98. The victory allowed Sacramento to finish the preseason with a 5-1 record. The loss dropped the Pelicans preseason record to 2-2.

Kings

Rudy Gay led the Kings attack scoring 20 points in 30 minutes of playing time. Gay made it a double-double game by pulling down 10 rebounds.

DeMarcus Cousins put up 19 points while grabbing five rebounds in his 24 minutes on the floor. Fellow Kentucky Wildcat Willie Cauley-Stein scored seven points and recorded six rebounds. The Kings other Kentucky alum – Rajon Rondo – posted three points and three assists.

Darren Collison had a strong game for the Kings scoring 19 points, grabbing seven rebounds while dishing out five assists. Collison shot 8-for-11 from the field.

Omri Casspi added 16 points and seven rebounds. Kosta Koufos scored 11 points in 14 minutes of playing time.

As a team, the Kings shot .447 (38-for-85) from the floor. They shot just .273 (6-for-22) from 3-point range. Sacramento hit 25 of 34 free throw attempts (.735).

The Kings won the battle in the paint as they outscored the Pelicans 58-31 down low. Sacramento also won the battle on the boards pulling down 50 rebounds to just 45 for New Orleans.

Sacramento had only 14 assists in the game but also committed only 14 turnovers (four in the second half). Karl wants the assist total be at 25 per game, but he will live with 14 turnovers.

Pelicans

Ryan Anderson led the Pelicans scoring with 20 points going 6-for-14 from the floor.

Former Kentucky star Anthony Davis put up 19 points shooting 7-for-15 from the field. Davis was 2-for-4 from 3-point land.

New Orleans shot 34-for-79 (.430) in the game.

Up next

For the Kings, it is lots of scrimmages until the 28th of October when they open the season at home with the Clippers.

The Pelicans close out their preseason with the Rockets in Houston on Monday night.