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Sunday / December 15.
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    • Kentucky, Roselle Catholic, South Carolina

    NEW YORK — During Roselle Catholic’s drive to the New Jersey Tournament of Champions title in 2015, one of Isaiah Briscoe’s favorite plays was to throw the ball off the backboard for Chris Silva to dunk.

    Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff remembers that Briscoe loved the play so much, they did it in the sectional final that year.

    “In the history of New Jersey basketball, I don’t know if anyone has ever completed more off-the-backboard, alley-oop dunks than Chris and Isaiah did that year,” Boff said. “I think they did 10 or 11 that year. They were so comfortable with Isaiah throwing the ball off the backboard to Chris as the trailer, they actually did it in the sectional final in a tie game with two minutes left to go that gave us the lead [against Trenton Catholic]. We were coming back from 22 points down and the basket that gave us the lead which we never gave back was a two-on-one fastbreak where Isaiah threw it off the backboard for Chris for a dunk.”

    Kentucky

    INDIANAPOLIS — Isaiah Briscoe was seated in the corner of the Kentucky locker room at Bankers Life Fieldhouse preparing for what could be his final NCAA Tournament.

    The 6-foot-3 sophomore from Newark, N.J., tested the NBA Draft waters last season and then opted to return to campus. There’s no guarantee he’ll return for his junior year, so that puts an urgency on the here and now.

    “I wanna go out with a bang, obviously,” he told me here this week. “I’m not gonna shy away from it, but obviously I want to win. I want to win a national championship.  We gotta work hard, we gotta play together, we gotta play Kentucky basketball. And if we do all that, great things will happen.”

    No. 2 Kentucky faces a tough No. 10 Wichita State team here on Sunday afternoon, a team that includes fellow New Jersey native Markis McDuffie out of St. Anthony’s. If the Wildcats survive that they will advance to Memphis in the South’s “Bracket of Death” that also includes No. 1 North Carolina and No. 3 UCLA.

    Breaking News, Kentucky

    NEW YORK –It’s only December, but ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently has Kentucky slotted as the No. 2 seed in the East Regional, where they could face defending national champion Villanova in the regional final at Madison Square Garden on March 26.

    That would probably be just fine by Isaiah Briscoe.

    In two games this season in New York City, the sophomore guard from Newark, N.J., has combined for 40 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 4 turnovers — both Kentucky wins.

    “I’m just out there playing, honestly,” Briscoe said after putting up 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 6 assists in Kentucky’s 96-73 rout of Hofstra on Sunday at Barclays Center. “Every game I go out, try to play hard and just try to compete. It’s a plus playing good at home in front of my fan base and in front of my family.”

    Breaking News, Kentucky

    NEW YORK — Not every kid who comes out of Kentucky has to be one-and-done to be a success.

    Sure, current freshmen Malik Monk, De’Aaron Fox and Bam Adebayo might become the latest phenoms to emerge from John Calipari’s one-and-done factory.

    But Isaiah Briscoe is proving that if you stay at Kentucky, you can improve from one year to the next and become an effective program player.

    Playing in front of 38 family and friends and a capacity crowd that included Knicks star and Briscoe’s mentor Carmelo Anthony, the Newark native went for 21 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 turnover as No. 2 Kentucky throttled No. 13 Michigan State, 69-48, in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden.

    “It feels good,” Briscoe said. “A lot of my fanbase is from New York and this place has made me who I am so it felt good to get back out there in front of my fans and perform well.”

    Breaking News, Kentucky

    From his home in New Jersey, Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff has watched every one of Kentucky’s televised practices, exhibitions and games this season in order to focus on his former star guard Isaiah Briscoe.

    “I’ve seen him five or six times so far, which is crazy that I can see him that much,” Boff said with a laugh Monday morning. “Everything Kentucky’s on TV.”

    Briscoe and No. 2 Kentucky (2-0) will be back on ESPN Tuesday night when they face No. 12 Michigan State (0-1) in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden. No. 1 Duke faces No. 3 Kansas in the nightcap.

    Briscoe, who led Roselle Catholic to the New Jersey Tournament of Champions title in 2015, expects to have a number of family and friends in the crowd, including his father, George Briscoe, and his former AAU coach, Jimmy Salmon of the NJ Playaz.

    Kentucky

    In the waning days before the college basketball season kicks off, University of Kentucky head man John Calipari is ready to show off his NCAA championship contender team to the nation.

    At the school’s gym in Lexington, Calipari opened his doors to 90 NBA scouts – representing all 30 teams in the league – and media, broadcasting the event on ESPNU. Kentucky and Calipari’s choice to show the league what they’ve got is for good reason. According to DraftExpress.com, the Wildcats boast three picks in the top 20 selections of the upcoming 2017 NBA Draft.

    Those guys – De’Aaron Fox, Bam Adebayo, and Malik Monk – are all a part of Calipari’s freshman recruiting class that is ranked number one in the nation by ESPN.

    The blue chip talent ridden roster of Kentucky is full of freshman looking to bring their team back to NCAA glory, but one of the most important pieces of the team has already been around the block in Lexington: Isaiah Briscoe.

    Copyright 2016 Zagsblog. Partner of iOne Digital / Cassius Network
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