Kentucky Freshman Malik Monk Goes Off for 47 Points to Carry Wildcats Over North Carolina

Malik Monk set a Kentucky Wildcats freshman scoring record to seal the victory against the Tarheels.

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 The No. 6-ranked Kentucky Wildcats faced the No. 7 North Carolina Tarheels in a literal blue-blood matchup at the CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas on Saturday. It was the just the 37th matchup since 1924, with Carolina leading the series 23-14. So when the Tarheels and Wildcats matchup, basketball junkies unite to witness history being made. Fans of both teams definitely weren't shorted on what was unquestionably the best college basketball game of the season thus far.

The Wildcats led the Heels most of the first half, and UK freshman guard Malik Monk could not be stopped. Dude went off for 27 points (in 20 minutes!) during the first half. UNC coach Roy Williams got so pissed off at one point during the first half that he threw his blazer at the bench in reaction to a call by one of the officials, hitting one of his players in the face.


The intensity only grew from there and UNC's Justin Jackson kept his squad in the game to keep them in the game as they trailed and came back from as much as 12 points down in the second half. Jackson dropped a career-high 34 points on 10-for-17 shooting, 4-for-7 from beyond the arc, five rebounds, and three assists.

It was a shootout with both teams statistics almost identical with UK and UNC ending up with 54 and 53 percent field goal shooting, 55.6 and 52.9 from three-point land, 39 and 35 rebounds, 10 and nine turnovers, respectively.

But this game was all Monk. With Kentucky down 100-98 at 17 seconds left to play, Monk hit a clutch three to lift the Wildcats over the Tarheels to seal the victory. You can see Monk's dagger in the clip below.

He set a UK freshman record of 47 (!) points. Monk blessed Big Blue Nation going 18-for-28 on field goal attempts, and 8-for-12 on threes. The final score was 103-100. What a game. Instant classic.

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