Written by Greg Logan at Newsday.com
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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