Jacob Toppin, right, has become a defensive stopper and energy provider for UK. (SEC Photo)
While Dontaie Allen has been getting a lot of Big Blue Nation love — and should be — with his recent play, don’t overlook what sophomore Jacob Toppin has been doing. In the double overtime win at Mississippi State, he got six points and four rebounds in 11 minutes. The game before that he had 10 points and six rebounds in 25 minutes against Louisville.
Toppin, a sophomore, continued his solid play in Tuesday night’s 77-74 win over Vanderbilt. He was 3-for-4 from the field and had six points, six rebounds, one block and one steal in 24 minutes.
But statistics don’t measure his worth. Davion Mintz hit the go-ahead 3-pointer for Kentucky coming out of a timeout on a play drawn up by John Calipari. Guess who set the screen to get Mintz wide open? It was Toppin.
“Without that screen there was no shot,” Mintz said.
On Vandy’s next possession, he blocked a shot by Scotty Pippen.
“He (Toppin) was one of the reasons we were in the game, especially with me and Devin (Askew) picking up (early) fouls ,” Mintz said. “He was not prepared at all to guard Pippen but that shows his resilience and focus. He just fought. That’s what we need. He was huge in the win today for us.”
He also scored again off an offensive rebound on a missed Kentucky free throw. That’s the second straight game he did that.
Calipari likes the energy Toppin is providing but did not like the “fadeaway with the air kick” he had on one missed shot.
“Why do that?” Calipari said. “But he has gotten so much better defensively. The reason we won was he guard Pippen. The only time he (Pippen) got going was when Olivier (Sarr) stood straight up.”
The 6-9 Toppin was not as quick as the 6-2 Pippen but used his athleticism and length to harass and disrupt Pippen.
“On defense he takes pride in guarding the best player out there,” Sarr said. “He did an unbelievable job (guarding Pippen). He is doing the dirty work and it is paying off for us quite a lot.”
