NEW YORK _ As an assistant coach for Pittsburgh three decades ago, John Calipari unsuccessfully recruited King Rice, who played for North Carolina.
Now the Monmouth coach, Rice asked a reporter on Friday to deliver a message to Calipari.
"Let Cal know that if it gets out of control, we are friends," Rice said in reference to Monmouth playing Kentucky on Saturday.
It got out of control.
With issues such as 3-point shooting and killer instinct melting away this day, Kentucky rolled past Monmouth, 93-76.
Three UK players _ PJ Washington, Hamidou Diallo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander _ scored career highs. Diallo scored 23 points, Washington 20 and Gilgeous-Alexander 15.
No. 8 Kentucky improved to 8-1.
Monmouth fell to 3-7 this season and 1-14 all-time against ranked opponents.
"When you're a Monmouth, you watch Kentucky your whole life," Rice said before the game. "That's what I told the kids. ... They're Kentucky. But they're another team just like we're a team. They have a better coach."
Kentucky had better everything in a showcase performance at a showcase venue (Madison Square Garden).
Kentucky made 3-point shots. Kentucky defended in man-to-man and zone. Kentucky got its transition game going with help from Monmouth turnovers.
There wasn't much for UK fans to complain about in a first half that saw the Cats leave the floor ahead 54-31 at halftime.
Washington led UK's highest first-half scoring of the season. He had 16 points, one shy of his previous career high (17 against Vermont and UIC).
Washington made his first 3-pointer of the season. He'd only taken one previously (against Fort Wayne). It was part of a 5-for-9 3-point shooting half for Kentucky. And there was almost one more. Quade Green got credit for a 3-pointer earlier that upon later review was changed to a two. That shot put UK ahead for good at 6-5.
Kentucky shredded Monmouth's defenses. The Hawks alternated between man-to-man, with UK making 60.7 percent of its shots in the half.
Except for a flurry of eight points in 69 seconds by leading scorer Micah Seaborn, Monmouth struggled to score.
After an 11-0 run put Kentucky ahead 21-8, the Cats used a later 13-0 breakout to establish a 47-22 comfy cushion.
Play got sloppy early in the second half as the teams combined for five turnovers in a span of about 30 seconds.
Gabriel got off the UK bench in this span and headed to the scorer's table.
After Gabriel and Gilgeous-Alexander, Kentucky resumed exhibiting its superiority.
A Gilgeous-Alexander free throw capped a 7-0 run to extend the lead to 66-38 with 13:51 left. That was UK's largest lead to that point.
With victory assured, the main remaining question was whether Kentucky would keep its foot on Monmouth's throat, metaphorically speaking.
Monmouth never seriously threatened Kentucky out of the gate, on the back side or down the stretch.
