University of Kentucky freshman Karl-Anthony Towns played well enough in a win over sixth-ranked Texas on Friday night but, as a projected top-five NBA draft pick, it wasn’t up to his own high standards.
While he had 10 points and three rebounds in 16 minutes, the 6-foot-11 Towns made just 2 of 5 shots and had no blocks against a big, physical Longhorns team that tried to push him around. So before UK’s game against Eastern Kentucky on Sunday, Towns tweeted to his 36,000-plus followers: “Be ready to see a different KAT tomorrow.”
Then he came out with a fresh, close-cropped haircut and a mean-mugging new attitude and dropped a career-high 19 points – on 8-of-9 shooting, including his first collegiate 3-pointer – to go with nine rebounds, four blocks, two assists and a steal in just 23 minutes.