By HAL MORRIS
hmorris@amnews.com
LEXINGTON — Kentucky coach John Calipari said the way the Wildcats run their offense makes the 3-point game a “turkey shoot.”
And Darnell Dodson was doing the firing Tuesday.
The 6-7 sophomore guard had career highs with six 3-pointers (on 10 attempts), 19 points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes in Kentucky’s 104-61 win over Hartford at Rupp Arena.
“I got hot for a little bit, and my teammates did a great job of finding me on the wing and I just had to make the shot,” said Dodson, who helped John Wall get two of his record-setting 16 assists. “Most of the time when John’s driving, it draws a lot of defenders and leaves us open on the wings.”
Dodson hit his first three treys as the Wildcats raced out to a 26-10 lead with 13:13 left in the first half.
After that start, Dodson knew he was going to have a good shooting night.
“Pretty much after I hit my second one, I think I got in a good rhythm, so I thought I wasn’t going to miss after that,” said Dodson, who had scored 15 points twice this season, and doubled his previous best 3-point efforts.
Dodson was 4-for-7 from 3-point range in the first half to help the Cats to a 57-31 lead, and four of his six rebounds were offensive.
Calipari said a night like Dodson had is what can happen when the offense runs the way it should.
“It is what I told you guys from the beginning, the way that we play and the way we drive makes the 3-pointers like a turkey shoot,” Calipari said.
“They are wide open. There are games that we miss them, but they are nowhere near them. The guy is shooting it without a hand in his face. We have some good shooters that can make those wide open threes. But there are games that we miss them. We were 6-for-19 the last game.
“If we are making them, we are going to blow you out of the gym. Now you play and spread the court a little more and give us more room to get inside and post.”
And with Kentucky expected to see more and more zones as the season progresses, Dodson sad he has to be able to step up and hit the open shots.
“It’s going to be real important because it’s going to stretch the defenses out and create more opportunities to get to the basket or get it inside to the post,” Dodson said. “That is my role on this team, be a threat from the 3-point line. So I think playing with John and Eric (Bledsoe), and how they can penetrate real good, it will give me a lot of open looks.”
Dodson came to Kentucky with the reputation of a shooter, so defense has been a transition for him.
But he said it’s coming along.
“It’s getting better each day, each and every day I’m learning more about spots and stuff. It’s basically just staying low and keep moving,” Dodson said.
Dodson also said he’s not going to treat Saturday’s game with Louisville like something bigger than normal.
“I’m looking at is as just another game basically,” he said. “I know it’s a rivalry, and everything but it’s our next game on the schedule, and that’s how we’re going to at it. We’re not going to pay it as any bigger of  game.”

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