WATCH: Immanuel Quickley on his 30-point performance

There are heaters, and then there’s whatever Immanuel Quickley is on.

After putting up a career-high 26 points vs. Florida, Quickley came out on fire again tonight vs. Texas A&M, scoring 16 points in the first half en route to a 30-point performance, the first for a Wildcat since Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Vanderbilt back on Jan. 30, 2018. In the last three halves of basketball, Quickley has scored 52 points, including 12 threes. Is there a hotter player in the country right now than him?

Quickley was 8-12 from three-point range tonight, tying him for fourth on Kentucky’s all-time list with Cameron Mills, Derrick Miller, Jodie Meeks, Eric Bledsoe, Jamal Murray, and Malik Monk. The only Wildcats to hit more treys in a game? Meeks and Tony Delk.

“God has been good,” Quickley said of his performance in the ESPN postgame interview. “All credit to him. Just staying in the gym. My teammates found me in great spots. Coach is putting me in great positions to be successful, so it’s a great credit to my teammates. It’s a credit to all that.”

John Calipari teased that Quickley could have passed the ball more in the first half (after saying he needed to shoot more in the first half vs. Florida), but couldn’t stop raving about the sophomore’s progress, especially on the defensive end.

“He shot the ball. There were two or three plays that he could have passed to other guys for shots. I had to tell him at halftime you don’t need to be playing to score, you’re going to score naturally with how we play. But I’m proud of him. I’m going to tell you, you can all say what you want about what he’s doing offensively, he’s not the same defender he was a year ago. It was struggle for him. Now, he guards their best player.”

Calipari joked that Quickley no longer does the “high school slide” on defense, which drew a laugh from Quickley when he joined him at midcourt.

“Man, I’ve heard that so many times in my two years here so far, but Coach Cal, he always wants the best for his players. That’s why you come to Kentucky. But I’m proud of my teammates, they played so hard.”

In case there was any doubt, Tyler Herro confirmed on Twitter that his former teammate has taken over the role of Bucket.

@IQ_GodSon IS A BUCKET #Confirmed

— Tyler Herro (@raf_tyler) February 26, 2020

“You come here to work,” Quickley said. “If you just want to come shoot a couple of balls and leave after one or two years, that’s not why you come here. You come here to develop and I’m so glad I came here. It’s one of the best decisions of my life.”

Pick Quick.