‘I didn’t say a word.’ Flory Bidunga technical alters game, Indiana All-Stars beat in Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Flory Bidunga did not have one technical foul in his three seasons at Kokomo.

He has one now.

Bidunga’s first — and probably only — technical of his high school career came Friday night for the Indiana All-Stars. And it came against the Kentucky All-Stars at Lexington Catholic High School, according to Bidunga and Indiana All-Stars coach John Peckinpaugh (his coach at Kokomo), without him saying anything.

“I didn’t say a word,” Bidunga said. “I worked for the rebound, got a dunk and was enjoying the moment. I didn’t say a word. But I don’t know what the ref heard.”

The technical foul was a game changer, to put it mildly, in the Kentucky All-Stars’ stunning 103-82 victory. Bidunga, the Kansas recruit and Mr. Basketball, was whistled for the technical — his fifth foul — after his dunk with 10:26 left pulled the Indiana All-Stars to within 67-66. With Bidunga on the bench, Kentucky immediately ripped off a 19-2 run to take control of the game.

“He yelled,” Peckinpaugh said. “That kid hasn’t gotten one technical foul in his high school career. It’s laughable. He’s fouled out of maybe two, three high school games in his career. It’s an all-star game. People come to see the best players play. It’s too bad we didn’t get to see that tonight.”

Indiana girls have sweep in mind: ‘Going back to 2016 is too long.’

Kentucky’s Max Green, a 6-6 Holy Cross commit, was outstanding during the stretch following Bidunga’s technical and finished with a game-high 36 points on 14-for-16 shooting, including 5-for-7 from the 3-point line. Bidunga watched it all from the Indiana bench. He will get his chance at revenge Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in the second game of the annual June series.

“I would have loved to be there for my teammates, making some defensive plays and getting some blocks,” said Bidunga, who played just 13 minutes due to foul trouble. “Just sitting over there, watching it happening, I was kind of down. But I’ll tell you something: You should have seen us in the locker room. We’re going to be ready for tomorrow. We just want to play the game. We let them feel themselves a little bit and that was the outcome of the game.”

In the first half, it looked like more of the same in a rivalry the Indiana All-Stars have dominated for years, winning 43 of the past 50 games against Kentucky going back to 1998. Kentucky won a down-the-wire battle last year in Owensboro, 94-90, just the third win for Kentucky since 1998.

It did not look like it would be No. 4 on Friday. The Indiana All-Stars led by 17 points with six minutes left in the first half. But Kentucky found some success on the offensive end, cutting the Indiana lead to 49-43 by halftime.

Indiana seemingly took control again, running off the first six points of the second half, including two dunks by Bidunga, to take a 12-point lead. But Kentucky stayed after it as Green got hot. Even before Bidunga’s technical, Kentucky had momentum.

After the technical, it was a wrap.

“We’ve talked it about it so much,” Green said. “We have a chance to make history here. If we sweep them, it will be the first time Kentucky has swept them since 1986. We’re down 18 at one point and down six at halftime but we knew if we kept Flory off the glass, we had a chance. Obviously, it helped that he fouled out. But we feel like we’re the better team.”

Kentucky certainly played like it in the second half, outscoring Indiana 60-33. While it did not approach the largest margin of victory for Kentucky in a series that dates to 1940 (that was a 33-point win in 1997), the final 10 minute-span was a drubbing.

“Starting with me, I didn’t do a good job handing adversity well,” Peckinpaugh said. “That trickles down from me. Once I didn’t, our guys didn’t. We kind of let it snowball there. We’ll get back (Saturday morning) and get to work and respond and try to get a win.”

Brownstown Central’s Jack Benter, a Purdue recruit, led the All-Stars with 16 points and six rebounds. Bidunga finished with 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting. IU Indianapolis recruit Keenan Garner of Fishers posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds and Ben Davis standout K.J. Windham added 12 points.

But was not nearly enough to slow down the Kentucky freight train in the second half — especially with Bidunga out of the game.

“(Green) has always been a great shooter,” Benter said of his former AAU teammate. “Our game plan was stay out on him and not let him get open shots. But he hit some tough ones too.”

Kentucky will get a motivated Indiana team Saturday. Bidunga was already stewing for 10 minutes on the bench before the buzzer even sounded on Friday’s loss.

“We’ve already talked about it and know they probably think he got screwed a little bit there,” Green said. “They are going come with some fire tomorrow. Flory is a force so we have to do the best we can with him.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Flory Bidunga technical foul dooms Indiana All-Stars vs Kentucky