Tenth-ranked Kentucky recovers from loss, blasts Brown to close out 2024 with 11-2 record

By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today

Kentucky closed out the non-conference schedule with an 88-54 romp over Brown on New Year’s Eve.

Coming off a 10-day layoff and an 85-65 loss to Ohio State, the 10th-ranked Wildcats had little trouble disposing of the Bears in the first meeting between the two schools. Kentucky closed out the non-conference schedule with an 11-2 mark, including a perfect 9-0 record at home.

“Going to Christmas (losing a game) is the worst — it’s miserable,” Pope said. “Our guys handled it great. …I think they were motivated by aggressiveness.”

That aggressive pace took hold in the second half as the Wildcats put the Bears away by outscoring outscored the guests 33-13 in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Brown’s final tally — 54 points — was the lowest allowed by Kentucky this season.

“I was proud of us kind of ringing the bell defensively,” Pope said. “That was really important to us. Minus some letdowns on the glass. I thought the guys were stellar.”

Pope was especially pleased with his team’s ball-screen defense, which was a big reason behind the team’s downfall against the Buckeyes.

“We’ve been really working on that,” Kentucky forward Andrew Carr said. “We’ve been really been trying to get a whole lot better. From our last game to every day in practice, we’ve been working a long time at that.”

Carr led four players in double figures for the Wildcats with 14 points, with all of those coming in the opening half. Carr has reached double figures in five straight games.

“I was just trying to be super aggressive,” Carr said. “I think having a little bit of a height advantage, the position, I was trying to take advantage of that. They came on a couple of double teams early in the post so, we attacked out of that and really got some good stuff early (in the game).”

Amari Williams, Koby Brea and Otega Oweh followed Carr with 13 points each. Oweh, Kentucky’s leading scorer, tallied just two points in the first half but had 11 in the second frame.

It was Oweh who sparked the team’s second-half spurt, scoring the first five points of the second half.

Most of Kentucky’s scoring came in transition. The Wildcats scored 33 points off 23 miscues by Brown.

“Kentucky did a great job of making us uncomfortable from the very beginning,” Brown coach Mike Martin said. “Offensively, we struggled to really get into a flow and run our offense — 23 turnovers that led to 33 Kentucky points. Obviously, it’s going to be hard to stay within reach when that happens. … they scored in every way possible.”

Solid scoring

Pope cleared his bench and 10 players scored in the easy victory. The Wildcats got 34 points from their reserves, with freshmen Trent Noah and Travis Perry combing for three of the team’s 10 3-pointers. Perry finished with four points and Noah scored six.

“I get back to the locker room and our managers and our guys are telling me I should shoot a few more,” Perry said. “But, I’m just trying to make the right play, trying to get more aggressive and more comfortable out there for sure.”

Perry’s lone trey pushed Kentucky’s lead to double digits in the first half, while Noah connected on a pair of 3-pointers in the final five minutes.

Bring on the SEC

Kentucky opens the Southeastern Conference portion of the schedule against undefeated and No. 6 Florida on Saturday at Rupp Arena in an 11 a.m. tipoff. It will be the start of what’s expected to be a fight for the league title. Ten teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 and five — Tennessee (No. 1), Auburn (No. 2), Alabama (No. 5), Florida (No. 6) and Kentucky (10th) – are in the top 10.

“I’m just super excited about the gauntlet that we have in front of us,” Carr said. “The league is super, super talented. For us to be as prepared as we possibly can to go out there and win a national championship, I think that’s what this league is going to prepare us to do.”

NEXT GAME: Florida at Kentucky, 11 a.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Radio Network.