‘Tonight was my night.’ UK’s Brooks credits teammates for star turn at Kansas.
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Game day: Kentucky 80, Kansas 62
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge game between Kentucky and Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.
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Nothing unusual happened before the game to tip off what was in store for Kentucky’s Keion Brooks at Kansas on Saturday night.
He said he ate his usual pregame meal of chicken, salmon and mashed potatoes. He drank the usual Gatorade and water.
No surprises after the game, either. Knowing the star of the game will be late to the locker room because of an on-court television interview, teammates have water and Gatorade ready so as to celebrate with a splash.
The stunning part of the night came during the game. Brooks scored a career-high 27 points to lead Kentucky to a rousing 80-62 victory against the Jayhawks.
“The way he came out tonight was unbelievable …,” teammate Oscar Tshiebwe said of Brooks. “And I want him to keep playing like that every night. That’s how we’re going to be a tough team, if everybody steps up like that.”
Brooks described himself as a star among stars.
“We have a lot of guys who can hurt you,” he said. “Tonight was my night. But other nights it’s going to be somebody else’s night. We just have to feed the hot hand.”
Before the game, Kansas Coach Bill Self attributed Tshiebwe’s almost surreal productive play this season to having room to operate around the basket.
“At West Virginia, they played with two ‘bigs,’ so you had another big man always around him when he was posting or whatever,” Self said.
At Kentucky, the other front line player is usually either Brooks or Toppin. Both can play away from the basket, thus opening up space for Tshiebwe, Self said.
Those roles reversed in Kentucky’s surprisingly one-sided victory at Kansas.
“They paid attention too much to me,” Tshiebwe said. “They forgot about him. … Keion was open today, like, 100 times.”
Tshiebwe still made an impact. He posted his 15th double-double, this time scoring 17 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
Brooks said he took advantage of Tshiebwe drawing defenders, thus creating opportunities for teammates.
“Rightfully so,” Brooks said. “Oscar, in my opinion, is the National Player of the Year. I would give a lot of my defense to stopping him. …
“I’m knowing they will rotate to him. So, I’ve got to be aggressive. They’re going to leave me at times, so I’ve got to knock down those shots.”
John Calipari noted that all but one of Brooks’ 16 shots were from two-point range. More than once this season, the UK coach had advised Brooks to not overdo it with three-point shots.
Brooks saw significance in his first basket. Freshman TyTy Washington, who returned to action after missing a game because of an apparent sprained ankle, missed a shot on Kentucky’s third possession of the game. Brooks dunked the rebound.
“I just felt good tonight,” Brooks said. “I really know when I’m going to have one of my better games. More often than not, starting off a game with a tip-dunk, it lets me know I’m going to really be into it. … I kept playing hard the whole game.”
No. 12 Kentucky improved to 17-4 overall and 2-3 against ranked teams.
As a 51-31 halftime lead suggested, Kentucky displayed complete dominance in the opening 20 minutes. It was the first time Kansas had given up 50 or more points in a first half at home since 2007.
Kentucky took the lead for good with 17:56 remaining. The margin steadily increased: to double digits for the first time with 11:13 left, to 15 points at the 7:12 mark and to 20 points with 2:31 left.
Kansas tried to slow the Kentucky avalanche by calling three timeouts. None made a difference.
Tshiebwe won the battle of the “bigs” decisively. Kansas center David McCormack had one basket and three rebounds in 16 minutes.
Nothing changed in the first few minutes of the second half as the Kentucky lead grew to 60-38 at the first television timeout.
Two free throws by Brooks set that lead and was part of a personal streak that saw him score 15 straight points for Kentucky. That one-man tsunami ended with Kentucky ahead 68-50 with less than nine minutes remaining.
When asked if he’d ever scored that many consecutive points for his team, Brooks reminded reporters that he had been the star on youth and high school teams.
“I wasn’t aware of that,” he said of the 15 straight at Kansas. “I was just trying to make plays.”
The seemingly inevitable Kansas counter came shortly thereafter.
A three-pointer by leading scorer Ochai Agbaji began a 10-2 Kansas spurt that reduced Kentucky’s lead to 62-48. UK went from 17:22 to the 10:59 mark without a basket.
Brooks’ floater ended the dry spell with 10:59 left. It enabled him to equal his career high and gave Kentucky a 64-48 lead.
Barely a minute later, Brooks hit a mid-range jumper to surpass his previous career high.
When asked if he expected a personal starburst, Brooks credited teammates.
“Man, I knew with TyTy coming back and Oscar being who he is, I’m always going to have opportunities because of those two,” he said.
Next game
Vanderbilt at No. 12 Kentucky
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
TV: ESPN
This story was originally published January 29, 2022 at 10:07 PM.
