Teammates’ encouragement kept Hopkins believing a breakout would come
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Game day: No. 6 Kentucky 71, LSU 66
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Wednesday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and LSU in Rupp Arena.
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Seemingly like all Kentucky freshmen, Bryce Hopkins carried great expectations into his college career.
Going into Wednesday night’s game against LSU, he had not scored a point in almost a month. He had not played more than five minutes in a game since Jan. 11.
A teammate helped Hopkins keep believing.
“Davion Mintz told me it can’t rain forever,” Hopkins said after Kentucky defeated LSU 71-66 in Rupp Arena. “The sun has to shine some day.”
The metaphorical sun and Hopkins shined in this Kentucky victory.
Hopkins scored 13 points, which was one more than he’d scored since Dec. 22. All of those came in the second half as UK rallied to win despite the absence again of point guards Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington.
Without the duo, Kentucky had only three assists and 12 turnovers. The Cats had only five fast-break points. UK also nearly crumbled down the stretch when LSU reduced a 14-point deficit to four in the final 2:12.
“I’m so proud of Bryce,” teammate Oscar Tshiebwe said. “He doesn’t even know how much we are proud of him. … He really helped us come back in the game.”
A back injury in the summer slowed Hopkins’ progress.
“That really set me back a little bit,” he said before adding that he tried to go to practice each day with the mindset of “working my butt off.”
Hopkins acknowledged the wait for his opportunity was not easy. He noted how UK Coach John Calipari counsels players to keep working as they wait for an opportunity.
“Today was mine,” he said. “And I just took advantage of that. I was in the gym and kept working on my game. Today was the day I finally broke through.”
Hopkins scored all his points in a second half that followed Kentucky’s uninspiring first half.
“I saw in the first half we were playing a little slow,” he said. “Coach was saying we need a little more energy. So, that’s what I tried to do.”
Hopkins contributed a foul-line jumper and two free throws to a rally that reduced LSU’s 31-23 halftime lead to 36-34 at the first television timeout of the second half. Those were Hopkins’ first points since Jan. 25.
He wasn’t finished. His basket on a drive tied it at 36-36. Then Hopkins gave Kentucky its first lead since 6-3 with a putback while being fouled. The three-point play put Kentucky ahead 39-36.
Hopkins still wasn’t finished. He pulled up for a jumper that put Kentucky ahead 43-38. That meant he had scored 11 of UK’s last 15 points. It prompted a LSU timeout with 13:48 left.
Calipari spoke of Hopkins’ breakout performance as a reflection of a team that can do big things.
The UK coach said he told the players after the game, “good teams have good players. Great teams have great teammates.
“These guys are terrific teammates.”
Hopkins said he found solace in Daimion Collins’ productive game at Alabama earlier this month.
“It was encouraging …,” he said. “I was proud of him. We all were. It’s a brotherhood here and a family.”
Tshiebwe said he had offered Hopkins encouraging words. The payoff came against LSU.
“This is the Bryce we need …,” Tshiebwe said. “If he keeps playing like this, he’s going to help this team very much.”
Next game
No. 6 Kentucky at No. 18 Arkansas
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
TV: CBS-27
This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 1:28 AM.
