A Kentuckian shall lead them: Harlan County’s Blair Green steps up again in UK win
Blair Green has taken her game to a new level for the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team.
For the second straight game, the Harlan County native was UK’s most dangerous offensive weapon. Green scored a team-high 18 points, leading the 12th-ranked Wildcats to a 76-71 victory over Auburn in Alabama on Thursday night.
The Cats and Tigers were originally supposed to meet Jan. 14 but the game was postponed and eventually rescheduled for Thursday because a combination of positive COVID-19 tests, contact tracing and quarantining within Auburn’s program.
Last Sunday, Green scored a career-high 22 points to lead the shorthanded Wildcats to an 80-73 win over Vanderbilt. Against the Tigers, she was red-hot from the field and had a pair of scoring outbursts that helped UK push its lead to double digits.
“Blair Green, she stepped up,” UK Coach Kyra Elzy said. “Auburn did a great job. They were trapping us, they weren’t letting us set. So, she was making hard cuts to the basket and she made some big shots.”
Green hit seven of nine shots, including two of three from the perimeter, and added three rebounds. In her last two games combined, Green has gone 14-for-19 from the field and hit six of eight three-pointers. She’s also flashed a keen ability to get to the middle and knock down mid-range jumpers. Following Thursday’s win, Green said she’s taking what the defense gives her.
“The other team has really been zoning us the last two games. A lot of my game when I came from high school was really just moving and being smart on the offensive end,” Green said. “So I’ve just been trying to move. … And the coaches have really been on us about trying to cut (to the) middle, because it’s wide-open in there.”
After trailing by as many as 14, Auburn pulled within 72-67 with 1:07 to play on All-SEC forward Unique Thompson’s jumper. The Tigers forced a 10-second violation with 56 seconds to go but missed two shots on their next possession. Green and Rhyne Howard made two free throws each to ice the win.
Thompson scored a game-high 22 and grabbed 10 rebounds. It was the 51st double-double of her career, the most in program history.
Howard returned to UK’s starting lineup after missing the Vanderbilt game because of an ankle injury. Also back for the Cats were guards Robyn Benton, Jazmine Massengill and Kameron Roach, all of whom were absent against Vandy because of COVID-19 protocols.
Howard spent much of the game playing point guard. She had just three points in the first half, but her three-pointer midway through the first quarter gave UK a 14-12 advantage and the Cats never again trailed after the teams traded the lead eight times.
Howard finished with 14 points on 4-for-8 shooting. She knocked down three of seven three-pointers and pitched in five rebounds and four assists. After Auburn cut Kentucky’s lead to single digits early in the fourth, Howard nailed a shot from long distance to stretch the advantage back to 12.
“Coming down the stretch when we needed buckets, Rhyne Howard stepping into that three, (did) a great job of surveying the floor,” Elzy said. “Big-time players make big-time plays when you need it.”
Benton, who played two years at Auburn before transferring to UK in April, scored 10 points off the bench in her first game against her former team. Dre’una Edwards also had a big night for the Cats, hitting five of six shots and scoring 10 points to go along with five rebounds.
UK (11-3 overall, 4-2 SEC) was dialed in from the perimeter early on, with Chasity Patterson, KeKe McKinney and Massengill also hitting shots from the beyond the arc in the first quarter. The Cats made six of 15 treys in the opening half and finished 10-for-28 on the night.
Auburn (5-8, 0-5) was able to keep it close in the first half largely because of second-chance points. The Tigers pulled down eight offensive rebounds before halftime, at one point grabbing four on a single possession, which eventually led to a three-pointer by Romi Levy that cut Kentucky’s lead to 26-22.
UK led by as many as 11 in the first half, thanks in part to a seven-point spurt by Green over four possessions. Her jumper made it 38-27 UK late in the second quarter. Kentucky led 40-32 at halftime.
Green scored seven more quick points in the third quarter as the Cats stretched the advantage to 14, but Auburn drew within six thanks to a 7-0 run capped by a three-pointer by Alycia Reese. Following a UK timeout, Howard nailed a three to halt the Tigers’ run.
Auburn outrebounded the Cats, 41-38, and scored 38 points in the paint to 28 for UK.
Muting social media
Elzy often discusses with her team avoiding distractions from what she deems “The three P’s.” Namely: parents, peers and the press.
Following last Sunday’s win over Vanderbilt, Green said the team has done a great job filtering out distractions of all kinds this season. When it comes to maintaining maximum focus, Green has taken one specific step that would likely come hard for most college students.
“I don’t think I have too many distractions. … My parents are just encouraging me and just telling me to lock in and dial into what the coaches say, because they really trust in them,” Green said. “Right now, I’m trying to limit my social media and just stay off of there.”
Vols on deck
Next up, Kentucky travels to Tennessee on Sunday for a matchup with the 25th-ranked Volunteers that was added to the schedule this week.
The teams were supposed to meet for the first time this season on Jan. 3 but that game was postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak within the Volunteers’ program. UK was previously scheduled to be off on Sunday while Tennessee was scheduled to host Vanderbilt, but the Commodores canceled the remainder of their season this week because of a combination of COVID-19 issues, opt-outs and injuries. UK and Tennessee will meet in Lexington on Feb. 11.
Tennessee hosted No. 3 Connecticut on Thursday night and was defeated 67-61. The Volunteers had won seven of their last eight heading into that game and after the loss are 9-3 overall and 3-1 in the SEC, sitting alone in fourth place.
Last season, Kentucky swept Tennessee, winning 80-76 in Lexington then routing the Vols 86-65 in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.
Next game
No. 12 Kentucky at No. 25 Tennessee
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
This story was originally published January 21, 2021 at 11:03 PM.
