‘Most improved player in the SEC.’ Petty’s near-historic double-double leads Kentucky.
Ajae Petty was on the money when Kentucky needed her most Thursday night.
That’s been the story of the senior’s 2023-24 season thus far, making her one of the most — if not the most — improved players in the Southeastern Conference.
“I’ve just been wowed by what she’s done in the offseason,” Arkansas head coach Mike Neighbors said after his Razorbacks absorbed Petty’s most recent star turn. “And how their staff has gotten her focused, how they use her, how they play through her.”
Petty, a 6-foot-3 forward from Baltimore, left LSU for Kentucky after two seasons in which she barely played. Last season, she played in all 29 UK games, averaging 5.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per outing, but did not make one start.
Kentucky head coach Kyra Elzy noted several times during the offseason the leap forward Petty had taken in workouts. Petty backed that up by leading the Wildcats in scoring and rebounding during their nonconference campaign.
Evidence grew from Thursday night’s SEC opener against the Razorbacks that Petty’s upward trajectory is showing no signs of slowing.
Petty scored 10 points during a critical second-quarter run and another 10 to help Kentucky pull away down the stretch in a surprising 73-63 Wildcats victory. After the game, Neighbors called Petty “the most improved player in the SEC.”
Petty finished with 22 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, which put her just short of being the first Wildcat since Valerie Still (42 points, 20 rebounds in December 1982 against Charleston) to record a 20-20 double-double.
“We just talked about ‘we need to put our feet in the paint and score,’” Elzy said. “And so, whatever that looked like in transition offense, whether that was pounding the ball inside through the post, or driving the ball to the paint. That was our game plan.”
In posting her eighth double-double this season, Petty increased her averages to 16.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game as the Wildcats improved to 8-7 overall.
Doing it with defense
Neither Arkansas (12-4, 0-1 SEC) nor Kentucky made any sort of offensive impact in the first 10 minutes of Thursday’s game. Both teams struggled to successfully identify, and then land, good shots. Arkansas led 8-6 after one quarter, missing 13 of its first 15 shots while UK missed 12 of its 15.
Once the second quarter got rolling, so did the Wildcats’ offense. With six minutes remaining in the half, Kentucky strung together an 18-4 run to close out the period. In Neighbors’ mind, his team “didn’t handle (Kentucky’s) physicality.”
“Should have handled it better,” Neighbors said. “I think we played enough teams to be physically ready. I just think Kentucky amped it up. I really do. I think we got off to a good start, and I think their coaching staff got them together faster than I got ours together. They made the adjustment quicker, and it was just too big of a hole to dig out of.”
Kentucky led 26-14 at halftime.
During the second quarter, the Wildcats’ shooting percentage rocketed to 52.9 percent (9-of-17). Their level of confidence on offense — which often mirrors their defensive success (or struggle) — was palpable. And their defensive numbers for the quarter reflected that. The Wildcats forced seven turnovers in the period and converted those into eight points while holding Arkansas to 3-for-16 shooting and six points.
“We talked about getting up in their shorts,” Kentucky point guard Brooklynn Miles said. “Making sure we’re running them off the three-point line because we know they’re a good three-point shooting team. So just every day we’ve been doing it in practice, everything coach Elzy’s been installing in our head is finally showing and paying off.”
Kentucky, which won only two league games and tied for last in the SEC in 2022-23, looked united in purpose in their 2023-24 conference opener. That held true even when Arkansas came out firing to start the second half.
Led by freshman Taliah Scott, the SEC’s leading scorer, and four double-figure performers, it was only a matter of time before the Razorbacks were going to zero in on the basket. In the third quarter, they did so, making 9 of 13 shots, including 3 of 5 from long range, to assemble a 23-10 run that turned their 12-point deficit into a 37-36 lead
Kentucky quickly rediscovered its footing to enter the fourth quarter with a 44-43 advantage.
“And that’s demoralizing,” Neighbors said of UK blunting Arkansas’ run. “But all credit to Kentucky for doing all that.”
UK at last created the separation it needed when Petty went on a personal 6-0 run that expanded the Wildcats’ lead to 61-55 with 3:09 left to play. Kentucky made 9 of 11 free throws in the final period to close things out, including 4 of 5 by Miles, who finished with 12 points.
“Everyone’s more locked into what we actually need to do in order to win,” Petty said. “You know, you take the lessons. We don’t really call it losses, you call it lessons. You learn from everything that we encountered in the offseason and you just make sure you don’t go and make those same mistakes.”
Plenty of work ahead
Thursday night’s box score revealed a couple statistical oddities the Wildcats can take back to the gym to work on.
UK finished 0-for-10 from 3-point range, its first game without a made 3-pointer since December 2021 against DePaul.
Also, the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer this season, senior guard Maddie Scherr, was credited with zero field goal attempts in 29 foul-plagued minutes. Scherr contributed three points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal — but committed six turnovers — before fouling out.
Fifth-year guard Emma King finished with 10 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals for Kentucky. Arkansas’ Samara Spencer led all players with 25 points. Scott, who average 23 points entering the game, was limited to 11.
Kentucky’s next opportunity to make a statement arrives Sunday against Tennessee (8-5, 1-0) at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville. The Lady Vols, who struggled almost as much as the Wildcats during nonconference play, are adjusting to their new normal after several injuries.
Tennessee opened league play Thursday night with a 75-67 victory over Auburn (11-3, 0-1). Rickea Jackson, a likely lottery pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, posted 24 points and 19 rebounds for an eye-catching double-double of her own.
In addition to giving UK a chance to extend its win streak to five and fight for its first road win of the season, Sunday’s game will also reunite Tennessee transfer Miles with her former team for the first time since her exit via the transfer portal in the spring.
“All the games mean the same to me, you know, SEC,” Miles said. “It’s time to win. We’re gonna win. So yeah, but I’m ready. I’m ready, to say the least.”
Next game
When: Noon Sunday
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Kentucky 8-7 (1-0 SEC), Tennessee 8-5 (1-0)
Series: Tennessee leads 59-16
Last meeting: Tennessee won 80-71 on March 3, 2023, in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C.
