‘Back to the drawing board.’ Kenny Brooks explains Kentucky’s first loss, what comes next.
For much of the first quarter of No. 14 Kentucky’s 72-53 road loss to No. 16 North Carolina in the 2024 SEC/ACC Challenge, the Wildcats struggled to generate any meaningful offensive production and quickly fell behind by 15 points.
Despite double-figure scoring performances from Georgia Amoore, Dazia Lawrence and a double-double from Amelia Hassett, the Wildcats (7-1) never found a way to claw back in their wire-to-wire loss in Chapel Hill. It marked the first loss of the Kenny Brooks era, and moved the former Virginia Tech head coach’s all-time record against the Tar Heels to 10-3.
“They were better,” Brooks said. “They were better in every aspect of the game. They played tougher than we did. They were physical, they were quick to the basketball. They made shots. ... They pretty much dominated us, so we’ll get back to the drawing board. But we were not very good tonight.”
From start to finish — despite a couple of Kentucky scoring runs and minutes-long North Carolina scoring droughts that pulled the Wildcats within as few as nine in the second half — the Tar Heels outplayed the Wildcats.
UNC shot 47.5% (28-of-59) from the field, including 38.9% (7-of-18) from 3-point range, while Kentucky sank only 35.2% (19-of-54) from the field, including 29.2% (7-of-24) from long-range. The Tar Heels outrebounded the Wildcats 37-29, and outscored them 42-10 in the paint. UNC held Clara Strack, UK’s leading scorer and frontcourt anchor, to just four points, four rebounds, two assists and one block while keeping her in foul trouble for the majority of the contest, finishing with three personal fouls.
When asked by UK Network’s Darren Headrick, the voice of the Wildcats, after the game what he said to his team following the disappointing loss, Brooks said, “I told them they were bad.”
“I told them that we were bad,” Brooks said. “You know, we win and we lose collectively as a group. We could have done a better job of preparing them. We could have done a better job with certain situations. We all could have done a better job. And so, it counts one game. And hopefully this will motivate them to get back out and get hungry. But good thing is, we got a game again on ... Monday night, and we have to be better. We have to be better with our intent, with our energy.”
Brooks noted that it was “a hard game for some of the kids, especially Teonni (Key),” who transferred to Kentucky last summer after three seasons at North Carolina. Against the Tar Heels in her home state, Key contributed seven points, eight rebounds and one steal. She, like Strack, and point guard Georgia Amoore (four fouls), struggled with fouls, and was called for three.
“I didn’t see any signs that she was going to be a little bit out of it,” Brooks said of Key. “But, the way she played, she looked a little bit out of it. And the emotions that you just can’t, you can’t tell what’s going to happen when they put a lot into what they’re doing at a certain place, and then they leave it. You know, they come back, and then they’re going to have those emotions still. So there’s a lot to learn.”
Amoore finished with 10 points, eight assists and one steal in 40 minutes. It marked the former Virginia Tech leader’s third career loss to North Carolina. Should this be the final matchup of her career against UNC, Amoore will have an 8-3 all-time record against the Tar Heels.
Lawrence led the Wildcats with 17 points, and added one rebound. Brooks said, though “I’m sure there are some things that we need to work on with her,” he thought she “fought with some heart.”
Hassett added 13 points and 13 rebounds for her first double-double of the season, and also recorded one block and one steal.
“She was probably, I guess, the brightest star,” Brooks said. “No one really played well, and she’ll be the first to admit that there are some things that, you know, schematically, she wasn’t locked in on a couple plays, but, everyone was like that tonight. But she did battle, she did rebound the basketball, and she had a couple 3s for us to keep us within striking distance. But we never could get over the hump after that.”
UNC’s Reniya Kelly led all players in scoring with 18 points. She added three rebounds, six assists and one steal. Maria Gakdeng finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. Alyssa Ustby contributed 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.
“This team, we love each other so much,” Ustby said. “And we’re not just playing defense. We’re playing hard for each other. We have each other’s backs. Sometimes it feels like we’re on the playground because of how much fun we’re having, and that’s what it comes down to when you’re playing basketball.”
The Wildcats return to action Monday with a home game against Queens University of Charlotte (4-3).
“We have a lot to learn from it,” Brooks said. “You never want to lose, no one ever wants to lose, but it’s inevitable. I don’t think anybody’s going to go undefeated this year, and what do you do with the loss? Do you learn from it? Do you dwell on it? We have a lot to learn from. But in no way, shape or form did I think that we were going to go undefeated. But I was disappointed with our execution today, our effort.”
Next game
No. 14 Kentucky vs. Queens University of Charlotte
When: 6 p.m. Monday
Where: Memorial Coliseum
TV: SEC Network+ (online only)
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: UK 7-1, Queens 4-3
SEC/ACC Challenge
(SEC wins Challenge 10-6)
Wednesday
▪ Virginia Tech 70, Georgia 61
▪ Georgia Tech 78, Mississippi State 75
▪ No. 11 Oklahoma 78, No. 22 Louisville 72
▪ Tennessee 79, Florida State 77
▪ Texas A&M 57, Syracuse 45
▪ Vanderbilt 88, Miami 70
Thursday
▪ No. 16 North Carolina 72, No. 14 Kentucky 53
▪ Auburn 66, Virginia 57
▪ No. 10 Notre Dame 80, No. 4 Texas 70 (OT)
▪ North Carolina State 68, No. 18 Ole Miss 61
▪ Arkansas 75, Boston College 64
▪ Florida 77, Clemson 64
▪ No. 3 South Carolina 81, No. 8 Duke 70
▪ No. 5 LSU 94, Stanford 88 (OT)
▪ California 69, No. 19 Alabama 65
▪ Missouri 68, SMU 61
This story was originally published December 6, 2024 at 8:12 AM.
