Why Amoore, Brooks believe Belmont taught Kentucky basketball ‘a lot about ourselves.’
Kenny Brooks and All-America graduate point guard Georgia Amoore weren’t surprised when consistent mid-major standout Belmont took Kentucky to the wire in the Wildcats’ 84-78 comeback victory on Friday night.
Amoore said that the Kentucky (10-1) coaching staff did its best to hammer it into the players’ minds “from the get-go,” that Belmont is “aggressive, they don’t give up, they’re pesky, they’re there on rebounds.”
Belmont, of course, isn’t the first “underdog” to give the Wildcats a strong first punch during the Brooks tenure. Against Purdue Fort Wayne on Nov. 18, or at Purdue on Dec. 14, Kentucky trailed after the first 10 minutes of play, and struggled to get consistent, meaningful offensive production out of its responsibility-laden starting five — or anybody else. Versus the Bruins on Friday night, the Wildcats encountered that problem once more, and, this time, did not secure a comfortable lead until the third quarter.
“We knew that they were coming,” Amoore said. “But I don’t know if we just didn’t believe they were going to do it until it finally happened. But it was like, ‘We’re giving it to them. They’re the ones to the ball, they’re more desperate for everything. They’re hitting big-time shots, and we’re just kind of relaxed on defense.’”
Brooks agreed with Amoore’s sentiment, and said he felt his team was “soft with the basketball a couple times,” and that “we got our hand on it, but we didn’t corral it or pull it in.”
“And that’s something that we’re going to have to understand,” Brooks said. “That we’re going to have to do as we start to play a little bit more aggressive basketball teams. We have to put our height and length on display, and go out there and really take advantage of it. And I don’t think that we did that quite enough, or quite early enough. We did it when we had to, but we need to be more aggressive early on in the game.”
Bolstered by a 20-point, second-half performance from Amoore and double-figure scoring from fellow starters Amelia Hassett (16 points, 11 rebounds), Dazia Lawrence (15 points), Teonni Key (12 points) and Clara Strack (12 points) when all was said and done, the Wildcats survived an energized Belmont roster that led late in the third quarter, made 10 3-pointers and shot 45% (29-of-65) on UK’s home court.
“That was the biggest adjustment,” Amoore said. “Was just coming with more energy and just being more aware. They’re a difficult team to play against because you think you have one coverage down, and they have four other options out of that one action. So it’s one of the games for us where you can’t relax. If you blow something up, if you play action well, then they have more in their back pocket. So, I mean, it was a good team to play against for that reason because, you know, I don’t think I’ve played a team like this quite yet.”
Brooks — who’s known Belmont head coach Bart Brooks for years, and played against the Bruins’ leader since his first head coaching gig at James Madison — called Belmont “a very difficult challenge for us,” and said there were “matchup nightmares all over the place.”
“Very proud of our kids,” Brooks said. “They were very resilient. Got off to a little bit of a slow start, but they battled. They battled. They stepped up, they did a tremendous job fighting. Made adjustments. They went to ‘em and just performed well because we knew it was gonna be a difficult challenge tonight.”
Five separate Bruins — Jailyn Banks (23), Kendall Holmes (18), Emily La Chapell (12), Tuti Jones (11) and Kendal Cheesman (10) — contributed double-figure scoring in the loss to Kentucky, and led for nearly 20 minutes of a matchup that included seven lead changes and eight ties.
As of Friday evening, Belmont (5-6) ranked No. 47 in the NCAA NET rankings, which will be used come springtime to determine which programs do, and do not, make the NCAA Tournament. Though the Bruins’ record dipped below .500 with their loss to Kentucky, their nonconference schedule puts them among the most battle-tested programs in Division I basketball; in addition to the Wildcats, Belmont has now faced Kansas State, Ohio State, Duke, Michigan and Mississippi State before the start of Missouri Valley Conference play.
“They played Ohio State,” Brooks said. “I watched that game about 10 times, and, you know, I still don’t know how they lost that basketball game. They’re talented. I watched their game against Mississippi State. I still don’t know how they lost that basketball game, but they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with in their league, and so it’s a really good win for us. Really good win. I think we’re going to learn a lot about ourselves.”
Per NCAA NET guidelines, the Wildcats’ win Friday night can currently be categorized as a quadrant two victory — Kentucky’s third quad-two win this season, joining its 71-61 overtime win over Louisville at home on Nov. 16 and its 76-53 victory over Illinois on Nov. 27 as part of the Music City Classic tournament during the week of Thanksgiving.
Only Western Kentucky on Dec. 28 stands between the Wildcats and Southeastern Conference play. In addition to Brooks’ desire to see full, consistent effort and production from his starters, he’d also like to raise expectations for his bench, which, collectively, contributed just six points (all via freshman center Clara Silva) against the Bruins.
“It’s something that has been on my mind,” Brooks said. “But honestly, as I look across the country, I look at it, a lot of people are playing seven or eight people. I watched a game where Belmont played Middle Tennessee State, and he subbed one time, and it was somebody for three minutes, and that was it. But we need the bench to step up and I’ve got to be able to trust them, and I’ve just gotta put them out there.”
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Next game
Western Kentucky at No. 16 Kentucky
When: Dec. 28 at 4 p.m.
TV: SEC Network+ (online only)
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: UK 10-1, Western Kentucky 9-2
Series: Tied 14-14
Last meeting: WKU won 66-57 on Dec. 4, 2008, in Bowling Green
This story was originally published December 21, 2024 at 8:47 AM.
