Three Wildcats fouled out against Oklahoma. Here’s how Kentucky still won.
Clara Silva was given “one job” before Kentucky’s 95-86 win at Oklahoma on Sunday — foul out of the game.
The 6-foot-7 freshman, who entered the contest averaging just over one personal foul in 12.5 minutes per game, brings exactly what coach Kenny Brooks’ offense thrives on — height and length, strong passing and high-level basketball IQ. She has all the tangibles, not to mention a genuine chemistry with her teammates.
However, Silva is just 18 years old, despite the fact that she has years of FIBA experience with the Portuguese Junior National Team and has spent the past few years with Unicaja Málaga in Spain, playing alongside, and against, athletes sometimes old enough to be her mother. And, just as there was an adjustment period then, here comes another.
As the No. 11 Wildcats (19-2, 8-1 SEC) continue to impress during their difficult Southeastern Conference slate, the need for frontcourt depth rings as important as ever. Especially in the face of consistent foul trouble from its stat-sheet-packing “triplets,” Clara Strack, Amelia Hassett and Teonni Key.
Brooks and his staff aren’t so concerned with whether or not Silva can adjust; she possesses the skill, talent and work ethic, it’s just finding how best to get her there. The goal?
“We wanted her to be more aggressive,” Brooks explained. “She hasn’t been as aggressive as we’d like, and we were like ‘OK, it’s OK to foul out.’”
Silva recorded one foul in the first quarter, which Kentucky controlled entirely as it eased out to an 11-point advantage. The second quarter, which featured a series of Oklahoma adjustments (and, consequentially, an increase in competitive edge), also included three additional fouls called on the freshman, in just four minutes and thirty-two seconds on the floor.
“She almost took me up on that in the first half,” Brooks said.
Kentucky led for more than 38 minutes of the contest, but — in front of a loud Oklahoma crowd, against a deep, talented roster that’s landed on the wrong end of a few (key) close games throughout the season — it was played like a close game until the final buzzer. Silva scored all eight of her points during the first half, and she didn’t receive any third quarter minutes, but she didn’t leave the court for the final time until late in the fourth period. On the floor for two total minutes in the fourth, Silva notched her fifth and final foul with just 43 seconds remaining; the play resulted in a pair of made free throws by OU’s Sahara Williams, returning the single-digit score differential. Silva met the objective, and UK fended off the then-No. 13 Sooners to earn their second straight win over a ranked team.
How Kenny Brooks navigated all that foul trouble at Oklahoma
What wasn’t in the plan, though, was two of Kentucky’s gamechangers, Strack and Key, also picking up five fouls against the Sooners. Neither earned their disqualifying whistles until fewer than four minutes remained, but, as previously noted, nothing is promised against a team which, at that point, suffered three of its four SEC losses by single digits.
Strack entered the matchup averaging 31.4 minutes per game, and Key 28.3. Against Oklahoma, Strack logged only 25:56, and Key 22:04. Hassett played nearly 34 minutes in Norman — besting her 20-game average of 32.6 minutes per contest — and committed four fouls.
When asked how he navigated the foul trouble, especially near the end, Brooks first complimented the play of Oklahoma center Raegan Beers, who was named a preseason All-SEC first-team selection after two dominant seasons with Oregon State and, according to Brooks, made his post players’ jobs very difficult, despite the win.
“Raegan Beers is, if not, the best post player in the country,” Brooks said. “She’s very strong. You know, not only just the best player, she is the hardest guard in the country, as hard of a guard as Georgia (Amoore) is at the top of the key to playing the point guard, Raegan is as hard in the post. Because she’s strong, she’s smart, she plays position basketball and the only thing you can do is just hope that she misses sometimes.”
Against the Wildcats, Beers contributed 18 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and one steal. She was called for four personal fouls, and drew six in 25:08 of playing time. Given Beers’ prowess, Brooks said, he was pleased with Silva, Strack and Key’s defensive performances. The foul calls, he said, are part of the deal. What they were able to achieve in working to contain Beers proved to be enough to move to 8-1 in league play.
“I thought all three of them did a really good job,” Brooks said. “As good a job as they can do, to try to make it as difficult as possible. And when you do that, you’re going to put yourself in harms way and get some fouls. Lucky for us, we’re very blessed that we have a bye on Thursday, so they’ll get probably an extra massage and get ready for their stretch run. But I’m very proud that they made it difficult enough that we were able to win the basketball game.”
When asked her thoughts on Brooks’ giving Beers the credit, Oklahoma head coach Jennie Baranczyk paused before she said “that’s a hard one to answer.”
“Obviously, we like Raegan,” Baranczyk said. “And some of them are tough. ... I’m trying to say this. .... It’s hard to have a flow and obviously we want to be able to get some production in the paint. I’d actually continue to like to see her game continue to progress. I’d like to see her get more free throws, even, so, I know people found out, but she had five free throws. So those are some things I’d like to be able to see, as well. And so, we need to be able to get her the ball a little bit faster.”
Like Silva, Strack sat out a quarter, as well. After committing two fouls in nearly seven minutes on the floor in the first period, Strack did not play in the second. She watched as the Sooners outscored the Wildcats 17-15 before halftime, but returned in the third to keep Oklahoma at bay. Strack committed no personal fouls in the third quarter, but hit her limit with 53 seconds to play in the fourth after playing more than nine minutes of the period. Strack finished with 19 points, six rebounds, one assist, two blocks and five steals, with 10 points, two rebounds, one block and two steals coming in the third quarter.
Key was called for one foul in fewer than four minutes on the floor in the first quarter, and two more in 8:24 of playing time in the second. She committed none in the third quarter, of which she played less than half, and two more in nearly 5 1/2 minutes in the fourth quarter; Key fouled out with 3:37 remaining in the game. She finished with two points, six rebounds, two assists and one steal.
“We weren’t ready,” Baranczyk said. “And I don’t know if that was residue, and we weren’t able to prepare. I don’t know if that was just a bad plan. I don’t know if it was just the game, but we were not ready.”
Through Kentucky’s 22 contests, Strack is averaging 3.4 fouls per game, while Key averages 3.2. But as a team, Kentucky averages an SEC-low 16.0 fouls per contest. Its next two opponents rank within the league’s top six of personal fouls per game; Ole Miss, which UK will face on Feb. 10 in Oxford, ranks sixth in the league with 18.1 personal fouls per contest, while Texas, which Kentucky hosts on Feb. 13, leads the league with 22.2 fouls per game. The Sooners now rank third in the SEC in personal fouls per game with 19.6.
“(The Sooners) play so hard,” Brooks said. “They play so hard, and I’m glad we play ‘em once. I hope we don’t play in the tournament because they just wear you out.”
Next game
No. 12 Kentucky at Ole Miss
When: 7 p.m. EST Monday
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Kentucky 19-2 (8-1 SEC), Ole Miss 15-6 (6-3)
Series: Ole Miss leads 28-19
Last meeting: Ole Miss won 75-45 on Feb. 29, 2024 at Rupp Arena in Lexington
