‘Our softest performance to date.’ No. 8 Kentucky struggles to rebound in loss at Ole Miss
With 34 seconds to play in No. 8 Kentucky’s 66-57 loss at Ole Miss on Monday night, graduate guard Dazia Lawrence missed a 3-point attempt — and the Wildcats gave up the rebound.
Though two Wildcats, Teonni Key and Clara Strack, finished with double-doubles, Kentucky’s inability to finish on the glass cost the team big-time in its second Southeastern Conference loss. The moment, which secured the Rebels’ 54th and final rebound of the night, was emblematic of Kentucky’s overall performance, which head coach Kenny Brooks called “probably our softest performance to date.”
The Wildcats (19-3, 8-2 SEC) grabbed only 33 rebounds total, and the Rebels collected 27 offensive rebounds to UK’s four; Ole Miss scored 16 second-chance points, and took its first and final legitimate lead of the night late in the third quarter after Kentucky had led by as many as eight with just under five minutes to play in the period.
“We got out-toughed,” Brooks said. “And when you get out-toughed and you don’t play to that level, you’re not going to rebound the basketball. But I think the most disappointing part was that, when you’re in a fight, you have to know you’re in a fight. You have to adjust. And we really didn’t adjust throughout, especially in the second half.”
Because of their massive rebounding advantage, the Rebels (16-7, 7-4 SEC) took 21 more shots than the Wildcats (77 to 56). Ole Miss shot less efficiently than Kentucky by 12.1% and made two fewer 3-pointers (four to two) but still pushed the Wildcats one game back from the upper echelon of the SEC standings.
Kentucky entered the night tied in the loss column with league front-runners LSU, Texas and South Carolina (10-1). Now, the Wildcats, alone in fourth place at 8-2, stand a loss behind that group with the third-ranked Longhorns next on the schedule on Thursday night in Memorial Coliseum. Texas handed South Carolina its first regular-season conference loss since 2021 on Sunday.
“When somebody gets 27 offensive rebounds and they get 21 more shots than you get,” Brooks said. “It’s going to be really hard to win a basketball game. And we just didn’t do enough to win, and the mentality just wasn’t good enough.”
‘We didn’t have it’
Kentucky led for more than 27 minutes in Monday’s loss, and had three players finish in double-figure scoring, but, according to Brooks, the Wildcats failed to capitalize on key opportunities after winning the first quarter.
“Even as we would get close, we would make a mental mistake,” Brooks said. “... But we didn’t have it. We didn’t have it. And, you know, we had a couple kids who really performed under par, and some other kids almost tried to make up for that. And it wasn’t our night. And they just out-toughed us the whole game.”
Key led the way for the Wildcats with 18 points and 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. She added four blocks, three steals and two assists, made both of her 3-point attempts and scored 10 of her points during the first half. Strack earned her 11th double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 rebounds. She added three assists, one steal and set a program record for single-game blocks with eight; she now has an SEC-leading 57 on the season.
“Clara Strack and Teonni Key played really, really hard,” Brooks said. “But they had to overcome too much. You know, we had a couple people that just really didn’t show up tonight, and therefore we were just a little bit off. And I thought those two, in particular, battled, and they came up with 12 blocks, you know, themselves, but they, I think they got tired.”
The third “triplet” in the Wildcats’ typically dominant frontcourt trio, junior forward Amelia Hassett, finished with five rebounds, two blocks, four fouls and zero points on zero shot attempts in 29 minutes and 15 seconds of playing time. Brooks said Ole Miss “wanted it a lot more than we did.” Only Madison Scott contributed more than nine points for the Rebels, finishing with 22 points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks in more than 35 minutes on the floor.
“We had a couple kids just standing around watching the whole game,” Brooks said. “You know, Amelia Hassett plays 29, 30 minutes, and she doesn’t even get a shot. And you know, it’s just, I don’t know how you do that. I really don’t. If you’re not getting the basketball in the flow of the game, you can also, you know, as good a rebounder as she is, go and get a rebound. And we just didn’t have that.”
Hassett entered Thursday’s contest averaging 10.4 points on 8.0 field goal attempts, 8.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. When asked what he thinks he can do to “get (Hassett) going again,” Brooks said, “no clue.”
“We didn’t tell her not to shoot,” Brooks said. “That’s all I’ve got to say about that.”
All-America point guard Georgia Amoore finished with 15 points, five assists and one steal, and was instrumental in establishing the Wildcats’ first quarter advantage, scoring nine points in the period. One game removed from her career-high, 43-point performance at Oklahoma, Amoore played just half of the second quarter because of foul trouble and was held scoreless in the third quarter.
“If you ask her, she’ll think she could have played a lot better,” Brooks said. “There were a couple shots that, you know, had an opportunity to really cut it, give us some momentum, and just didn’t fall for us. But we can’t rely on her to be able to do it all. We’ve got to be a well-rounded team. And tonight, we weren’t that.”
Brooks noted how many of the Wildcats’ shortcomings were clearly visible, and that preparing for Thursday’s matchup against Texas will include “some accountability.” Kentucky may not have played the way the team had hoped, but Brooks said it was important that the team doesn’t “hang our head” after the loss to Ole Miss.
“If we do,” Brooks said. “This could be a hangover, and it can affect the next situation. It’s what you signed up for, to come play in a league like this, as tough as it is, and you gotta be able to bounce back quickly. You’ve got to have amnesia, so to speak, and come out, be ready to go. Because, if not, you know, Texas can embarrass you.”
Next game
No. 3 Texas at No. 8 Kentucky
What: Play4Kay Game
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WLAP-AM 630
Records: Kentucky 19-3 (8-2 SEC), Texas 24-2 (10-1 SEC)
Series: Texas leads 2-0
Last meeting: Texas won 72-60 on Nov. 24, 2007, in Honolulu in the second round of the Wahine Classic
