Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s impressive win at Florida
Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s convincing thumping of the Florida Gators 76-58 in Gainesville on Saturday:
1. First they knelt, then they rolled
During the national anthem at the O’Connell Center, the Kentucky basketball team and coaches took a knee together. Heading down to Gainesville, the players got together and made the decision they wanted to kneel. Olivier Sarr, Davion Mintz and Keion Brooks took the idea to Calipari. The coach said he wanted to hear why. After receiving the explanation, Calipari said he approved and asked if the team wanted the coach to join them. They said they did.
“There’s a lot of stuff that goes on every day, we knelt for,” Brooks said afterward. “(What happened at) the Capitol had a part to play in it, but there are a lot of things that you don’t see that are unacceptable.”
Then the Cats went out and lived up to the “unity” patch on their jerseys. The team that was stuck in the single digits in assists early in the year dished out 18 Saturday. The team that couldn’t shoot shot 55.8 percent for the game. The team that couldn’t shoot from three-point range made six of 13 shots from deep. The team that struggled at the foul line made 12 of 13 free throws.
Now the team that started 1-6 is 4-6 overall and 3-0 in the SEC.
“There was probably people putting dirt on the coffin, and we pushed that coffin open,” Calipari said.
“New year, new team,” Mintz said.
The 18-point win was Kentucky’s biggest by margin at Florida in the Calipari era, eclipsing a 74-59 win over the Gators accomplished by UK’s national title team on March 4, 2012. Up 41-33 early in the second half, a 10-0 run gave the visitors separation. From there, Kentucky kept increasing the gap. And Florida’s frustration.
I go back to the 18 assists. And the balance. Eight players scored. None scored more than 13. They shared the ball. They got good shots. They took advantage of transition opportunities. They played together as team. Right from the national anthem.
2. The Keion Brooks effect
Was the sophomore the missing piece of the puzzle? Sure looked that way. Saturday was Brooks’ first action of the season. A leg injury had kept him out of the season’s first nine games. He had only recently returned to full-contact practice. Surely the Indiana native would have to ease his way back into action, right? Wrong.
The 6-foot-7 forward played 24 minutes. He made six of eight shots and scored 12 points. He grabbed six rebounds and led the team in assists with four. He also contributed a steal and a blocked shot.
“It’s really nice to have a steadying force out there,” Calipari said afterward.
Actually, Brooks was already contributing before he hit the floor. As the lone returning player from last year who actually made it onto the floor last year, Brooks was able to help his new teammates through the struggles of a 1-6 start.
“Me playing for Cal before, I can navigate some of the troubles that we had,” he said Saturday, adding that his main message was, “Calm down, we’re going to be OK.”
If you think back to last season, Brooks had what might be his best game of the campaign at Florida. He scored 10 points, grabbed three rebounds and made two steals in a season-high 28 minutes as UK rallied from a 18-point deficit in the second half to win 71-70.
So it was sort of fitting that Brooks’ triumphant return would come in the Sunshine State.
Said Mintz, “He gives us a whole different element.”
3. The two SEC leaders meet Tuesday night in Rupp
That would be Alabama. The Crimson Tide is 4-0 in league play after its 94-90 win at Auburn on Saturday. And that would be Kentucky. After the horrific November and December, Calipari’s club is 3-0 in January.
Alabama experienced some early-season struggles of its own. The Tide were trampled 82-64 by Stanford in the Maui Classic, played in Asheville, N.C., back in November. They lost 64-56 to Clemson. And they lost to Rick Stansbury and Western Kentucky 73-71 in Tuscaloosa on Dec. 19.
Nate Oats’ club is 5-0 since. Four were SEC games. Following an 82-64 win over visiting Ole Miss, the Tide made a statement by knocking off No. 7 Tennessee 71-63 in Knoxville. It followed that with an 86-71 victory over Florida before the road win at its archrival on Saturday.
As was Kentucky on Saturday, Bama is balanced. Jaden Shackelford leads the team in scoring at 13.3 points per game. Villanova transfer Jahvon Quinerly is averaging 13 points per game. Veteran John Petty, who has been with the Tide since the Wimp Sanderson era, or so it seems, is averaging 12.6 points per game. And Herb Jones is averaging 12.4 points and 6.4 rebounds.
Tuesday will be a test. Alabama is playing with confidence. The Tide has momentum. Kentucky is playing with confidence. The Cats have momentum. And sorry, with the limited crowds, there is really no such thing as a home-court advantage right now.
“We just want to enjoy these kids’ growth right now,” Calipari said.
Tuesday’s 9 p.m. start on ESPN will be a good measuring stick for just how much this Kentucky team has grown.
This story was originally published January 9, 2021 at 9:19 PM.
