Ajae Petty shows signs of life despite losses to Miss. State and Georgia

As KSR’s Phoenix Stevens said on Wednesday, Ajae Petty was in the midst of a rough patch.

Now, I’d say “rough patch” lightly, but the Kentucky women’s basketball star was still playing below her standards this season. That changed last week.

The senior finished Thursday’s game with 11 points, 10 rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block in Kentucky’s 77-74 loss against Mississippi State. Not only did this mark her first game with double-digit scoring since Jan. 21, it was also her first double-double since the same game against Missouri. Additionally, in Sunday’s loss to Georgia, the senior dropped 25 points, along with five rebounds, two steals, an assist, and a block.

At the beginning of the season, Petty showed tons of promise. The senior was dropping double-doubles like it was NOTHING, consistently reaching that 10-point, 10-rebound threshold. It got to the point where Petty was securing more than 20 points in a game, with her highest being 33 against Tennessee Tech. After that game, the forward was named SEC Player of the Week. She even recorded a 20-20 double-double against Vanderbilt (23 points and 21 rebounds).

But in the following weeks, we didn’t see that version again until the last couple of games.

We’ve talked a lot about the transformation that Petty made in the offseason, both physically and mentally. Her success this season just goes to show that if you set your mind to it, you can achieve anything. That’s not to say that even the most successful rebounders in the SEC don’t have some bad games. It just so happened that Petty’s came during the middle of conference play/

I think we always knew that Petty would have some struggles going up against SEC opponents, especially since the senior is technically undersized compared to who she’s put up against. But, we’ve also seen Petty fight the fight, and prove that she can still perform under the basket despite the size difference. So, let’s take a look back at Petty’s play so far this season.

Non-Conference Games

Petty’s first double-double of the season was secured against ETSU, the very first game of the year, with 12 points and 13 rebounds. From the get-go, we knew that Petty had the potential to become All-SEC (is that still a possibility now?), and this game was only the start. From that point on, out of 14 non-conference games, Petty had a double-double in seven of them. In those 14 games, the senior was averaging 15.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Not quite averaging a double-double, yet.

Out of those seven games that Petty secured a double-double, only three of them were wins. However, I’m not really sure what to make of that stat. On one hand, Petty did exactly what she needed to do as a forward: score in the paint and get boards. On the other hand, I can’t help but think, maybe Petty could’ve done more. Regardless, seven double-doubles in 14 games is pretty impressive.

That’s not to say there weren’t any flukes. As I said, Petty was averaging just barely under a double-double a game. So, in instances like the Paradise Jam, Petty only totaled 24 points across the three games, with her highest being 11 against Colorado, which also happened to be the Wildcats’ worst loss. On top of that, Petty only secured 16 rebounds across the three games, her highest being seven against both Colorado and Cincinnati.

Another interesting stat is that in the seven games Petty didn’t secure a double-double, Kentucky won four of them. However, in three out of four of the wins, Petty scored well into double-digits. Which likely means that her lack of rebounds had more to do with the loss than her point production. With that being said, it’s clear that Petty was a crucial part to the team heading into SEC play, with her debut coming against Arkansas.

SEC Play

Ajae Petty is 6-foot-3. Which is considered tall to me, and it’s probably tall to you too. But in SEC play? Think again. We knew going into the conference schedule that Petty was going to have some struggles with being undersized. Considering she is Kentucky’s tallest player, exclusively playing as a center, going up against 6-5 and 6-6 centers was going to pose some issues for her. At the beginning of conference play, Petty showed no signs of struggle though. In fact, she secured double-doubles in UK’s first three SEC games, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt.

The historic 20-20 double-double against Vanderbilt, though, seemed like the grand finale after what came next. South Carolina. I get chills just thinking about that game.

For those who may not know, Kentucky was run out of Colonial Life Arena in a 62-point loss, 98-36. In that game, Petty only scored two points to go along with five rebounds. Out of Kentucky’s 23 games played so far this season, the South Carolina game is by far her worst. Whether or not that game created a mental block is unknown, but it’s clear that the result had some kind of effect on her. She hit double-digits just once (12 points against Missouri) over her next three games.

On February 1, however, something changed. Ajae Petty got her spark back. In an 11-point, 10-rebound performance against Mississippi State, Petty secured her first double-double since January 11 — three full weeks without an Ajae Petty double-double. Despite the fact that Petty didn’t secure a double-double on Sunday against Georgia, she did score 25 points. It seems to me like we’re getting back the Petty we know and love.

Ajae Petty is back in action on Sunday, Feb. 11, at 4:00 p.m. EST against Texas A&M at Rupp Arena. Will Petty get a double-double? I don’t want to jinx it, but I can’t wait to see the forward we saw at the beginning of conference play again.