Jaxson Robinson bounced back with a 20-point night

Jaxson Robinson didn’t pack his 3-point shot or any of his scoring tools for the Champions Classic in Atlanta last Tuesday. Maybe it was the environment, perhaps the NBA scouts. Whatever the case, Robinson didn’t have his best stuff against the Blue Devils. He took only four shots in the entire game and missed them all, including three attempts from outside. Even when Robinson drew a foul on a fourth 3-point attempt, he missed two of the three freebies at the foul line. Still, Kentucky won the highly competitive game with one point scored from its starting wing.

Mark Pope defended Robinson after that game, saying, “We didn’t win without Jax because Jax is such an impact guy. Talk about a gravity guy. You just throw Jax on the court, and four guys are leaning towards him. His numbers may not be huge, but he has an impact when he walks in the gym, he has an impact on the scout, he has an impact on all those things.”

Robinson made an immediate impact in his first bounce-back opportunity Tuesday night, a win over Lipscomb in Rupp Arena. He broke out of his shooting slump early into the night with two first-half 3-pointers against the Bisons, leading the way into halftime with 13 points and his team up by 17.

The transfer from BYU picked right back up after intermission, scoring the second basket of the second half with a transition jumper for his 14th and 15th points, extending the Wildcats’ lead to 21. A minute later, another jumper. Then, his third 3-pointer of the night with 15:04 to go, pushing Kentucky further ahead by 25. Robinson’s third 3 also gave him 20 for the night, his first 20-point game as a Wildcat.

Robinson finished the evening with 20 points and seven rebounds in a Kentucky blowout. He told Travis Ford and Andrew Kappes in his postgame TV interview, “The Duke win was great. I felt like for me personally, I let my team down with my body langauge last game, so I felt like tonight, I just wanted to make sure I was aggressive and a great teammate and let everything else take care of itself.”

.@Robinsonjaxx postgame thoughts on @SECNetwork+. pic.twitter.com/0Kt8k9FkYg

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) November 20, 2024

Mark Pope proud of Robinson’s defense

Mark Pope saw Robinson score 20+ in five games at BYU last season, so Pope was more impressed by Robinson’s continued commitment to defense and being a great teammate. He noticed Robinson’s defense early in the game against Lipscomb while others were cheering for Robinson’s scoring.

“You know what’s great about Jax?” Pope asked in his postgame comments. “What’s great about Jaxson is in that our last game he didn’t have huge offensive numbers but he had a big offensive impact, and he was unbelievable down the stretch on the defensive end. He made game-winning plays on the defensive end, wasn’t exactly the game that people expected from them… Came back tonight and started the game on the defensive end, like totally dialed in on the defensive end, and I’m so proud of him for keeping main things, the main things.”

Hear more from Mark Pope in his postgame press conference.