Jaxson Robinson is playing the 'most well-rounded' basketball Mark Pope has ever seen

Jaxson Robinson has played 113 career college basketball games. Not once has he scored more in back-to-back games than what he’s done over Kentucky’s last two wins. The timing couldn’t be better, either.

Robinson’s season hit a low when he finished with just five points on 1-5 shooting and four fouls in the Wildcats’ road loss to Georgia just a little over a week ago. His confidence was gone. He spent over 30 minutes getting up shots on the Rupp Arena floor after a 5-12 shooting performance against Florida the game before that.

Preseason expectations, fair or not, were not being met. Kentucky needed more from Robinson. He answered the call by scoring 27 points on the road against Mississippi State, followed up by 22 more on Tuesday night at home against Texas A&M — both Top 15 opponents. Robinson shot a combined 17-29 from the field and 12-23 from deep in those two wins.

Soooo smooth from @Robinsonjaxx 🤌

📺 – ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/hwm05yEvqL

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 15, 2025

But it wasn’t just the scoring that stood out to Robinson, or even his head coach. He grabbed eight rebounds against the Aggies, tying his season-best, adding that he was happier about those boards than his points. His defense continues to be an underrated part of his game. Robinson isn’t just a scorer on this team right now, and that’s exactly what the ‘Cats need.

“I think it’s probably the most well-rounded that I’ve seen him play,” Mark Pope, who is in year three of coaching Robinson, said postgame. “The 27 and the 22 (points) stand out. One game on the road, one game here against essentially two Top 10 teams. It’s really not the scoring. It’s his contribution on the defensive end.

“He had a huge defensive play in the guts of the game where he had to pick up the point — and (Zhuric) Phelps is devastating off the bounce. He caused Alabama so much, I mean, when you watch the film, he was just causing so much frustration. Because he was getting downhill every time and Jaxson immediately jumped in, met him with the Championship Chest, took away the reject, and it was fine. He’s making plays like that consistently on the defensive end.”

But regardless of his rebounds or defense, the hardest part about scoring 27 points is that people expect you to do it again. Robinson missed a trio of three-pointers before three minutes could even run off the clock against Texas A&M. But he got himself going a minute after that with an easy shot at the rim. 40 seconds later, he drained his first three-pointer. The confidence swelled from there and never died down.

“It’s the resilience of missing the first three or four shots and you think, ‘Man was the other night just an anomaly and I’m going back to it?’,” Pope said. “He didn’t. He was like ‘Nope, I’m here to play. And I’m gonna keep making plays.'”

Robinson wouldn’t admit it publicly, but playing against his former team in Texas A&M surely helped inspire his performance. His technical in the first half for staring down the Aggie bench was some proof of that. But that’s a byproduct of believing in himself.

“It’s all about confidence with me, and I think I’ve figured it out,” Robinson said postgame. “I’ve got my feet wet. I’m excited to keep hooping.”

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