LIVE BLOG: Kentucky vs. Brown
It’s finally time for Kentucky to get the taste of the Ohio State loss out of its mouth. KSR’s LIVE BLOG will bring you all the sights and sounds from Rupp Arena as the Cats host the Brown Bears (2 p.m. ET, ESPNU) in a New Year’s Eve matinee.
Ten days ago, the Cats took a surprising loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the CBS Sports Classic, which dropped their record to 10-2 and AP ranking to No. 10. Today, they’ll host a Brown team that is also coming off a lopsided loss. On Dec. 22, the Bears lost at No. 8 Kansas by 34 points. It was one of four losses of the season for Brown, whose best win was vs. Rhode Island in double overtime on Dec. 10. The Bears are led by Kino Lilly Jr., aka the “Ivy League Iverson,” a senior guard who averages 20.0 points per game.
How will the Cats do in their final tune-up before SEC play? Refresh the feed below for updates and our takes on the game, from both Rupp Arena and the couch. You can also join the conversation on the KSBoard Game Thread or by texting your observations to 859-587-3828 (standard messaging rates apply).
FINAL: Kentucky 88, Brown 54
12/31/2024 03:07:48 PMNow that’s more like it. Behind a strong second half, Kentucky gets back in the win column with an 88-54 victory over Brown. The Cats finished the game shooting 50%, including 35.7% from three. Kentucky made 10 of 28 three-points, the latter figure much closer to Mark Pope’s goal of 30+ attempts than we’ve seen recently.
Four Cats finished in double figures, led by Andrew Carr with 14. Otega Oweh, Amari Williams, and Koby Brea all had 13 points. Kentucky held Brown to 40.8% shooting, 23.8% from beyond the arc, forcing 23 turnovers while only committing five themselves. Not bad.
Up next: No. 6 Florida.
Make it TWO threes for Trent Noah!
12/31/2024 03:03:40 PMNoah just hit his second three, which takes Kentucky’s total today to ten (10-28) and the lead to 34 with 1:42 remaining. Let the good times roll.
Trent Noah three!
12/31/2024 02:59:15 PMNothing says a feel-good win like a three by Trent Noah. His trey at the 3:33 mark makes it Kentucky 83, Brown 47. It’s been a good day for the Kentucky boys. Fellow freshman Travis Perry also hit a three in the first half.
Kentucky up to 50% shooting
12/31/2024 02:57:30 PMThe score remains 80-47 with 3:55 to go. The Cats are shooting 16-28 (57.1%) this half, which brings Kentucky’s total for the game up to 50%.
Score Update: 5:29 2H – Kentucky 80, Brown 47
12/31/2024 02:52:55 PMWe talked about Brandon Garrison’s assists, but how about this dime by Amari Williams?
Jasper Johnson introduces Acaden Lewis
12/31/2024 02:47:46 PMDuring the timeout, future Cat Jasper Johnson introduced future Cat Acaden Lewis at midcourt. Cool moment for the 2025 signees.
Score Update: 7:41 2H – Kentucky 72, Brown 40
12/31/2024 02:43:13 PMThe Cats are cruising, leading Brown by 32 at the under-eight timeout. Kentucky is on a 15-2 run over the last 5:36, a stretch that included a three by Brandon Garrison, who had only hit one other trey this season. Garrison also has a team-high four assists. Here’s one to Koby Brea for an easy bucket, along with that three.
Score Update: 11:40 2H – Kentucky 62, Brown 38
12/31/2024 02:33:08 PMKentucky has its largest lead of the day, 24 points, at the Under-12 timeout. The Cats are now firmly in control, outscoring Brown 23-11 so far this half. The Bears are still winning the battle of the boards 25-18, but Kentucky is making up ground, grabbing eight rebounds to Brown’s four since halftime.
Otega Oweh is up to 13 points, continuing his streak of scoring in double figures in every Kentucky game so far.
Dancing Guy is also in the house
12/31/2024 02:27:18 PMHe may not be shimmying up and down the stairs, but Dancing Guy is still doing his thing and dancing to “Mony, Mony” at Rupp Arena on New Year’s Eve.
Acaden Lewis is in the house
12/31/2024 02:24:20 PMThere’s a special guest in Rupp Arena today. Kentucky signee Acaden Lewis is in town for the game to see his cousin, Lyndel Erold, play for Brown. Getting another look at his future home doesn’t hurt either.
Score Update: 15:38 2H – Kentucky 52, Brown 32
12/31/2024 02:22:09 PMThe lead is now 20 thanks to Otega Oweh and Amari Williams, who have combined for 11 of Kentucky’s 13 second-half points. The Cats look much better this half, shooting 6-7 from the floor (85.7%).
Otega Oweh takeover!
12/31/2024 02:14:41 PMOtega Oweh only scored two points in the first half. He’s now up to seven after scoring five straight points to push Kentucky to a 44-27 lead, prompting Brown to call a timeout with 17:59 to go.
Rebound!
12/31/2024 02:02:59 PMAfter another slow start, Kentucky built a comfortable lead before halftime. Still, the rebounding battle is a surprise. As noted below, Brown outrebounded the Wildcats 21-10 with eight offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes. The Bears grabbed over half of their own misses despite a significant size disadvantage playing against Kentucky.
Amari Williams is the biggest disappointment in the rebounding category so far. Kentucky’s starting center had zero first-half boards. Mark Pope likely addressed the rebounding margin at halftime. We’ll see if effort improves in that department as the second half starts now.
HALF: Kentucky 39, Brown 27
12/31/2024 01:55:02 PMAfter 20 minutes of play, Kentucky leads Brown by 12, 39-27. The good news? Kentucky is shooting more threes (5-13), as Mark Pope wanted. They’re also playing pretty good defense, holding Brown to 42.3% shooting. The Bears have turned it over 14 times so far, leading to 19 Kentucky points.
The bad? The Cats are shooting more, but only 40% of their attempts are finding the bottom of the net. Despite Kentucky’s size advantage, Brown is also owning the glass 21-10. Not great.
Andrew Carr remains the only player in double figures, with 14 points and 4 rebounds. Jaxson Robinson and Amari Williams both have six points. Robinson and Carr lead the Cats in efficiency so far, at +13 and +12, respectively.
Get hot, Koby Brea!
12/31/2024 01:47:08 PMYou know what this game needs? More Koby Brea threes. Brea hit his first to put Kentucky up 35-21 at the three-minute mark. Two free throws by Amari Williams pushed the Cats’ lead to 16 with 2:30 to go.
Score Update: 3:51 1H – Kentucky 30, Brown 21
12/31/2024 01:40:57 PMAn 8-0 Kentucky run was snapped with back-to-back buckets by Brown. The Bears have cut a 14-point Kentucky lead down to nine with 3:51 left in the half. Andrew Carr is up to 12 points, the only player in double figures.
Travis Perry (sans mustache) sinks a three!
12/31/2024 01:36:15 PMTravis Perry has made just one three all season. Today, he doubled that total with a three to put the Cats up 27-16 with 6:42 remaining. Maybe it’s because he shaved his mustache?
Score Update: 7:22 1H – Kentucky 22, Brown 6
12/31/2024 01:30:42 PMIt looked like Kentucky was waking up, but maybe they just hit snooze. Ansley Almonor (wearing a headband) sank a three to put Kentucky up 22-14 with 9:29 to go in the half. He’s attempted two since then and missed, bringing Kentucky’s total beyond the arc today to 3-9. The Cats are in a 2:07 scoring drought. Another bad stat: Brown is outrebounding Kentucky 13-6 so far.
What hustle by Amari Williams!
12/31/2024 01:25:18 PMAmari Williams is making his presence known on the defensive end thus far, with two blocks and now a steal. Williams batted the ball away from AJ Lastburt Jr. and passed it back to Lamont Butler under the basket for a bucket, which earned a nice cheer from the Rupp Arena crowd.
Score Update: 11:53 1H – Kentucky 13, Brown 7
12/31/2024 01:19:25 PMWho’s ready for an Andrew Carr takeover? Mark Pope has been calling for Carr to shoot more threes and he sank one to put Kentucky up 13-7. Carr was 0-5 from three in the last four games. He also just blocked a shot on the other end. Brown hasn’t scored in over two minutes.
So far, Carr (7) and Jaxson Robinson (6) are Kentucky’s only scorers. Koby Brea missed a three, bringing Kentucky’s number of attempts to six. (Remember, Pope wants that number somewhere at 30+)
Andrew Carr puts Kentucky on top
12/31/2024 01:15:29 PMBrown took a 6-4 lead before Jaxson Robinson scored again to tie the game. Two free throws by Andrew Carr have the Cats back on top 8-6 with 14:11 to go. Again, not the most inspiring start by the Cats.
Score Update: 15:52 1H – Kentucky 4, Brown 2
12/31/2024 01:09:38 PMJaxson Robinson just hit one of two free throws to put Kentucky up 4-2 at the first media timeout. Kentucky is using its size advantage so far, with Amari Williams blocking two shots. The Cats look a little rusty, making one of only three field-goal attempts and turning the ball over three times. There have been eight turnovers total through four minutes.
Kentucky’s first bucket? A Jaxson Robinson three
12/31/2024 01:04:51 PMThe tape on Jaxson Robinson’s left hand isn’t bugging him at all so far. He swished a three to get Kentucky on the board first, 3-0. Brown’s Aaron Cooley made a layup to make it 3-2 with 17:42 to go in the half.
It’s a sloppy game so far. Each team has three turnovers.
Usual starting five
12/31/2024 12:51:44 PMKentucky will roll with its usual starting five today vs. Brown.
00 Otega Oweh
01 Lamon Butler
02 Jaxson Robinson
07 Andrew Carr
22 Amari Williams
Mark Pope on growth
12/31/2024 12:42:12 PMDuring his conversation with Leach, Mark Pope had some good comments about how his team is trying to grow throughout the season. Each player has one goal every day in practice to work on, just one small part of a much bigger picture.
“Our plan is to continue to get better every single day. Like, that’s our goal when we walk through practice, that’s what we’re thinking about. That’s why each of our guys has a unique, specific goal to them they’re working on every day in practice. They want to have some good metrics. The teams that continue to grow throughout the course of the season are the teams that are going to be great on the stretch.
“Now, growth is tricky, right? Growth is one step forward, two steps back, five steps forward, two steps back. I mean, that’s just how growth is, you know, I would say unfortunately, but it actually makes it fun, right? So, it’s just putting in the time and being super deliberate every single day, and then you just grow in fits and starts, but it is definitely true that you could probably declare the best team in the country today, but if everybody does their job, it might not be the best team in the country at the end of the year. That’s the goal. Everybody needs to get better.”
Jaxson Robinson’s left hand is taped up
12/31/2024 12:36:13 PMShoutout to Tankman24 on KSBoard, who noticed that Jaxson Robinson’s left (non-shooting) hand has some tape on it. Zack Geoghegan got closer and noticed Jaxson’s index and middle fingers are taped together. Hopefully, not too big of a deal.
Final Odds
12/31/2024 12:30:01 PMKentucky is up to a 24.5-point favorite in today’s game on FanDuel, with the total set at 154.5 points. Kentucky’s team total is 89.5. The Cats have only covered the spread once in the last seven games, so gamble responsibly.
Mark Pope is hoping to see progress on defense (me too)
12/31/2024 12:16:58 PMIn his pregame conversation with Tom Leach, Mark Pope said what we heard a lot yesterday: the big focus in practice has been defense.
“It was all of it. It was every little issue that you could imagine. This is always a challenge. Transition defense, ball screen defense, shell defense, and post defense. That’s kind of where you live. We hope we’ve made some real progress on this and it’s something we’ll continue to work on all year long.”
The good news? Pope said his players “haven’t wasted a day” since coming back from Christmas.
It’s good to be back…
12/31/2024 12:05:01 PMIt’s been a full 10 days since Kentucky men’s basketball took the hardwood. It’s been 17 full days since we’ve watched the Wildcats in Rupp Arena. I almost forgot what this place smells like (popcorn, right now). We’re roughly 55 minutes out from tipoff against the Brown Bears for this New Year’s Eve matinee. Kentucky is favored by more than 20. Let’s have some fun today, BBN.
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