Kentucky WBB came out flat against NKU... but still won by 29 points

On Thursday, Kentucky was on upset alert, at least through the first quarter when it was 18-14 Cats after 10 minutes of play. Northern Kentucky’s zone defense bothered Kentucky all night, and as a result, shots weren’t falling a ton.

Kentucky shot just 43% from the field overall and just 5-25 (20%) from beyond the arc. However, it wasn’t all just a product of Kentucky stinking it up. Under new head coach Jeff Hans, the Norse are pretty stout team too, especially defensively.

“Northern [Kentucky] is gonna be a good basketball team,” Kenny Brooks said postgame. “They’re very methodical and patient in their offense to make you work. So, it was a really good test for us. They were undersized, so our post players wouldn’t have to move their feet. We talked about that guarding the three-point shot was something that we focused on probably a little bit too much because we were running them off the three-point line, and sometimes we were getting beat off the line drive. So, we know there’s a lot we have to work on.”

However, it wasn’t all bad for Kentucky. There were some things that they did well as a unit, and there were some incredible individual performances had too.

“You still have to celebrate in these situations, and although our defense wasn’t as good, schematically, the communication, we blocked shots, we used our strengths with our height and our length, we rebounded the ball decently, but we just need a little bit more in certain areas. A lot of that is just fundamental, and then just the energy, the effort and the attitude. So, we’ll continue to work,” Brooks mentioned.

There’s a lot that this team needs to work on, and thanks to the Norse, those things got exposed a bit. However, there’s still plenty of reason to be giddy about what this team can be come March.

“I’m excited,” Brooks added. “We got loads of potential, but it’s a work in progress, and, you know, I am guilty as anyone. I wanted to be full swing right now, but it’s something we need to work on.”

Even after a poor start, Kentucky came out and won by 29 points in convincing fashion. We’ll see how they fare against Wofford — the projected top team in the SoCon — on Tuesday.

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