Top Kentucky Basketball Moments from Kellan Grady, Davion Mintz

Tuesday is Senior Night at Rupp Arena. The occasion has not featured the traditional gravitas during the Calipari era, with many beloved superstars bolting for the NBA before bursting through the enormous personalized rings at Rupp. Davion Mintz and Kellan Grady will inject some emotion back into the event when they say goodbye at the BBN.

Tip-off against Ole Miss is at 7 pm ET on ESPN. The Senior Night festivities will begin at approximately 6:50 pm ET and can be streamed at UKAthletics.com and through all of the UK Men’s Basketball social media channels. Before Mintz and Grady create a few more memories this March, let’s look back at the moments that made these two special.

Grady Overshadowed by Oscar’s Rebounding Record

Kentucky could not play Louisville, but Western Kentucky was not a bad COVID-19 cancellation compromise. The Tops put up a fight, cutting the UK lead to four early in the second half. Grady had no interest playing in a close game. He sunk three three-pointers and scored 11 points in a span of three minutes to break UK away from WKU.

The game was supposed to be Kellan Grady’s coming out party, highlighted by six three-pointers, but Oscar Tshiebwe had different plans. The big man just kept gobbling up rebounds against college basketball’s tallest player until he broke Shaq’s Rupp Arena record with 28. Instead of being envious of Tshiebwe’s spotlight, Grady decided to replicate that 23-point performance eight days later with seven three-pointers against High Point.

Mintz Nails a Game-Winner vs. Vandy

Most folks would rather forget the pandemic plagued 2020-21 Kentucky basketball season. At one point, things weren’t so dire. Sure, Kentucky lost plenty of close games on the non-conference slate, but Calipari’s Cats appeared to hit the reset button in SEC play. After securing a win in the conference opener, UK got into dog fight with Vanderbilt’s Dylan Disu and Scotty Pippen Jr. Olivier Sarr starred, scoring 24 points, while Mintz saved the day, drilling the go-ahead three-pointer with 47 seconds remaining to propel Kentucky to a 77-74 win.

Grady Saves the Day in Overtime

Kentucky could not contain Iverson Molinar. The Mississippi State point guard had 30 points, including a pair of free throws to send the game into overtime. Once the extra period started, the physical game found some pace, thanks to Grady. The Davidson transfer scored all but two of Kentucky’s points in overtime — he netted eight of his 18 points in the extra period after drilling back-to-back threes — to give the Wildcats enough momentum to silence Molinar with an 82-74 victory over Miss. State.

Fantastic Finish

Any sort of positivity was welcomed with open arms a year ago. For the final home game of the season, Mintz gave everyone a reason to smile. He made five three-pointers in the first five minutes of the second half, finishing the night with six makes from long range, 20 points and seven assists.

“Seeing everybody get to play. We got to clear the whole bench, walk-ons, everybody got to get in,” Mintz said today. “That was really our Senior Night. We won the game and I was just playing out of my mind. I really got into that zone and I started hitting. That felt good.”

Many people thought it could be Mintz’s last game at Rupp. Thankfully for Kentucky’s sake, he used his COVID-19 eligibility waiver to play one more season in Lexington.

Inspired Mintz Breaks Through Slump

Kentucky beat the ever-loving snot out of Kansas. It was a feel-good win for everyone… except Davion Mintz. He went 0-3 from the floor in only 17 minutes of action. Down in the dumps, Mintz’s season turned around thanks to an interaction with one fan, Makenna Lunsford. Mintz channeled the gratitude from the BBN into an outstanding performance four days later, scoring 21 points in a seven-point victory over Vanderbilt.

Point Kellan and Mintz Go Off vs. Alabama

Kentucky was backed into a corner. Hosting No. 25 Alabama, the Wildcats’ entire starting backcourt was sidelined with an injury. No Wheeler or Washington? No problem. The Crimson Tide led by double digits for most of the first half and got it up to 12 with 3:29 until intermission. The Wildcats proceeded to score 13 straight points, capped off with a deafening go-ahead three-pointer from Grady.

You wanna hear Peak Rupp? Kentucky leads. pic.twitter.com/6FlRXlYbC4

— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) February 19, 2022

Mintz and Grady served as the Wildcats’ primary ball-handlers. The former committed zero turnovers in 39 minutes and the latter sunk seven threes (tying a career-high) to score a season-high 25 points in the 90-81 win. A few days later they proved that uptempo win was no fluke, grinding out a win against the defensive-minded LSU Tigers. The two seniors have learned to star in their role, even when the team needs that role to change at a moment’s notice.