Travis Perry shares story of how Trent Noah helped Kentucky beat Duke without playing a second

Trent Noah played just 20 combined minutes in November, another 15 in December entering SEC play, then didn’t play in the first five conference matchups. His greatest on-court impact has been felt as of late, emerging as the Mountain Mamba with two big buckets in the win at Tennessee, five points and five rebounds against South Carolina, a career-high 11 points on three made 3-pointers in the follow-up battle vs. Tennessee and seven points and six rebounds in a career-high 21 minutes at Texas.

As his role is expanding, so is the production.

That doesn’t mean he was a non-factor for the team in those early months, though. In fact, Travis Perry credits Noah for being one of the key reasons Kentucky was able to upset Duke in the Champions Classic back on November 12 — despite not playing a single second in the 77-72 win for the Wildcats.

How? His efforts on scout team as Blue Devil freshman standout Kon Knueppel. Trying to give the Wildcats a look at what the potential top-10 draft pick could bring to the table in Atlanta, Noah apparently went nuclear in the practices leading up to that high-profile matchup, giving the rotation guys every look imaginable as a worst-case scenario with Knueppel.

The Duke guard would go on to finish just 5-20 from the field and 1-8 from three with 14 points — his second-worst shooting day of the season.

“I think it would seem that way,” Perry said when asked if something clicked for Noah in recent weeks to allow for his spike in production. “Trent’s been great about showing up for us every day, whether he was on scout team — like, for instance, the Duke game. He was on scout team, he was Kon Knueppel. He was torching us, torching all the rotations in practice. Like, he couldn’t be guarded, hitting logo shots coming into the game.

“And I feel like we handled Kon pretty well because Trent gave us such a good look.”

Then his number was called to not only join the rotation, but play a significant role in recent weeks as injuries have piled up for the Wildcats. When given his first real shot in blue and white, he’s exceeded any and all expectations — well, for those of us on the outside, at least.

His teammates and coaches knew this was coming.

“He’s been a guy that’s been consistent for us. Everybody on the team knew that whenever he got his shot, he was going to make the most of it. He has consistently done that,” Perry said. “Every time he comes in, he provides a spark in some way, whether it’s making a three, grabbing a couple big boards.

“He’s been a guy that doesn’t really hang his head on whether he’s playing 20 minutes or playing zero minutes in a game. He comes in consistent with the same effort, attitude, energy, passion for the game. So that’s been really important for us.”

For someone who grew up in basketball with Noah and even battled against him in their final game as Kentucky high school legends in the KHSAA Sweet 16 title game at Rupp Arena, Perry is happy the world gets to see him shine on the big stage after watching him do it since they were kids. He remained consistent and patient as a scout team practice body, and now, the work is paying off.

“It’s been awesome. Trent is a great player. He plays fearless, he plays free out there, and that’s all you can ask for from a guy coming in there playing those minutes. He plays hard, he’s consistently at the top of our rebounding board. Like, he plays hard — harder than probably anybody on the floor at all times. He just plays a great game of basketball, it’s fun to watch. He’s fun to play with.

“For me, it’s really cool. I’ve kind of grown up in basketball with him — watching him, being good friends with him. To get to see him have those opportunities, it’s really awesome.”