Trent Noah, Travis Perry continue to shine in unexpected roles: 'A lot of freshmen in the country can't do what they're doing.'

Trent Noah was ranked outside of the Top 150 as a college recruit during his senior year of high school. Travis Perry was a borderline Top 100 recruit. The former didn’t even hear from the old Kentucky staff before initially committing to South Carolina. The latter wasn’t sure when (or if) he’d even see the floor.

But deep into conference play, the two freshmen from opposite corners of the state came together to play their best games of the season at the same time. That it came against a bitter rival in Tennessee, inside Rupp Arena, was a big chapter in a book that will be written years from now.

Noah and Perry combined for 19 points and five three-pointers in Kentucky’s 75-64 win over No. 5 Tennessee, the second time this season the Wildcats took down the Volunteers. Noah posted 11 points, two rebounds, and one assist on 3-4 shooting from deep in 19 minutes. Perry wasn’t far behind with eight points on a 2-3 outside shooting clip in his 12 minutes of action.

Already down Jaxson Robinson and Kerr Kriisa coming into the contest, and eventually losing Lamont Butler in the second half, head coach Mark Pope needed the homegrown kids to step up. By allowing Noah and Perry to experience some growing pains earlier in the season, Pope’s trust paid off in the form of another shorthanded, Top 15 victory for the ‘Cats.

What Noah and Perry did isn’t normal for typical college rookies, especially not ones without a five-star ranking next to their names.

“It’s hard. It’s definitely hard,” Senior wing Ansley Almonor said when asked how difficult it is for players like Noah and Perry to perform at this level. “I feel like they have so much more pressure than most of us. They’re from here. People know who they are before they even put on the jersey. It means a lot to them. They’re lifelong fans. They grew up watching these games, going to Rupp. I feel like the pressure is on them a lot but the way they’ve been handling it so far has been great. A lot of freshmen in the country can’t do what they doing. It really just shows how good they really are.”

You’d be lying to yourself if you fully believed either of the Bluegrass boys would play heavy minutes at this stage in the season. Injuries have made it necessary, but Pope could have just as easily tightened his rotation. But his unwillingness to do so has gifted us special moments like what we saw on Tuesday night.

Kentucky doesn’t beat Tennessee without Noah and Perry. Rupp Arena doesn’t nearly collapse upon itself in pure bliss if not for their many timely three-pointers.

“When I was a freshman, I wasn’t taking those shots,” Almonor added.

Noah was especially impressive between the two. His 11 points in 19 minutes both mark season-highs. He drilled all three of his shots from deep in the opening half — two happening within 90 seconds of each other. The native of Harlan County — just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Tennessee border — canned a couple of free throws with under three minutes to go in the game to help ice the win.

“It’s everything I’ve dreamed of,” Noah said. “Hitting a three in Rupp Arena, especially against Tennessee, that’s great. You really have to take a second to lock back in on defense because Rupp Arena is so loud your ears are ringing running down the floor. It’s crazy. That’s a shoutout to our fans. Best fans in the country.”

His performance was so good against the Vols, even Pope decided to chime in on Noah’s new nickname.

“How fun is that?” Pope said postgame. “How about a big, massive shout-out for Eastern Kentucky showing up today, huh? Like this is really special. We’ve got the Mountain Mamba. We’ve got the Holler Baller, which may be my favorite.“

Pope then took a moment to get serious. He bragged on the eastern portion of the state and how the community helped produce someone as special and talented as Noah. We see all the glitz and glamor when he’s balling out in front of 20,000-plus fans, but we don’t see everything — the unforgiving hard work — that went into him making those shots.

“I give all the credit to Trent Noah’s family and his community where he grew up, because this is what he is,” Pope said. “He comes every single day, and he gets no love from us. He’s not a featured guy in practice, he’s not getting the media attention. He’s not gifted anything. We’ve talked about this over and over, but it’s fun to talk about it tonight because he was incredible tonight.

“He comes every single day and competes with full intensity, incredible physicality — I say this all the time, but his clear heart and incredible focus, he’s like a sponge learning. And then when you do that every single day, that’s the part that people don’t see. They just see tonight. But like his journey to get to tonight was pretty special. He’s built different, man. He’s a really special player, and he’s going to continue to get better and better, as are all these freshmen.”

This time a year ago, Noah wasn’t hearing from Kentucky. Now, a passionate fan base is screaming after every made bucket.

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