Where was the Mountain Mamba?

Trent Noah played his best basketball of the season in the upset of Tennessee at Tennessee on Tuesday, only to revert back to a benchwarmer in the loss to Arkansas on Saturday. Noah played zero minutes against the Razorbacks after 21 helpful minutes off the bench across the Tennessee and Vanderbilt games, a new development in Noah’s recent surge for minutes in SEC play.

Mark Pope was asked after the game about Noah’s did-not-play when it seemed Noah had earned more opportunities for his recent hustle and that fearless 3-pointer from the logo in Knoxville. Pope didn’t give a thorough explanation for not trying Noah against Arkansas but acknowledged that there is a place for him on the floor, potentially in a new role as Kentucky adjusts to injuries.

“Trent is actually super interesting to me,” Pope said in his postgame comments. “With (Andrew Carr) coming back and (Ansley Almonor) playing so well.  I wonder if there is some space for Trent, actually at the three and I think that something to explore.  As we kind of reconfigure everything we are doing right now on the fly, he’s played well and there’s definitely space for him and it’s my job to find the right space.”

Carr playing 15 minutes after missing the last two games obviously took away from Noah’s playing time. Still, Noah proved to be a spark off the bench in back-to-back games, only to vanish from the court in the loss to Arkansas. He couldn’t get any minutes in that game? What was all that Mountain Mamba talk?

Pope on Noah earlier in the week

Following Noah’s breakout game at Tennessee, Pope spoke highly of the freshman from Harlan, Kentucky.

“Trent has been great in back to back games right now,” Pope said. “You telling me Trent is not afraid of the moment? He just, out of nowhere, says, ‘I’m gonna launch this 30-footer and we’ll just see what happens. So, he has been great.”

Though he is not afraid, Noah’s moment never came against Arkansas.