Emma King, left, is finding ways to help Kentucky. (Vicky Graff Photo)
During her high school career at Lincoln County, Emma King was a prolific scorer. She scored over 2,500 points and hit about 40 percent from 3-point range her junior and senior seasons — and made 60 3-pointers her junior season.
King also grabbed 750 rebounds in high school.
However, she was always known more for her offense than her defense — or at least until recently when the Kentucky junior guard had found her niche as a hustle/defensive disruptor player.
She took two charges in Sunday’s win at Alabama. That’s something she’s been doing regularly in SEC play. Kentucky has taken 19 charges and King has drawn a team-high eight.
“We did not have to convince her to do it. She just does it,” sophomore Nyah Leveretter. “She doesn’t mind at all. She will sacrifice her body to change the game for us.”
King did not play a lot her first two years at UK but got her chance this year due to injuries and has made the most of it. She’s averaging about 17 minutes per game in the 18 games she has played but in nine SEC games she is averaging just over 20 minutes per game with a high of 35 at LSU.
King had 10 points in a win over Auburn, nine at Vanderbilt and seven at LSU in her best three-game scoring stretch. She is averaging 3.0 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
However, teammates know statistics do not fully measure what she has done.
“Emma did great,” teammate Dre Edwards said after the Alabama win. “She did everything we needed her to do. She was great defensively. I think Emma did good.”
So did Kentucky coach Kyra Elzy.
“Emma has been solid in what we need,” Elzy said.
Elzy cited the intangibles — defensive hustle, taking charges, playing with confidence — that King adds. Ironically, the one area where she has struggled has been 3-point shooting — her strength in high school and a big reason she was recruited by then UK coach Matthew Mitchell.
She is 3-for-30 from 3-point range this season and seldom has taken a bad shot. They just have not gone down but Elzy has not lost confidence in her.
“We still need Emma to be the shooter she is,” Elzy said. “That’s what we recruited her for. No one works harder than here. Those shots will go in. I am confident in that. I want her to take shots and she can make shots.
“But she has to play on both sides of the floor and she is doing that. She is tough and we need her to be tough. She is gritty. We needed her to evolve as a player and she is doing that.”
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Kentucky hosts Mississippi State tonight at 6 looking for its second straight win.
