Koby Brea Did it All in Win Over Tennessee

Mark Pope liked the way Koby Brea battled on defense. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Koby Brea did a little bit of everything Tuesday night in Knoxville, including posing for a picture for a young Tennessee basketball fan wearing an orange Vol jersey, after Kentucky’s 78-73 win.

Brea got a start with point guard Lamont Butler and forward Andrew Carr out with injuries and he went 5-for-5 from the field, including 3-for-3 from 3, and had 18 points in 31 minutes of play. He also had three rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal to more than offset his single turnover.

“Man, he makes hard shots, doesn’t he?” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said after the win.

Pope called him a “special, gifted shooter” who had not made a ton of shots in the last few games — he was 7-for-26 from 3 in the previous five games — but that had not concerned Pope.

“Like we had spent zero seconds thinking about it (the missed shots). It’s great shooters. And great shooters shoot and make shots. And, I think, he’s arguably the best shooter in all of basketball in a lot of different aspects,” Pope said. “And my gosh, he made hard shots tonight. Woo. I mean, he’s 3-for-3 and they were like three, you know, 10.7s. Like they were unbelievable.”

Brea also gave UK “some life on the defensive end” which he does not always do.

Pope admitted his favorite Brea play in the win was when he got isolated in the post on defense and did not back down.

“He was really physical, got his hands on the ball and went up to block it and got called for a foul. And it was a foul. And then seeing his emotional release after that play, when you’re watching the game, you’re trying to see if the energy in the gym is right,” Pope said.

“And man, he was really special, making heroic shots, but also with the energy that he brought to the game, I thought was contagious.”

UK Radio Network analyst Jack Givens told Brea he was “proud” of him on the postgame radio show because he understood it was hard to keep shooting when the ball was not going in.

“It’s just a testament to the work I have put in. There will be games where shots will not fall,” Brea said. “You have got to keep shooting and bring energy and make an impact somehow on the game.”

However, the most shocking statistic that was not talked about a lot was Brea going 5-for-7 at the foul line. In UK’s previous 19 games, he had attempted ONLY 10 FREE THROWS. Three of those came against Lipscomb on Nov. 19 and three against Brown on Dec. 31.

In six previous SEC games he had taken two free throws against Texas A&M. Against Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Alabama and Vanderbilt he had not taken a foul shot. In 15 of UK’s previous 19 games, he did not get to the foul line.

Brea did not shoot a free throw in the first half in Knoxville but got seven in the second half, including three when he was fouled on a 3-point try.

So as terrific as Brea was from 3-point range, getting to the foul line seven times and making five free throws — and remember UK won by five points — was a very overlooked statistic in UK’s upset win.