Koby Brea Was ‘incredible’ on Defensive End in Win

Koby Brea played like he wanted UK to be No. 1 Saturday. (Vicky Graff Photo)

This might have been the best 10-point game that Koby Brea has ever had.

Known primarily as a shooter, Brea was only 2-for-6 from 3-point range in Saturday’s 80-57 win over South Carolina. For some shooters, that would not be all that bad. For Brea, it was way below average.

However, Brea found a way to get inside to score twice — something he has been hesitant to do at times.

He also led Kentucky with six assists in 30 minutes of play and did not make a turnover. He also had a steal and his overall play on defense had to be the best it has been all year. He challenged shots and did not get pushed around.

“I mean this Koby Brea was unbelievable tonight,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said in his postgame press conference. “He was incredible on the defensive end. His gaps were incredible and his digs were incredible. We were bringing in a third defender to ball screens to cover the short role. He was unbelievable at that and his ball pressure was great. 

‘It was smart, it wasn’t belligerent. Kind of like, pickup 94 feet. It was really smart and intelligent. I can’t be more proud of that.”

Pope revealed Brea had his best two days of practices on the defensive end leading up to the game and it definitely carried over in into the game that helped UK break a losing streak it needed to end.

“I thought he was brilliant.  When you do that you end up playing great. I mean, he’s six assists and zero turnovers and by the end of the game he was throwing no-look passes, right?” Pope said. “He was really forceful downhill (on offense).

“So all of that stuff was an add on to him being so, so good defensively.  I thought he was exceptional.”

Brea thought UK’s team locked in better on defense, especially compared to the embarrassing first half performance at Ole Miss Tuesday.

“We did a good job sticking to the game plan today, but at the end of the day, you must go out there and show it with a lot of effort and heart, and we did that today. On top of that, we got to have each other’s backs, and we did that today,” Brea said.

The guard said the last few losses have emphasized how “one person can affect the whole group” when not doing his job on defense.

“I think that making sure that it was not just me, as a team we all got to lock in, and I put how I play at the highest importance. Overall, it is just a mentality thing and something we like to see,” Brea said.

Brea understood he had to get better defensively and accepted Pope’s challenge to do that.

“I have been working a lot on my mentality and what I need to work on after the last couple of games,” he said. “I am just trying to set the tone at the beginning that we are going to get better defensively and lock in on that,”