Koby Brea Believes God has a Plan for Cats

Koby Brea with UK fans in Milwaukee after the Cats beat Illinois. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Going into Friday night’s game against Tennessee in Indianapolis, Koby Brea ranks eighth on Kentucky’s single season list for 3-pointers made.

Brea has made 92 of 210 3’s — a 43.8 percent mark — and four more would move him into sixth place on UK’s single-season list and in front of Tony Delk. If Kentucky kept playing long enough for him to make eight, he would join Jodie Meeks (117), Jamal Murray (113), Malik Monk (104) and Travis Ford (101) as the only UK players with 100 3-point makes in a season.

Brea is 6-for-9 from 3-point range against Tennessee this season. He was 3-for-3 from 3 and 5-for-5 overall from the field at Knoxville when he had 18 points, three rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes. In the win at Rupp Arena, he was 3-for-6 from 3 and had 11 points.

At Tennessee on Jan. 28, he went 3-for-3 from 3-point range and 5-for-5 overall and finished with 18 points because he made five of a season-high seven free throws. He also had three rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block in 31 minutes.

Two weeks later in Rupp Arena he was 3-for-6 from 3 and 4-for-9 overall and had 11 points, two assists, two steals and one rebound in the 75-64 win.  

“They have probably, in Brea, one of the best shooters in the country. He has to be in the top three in the country. You have to respect that. That opens things up for so many other guys,” Troy coach Scott Cross said after Brea went 3-for-6 in a win over his team.

Brea made 10 of 16 shots in the 84-75 win over Illinois Sunday. He was 3-for-8 from 3 but still had a career-high 23 p points, six rebounds, one assist and one steal in a team-high 36 minutes.

Brea believes there could be some divine intervention helping the Cats this season.

“I feel like God has a plan for this team. We’ve gone through a lot this year. We have faced a lot of triumphs,” Brea said. “And for us to be here, a lot of people didn’t think we were going to be here. So just a testament of what God has done for us.”

Brea got on a roll in the second half against Illinois and hit four three straight shots while scoring 10 points in about two minutes.

“Obviously it felt really good, but at the end of the day, you’re focused on the game and winning the game. Those things happened as you’re competing. My teammates — I felt it this whole year, honestly, but today they kept confiding in me,” Brea said. “I can see how much they trust me and how much confidence they put in me.

“They want me to keep going, especially when I get hot like that. It means everything to me, and makes me a better player just to know they have my back.”

Pope also believes Brea is the best shooter in college basketball.

“He’s in the process of becoming an elite-level cutter. And to his teammates’ credit, guys were setting big-time screens. And then he just has incredible poise,” Pope said.

“I appreciated the question about making three (shots) in a row. I don’t know if any of us ever at the rec league have felt what he felt tonight in the second half. We don’t win that game without him on the offensive and the defensive side of the ball.”

Pope also approved of Brea’s belief in God’s plan for this team.

“That echoes a sentiment from all our players. He is a deeply faithful young man, and he is loving every second of exploring what God’s plan is for this team. All of us are grateful that God’s plan is not done for this team yet,” Pope said.

“The core of him, the courage of him, the faith of him, his incredible skill set, his recovery from a massive, massive, massive, massive setback injury (at Dayton before he transferred to UK), I think he would point back to his faith on all those things.”