Junior Clara Strack takes a hit but still scores against Ole Miss. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks insisted he was not worried about postseason seedings but for UK to remain in position to host NCAA Tournament games beating Ole Miss Sunday was a must.
A 19-0 run in the second quarter established a lead that Ole Miss could never overcome — it did get the margin back to six points in the fourth quarter — as No. 18 UK beat No. 14 Ole Miss 74-57 in Memorial Coliseum.
The Rebels were projected as a No. 4 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament by the NCAA selection committee Saturday — a seed that would enable Ole Miss to host first- and second-round games. Kentucky was a 5 seed but now could move back into a No. 4 spot with games remaining against Vanderbilt, Auburn and South Carolina. Both Vanderbilt and South Carolina were projected as No. 1 seeds Saturday.
Kentucky (20-7, 7-6 SEC) got 28 points —including eight straight after Ole Miss closed the deficit to six points — and nine rebounds from Clara Strack along with 15 points from Asia Boone, who had four 3-pointers. Point guard Tonie Morgan had 14 points and nine assists.
“We have been saying all week good things happen when we get the ball to her (Strack). We know the game plan on her. We have worked on a few things to get the ball to her,” Brooks said. “She is not conventional and does not have to get the ball on the block. She allowed herself to be a big presence. We got the ball to her and she delivered.
“She is working extremely hard. She loves the fact that Teonni (Key) is back (from a dislocated elbow) and that allows her to do her job. In Teonni’s absence, she was trying to do her job and a little bit of Teonni’s.”
Strack was 11 of 23 from the field and 6-for-6 at the foul line in her 35 minutes of play.
Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said Strack “took over” when the Rebels got within six points.
“Strack was great night,” the Ole Miss coach said. “She willed them to a win. Her fadeaway is very tough to defend. She is a great player and just stepped up.”
McPhee-McCuin also thought Morgan, who was recognized before the game for setting a new UK single-season assists record, was “pretty special” controlling the flow of the game. She was 6-for-9 from the field but did have six turnovers in 34 minutes.
Kentucky lost at Ole Miss last season when the Rebels had 27 offensive rebounds. Ole Miss outrebounded UK 37-33 but even with 18 offensive rebounds had only 11 second chance points. Kentucky got nine second chance points off eight offensive rebounds.
“I told them they did a good job because we held them to 18 (offensive rebounds),” Brooks smiled and said. “You have got to understand your opponent. It looked like they had 115 offensive rebounds, and a lot came in the second half when they were playing with a level of desperation.”
Ole Miss was indeed desperate after missing 16 of 17 shots in the second quarter to enable UK to take a 39-20 halftime lead after once leading by 24 points. Ole Miss shot only 27 percent for the game and missed 43 of 59 shots, including 12 of 15 from 3.
The Ole Miss coach thought UK came out and “played with a lot of passion and energy” motivated by a great environment thanks to UK fans.
“Energy is something that we talked about from day one, I think in our games that we did drop a few, that was one of our biggest issues. We’re not bringing the energy throughout the whole game,” Strack said. “I think that’s something that helped us get out, like to start today, is how much energy we’ve been bringing in practices and how much we’re carrying it over to our games.
“Just celebrating each other and being there for each other is really what kind of builds the energy. Then I think the crowd feeds off that, and then we feed off the crowd back.”
Kentucky is eighth in the current SEC standings with a 7-6 league mark. Kentucky lost five of seven SEC games, including three games Key missed due to her injury and two close games to Vanderbilt and Texas. However, UK now has won its last two games.
“I am very proud of our kids. You see the way that they hung in there, not just today, but when we dug ourselves a hole and we dropped a few games that we probably thought we could have, should have won, in Teonni’s absence, but throughout the whole time, just our preparation, the attitude in the locker room, everyone was still on board, knowing what we could be,” Brooks said after Sunday’s win.
“I think I made a statement, I said I didn’t like where we were, but I was excited about where we were going to go. And these kids stepped up, they locked in, and they never wavered with their preparation, with their execution.
“This was a really good week for us as a whole, but that was a particularly good outing for us today. So, I am very proud of these two. A lot of people made tremendous contributions, and that’s how we got the win as a team today.”
2 Responses
Strack is so dominant. She will end up being one of the greatest basketball players to ever play at Kentucky. She somehow finds ways to improve that kinda felt impossible. I thought she basically hit her ceiling but I see she has a even higher ceiling than I once thought. Asia Boone is a great shooter and if she works hard enough on her shot, she could be one of the better shooters that has ever played here. I think our team will be just as good as they are this year, if they can find a couple 4s in the transfer portal at the end of the year to play Key and Hassetts position. I'm still waiting for a game where Hassett just goes off for 25-30 points. Key also will get better every game back as her injury gets better and better. I still think this team has a chance at a final 4 run if everything comes together. Key is the key. Without her we didn't look the same. When she first came back she was a little rusty but I think she's knocked some of the rust off and is ready to roll.
Strack never backs down either
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