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Kenny Brooks Talks about NBA Legend Kobe Bryant and Preparation For South Carolina

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Kentucky women's basketball coach Kenny Brooks walking the sideline.
Morgan Simmons | UK Athletics

On Thursday, Feb. 27, Kentucky women’s basketball pulled off a historic night against its rival Tennessee Volunteers. 

Not only did four different Wildcats have double-digit points, but the Cats secured a new program record with 182 team blocks this season and shot 51.5% from the field, scoring over 80 or more points for the 12th time this season. 

Clara Strack broke the single-season block record, dethroning a 15-year record set by Victoria Dunlap in the 2009-10 season. She finished the game with 23 points (11-11 FG), 15 rebounds, three blocks and jogged off of the court with her 13th double-double of the season and a little bit of history for the Wildcats. 

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With emotions high after a dominating 82-58 win after previously losing to No. 7 LSU on Feb. 23, Head Coach Kenny Brooks was asked one final question that instantly changed the vibe of the after-game press conference. 

A reporter asked, “Coach Brooks, after every loss this season, like clockwork you’ve answered back with big wins. With one final giant in South Carolina, how do you keep the team humble but also confident at the same time?”

“Man, you tryna kill my vibe, I was excited to go get a steak tonight,” said Brooks as the whole room laughed. “Telling me I got Dawn Staley and them.” 

Brooks admitted that he knew what he and his team were getting into with South Carolina, alluding to something he learned from an NBA legend.

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”I taught this particular group, I taught the group before that, one of things that I learned was from Kobe Bryant,” said Brooks. “Kobe said that you have to watch the bad games, you know, just like you watch the good games. You can’t just bring popcorn to try to get better because you played well, you learn more from what you do when you don’t do well.”

Brooks went out of his way to reference the phrasing from the question, admitting how focused his team is.

”Like clockwork, win or lose, both of them (Clara Strack and Georgia Amoore) have texted me after the game what time do you want to watch film tomorrow,” said Brooks. “Regardless of whether they play good or bad, they want to try and get better. That’s how you turn the page regardless of what happens, and you get ready for the next opponent, because this league is too good to let anything linger to bring that into the next game.” 

Now, back in the win column, Brooks and his team will face their last regular season opponent, the No. 6 South Carolina Gamecocks. The game is set to take place inside of the Colonial Life Arena on March 2. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will air live on ESPN. 

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A Pair of Kentucky Alumni Look to Continue Hot Streaks in NBA Play-In

Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo led the Miami Heat to a win in the first round of the NBA play-in, and they aren’t done yet.

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Tyler Herro during his time at Kentucky.
UK Athletics

Despite playing during different eras in their time wearing the blue and white, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo have come together on the next level to create a powerful duo for the Miami Heat. Their performance in the first round of this year’s play-in is further proof of their effectiveness together.

The nine-seeded Heat traveled to Chicago to fight for a spot in the playoffs, and from the jump, the aforementioned pair of Kentucky alumni took control in what became a complete blowout.

Throughout the convincing 109-90 road win, Herro, now in his fifth year in the NBA, led the offensive charge. He finished the night with a stat-stuffing 38 points, five rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes of game time. Chicago simply didn’t have an answer for Miami’s flame-throwing shooter out of Lexington.

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In the paint, Bam Adebayo held things down and led the team in rebounds, nabbing 12 boards, and tallying 15 points to boot in just one less minute than Herro. Together, the duo buried the Bulls on their own floor and kept the Heat’s head above water going forward.

While both players came up ultimately short during their time with Kentucky, albeit after two incredibly memorable seasons and Elite Eight runs, their ongoing success in the NBA is both a testament to their talent and the program’s legacy. Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.

The Kentucky Heat (Miami Wildcats?) will be back in action tonight against the Atlanta Hawks to determine their seeding fate in the NBA Playoffs. Tune in at 7:00 p.m. on TNT, truTV, or Max to cheer on some seriously special former ‘Cats.

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Can The Bat Cats Get Hot At The Right Time?

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Kentucky baseball needs to start piling up the wins
Ethan Rand | UK Athletics

Sitting at a 20-14 (6-9 SEC) record with just under 20 games remaining in the regular season, it’s fair to say that Kentucky baseball must play every remaining game on its schedule like a playoff game; a must win.

Through 34 games this season, the Bat Cats have already played in 17 games that have been decided by two or less runs or went into extra innings.

You can look at the recent series’ against No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 2 Texas as examples. Kentucky went toe-to-toe with both of these squads, and frankly, should have left each of those series with more than one win to its name.

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As the Wildcats hover around the top 40 mark in multiple rankings, it’s assumed that if they win a little more than half of their games, they’re almost an automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament. We’ve seen several SEC teams make the tournament before with just 13 confrence wins.

Kentucky has exactly 18 games remaining, 15 of those being conference matchups. This weekend, the Wildcats travel to Knoxville, Tennessee to take on the No. 2 team in the nation, the Tennessee Volunteers.

Knocking off the defending National Champions at least once would be huge for Nick Mingione and company, earning Kentucky’s fifth victory of the season against a top 15 opponent.

“For us, it just keeps coming back to our ability to execute, said Mingione after the Wildcats walk-off win on April 15. “I just keep harping on these guys about is when we execute, and we do what we’re trained to do, we’ve had a lot of success…I have the belief in this team.”

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Tonight, the first pitch against the Volunteers is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.

The Wildcats remaining conference schedule consists of:

April 18-20 @ No. 2 Tennessee

April 25-27 vs. South Carolina

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May 2-4 @ Mississippi State

May 9-11 vs. No. 12 Oklahoma

May 15-17 @ No. 19 Vanderbilt


All rankings are provided from Baseball America.

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Kentucky Officially Signs Transfer Guard Tonie Morgan

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Tonie Morgan
UK Athletics

On April 15, Georgia Tech transfer Tonie Morgan committed to Kentucky, the third transfer that Kenny Brooks has earned this offseason.

Almost as trademark as Cody Fueger’s “boom” posts, when you hear ‘Sicko Mode’ and see this video, you know Brooks just locked in another commit.

The two-time All-ACC guard averaged 13.7 points per game, 5.6 assists per game and 4.5 rebounds per game as a junior last season. Now a senior, Morgan brings even more leadership and depth to this Kentucky squad.

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Leading Georgia Tech in assists and showcasing her playmaking skills all last season, it’s clear that Brooks has found his replacement for Georgia Amoore.

Morgan has huge shoes to fill, stepping up to be Kentucky’s floor general after the departure of one of the greatest to ever play, but that chapter is over and now this team needs a new identity.

Will she pull deep threes like Amoore? No, not necessarily, but she will get downhill, find shooters and take advantage of any defender that isn’t fast enough to keep up.

On April 17, the team announced that Morgan is officially a Wildcat, receiving high praise from Brooks himself.

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“Tonie has demonstrated that she is one of the better point guards in the country and we are very fortunate that she will be in the Blue and White,” said Brooks.

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