Back on the Floor, Wyatt Making Presence Felt
Tatyana Wyatt’s Kentucky career didn’t get off to the start she would have liked, with a concussion forcing her to miss five games.
Returning to action over the last week, Wyatt is making up for lost time.
The gifted 6-foot-2 freshman had the best game as a Wildcat on Tuesday night in Memorial Coliseum. Wyatt had her first double-double in a 100-62 Kentucky win over Evansville in posting 20 points and 10 rebounds. Her career highs in both categories came in just 19 (very active) minutes.
“To get the first double-double of my career was a great feeling, just knowing that my teammates trust me to have the ball in my hands and give me opportunities to score,” Wyatt said. “And just working hard for position and get rebounds is something that’s a goal for me.”
Wyatt made eight of her 11 shots, showing off a versatile game by scoring on both put-backs and jump shots, including one 3-pointer. That makes her a mismatch for almost any defender.
“Her overall skillset, you saw it tonight,” Mitchell said. “She can score around the basket. She made the 15-footer. She makes the 3. So when you can do that as a post player and you can defend and she’s really smart down there on the defensive end.”
Wyatt has played in only four games this season after suffering a practice injury after the season opener, but she has been exceptionally productive in limited time. In spite of the fact that she is averaging barely 16 minutes in her four outings, she has scored in double figures three times and twice in three games since she came back.
“That’s the thing that you’re so surprised about, is that I was ready to be extremely patient and let her work back in,” Mitchell said.
The only hiccup came in her first game back, when she scored just three points on 1-of-7 shooting in UK’s loss at Baylor last week. But even in that disappointing outing for the 7-1 Wildcats – their lone loss of the season – Mitchell saw signs from Wyatt.
“Loved the way she handled herself at Baylor,” Mitchell said. “We all kind of had areas we didn’t do great in, but just finding some small victories there, I thought she handled herself well. I thought she just presented herself to the game extraordinarily well and reacted to the difficulty of the game well.”
There was little difficulty on Tuesday, as UK raced out to a 19-0 lead and led by as many as 38. You wouldn’t have known the game was in hand watching Wyatt though. Her effort was consistent throughout, particularly on the offensive glass. She had eight rebounds of UK misses.
“Tot’s tough,” said Maci Morris, who scored 20 points. “She gets the ball down low, she’s going to score it. I just love her mentality of how when she gets it she knows what she has to do. She’s going to get the ball on a rebound. And when she gets it, she’s going to go back up. She’s going to take somebody’s head off if that’s what it means.”
That sort of ferocity in the post is a welcome addition for Kentucky. And when you consider she’s only played a few college games, there’s plenty of reason for excitement about her future.
“I’m just so proud of her,” Mitchell said. “We absolutely believe in her talent and her ability. I don’t ever go in a game saying, ‘You need to go get 20 and 10,’ but you all can see she’s extremely poised offensively for a freshman. She’s getting better defensively, hustling, smart, highly intelligent player. Plays hard, great attitude. Walks in with a smile on her face every day ready to get better, ready to roll.”
