Brooks, Washington Pick Up Slack in Friday Win
Friday night’ game against Ohio did not start in an ideal fashion for 13th-ranked Kentucky. Junior forward Oscar Tshiebwe, who was averaging more than 18 points and 18 rebounds per game entering Friday’s contest, picked up his second foul less than two minutes into the game and had to go to the bench.
Shortly thereafter, Tshiebwe’s replacement, Daimion Collins, also picked up two fouls. With those two players out, someone needed to step forward and pick up the slack.
Enter a pair of Wildcats – one veteran and one rookie – who more than picked up the slack. It was that pair who led the Cats to a 77-59 win over Ohio on Friday night at Rupp Arena.
Keion Brooks Jr. led the Wildcats (3-1) in scoring with 22 points, which was a season high and one point shy of his career high from last year. The junior from Fort Wayne, Indiana, added eight important rebounds and blocked a shot.
TyTy Washington Jr. had career highs across the board in Friday’s game. He eclipsed his career best with 20 points, grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds and dished out five assists, another career high. He also blocked a shot and had a steal. Washington became the third UK player under John Calipari to have at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a game, joining Isaiah Briscoe and James Young.
For those into analytics, both Brooks and Washington did well in the plus-minus category on Friday. Washington was a +21, while Brooks was a +17, meaning they were on the floor when the Cats rallied to take the lead, then put the game away.
Brooks was the go-to guy for the Cats in the first half. He had 12 points and five rebounds and Tshiebwe and Collins spent a large portion of the half on the bench.
Brooks knew that Ohio would pose a challenge to the Cats.
“We expected them to be good,” Brooks said. “That was our focus coming into the game. This is a quality team that if we don’t play well, they can beat us. They’ve got some really good players and they can shoot the ball really well.”
The game plan for Ohio was to let Brooks have open shots.
“Coming in our game plan was to help off Brooks,” said Ohio head coach Jeff Boals. “You have to give up something and give him credit. He had probably six or seven, 17-foot jump shots, and that was something we were willing to give up.”
In the second half, it was Washington who sparked the Cats, scoring 12 points and grabbing four rebounds as UK turned a close contest into a comfortable win.
Washington is working hard on constantly improving his game.
“I’m just getting more comfortable, staying in the gym,” Washington said. “The team trusts me, the coaches trust me. I know that they might ask for me to get an opportunity to go out there and play and make the best of my opportunities. I feel like every game I’m going to keep improving and getting better and more comfortable as we go.”
With its big men in foul trouble, the Cats turned to a couple of others to get it done on Friday night. That plan worked, thanks to big efforts from Brooks and Washington.
