First-Quarter Buzzer Beater Lifts Epps, Cats

Buzzer beaters often decide games. But when they do, they usually happen at the end of the game.

Makayla Epps flipped the script on that Thursday night.

With Kentucky trailing Missouri 15-5 in the waning seconds of a first quarter that would generously be called sluggish, the ball came to Epps. Seeing time running down, she put up a tough 3 from the top of the arc.

It fell, triggering a backbreaking run and completely changing the complexion of the Wildcats’ Southeastern Conference opener.

“Coach always says big-time players make big-time plays,” Epps said.

The shot would start a 29-3 start that led to a double-digit halftime lead and eventually a 64-62 victory for the No. 24/RV Wildcats (10-5, 1-1 SEC) that made a nightmarish first 10 minutes a distance memory.

“Down seven after that debacle in the first quarter probably felt better than a double-digit (deficit),” Matthew Mitchell said. “It (Epps’ shot) probably was a big lift in a lot of ways.”

Perhaps most notably, it was a lift to Epps herself.

The star senior had not played well entering the game against the Tigers (11-5, 1-1 SEC). In losses against Duke and Tennessee, Epps had managed to average only 10 points on combined 8-for-26 shooting. That left her in need of a lift.

“I feel personally I struggled against Duke and I struggled against Tennessee,” Epps said. “Two big teams, two big stages, games that the team needed me to play well. I just wanted to get my legs back under me, go out here and have some fun, get to smiling, bouncing around like I’m used to doing.”

No one – save Epps – was happier to see that than Mitchell and Epps’ teammates.

“We needed her to play better than what she’d been playing,” Mitchell said. “And she sure did tonight. She got back to doing some things that make her a special player.”

“Not only do we look up to her as a leader of this team, we’re really good friends with her,” sophomore Maci Morris said. “So anytime we see her down, that affects us just because we don’t want her to be down. We want her to be—even if she’s having a bad game, we want her to know that she’s going to do well.”

That support was important to Epps, who was 1 for 5 from the field with one turnover before she buried that shot to close the first quarter.

“I think my teammates—my teammates believe in me I think sometimes more than I believe in myself,” Epps said. “If I’m down on myself, they’re right there to pick me up and I really appreciate them for that.”

Epps was in no need of picking up the rest of the way, finishing with 15 points, five assists, five rebounds and a steal. She made two of UK’s nine 3-pointers, but 14 of her 18 attempts came inside the arc. That was a positive step against a Missouri team that did everything it could to stop penetration by packing the lane.

“We’ve worked really hard now the last three days coming back from Tennessee,” Mitchell said. “We’ve worked really hard on trying to get her mentally to understand that they’re not maybe going to let you lay it up, but you still have to probe enough where it’s still a close shot.”

Since Sunday’s loss, Mitchell has also been on Epps about her emotion on the court. It was a message she took to heart.

“Me and Coach Mitchell met and he said he hadn’t seen my smile in a while,” Epps said. “You don’t think until you go back and watch film that you really look bogged down.”

There was no sign of that on Thursday.

“You saw her smile tonight and have some fun out there and that’s what we gotta get back to doing with her,” Mitchell said. “She’s gotta be our emotional leader and she can’t be down in the dumps and frustrated.”