‘Clicking on All Cylinders', Morris Shoots UK to Win

Before the game, Maci Morris was presented with a commemorative ball to celebrate her newly minted membership in the 1,000-point club.
 
Once she took the court, Morris looked for a moment like she was going to reach the 2,000-point plateau on Thursday night.
 
Morris came out firing against Arkansas, scoring the game’s first six points in less than two minutes on a pair of jumpers and another two free throws. She would slow down slightly from there, but her big night still helped carry Kentucky to victory in Memorial Coliseum. Morris scored 20 points and UK (13-14, 5-8 Southeastern Conference) downed the Razorbacks (12-14, 3-10 SEC), 78-57.
 
“It’s amazing,” Matthew Mitchell said. “She’s really playing well. She’s really playing well and they were playing tough defense on her. She’s making that midrange, semi-contested jumper that’s not a great shot for a lot of players, but for her right now it’s a good. She’s making them, man. It’s a really strong shot and it’s tough.”
 
Morris was efficient from start to finish, needing only 11 shots to tally her third straight 20-point outing and her seventh of the season. She also snagged four rebounds and dished two assists as UK closed the game on a 33-12 burst to sweep the season series against the Razorbacks.
 
“I thought she was brilliant tonight,” Arkansas head coach Mike Neighbors said. “I thought she just kind of let the game come to her and managed it. She didn’t press. She didn’t over-shot hunt.”
 
It was a good thing she didn’t, because then her teammates wouldn’t have had the chance to step up the way they did. Four Wildcats joined Morris in scoring double figures, including UK’s three freshman bigs: KeKe McKinney (11 points), Tatyana Wyatt (11) and Dorie Harrison (10).
 
“It’s really nice,” Morris said. “It gets a lot of pressure off of me, for sure. It makes me happy, too, seeing them be successful on the offensive end. It’s been a lot of fun just seeing them grow.”
 
Make no mistake, though: Morris is the key cog.
 
“She’s playing well for us offensively,” Mitchell said. “She’s really kind of clicking on all cylinders.”