UK Men's, Women's Teams Shine in Blue-White Event
The Kentucky men’s and women’s basketball teams played their Blue-White games on Friday night at Historic Memorial Coliseum. And the fans in attendance got a glimpse at what both teams will look like for the 2024-25 seasons.
The men played a full 40-minute game, although the clock did not stop for a large portion of it. Andrew Carr scored a game-high 25 points for the Blue team, while freshman Colin Chandler led the White team with 19.
Using the Elam ending, the Blue team appeared to be in control, leading 59-52. In the Elam ending, teams compete to get to a target score, which in this case was 67. That’s when the White team got hot, hitting eight consecutive field goals, eventually taking a 64-63 lead. A Travis Perry three gave the Blue a 66-64 advantage before Otega Oweh hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 66 apiece.
From there, both teams fought hard on the defensive end to not give up the deciding points. However, it was a Perry free throw that gave the Blue team a 67-66 victory.
UK head coach Mark Pope saw the two teams combine to shoot 49 three-point shots. Pope said that his team is ready to take a ton of threes.
“Everybody does. We’re a green light team,” Pope said. “We want to be really aggressive and we want to do it together. We want to earn each other’s shots. Our guys have a feel for that, which is going to be fun to watch it grow.”
Pope was happy with how Carr played in the Blue-White Game.
“I thought he was terrific. He’s so skilled at every level of the game. He’s skilled beyond the arc, he’s skilled as a playmaker and a passer, he’s skilled off the bounce, he’s an incredible creative finisher around the rim and he’s growing into a terrific defensive player.
Pope praised Chandler for his effort on Friday.
“Colin, like all of our guys, is a special human being. He’s built special. He’s making huge sacrificies for this team. I thought he was terrific tonight, I thought he was really aggressive, I thought he was really smart. He’s going to get better and better every single day. He’s an incredibly talented young man. He’s going to become a big-time basketball player.”
During the women’s portion of the event, the Cats played against their practice team and UK put on quite an offensive display. In basically a quarter and a half, UK made 20 of 26 shots from the floor (76.9 percent), including three of four from behind the arc.
The good news for head coach Kenny Brooks and his staff was that the Cats were able to spread the scoring among several players. Three post players, Teonni Key, Clara Silva and Clara Strack, led the Cats with eight points each. Preseason All-Southeastern Conference guard Georgia Amoore had six points and three assists for the Cats while junior guard Cassidy Rowe had five points and two assists in limited minutes.
Silva may have been the surprise of the evening for the fans in attendance. The 6-7 center from Portugal showed good moves in the post and also had a nice shooting touch. Brooks likes how the 18-year-old is coming along.
“When you have a talent like that, she’s going to continue to grow, she’s not there yet. But you’ve got to give her opportunities. You don’t want to have a 6-7 player as a decoration running up and down the floor. Our offensive system is predicated on getting the ball inside. The ball will go inside for us.”
The UK head coach also praised Strack, who played a key role for Brooks at Virginia Tech in the postseason last year and has carried that over to this fall.
“Clara Strack, who I am just tickled with, because when we left Virginia Tech, there were some question marks because all year as a freshman, we had to fight her on conditioning, fight her to push through certain areas. She had a tremendous postseason for us and that carried over into the summer and the fall. Her versatility is going to be on full display for us.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams showed fun brands of basketball on Friday night, with the regular season just around the corner.
