Men's, Women's Basketball Teams Shine at Blue-White
The Kentucky men’s and women’s basketball teams held their annual Blue-White event inside Historic Memorial Coliseum on Friday night.
The men started with a 10-minute period and it was the Blue team that dominated. That lineup made five of eight from behind the arc, including two apiece from Andrija Jelavić and Trent Noah, to win the quarter 26-14. Playing for the White team, Jaland Lowe led all scorers in the first period with seven points.
The teams then went to an Elam ending, with a target score of 34. The Blue team got baskets from Jasper Johnson and Otega Oweh, and a three from Johnson. The White team would rally, eventually getting within seven, but a Jelavić slam ended the game with the Blue team winning 35-26.
Johnson, the freshman from Lexington, led all scorers with 10 points, while Lowe finished with nine. Freshman Malachi Moreno led everyone with nine rebounds. Johnson was pleased with how he played on Friday.
“I feel like I played pretty well,” he said. There’s definitely aspects of the game that we do here at Kentucky that I’ve got to get better at. But I feel like my teammates were encouraging me so I just let the game come to me. I did what I needed to do to impact winning and that’s all that matters.”
UK head coach Mark Pope has talked about how competitive this particular group is and it showed on Friday.
“It’s what they do,” the UK head coach said. “It’s like this group loves to compete. They love to compete. It’s just the right time right now. We’ve got to move on and start to be against someone other than ourselves. It’s just time to go compete against someone else.
After a pair of warmup drills, the women’s team scrimmaged against their practice players in two 10-minute halves. The Cats led 22-17 at the half behind six points apiece from Tonie Morgan and Clara Strack.
In the second half, the Cats pulled away, eventually winning 43-32. Morgan and Strack each finished with 10 points, while freshman Kaelyn Carroll added eight, including a pair of threes. Morgan had three assists, while Jordan Obi had six rebounds to lead UK, while Strack added five boards.
Teonni Key, who scored four points on Friday, talked about her second Blue-White experience following the event.
“It was super cool. Just getting out there, seeing the fans, I think that was the best part,” Key said. “It feels like were just out there a few months ago and it came around quick. It was super fun to get out there, especially with this new group.”
Morgan enjoyed her first Blue-White experience and playing in Historic Memorial Coliseum.
“It was definitely surreal,” Morgan said. “Being in front of Big Blue Nation for the first time. I’m just excited for the season.”
Both teams were able to perform for the Big Blue Nation on Friday night, something that both squads enjoyed. Both teams are ready to get the regular season started, and that’s just around the corner.
