The beauty of what Mark Pope has quickly built at Kentucky is in the unselfishness of his team. The Wildcats don’t seem to care who the leading scorer is each night, but just about everyone in his rotation has the confidence to take a big shot.
Locked in an offensive track meet at No. 14 Mississippi State in which the two teams combined to attempt 72 3s, it was Jaxson Robinson’s turn to play the star for the No. 6 Wildcats in a 95-90 win that helped Pope’s team bounce back from Tuesday’s loss at Georgia. More impressive than Robinson’s shooting — he had seven 3s and a career-high 27 points — was his willingness to let others score once Mississippi State’s defense focused on not letting him get any more shots in the second half.
Robinson went 15 minutes between field goal attempts, and his awareness of the gravity he exerted on the Bulldogs’ D led to some of Kentucky’s biggest buckets during a crucial stretch. He set up this 3 for Lamont Butler, realizing that his man was glued to him but he could be a screener to free Butler:
After Mississippi State responded to Butler’s 3 with a six-point flurry to take the lead, Kentucky reserve forward Ansley Almonor caught fire to take back the lead, burying three straight 3s. And who lit the match? Robinson.
Watch how he points to the open space that Almonor fills, again knowing the defense is not going to leave him and seeing that Almonor’s defender is in the paint:
One the next possession, Kentucky had three shooters on the right side of the floor in transition with only two defenders to guard them. Robinson could have hoped that the ball found him in the corner, but instead he made a smart cut on the baseline assuming the bottom defender would go with him and leave Almonor wide open. It didn’t go exactly as planned — Mississippi State’s Shawn Jones (No. 5) didn’t realize he had cut — but the move still allowed Almonor to get the shot.
The next possession, Robinson came off a ball screen and had enough room that he could have forced a shot and it wouldn’t have been a bad shot. Instead, he hunted for a great one, drawing two to the ball and setting up Otega Oweh for a jumper.
And when the ball finally found Robinson with just over a minute left — 15 minutes and two seconds since he’d attempted a shot — he stepped up and made a huge one on a play that wasn’t designed for him.
You’ll notice on that play that Almonor paid his buddy back, making the extra pass to set up Robinson instead of forcing a shot himself.
Pope went back to the same action on the next possession, leading by three in the final minute, knowing that if he put his hot shooters on the right side of the floor, the other three players could basically play 3-on-3. Butler buried the dagger in the paint to seal the win.
Kentucky is now 4-1 in games decided by six points or less. Usually in those close games, Andrew Carr has been the team’s best closer. Carr stayed on the bench down the stretch in this one with the red-hot Almonor in his place.
And watch the plays above again, and you’ll see Carr standing in the bottom right corner celebrating every play.
Pope may not have the most talented team in the country, but he may have one of the most united groups. That’s why when the shots start falling, the Cats are so hard to guard. They’re all willing to sacrifice for whoever is hot.
And that hot hand can change in an instant.
(Photo: Wesley Hale / Imagn Images)
