(Photo Credit: UK Athletics)
To go on the road and do what Kentucky just did without Lamont Butler, Kerr Kriisa and Andrew Carr–who combine for over 28 points per game–everyone needs to step up.
Luckily for Kentucky coach Mark Pope, Ansley Almonor has been doing that.
The 6-foot-7 forward has leaned into his role as a complementary piece to Kentucky’s core and has stepped into more minutes in Carr’s absence admirably. In Kentucky’s last five games, Almonor has scored in double figures four times and is shooting 61% from 3-point range in his 23 attempts throughout that stretch.
“It’s Ansley Almonor that makes this team special,” Pope said. “I love talking about Ansley Almonor. [He’s] winning us games.”
Almonor wasn’t a focal point in Kentucky’s 78-73 win over Tennessee on Tuesday night, but he was a factor. The senior forward went for 12 points while shooting 4-for-7 from 3-point range in 30 minutes. That minute total was his highest of the season.
“I just tried to do my part,” Almonor told the UK Sports Network on Tuesday night.
That’s become a theme for the Fairleigh Dickinson transfer, who was a focal point at his previous stop and has had games in which he sees the floor for less than 10 minutes this season. He’s gone scoreless three times since joining Kentucky, too.
He’s never wavered, though.
“Everybody kinda has the headline guy and very few teams have the guy that’s really, really, really good that’s like ‘I’m gonna do whatever the team needs, if you play me tonight then great, then I’m gonna go play great. If you don’t play me I’m gonna just love these guys,’” Pope said. “Those are the guys that go on to do insanely amazing things in life. He’s really special.”
A bounceback trip to East Tennessee
It felt as if Kentucky needed that one.
The Wildcats had dropped two in a row heading into Tuesday night, including an upset loss against Vanderbilt on Saturday that ended in a court storming. That outing was among Kentucky’s worst of the season and ended the way it did largely as a result of its 17 turnovers.
Pope’s team entered Tuesday reeling a bit, but ultimately found itself with a win in which it led by as much as 11 to hand Tennessee its first home loss of the season.
The Pope train is rolling down the tracks again.
Is Kentucky’s leading scorer actually…underrated?
The numbers have been loud for Kentucky guard Otega Oweh, who is leading it with 15.9 points per game and looks every bit of the offensive alpha that it can get behind.
Oweh is a top-15 scorer in the conference and is shooting over 50% from the field while consistently creating his own shot. None of that is flukey, either. The Oklahoma transfer has scored in double figures every game this season and has significantly improved in most offensive areas this season.
Perhaps more people should be talking about Oweh as well as Almonor.