Back in the starting lineup, Trent Noah was hitting 3s (and dunking!) vs. NC Central

For the first time since the season-opener against Nicholls, sophomore wing Trent Noah was inserted into Kentucky’s starting lineup.

Why the sudden change from head coach Mark Pope?

While we don’t know the exact reason, we know it had something to do with Pope not playing Kam Williams, who had started the previous four games for the Wildcats, until early in the second half. Williams and Jaland Lowe both sat out the entire first half, while Brandon Garrison sat out the second half. Pope was sending an obvious message to those players, which in turn allowed for Noah to slide back into the spot he originally earned over a month ago.

And the Harlan County product took advantage of the extra playing time by putting together an all-around performance during Tuesday night’s 103-67 victory over North Carolina Central. Noah finished with 11 points (all coming in the first half) on 3-6 shooting from deep, six rebounds, three assists, and one steal with zero turnovers in 26 minutes. His rebounds tied a season high while his assists and minutes played marked new career bests.

“I like Trent every night. Trent’s not a perfect player. There are some things that are complicated for him, areas of the game where he struggles, but he’s all-in,” Pope said postgame. “He’s fully invested. He’s going to give everything that he’s got every time on the floor, and he’s pretty effective.

“I thought he was good tonight. I thought he gave us good looks. I thought he was aggressive. I thought he probably had our best defensive play of the first half when we finally got a third defender engaged. Trent, he’s a really important part of this team and he’s got a chance to grow into a terrific player and a great leader. I’m proud of him.”

Noah is never going to be the most athletic player on the floor, but there was no denying his willingness to play hard against North Carolina Central. He fought on the defensive end of the floor. At one point in the second half, he missed a three-pointer before quickly grabbing the offensive rebound and floating a tough lob pass in the paint to Malachi Moreno for a dunk. Noah even threw down a dunk of his own in transition, his first slam as a college player.

“Trent played fantastic,” He had a dunk today as well,” Freshman guard Jasper Johnson said of his teammate and fellow Bluegrass native. “I’ve been getting on him about his bounce. But he’s been working really hard. He’s an elite shooter. It’s a guy that if we find him with an open shot, we know it’s a 60, 70 percent chance that it’s going into the rim every time. I’m very confident with Trent’s game and his ability. He’s been working and I’m glad that he got to have his opportunity tonight to make shots.”

“I’ve watched Collin (Chandler) dunk so many times, so might as well,” Noah joked.

Had it not been for an ankle injury nine minutes into his season debut, which kept him sidelined from games for 10 days, Noah might not have lost his starting spot at all. Beating up on a bad North Carolina Central team was good for his (and the team’s) confidence. Now we’ll wait to see how he carries that over into Saturday’s showdown with Indiana.

Against the Hoosiers, Kentucky sure could use another hot-shooting night from Noah.

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