Four Leftovers from a Big UK Hoops Win

by:Savannah Patton12/03/17

@savannahpattKSR

[caption id="attachment_232853" align="aligncenter" width="551"] Photo via UK Athletics.[/caption] UK Hoops won BIG today, beating the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 82-54. Karly has a game recap for you here, and I'm serving you up a few leftovers right now. 1. Maci Freakin' Morris  The girl is good. The TTU Head Coach, Kim Rosamond called her one of the best shooters in the US, and I don't think she's wrong. The Junior made every shot she put up in the first half and finished only missing one of her 16 points. She went 6-7 from the field. Live look at me in the first half. In the post-game presser, point guard Taylor Murray shared that Maci always wins the daily shooting competition at practice. "It's just knowing the game, how to read screens, cuts. Just playing smart," said Morris. Surprisingly, when asked which aspect of her game she takes the most pride in, her answer was her defense. When asked which aspect of her game she needs to work on the most, her answer was also her defense. "Maci is shooting the ball unbelievably well," said Matthew Mitchell. Yes, yes she is. 2. Rebounds The Cats really showed up today as far as rebounding is concerned. They out-rebounded TTU 46-23. Senior Alyssa Rice showed huge effort on the court, going after almost every ball. She finished with six rebounds. "Alyssa Rice is playing at absolute maximum," said Matthew Mitchell. Mitchell said he was happy with rebounding overall and he wants this team to be a tough rebounding team, something he's mentioned numerous times before. Freshmen Tatyana Wyatt and Dorie Harrison also had huge rebounding games, specifically Harrison who finished with seven rebounds. "Tot and Dorie really caught the ball, they did a great job rebounding," said Maci Morris. Taylor Murray shouldn't be overlooked as a rebounder either. The point guard is averaging six a game, she's done that by being an "opportunity" on the court, and not being intimidated despite her size. "I'm not the get back person but my job is to get the ball," said Murray. 3. Shooting I've said it before, but I'll say it again - this team can shoot. The first thing the TTU coach said about UK is that they're a "hungry" basketball team. That really showed today. Besides Maci, Freshman Tatyana Wyatt had 12 points, and KeKe McKinney had 9. Pretty impressive show from these two freshmen. Matthew Mitchell could not be more pleased with the mental and physical improvement they showed today bouncing back from the Baylor loss. "KeKe was better at the end of the game than the start, we're continuing to improve," said Mitchell. The Cats massively out-scored TTU in every shooting stat besides free throws. [caption id="attachment_232863" align="alignnone" width="193"] Stats via StatBroadcast[/caption] 4.  The Band It's my second year covering UK Hoops and I have yet to talk about how much I love the UK pep band at these games. They really get into it, bringing all the typical cheers and jeers. It makes for a great environment here in Memorial. My love for them has reached a new level today when they showed up with memes to throw off TTU. Here's an image of a few of them. I'm loving the Christmas Spirit of Home Alone. UK Hoops plays next on Tuesday at 7PM in Memorial, I'll be there, you should be too. Go Cats!   [mobile_ad]

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