KSR's top takeaways from Kentucky's 32-point win over Marshall

by: Phoenix Stevens16 hours agoPStevensKSR

ksrs-top-takeaways-from-kentuckys-32-point-win-over-marshall — Photo of Kentucky center Clara Strack by UK Athletics

Kentucky’s win over Marshall required some guts from the Cats. For the first time all season, it really felt like Kentucky was tested and pushed to their limits, which feels odd to say since the Morehead State game was closer. However, Juli Fulks’ style of play forced Kenny Brooks and his team to battle through some adversity, and they did.

Here are KSR’s top takeaways from Kentucky’s 76-44 win over the Marshall Thundering Herd on Saturday.

Clara Strack is one tough player

Late in the first quarter, Clara Strack went down with a lower leg injury, and at the time, the severity was unknown. She was holding down by her lower shin/ankle area, and while it was clear it wasn’t broken or anything like that, something like a high ankle sprain was in question.

The 6-foot-5 center was clearly shaken up, in quite some pain. After getting to the sideline, she was then taken back to the locker room for further evaluation. Just like that, Brooks didn’t have his star big and the team didn’t have their leader.

Clara Strack goes down holding her lower leg, then jogs gingerly back to the bench. Looks to be in quite some pain. She is now headed back to the locker room.
— Phoenix Stevens (@PStevensKSR) November 15, 2025

Then, however, she would proceed to check back into the game at the start of the second quarter. That alone is impressive, but once she was back in, she looked as close to 100% as she probably could have. She was still hustling and diving for loose balls and moving well. The stat sheet reflected that. In 26 minutes of action, Strack shot 5-10 from the field, scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Tough as nails.

Kentucky started to figure out how to beat the press

Part of the reason why Brooks scheduled Marshall is because they play a similar style defensively that Kentucky will face later this season, most notably from Louisville and Tennessee. For the first time this season, Kentucky had to face a press.

Early on, you could tell it was getting to them. On the day, Kentucky turned the ball over 18 teams — a number they certainly have to cut down. At the same time though, a lot of those came earlier rather than later in the game.

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Tonie Morgan in particular really started to figure it out, and it resulted in 11 assists from her. Additionally, she only turned the ball over three times all game. Not quite the 16-assist, zero-turnover game she had against USC Upstate, but that’ll do, especially against a press-heavy defense.

Thanks for having me, Huntington

On a bit more of an unrelated note, going to Marshall — and the state of West Virginia — for the first time was a pleasure. It was cool to experience something new. The Cam Henderson Center was a really cool environment too.

📍 pic.twitter.com/xMvn5MPIny
— Phoenix Stevens (@PStevensKSR) November 15, 2025

I’m looking forward to getting back to Lexington to cover Kentucky vs. Purdue on Tuesday, but I’m always thankful for the opportunity to go do something new.

Oh, and shoutout to the media folks at Marshall for providing the best media meal ever. Wings and buffalo chicken pizza is certainly a step up from high school cafeterias food.