Malachi Moreno thrived in first start, but Brandon Garrison's response to benching was 'best story of the night'

Mark Pope has gone out of his way to keep Brandon Garrison‘s spirits high after a slow start to his junior campaign, certainly not the star jump everyone hoped was possible as a former McDonald’s All-American finally getting his shot as the go-to frontcourt threat following Amari Williams’ departure. The outside noise has been the loudest after Kentucky’s pair of power-conference losses, going for just three points and six rebounds against Louisville, then two points and four rebounds against Michigan State.

When asked about Garrison’s tough night in New York City, one that saw him finish as a -16 in the box score while sitting on the bench in the final 6:10 of the second half, Pope had nothing but positive things to say.

“BG has made some massive progress from last year,” he said. “He didn’t have a great energy night against Michigan State, but his conditioning has been great, his intensity on the floor has been great. He’s a 1.5 points per possession plus assists. His offensive numbers, he’s the second-most efficient offensive player on the team. So he’s doing a lot of things really well. He had a tough night against Michigan State, like our whole team did. Since we started camp, he’s been our far-and-away assist leader. He brings so much to the table for us.”

Fans understandably took those comments and destroyed them while watching his lowlights against the Spartans on repeat. Quietly, though, Pope had already made the decision to move freshman Burger Boy and Georgetown, KY native Malachi Moreno into the starting lineup.

He said before the Loyola (Md.) game that the transition was “to just change our frontline right now just because I think Malachi’s physicality, his size, is going to offset some of what we lose with Mo [out with an ankle injury].” Then he made similar comments about the trade after the game, looking to pair Kam Williams’ skill with Moreno’s size and physicality, presenting it as a fit decision over reward or punishment message.

“I’m not really a message guy — everything we do is very direct and intentional,” Pope said. “With Mo out, we knew we had to change at the four, and so we were going much smaller and much less, like on the ground, physicality — even though Kam has great length. So I just felt like Malachi would complement him better.”

The result? Moreno coming up just shy of a double-double, going for 10 points on 5-10 shooting with eight rebounds, four blocks, two assists and a steal in 23 minutes. The 7’0” freshman did his job and looked the part of a capable starting center at Kentucky, and Pope was a fan — but didn’t feel the need to pretend this was something of a surprise.

He’s been far ahead of schedule and producing at a high level both behind the scenes and to begin his career in live games.

“Malachi has been playing well,” Pope said.

Then he went out of his way to pivot back and put the spotlight on Garrison for how he handled the demotion. Coming off the bench for the first time all season, he went for six points on 3-7 shooting while adding a career-high 11 rebounds with one assist, one steal and two turnovers in 20 minutes.

He could have been a bad teammate and become a distraction in the locker room. Instead, he came in and made an impact — the best of his three-year career on the glass.

That’s the difference in taking their championship dreams seriously. Nothing was more important all night, in Pope’s opinion.

“Maybe the best story of the night, guys, the story you’re looking for is BG’s response,” Pope said. “I mean, he’s an 11-rebound guy. … Has he been an 11-rebound guy starting? That’s the beautiful thing, you know? … BG was an incredible example tonight of learning, of holding on to that lesson — at least for one night. It’s like, ‘Hey, so listen, Coach decided not to start me. I’m gonna go be unbelievable in my 20 minutes off the bench. He wasn’t perfect, but his effort was great.”

Both players thrived against Loyola, but Garrison handled a tougher day on paper watching a younger teammate take his spot about as well as possible.

We’ll see what it all means when the competition ramps up again, and more importantly, as Jayden Quaintance inches closer toward a return.

This was the next step toward clarity, and Garrison deserves credit for the mature response.