Once again, Davion Mintz comes up big for Kentucky down the stretch

On3 imageby:Zack Geoghegan01/19/22

ZGeogheganKSR

When it feels like everything is going wrong for Kentucky, head coach John Calipari can always rely on one individual to step up and make big plays.

Now in his second season at UK, Davion Mintz has shown a knack for pulling the Wildcats out from the grave. On Wednesday night down in College Station, the 23-year old grad student helped trudge Kentucky through the mud against a pesky Texas A&M.

Mintz was one of just two ‘Cats to post double-figures, finishing with 10 points in a wire-to-wire 64-58 win over the Aggies. He also tied a season-high with eight rebounds to go along with three assists while making five of his seven free throws, including the most important one of the game to put Kentucky up by four with just 10 seconds left. Mintz hit the front-end of a one-and-one that ultimately dealt Texas A&M its first SEC loss.

Honestly, I was just thinking about my team and my family,” Mintz said after the win of his game-sealing make from the charity stripe. “A lot of thoughts were running through my head but I was just breathing and I was like ‘man, I got to do this for my family. I know they’re back home, they’re watching me and they’re depending on me to make this shot’… Immediately as I was stepping up, all I heard was my teammates coming up to me–you’re built for this, we believe in youand I felt like I had a responsibility to make that free throw.”

In a game that wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination, Mintz carried Kentucky to the finish line.

Mintz continues to play his best basketball of the season for Kentucky, not-so-coincidentally at the same time his team has begun to pick up its play. While he shot just 2-7 from the floor against Texas A&M, including a 1-5 mark from beyond the arc, it was the subtly of his performance, particularly in the second half, that powered UK to a major road victory.

Six points and seven rebounds of Mintz’s finishing stat line came in the final 15 minutes of action. He drilled a corner 3-pointer with 6:59 remaining that put Kentucky up 54-52. From that point on, UK did not trail in the game. Mintz didn’t put together his best offensive performance, but he did exactly what his team needed to gut out the win.

“The shot wasn’t falling so I had to do something,” Mintz added. “At this point, I’m just trying to impact winning. If the 3 is falling that’s cool, if I’m getting to the basket that’s cool. But if things aren’t working for me I’m gonna do something on that floor to produce for my team to help us win.”

Going back to last season, his first with Kentucky, Mintz was the one player that it felt like the Wildcats could fall back on. If UK needed a big shot, or big defensive stop, or big energy play, Mintz seemingly always came through. Luckily, that hasn’t gone away in year two, only this time it’s leading to resume-building wins instead of disappointing losses.

“Big rebounds, big rebounds, and that’s why I put him back in the game,” Calipari said of Mintz after the game. “I put him back in because I knew he’d do that. But that 3 in the corner out of the timeout, that was big. That kinda put everything on their heels. And I think it had our guys convinced ‘oh we can win this’. I’m proud of him and how he’s playing, he’s doing all the little things.”

Wednesday night was just another step in the right direction for Mintz’s steadily improving season. He’s now scored double-digits in five of his last six outings, the long single-digit outing a nine-point performance in an easy win over Vanderbilt.

Mintz is averaging 12.3 points per game over his last six, shooting 50.0 percent from the floor and 41.9 percent from beyond the arc. He’s come off the bench in all six but is still playing over 25 minutes per outing. On defense, he’s arguably Kentucky’s top on-ball stopper and was excellent on that end against Texas A&M isolations. At this point, there should be legitimate buzz for him as the SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year.

As long as Davion Mintz is on the court, it feels like the ‘Cats always have a chance to shift the momentum into their favor.

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2024-03-27