Having Rhyne Howard as the leading scorer with 24 points and also pulling down 10 rebounds when host Kentucky beat No. 10 Arkansas 75-64 Thursday night was really not a surprise. She’s a preseason All-American and considered perhaps the nation’s top player. Yet what made this win so impressive for UK was that down the stretch the No. 13 Wildcats had a lot of other players make key plays — and it wasn’t point guard Chasity Patterson or center/forward Dre’una Edwards who have been UK’s best players all season along with Howard.
No, Kentucky showed against Arkansas why it can be such a dangerous team this year because of its overall array of talent.
“We have really challenged our bench to step up, bring energy and be productive. And tonight, Robyn Benton, she came in and made some big shots early for us to get us going,” UK coach Kyra Elzy said. “Olivia Owens, I thought she came in, made some big plays around the rim. And how she handled the ball screen when she had been struggling with that. So it was great to see her do her job tonight. So the bench is going to be really big for us down the stretch.”
Benton and Owens both had nine points.
Tennessee transfer Jazmine Massengill, a junior guard, had a season-high five points, all in the fourth quarter when she went 2-for-3 from the field. All three of her assists also came in the fourth period. She also had three blocks.
Junior Blair Green, a starter, scored eight of her 10 points in the fourth quarter and made a 3-pointer UK really needed. She was 4-for-8 overall from the field. Even more impressive, she also had a career-high three blocks.
“Blair, when I saw Blair open, every time, I just threw it to her. I just knew she was going to hit it,” Howard said. “I was cheering before she even shot it. But that’s what she does. She’s going to hit those shots when we need her to hit them.”
Elzy liked Green’s overall play and loved the defense.
“I mean she made some huge baskets for us, but more than the baskets, I am so proud of her defense. I have been on her about her defense and I have challenged her, make someone score over you, and for her to level the ball off tonight, make people score, getting some blocked shots,”Elzy said. “So they are taking away what we’re doing in practice and it’s good to see them transferring it over to the games.”
Kentucky also got 10 points and seven rebounds from senior KeKe McKinney — along with some valuable game leadership. She harnessed Benton late in the game when Benton was upset with a foul called on her and came close to getting a technical foul.
“It was in the heat of the moment. Robyn, she had a great stop, and to us it wasn’t a foul, but the referees called it, and in the heat of the moment, emotions are high and everything,” McKinney said. “We were up and we didn’t need anything to stop us, so I kind of just grabbed her mouth to be like, ‘Alright, just chill out, we got it, just calm down.’
“I was just trying to encourage her to calm down and get back in it because we were winning and we didn’t need anything to affect that. I was basically just calming her down because she was just going, and sometimes you’ve just got to get it. We are all comfortable enough to where you can do things like that.”
Elzy liked what McKinney did.
“They are sisters, they love each other, and they want to make sure that we’re holding each other accountable, which is one of our winning attributes,” Elzy said. “So, kudos to KeKe, she is a leader of our team. I’ve talked to them about not talking to the referees and making sure we stay focused on the job that we need to do, so I’m glad that KeKe reeled her back in and held her accountable.”
Kentucky returns to action on Sunday at Mississippi State in Starkville (Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on ESPN2) after its original game with Tennessee was postponed due to Tennessee COVID issues. Mississippi State has been one of the SEC’s best teams in recent years.
Elzy said it would be “huge” to start conference play with two wins.
“They’re a tough team and it’s another ranked team, so we will be in another dog fight again on Sunday,” Elzy said after Thursday’s win.
Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors praised UK for the new “pieces” it has on the team to support Howard this season. Howard said those pieces that were on full display against Arkansas hold the team together.
“It’s not a one-on-five game. A lot of people don’t recognize them for what they’re doing but it’s a lot. I give all the credit in the world to them. I would run through a wall for them. If I didn’t have them, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” Howard said.
“If (Neighbors) didn’t expect that from them, then just keep doing that and they’re just going to keep proving everybody wrong because they are going to come out and play regardless of what anybody’s expecting.”
