Kentucky’s blowout loss to unranked Ohio State was brutal.
In front of the basketball mecca, Madison Square Garden in New York City, the national audience thought the same as the Wildcats dropped six spots in the Week 9 AP Poll.
In the loss, one of the Wildcats’ most dependent assets didn’t have the performance needed to keep up with the Buckeyes.
“(Losing to Ohio State) going into Christmas, it was miserable,” Kentucky Head Coach Mark Pope said. “But our guys handled (the loss) great.”
Forward Andrew Carr walked off the floor in “The Garden” with 13 points, but an 0-4 outing from three and 3-9 shooting from the field was pale in comparison to his strong performance against No. 6 Duke in Atlanta. Carr led the Wildcats to an upset victory with 17 points and six rebounds on 5-8 shooting including two deep balls.
Nine days removed from an underwhelming showing against Ohio State, Carr was poised to end 2024 strongly in front of more than 20,000 fans inside Rupp Arena.
Carr’s seven points — partnered with guard Jaxson Robinson’s six — gave Kentucky a quick 13-7 lead against Brown around the 13 minute mark. Oddly enough, Robinson would go scoreless for the remainder of the half.
Contrary to Robinson, Carr found ways to continually lift his team.
“I think for us, we wanted to recover a lot… take a couple of days to try and digest what Ohio State was and be able to really put that into practice,” Carr said. “In a couple games, we came out a little slower in the first half, (and) responded in the second half.”
Brown opted to run a full court press against the Cats’ guards, but Carr exploited the smothering defense by trail blazing an open path to the basket. The forward drew fouls and got to the free-throw line three times, which resulted in five points.
Additionally, the 6-foot 11-inch big man scored three baskets in the interior and knocked down a 3-point shot. By halftime, Carr led Kentucky with 14 points, four rebounds and four field goals.
Kentucky was treading toward a massive lead as the Wildcats held a 39-27 advantage going into the break.
In the second half, Carr didn’t see the court more than the first six minutes. Nonetheless, the former Demon Deacon left his fingerprints on the game by assisting on scores twice and prying two steals.
“(I’m) trying to play with as much confidence and be as aggressive as possible early in the game,” Carr said. “I kind of had it going in the first half, and so my teammates did a great job finding me and being able to make plays.”
One of Carr’s strips led to a fast break alley-oop for center Amari Williams that was aired by Robinson, prompting Kentucky fans to rush to their feet with universal cheer.
In the end, Carr impacted the game with a team-highs in 14 points and five rebounds with two assists and three steals despite playing six second-half minutes due to the ensuing lead Kentucky possessed. The Wildcats finished with a 88-54 domineering victory as Brown coughed up the ball a staggering 23 times.
“(Carr), he’s one of the best people I’ve ever met, he’s been through so much in college basketball,” Kentucky guard Travis Perry said. “He’s just a great guy, he’s taking us under his wing, taking us around, showing us the ropes… I think he’s really been influential in our progress.”
The win preceded the opening of conference play for the Cats, which has been a mixed bag thus far with a statement 100-plus point outing over top 10 Florida before falling away at Georgia.
Kentucky will return to action against No. 14 Mississippi State inside Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday, Jan. 11, with tipoff scheduled to take place at 8:30 p.m. ET and air live on the SEC Network.
