The Kentucky men’s and women’s basketball programs are both nurturing prevalent starts to their 2024-25 campaigns.
First-year Head Coach Mark Pope and the men’s team have built a 14-3 overall record and a 3-1 SEC record while first-year Head Coach Kenny Brooks and the women’s team have constructed a 15-1 overall record and 4-0 conference record, the best start since the 2012-13 season.
In this week’s AP Top 25 poll, the UK men sat at No. 8 in the nation while the women’s program worked its way up to No. 12. With this, the two programs make Kentucky the only Division-I school to have both its men’s and women’s teams ranked inside of the top 12 of the Week 11 AP Top 25 poll.
On Tuesday night, while ranked No. 8, the men bested No. 11 Texas A&M 81-69 inside of Rupp Arena, improving to 5-0 against teams ranked top-15 in the AP Poll.
The win was courtesy of a 22-point, eight-rebound performance from Jaxson Robinson.
In last week’s AP Top 25 poll, the UK men were ranked No. 6 in the country but quickly saw that evaporate as they fell to unranked Georgia in Athens on Tuesday night.
The team earned a strong bounce-back win on Saturday night at No. 14 Mississippi State courtesy of a 27-point performance from Robinson, but it wasn’t enough to keep it cemented in that No. 6 spot.
A big reason for the men’s success stems from junior Otega Oweh, a 6-foot-4 starting guard that is averaging a team-high 15.4 points per game on 49.7% shooting from the field.
Fifth-year senior Lamont Butler has brought consistent defense to the table every night, ultimately providing UK with a solid chance to win each game. Butler leads UK in assists with 4.7 and steals with 1.9 a night.
On the women’s side, the Cats were ranked No. 15 in the country in last week’s AP Top 25 poll after four consecutive weeks at No. 16, but nestled their way up after beating Florida on the road and Auburn at home, marking the first time they’ve started conference play 4-0 since the 2012-13 season.
Fifth-year senior Georgia Amoore has been so crucial for the women thus far, averaging 18.1 points, 7.4 assists and 1.2 steals, all team-highs. Coach Brooks has fully turned the reins over to Amoore, tasking her with leading and facilitating the team. Now, leading the conference and the nation in assists per game, it’s safe to say she’s passed the test.
Sophomore Clara Strack has played a massive role in terms of UK’s abilities in the paint, averaging 15.3 points and a team-high 9.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocks. Strack, who recently turned 19 years old, is dominating the paint despite her lack of experience.
The success doesn’t stop there though, as Brooks and the UK women have already earned more wins through 16 games than they did all last season (12).
Both of the basketball programs have made huge strides in restructuring their rosters and coaching staffs this off-season, and both have been gambles that have paid off thus far.
The men’s side looks to trend back upwards in the poll on Saturday night when it welcomes No. 4 Alabama to Rupp Arena for a noon SEC showdown. That game can be viewed on ESPN.
The women’s side looks to continue its pure domination on Sunday night when it heads to Athens to take on the Lady Bulldogs at 2 p.m.. That game can be viewed on the SEC Network+.