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Keion Brooks has had a solid season for the Kentucky Wildcats so far in 2021, averaging a little over 10 ppg and starting all 12 games so far.
But John Calipari expects more out of his junior forward.
“If he plays, we’re pretty good,” Calipari said after the win over Missouri. Calipari also added that he has had conversations with Brooks and has held him to higher standards.
With Jacob Toppin playing some of his best ball at Kentucky over the course of the North Carolina and Western Kentucky games, Brooks was in danger of losing some of his minutes to a young Toppin. But Brooks understands that, and answered John Calipari’s challenge tonight against Mizzou.
Brooks had 17 points and eight rebounds and a pair of nasty, tone-setting slams to really get a quiet Rupp Arena crowd loud.
The interchangeable duo of Brooks and Toppin is a wild card that Kentucky has in their back pocket, and one that will be almost surely be unleashed in conference play this season, when both guys are clicking, and that’s something that Keion Brooks knows, according to Kyle Tucker:
Keion Brooks says he and Jacob Toppin do "literally everything together." Says they talk a lot about how one of these games, they'll both play great. But they motivate each other.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) December 30, 2021
If Keion can take that next step, Kentucky is a dominant force in college basketball this season.