Kentucky\u2019s win against Purdue Fort Wayne was an ugly one. After trailing for most of the game, the Cats pulled out a 79-67 victory over the Mastodons. Just 48 hours before, Kentucky was in the midst of a high-emotion, high-intensity game against Louisville \u2014 a game in which several players played north of 40 minutes due to the game going to overtime.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, Kentucky wasn\u2019t quite at 100% coming into Monday\u2019s game. Not necessarily because of injury, but because of fatigue. Knowing that, Kenny Brooks<\/a><\/strong> was pleased with what he saw of his team against Purdue Fort Wayne.<\/p>\n Sometimes, he has to think back to his days as a player in order to understand where the players are both mentally and physically.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of good [you can take away],\u201d Brooks said postgame. \u201cI\u2019m just a coach. We\u2019re crazy sometimes, and you want everything to be perfect. It\u2019s so funny because I\u2019m so far removed as a player, that sometimes I forget \u2014 sometimes [Georgia Amoore<\/a><\/strong>] has to remind me that she\u2019s \u2018I\u2019m tired\u2019. And I remember when I played, I used to be tired, and you couldn\u2019t push through. And it was just like, oh, I can\u2019t get through and mentally and everything and my coach, Lefty Driesell, screaming at me, and I just wanted to be like, dude, I\u2019m tired. So now, I\u2019m him because I look at them like, come on, you need to do this. It\u2019s basketball, and they\u2019re not gonna be perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, it\u2019s not like Kentucky played a team that was totally fresh either, but Brooks was still appreciative for the fight that his team brought.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, for Purdue Fort Wayne, they practice every day just like we do,\u201d Brooks explained. \u201cThey run plays. They\u2019re going to execute. The main thing that I can take away from everything is the resolve. We have to. Our 48 hours was very challenging physically and emotionally, so we came through it unscathed. We\u2019re 5-0 and we\u2019re ranked \u2014 I don\u2019t know we\u2019re ranked, something, and so I am pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n Even though he is pleased with the effort his team gave on Monday, he knows that there is still much room for improvement.<\/p>\n \u201cI am pleased with them,\u201d Brooks noted. \u201cAnd after tonight, I\u2019ll text everybody and let them know that I am pleased, and we\u2019ll get back after it. But if I let them know I\u2019m pleased all the time, then maybe they won\u2019t work a little bit harder. So, they understand that. They know that, but I am pleased with what they\u2019ve done, how they\u2019ve gotten here. They have shown some toughness that I was wondering about, and we\u2019ll continue to work on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Thankfully, Kentucky has a full week to rest before they take on Arizona State and No. 22 Illinois in the Music City Classic.<\/p>\n