Mark Pope praises Brandon Garrison after huge game vs. Santa Clara
By David Wasson
Published:
The Kentucky Wildcats escaped an NCAA Tournament first-round upset Friday against Santa Clara, forcing overtime on a 35-foot banked-in 3-pointer by Otega Oweh – but the Wildcats likely wouldn’t have survived in OT without the strong play of Brandon Garrison.
Garrison shined in the 89-84 Midwest Region victory – scoring 10 points, grabbing seven rebounds and swatting away six Santa Clara shots. He was particularly dominant in the five-minute overtime session, snaring four rebounds and blocking three Broncos shots to keep Kentucky in it.
“When BG plays good, we win,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said after the game. “If you think about bellwethers on our team, when he plays good we win. BG, he just keeps showing up every single day and fighting and fighting and fighting.
“He was brilliant today. He was brilliant offensively today. He came off the short roll. I thought (Malachi Moreno) and BG were unbelievable, out of timeouts, actually running draw-ups. They executed some new things really, really brilliantly.”
Pope went on to describe just how effective Garrison was in the low post against a Santa Clara team that led for most of the game.
“We’ve always felt like BG was probably the best switching five man in the country,” Pope continued. “I mean, really, how many times have we talked about that. And tonight he got a chance to prove it.
“We talked about it all week that Malachi and him were going to get to prove that they were in very limited elite company in terms of being able to switch one through five. What he did switch one through five down the stretch was unbelievable. His discipline, his stance, his mobility, his ability to contest shots legal was brilliant.”
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
