Brandon Garrison’s big night on both ends edge Kentucky over the Sooners.
Brandon Garrison, who had his best game at Kentucky just a few weeks ago against South Carolina, came up big in Wednesday’s 83-82 win over the Oklahoma Sooners.
Garrison played 27 minutes off the bench with starting big man Amari Williams in foul trouble and battling an ankle injury. He was so effective that he even got extended minutes as the second big man next to Williams, even in the closing minutes.
The sophomore was all over the place on both ends of the floor, scoring 12 points on 5/8 shooting while grabbing four rebounds and even cashed in two 3-point makes.
On defense, Garrison finished with three blocks and three steals. His last block of the night on Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears’ potential game-winning bucket came up as his biggest play to the night.
Garrison finished with five more minutes recorded than Williams in the one-point victory over Oklahoma. The Oklahoma City native has been a weapon for the Wildcats on all ends of the floor.
Garrison has been very helpful for Kentucky the past month or so off the bench. He has stayed consistent and healthy for the Cats off the bench. Garrison will have many more opportunities to play his style of basketball when the calendar flips to March.
We have seen Garrison emotional in a handful of games this season, but I’m not sure we’ll see him that fired up after a win like that for the rest of the year. The former Oklahoma State Cowboy had to be held back during the postgame handshake line after exchanging some choice words with a couple of Oklahoma players.
In addition, Garrison brought his young son, Karri, to the postgame interviews.
Brandon Garrison brought his son Karii to the podium after Kentucky’s win over Oklahoma.
He sounded pretty happy too
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— Tristan Pharis (@TristanUda) February 27, 2025
On Friday, head coach Mark Pope discussed how Garrison has grown both as a player and as a leader this season, including a bigger vocal role he’s taken on recently.
Mark Pope with some praise for Brandon Garrison, talking about how much he has grown this season, noting his leadership of late.
“He’s grown as a leader. Last week in practice, two times it was notable that he was the voice.”
Adds that he “volunteered and delivered” on the…
— Tristan Pharis (@TristanUda) February 28, 2025
It may have taken until the end of the regular season, but Garrison finally appears to be growing comfortable with his role for a Kentucky team that can make a deep NCAA Tournament run if they can overcome the injury bug.