This has been a huge development for the Bluegrass native.
The Kentucky Wildcats couldn’t get much out of Travis Perry for the first two months of the season, but that’s changed significantly during what’s been a critical stretch of the season.
In Kentucky’s first 12 games, Perry scored just seven points 2/12 shooting.
Over the last five games, Perry has notched 18 points on 6/10 shooting, including 5/8 on 3-pointers. That stretch includes top-25 wins over Texas A&M, Florida, and Mississippi State.
Perry stepped up big Tuesday in an 11-point win over the Aggies, earning 10 minutes and knocking down two triples for a career-high six points while grabbing one steal. Those two shots came early in the second half when Kentucky was able to build some separation.
Before Perry’s first 3 fell, Kentucky led just 37-32, and Texas A&M had the ball while Lamont Butler was briefly out of the game due to a shoulder injury.
That’s when Perry came alive, grabbing a steal and knocking down a triple, a sequence that had Rupp Arena roaring.
Travis Perry forces a turnover and drains a 3. The crowd goes wild. pic.twitter.com/LZxWNKAbof
— Rare Rookies #BBN (@rarerookies) January 15, 2025
By the time his second 3 fell, Kentucky was ahead 46-34 and never looked back.
Head coach Mark Pope made sure to give Perry his flowers following his best performance in a Kentucky jersey.
“TP, he’s terrific, isn’t he? Again, really complicated defense. This is not a really easy defense to figure out,” said Pope. “What our guys are pretty good at is they are pretty good at figuring out what they are seeing we are pretty good about coaching them. Things change as much as they do with Texas A&M, and that’s the next step for us to be able to really change with the changes.
“But TP, you know, I mean, it was big shots, really big shots. Right? It made us feel a whole lot better. He’s got no fear. He’s just going out to play. It’s fun. If you chart his trajectory, you get to see these little steps that he’s taking. We all get to see it. It’s one of the great things about coaching and being fans that are really invested, which is the BBN, is you get to actually see the beginning, the middle, and the growth that we get to prognosticate about where they are going and to see these guys grow is special, and TP is definitely doing that.
“This is a high-pressure game. It’s a top-10 game against one of the best defenses in the country, and he was terrific.”
Kentucky is a team of full-grown men, and Perry is a 6-foot-2 freshman competing on a team of mostly upperclassmen or graduate players while also playing in the best league in America, as well as potentially the most physical. It hasn’t been easy for him to get many minutes, so seeing his breakthrough has been a wonderful development for the Lyon County legend.
Perry was instrumental in this top-25 battle, and he’ll have plenty of opportunities to keep doing so with a schedule that’s not getting easier anytime soon.