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Published Mar 25, 2021
By the Numbers: Keion Brooks
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Justin Rowland  •  CatsIllustrated
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@RowlandRIVALS

Kentucky fans were counting on Keion Brooks to have a breakout sophomore season. He did show flashes and was very impactful at times, but there was still plenty of room for the consistency to improve.

Here are some of the most telling numbers from Brooks' sophomore season at UK.

79.5% ... Keion Brooks' free throw shooting percentage during the 2020-21 season. This was way up from the 63% he posted as a freshman.

77% ... The best thing Brooks did on offense was score off cuts, ranking in the top 77% of players nationally on such plays. He shot 71% on attempts coming off cuts.

34% ... Brooks struggled mightily against man to man defense, ranking in the bottom 34% of players nationally in those situations, which unfortunately accounted for 85.5% of the possessions Kentucky had on offense when Brooks played. That's why he was, by the numbers, a slightly subpar offensive player.

21.4% ... Brooks' three-point percentage. One hope for Brooks was that he might develop into some kind of threat from long range. It hasn't happened yet.

15.5 ... Brooks' minutes per game over Kentucky's final two contests. He was sitting on the bench a lot more at the end of the year than he was for most of the season.

12.5 ... Brooks seemed to take Kentucky's games against Tennessee very seriously. He averaged 12.5 rebounds per game against the Volunteers with his two highest totals of the season (14, 11) coming against the Volunteers. He also averaged 16.5 points per game against UT. Rick Barnes' team was definitely his preferred opponent.

5.8 ... Brooks' scoring increase from his freshman season. In 15.1 minutes on average in '19-20 he scored 4.5 points per game. In just 8.5 minutes more than that (23.6/gm) he scored 10.3 points per game.

5 ... Games in which Brooks had four or five fouls, so it was something of an issue for a player who missed the non-conference part of the schedule.

0.917 ... Brooks ranked in the bottom 30% of players nationally in Synergy's defensive rankings due to allowing 0.917 points per possession.

0.621 ... Brooks' points per possession on post-ups.

0.605 ... Brooks' points per possession on spot up attempts, ranking in the bottom 13% of players nationally. So here's the problem for Brooks, as he makes a decision on his future. He's an absolute 'tweener who has not demonstrated a consistent shot or an ability to score inside.

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