Kentucky basketball is fresh off of a 97-68 blowout win over Lipscomb, and in that win, star guard Jaxson Robinson shined in a bounce-back game after having just 1 point and 0-4 shooting overall against Duke in the Champions Classic. Against Lipscomb, Robinson put up 20 points on 6-10 shooting overall and 3-6 from three-point range.

Mark Pope said in the postgame press conference that Robinson didn’t let his struggle offensively impact his energy on defense against Duke. That mindset certainly sparked a big game from him against Lipscomb. On Thursday, Pope talked with the media, and having Otega Oweh and Lamont Butler on the roster was a big reason Robinson chose Kentucky, as he wanted to continue to grow on the defensive end. Not only that, but it’s also helping teammate Koby Brea also make strides in that area.

One of the reasons Jaxson (Robinson) was really excited to come here was because Lamont (Butler) and Otega (Oweh) were here, and he was like, ‘I wanna go against those guys every day and figure out. You’re not gonna find much better backcourt defenders in the NBA than he’s seen in those two guys right now. Certainly nobody that’s gonna startle him, like, ‘Wow, I’ve never faced this before.’ These are two elite, elite, physical, capable, electric defensive players. So, getting to go against them offensively every day is really special for both (Jaxson) and Koby (Brea).”

– Pope on impact of Butler, Oweh.

Pope knows how much Butler and Oweh’s skills can rub off on their teammates, and with Jaxson Robinson and Koby Brea hungry to get better defensively, they certainly have already picked up some of their traits just four games into the season.