Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard is the best shooter in the SEC — for now

Though they’re slated to face off Thursday night, in all other circumstances the two top scorers in the SEC are friends. “She’s really chill and nice, actually,” says Kentucky sophomore Rhyne Howard of her fellow sharpshooting, take-no-prisoners guard Chennedy Carter, of Texas A&M. The pair met through USA Basketball, where Howard (who won gold with the U19 team last year) would go watch Carter practice in hopes of upping her game. “We just kind of hit it off,” Howard adds. “She’s a great player, and I wanted to get close to her to know what she does and how she does it.”

Right now Howard is the one leading all scorers in the SEC, averaging almost 24 points a game — a stat boosted last week when she scored 37 and 43 in consecutive conference match-ups. The 6’2” guard is equally lethal from almost any part of the floor, scoring at will from three and regularly getting to the line. Like Carter, Howard is the centerpiece of her team’s offense (though both players are also good for about two steals a game) — when her shots don’t fall, the team faces an uphill battle.

“My number gets called quite a bit,” Howard says, of the attendant pressures that come with being such a dynamic scorer. “But my teammates still make things happen throughout the play for me to be able to get open, and get the shots that we’re looking for.”

If Carter plays in the no. 12 Aggies’ game at no. 11 Kentucky on Thursday (6:30 p.m. ET, SECN) — which isn’t certain, since she sprained her ankle last weekend in the team’s loss to LSU and will be a gametime decision — she and Howard promise a duel that might be on par with last season’s Carter/Ogunbowale shootout in the Sweet Sixteen.

“I’ve definitely been watching her pace when she has the ball, and even when she doesn’t,” says Howard of Carter, whose nearly 22 points a game often come from her ability to score in transition and shed defenders with her quickness. “She can get to the basket whenever — we just have to make them score over us, we don’t want to bail them out in terms of the free throw line.”

The Wildcats played A&M twice last year, and lost both times. This year they’re playing much better, but still can be streaky given their reliance on Howard’s hot hand: a game versus the unranked Florida Gators last weekend was close throughout the first half, when Howard was held to 4 points. She points to senior guard Amanda Paschal as a crucial factor in getting the team going when their shots (overall, the team is 13th in the nation in three-point percentage) aren’t going. “Amanda brings a lot of energy and defensive intensity when things aren’t going right for us — she finds a way to pull it together and pick us up,” Howard says. “We look to her when we need that spark.”

But most of the time, Howard is fine with being the center of (at least opposing defenses’) attention. She’s even working on ways to become an even more undeniable scorer: When Howard isn’t putting up extra shots after practice, she’s working on her vertical in hopes of eventually dunking in a game. “I’m getting up there,” Howard says. “I could get the rim a little in high school, but I didn’t think that I would be this close.”

Kentucky is the rare school where both the men’s and women’s teams are currently playing in the league’s top tier: the men are ranked no. 10, and the women are no. 11. The teams practice in the same facilities, and watch all each other’s games. “They’re not cocky or anything like that,” says Howard. “They support us just like we support them.” That doesn’t mean they face off on the hardwood though: “I think they’re scared,” she quips — a bit of smack talk that might inspire her male Wildcat counterparts reconsider a game of horse.

Depending on whether Carter plays Thursday (and how they fare versus a stronger than advertised LSU team on Sunday), the Wildcats might have a chance to leapfrog the guys in the rankings. There’s no question that the battle of the top shooters, though, adds an extra layer of competitiveness. “Yeah, I’m going to try to beat her in our own little match up,” Howard says. “But if things aren’t going my way, I’m not just going to start forcing it. I’m going to get the team involved.”

More games to watch

No. 3 Stanford at no. 6 Oregon (Jan. 16, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN)

One of the most important games in the battle for the top of the Pac-12, coming after Oregon took an uncharacteristic L on the road last weekend at Arizona State. If the Ducks want to get back to the top seed, this is a must-win.

No. 17 West Virginia at no. 2 Baylor (Jan. 18, 8 p.m. ET, FS1)

The Mountaineers are Baylor’s only remaining ranked opponent in the regular season — if anyone’s going to stop the Lady Bears’ steamrolling, it’s probably them.

No. 10 Mississippi State at no. 1 South Carolina (Jan. 20, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

This very well might be the same match-up we see for the top of the SEC. At this point, these teams have a history: both of them have a slew of young, relatively untested talent, and this will be a great chance to see what the up-and-comers have to offer in primetime.