Lee Kyu-tae shined.
Yonsei University won 74-50 against Sangmyung University in the 2023 KUSF University Basketball U-League at Yonsei University’s Sinchon Campus Gymnasium on Friday.
Yonsei has been struggling with a string of injuries. The big men’s lineup has also suffered a significant loss with Kim Bo-bae and Kang Ji-hoon out.
However, sophomore big man Lee Kyu-tae stepped up to the plate and did his part. He finished with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the team to victory.
“We didn’t play well in the second and third quarters because we weren’t focused,” said Lee, “but it’s good that we were able to improve in the fourth quarter and win the game. We were tied in rebounds until the second quarter, and I don’t think we did well in that regard. We’ll try to improve on that because rebounding is what allows us to create more offense.”
Yonsei often plays a twin-tower lineup, but on this day, they started with a small lineup.
Lee Kyu-tae said, “We usually play with the twin towers. We hadn’t played with such a small lineup since the beginning, and our offense worked well in the beginning. However, we were lacking in the rebounding department, not the twin towers.”
Yonsei lost its highly touted freshman duo of Lee Ju-young and Lee Chae-hyung to untimely injuries early in the season. Yonsei players, including Lee Kyu-tae, wear their numbers on their jerseys.
Lee Kyu-tae said, “(Lee) Joo-young and (Lee) Chae-hyung suffered major injuries at the beginning of the season. They are very talented, so if they recover quickly and work together, I think we can achieve good results not only this year but also in the future.”
Lee Kyu-tae, who has shown great talent despite being a sophomore, was recently selected for the Korean National Team, where he played with players from other universities.먹튀검증
“I trained and played with the aces of each university. They were all more experienced than me, and I saw their strengths and thought, ‘I can do that over there,’ and gained experience to grow further.”
In conclusion, Lee Kyu-tae said, “The regular season is just around the corner, and we’ve been playing without a break until now. I’ll try to improve my concentration in the remaining games and show a good performance,” he said, expressing his determination for the rest of the regular season.