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Kentucky

John Calipari defends decision to go with five-freshman lineup late in win vs. Arkansas

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh•03/02/24•

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NCAA Basketball: Kentucky at Louisiana State
Feb 21, 2024; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari on the bench against the LSU Tigers during the first half of the game at Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Kentucky‘s young players have been one of the biggest storylines surrounding the team this season. John Calipari brought in an incredible recruiting class and hoped some experienced players would mix with them well. The results have been positive thus far, with the Wildcats playing good basketball down the stretch.

But at one point in the second half against Arkansas, we saw five freshmen out there on the court. Calipari took Antonio Reeves out of the lineup to get him a breather. The move turned out to be quite effective and Kentucky went on a rush with the young bucks, ultimately sealing the win.

“I told the team, I only subbed Antonio for one reason,” Calipari said during his postgame press conference. “He hadn’t been subbed yet. We had 7:50 to go. Give him a minute or two and then I’ll put him back in. Tre (Mitchell) and Adou (Thiero) were playing okay. But I wanted to get Justin (Edwards) at 4. So, I just looked and said ‘Justin, you go to 4.’ And all of a sudden, the game changes. So now, I’m not going to sub and we did have five freshmen in. Came back and did pretty good.”

At the beginning of the quote, Calipari said if he wanted to, there would be no reason to explain his decision-making there. However, he did oblige to the question and laid out his thought process. An interesting one and thankfully, Kentucky benefitted.

DJ Wagner wound up being the leading scorer out of the freshman, going for 19 points on six-of-seven shooting. Rob Dillingham was not too far behind with 15 points. Edwards, who Calipari mentioned playing the 4 in that stretch, put up an efficient 10 points.

But through it all, Reeves wound up being the leading scorer. Calipari enjoyed the stretch with the five freshmen but Kentucky is at its best when Reeves was out there on the court.

Just two games remain in the regular season but one will be more important than the other for Kentucky. Vanderbilt will come to Rupp Arena on Wednesday, while the following Saturday will be an intense trip to Knoxville for a rivalry game against Tennessee.

Seeing how Calipari handles his lineups could become a talking point down the stretch. If he is going to trust the freshmen a lot more, especially somebody like Edwards at the 4, Kentucky can be quite a versatile team.