John Calipari discusses ability to use Antonio Reeves, CJ Fredrick in same lineup

The Kentucky Wildcats struggled early on against Bellarmine in their most recent matchup on the hardwood. For John Calipari’s squad, it was a tale of two halves. After the Wildcats’ first-half struggles, they came out in the second half and took control of the game beating the Knights 39-20 in the half to win the game 60-41. One of the key things that helped Kentucky pull away was the ability to use guards Antonio Reeves and CJ Fredrick in the same lineup. And after the game, Calipari had some insight into using the two guards on the floor simultaneously in the future.

“Well, if they’re shooting balls and they’re able to defend and rebound, you just can’t exchange baskets,” said Calipari.

Fredrick and Reeves were able to provide an effective scoring boost for the Wildcats from deep. The duo went 6-13 from beyond the arc, making all but one of Kentucky’s three-point makes. Reeves finished as the game’s leading scorer with 18 points, and Fredrick added eleven points off the bench.

Kentucky has gotten consistent scoring from all over the floor this season, and both Fredrick and Reeves have had their number called to score by Calipari plenty of times. On the season, the Wildcats have five players averaging 10 or more points, including both of the two guards mentioned above. And they will need both Fredrick and Reeves’s scoring ability in their next game when they take on the upset-minded Michigan Wolverines.

Calipari makes case for Bellarmine to be eligible for NCAA Tournament

After Kentucky defeated Bellarmine 60-41 on Tuesday night, Wildcats coach John Calipari had a message for the NCAA. Bellarmine is not allowed to participate in the NCAA Tournament until 2025 thanks to a strange rule that forbids teams who have recently transitioned into Division I competition from earning a bid for the first five years.

The Knights made the move over from Division II in the 2020-21 season, and last year won the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. However, due to the aforementioned rule, they could not go to the Big Dance, or even the NIT.

That led John Calipari to call for a change to the rule, should Bellarmine pull off the feat and again win their conference tournament this season.

“Let me just say this: Scotty (Davenport)’s done a great job with that program,” Calipari said postgame. “What’s disappointing (is that) if they win their league tournament again, they can’t get in. Here’s what I would say, and I’ve said this many times: If you do things for the kids, you’re never wrong. If you’re doing stuff based off, ‘Well, that’s the rule,’ well, we had a rule that they changed because a player went on TV and said, ‘I’m starving and I don’t have money to buy a hamburger,’ and all of a sudden the rules changed within a week.”