John Calipari shares his thoughts on Aaron Bradshaw's showing against Penn

After making his debut in a loss to UNC Wilmington the week prior, Kentucky big man Aaron Bradshaw shined in his second-ever college game this past Saturday in the Wildcats’ win over Penn.

Bradshaw only appeared in spurts in his debut but was allowed a longer leash in his second performance, an opportunity he certainly took advantage of. No. 2 in blue and white showed off a little bit of everything in a dazzling 17-point, 11-rebound performance that also included a made three-pointer (he became the tallest UK player to ever make one of those) and three blocked shots.

To say the least, John Calipari and Tre Mitchell were happy to have some extra help at the five-spot on Saturday, and after the win, Calipari was ready to call one of his assistant coaches crazy for wanting to take Bradshaw out during the Penn game.

“Yeah. Somebody told me to sub him, and I said, ‘Are you out of your mind? Are you watching this?’ But he needed to come out some,” shared Coach Cal in the postgame, also noting what a load is taken off Mitchell’s shoulders by having Bradshaw there.

“You know who rebounded better with him in the game? Tre (Mitchell). Because now Tre’s not having to beat down a… he lets Aaron do that.”

That wasn’t Calipari’s only mention of Bradshaw in the post-Penn presser. When asked about his much better statistical output in this game vs. the first one, Cal explained that Bradshaw barely had been given the green light to play when he stepped on the court last weekend. This time around, he was a little more prepared.

“Like you said, Aaron coming in. Before the last game, he practiced one day. And then we played him, because the doctor said you could play him. Great, he’s in.”

For John Calipari, it’s always nice to have a rim-protector like Aaron Bradshaw.

“And today he did some stuff… how about block a shot to take… Now (opponents drive) and ‘Oh, he may be in there.’”

Bradshaw did have one block in particular that stood out and wound up leading to a transition three. A Quaker guard snuck into the paint and attempted a layup, but Bradshaw came crashing in from behind to swat the shot against the backboard and over towards the corner, where Justin Edwards grabbed the ball and tossed it over his head back into play, where Tre Mitchell saved it and advanced the ball to DJ Wagner, who dribbled up the court and found Antonio Reeves for an open three. Splash!

That is a tremendous team basketball play with all five players making hustle plays to erase the Penn shot on one end and hit a three on the other. Take a look:

Aaron Bradshaw block leads to a transition three by Antonio Reeves. #BBN pic.twitter.com/a4ernxEOkV

— Chris Beasmore (@CBeasmoreSports) December 9, 2023