4-Point Play: Leftovers from Kentucky's 71-point exhibition win over KWC

You don’t ever want to move past a performance like the one Kentucky put together Wednesday night inside Rupp Arena, defeating Kentucky Wesleyan by a final score of 123-52 to open exhibition play. At the same time, it is just exhibition play and you want to get the real stuff started sooner rather than later. 71-point wins that don’t count won’t hang banners, after all!

But they sure are fun, and we’re gonna milk every ounce of content we can from it until the Cats take the floor for another one vs. Minnesota State on Tuesday. That’s what tonight’s leftovers are for on 4-Point Play, digging into some of the quotes lost in the chaos this week.

Let’s dig in.

Kentucky left ‘several’ threes on the table — despite shooting 42

Mark Pope and the Kentucky coaching staff set a target of 35 3-point attempts per game this offseason and followed that up with 42 in the team’s debut. Somehow, the Wildcats hit 21 of those deep balls spread across seven different players — five hitting multiple.

Is that sustainable, though? Pope says it’s probably unlikely, but they’ll try their hardest.

“Well, I hope so. It’s hard to get 42 up. It’s really hard to do that,” he said following the win. “Our goal is to be over 30 and that can get really complicated to get to 30.”

Interestingly enough, he actually thought the team turned down too many attempts, quadrupling down on the let-it-fly-early-and-often mentality Kentucky is bringing to the table this season.

The shot quality was good, but quantity could have somehow been better considering the looks they were given. If they’re going to give ’em, take ’em.

“I thought we turned a couple down tonight that I wish we would have taken,” he added. “What I like is most of the shots were earned — there wasn’t a lot of belligerent shooting. There were a lot of shots that were earned. We earned them a bunch of different ways and we earned them by racing the space and by screening and earning by finishing cuts. We earn them by feeling pressure, hitting corner.

“We earn them by sprinting to the deep corner and making sure our spacing is right and I thought our did guys did a terrific job earning those shots although there are several that we left on the table and four or five places where we had good penetration either by the pass or off the bounce. And we didn’t fill the corner behind it.”

Can they surpass 42 on Tuesday?

Lamont Butler can solve a Rubik’s Cube in under a minute

The San Diego State transfer dropped a hit single and then went out and dropped 11 points, six rebounds, six assists, six steals and two blocks in his Kentucky debut. Is there anything Lamont Butler can’t do?

Well, be sure to add a Rubik’s Cube to the list of things he can do before focusing on what he can’t.

When talking about his starting point guard, Pope said he’s been everything the Wildcats have needed and more.

“He is Lamont Butler, he’s done everything in the game of basketball. And I’m telling you, he’s a great leader,” he said. “This the guy you think about as a wonderful human being. He’s a guy that’s gone out of his way — we’ve had some guys go through difficult moments, whether it’s family issues or school issues or personal issues, and it seems like Lamont is always the first guy to be at his teammate’s door. He makes sure they have a helping hand, loving them, taking care of them, lifting up, inspiring them, patting them on the back. He’s the leading voice in our locker room.”

And yes, he can do a Rubik’s Cube in under a minute on top of all of that.

“He’s a — I don’t know if he’s at the top of the Billboard (charts) yet as a musical artist, but at least he’s in the game right now,” Pope added. “He could do a Rubik’s Cube in under a minute. I mean, this guy can do everything, and it’s fun to coach him. I’m excited for BBN to get to know him better and better and better.”

That’s my point guard.

A silent assassin in Jaxson Robinson

Isn’t it crazy how the former Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year dropped a team-high 19 points on 7-12 shooting and 5-9 from three and it’s barely been brought up since the win? It reminds me of Antonio Reeves last season, the silent assassin going out and putting up quiet 20-point games every night en route to All-SEC honors.

Something tells me we’ll see something similar with Jaxson Robinson — and his teammates agree.

“We were just talking about that, it’s crazy,” Otega Oweh said. “He don’t gotta do too much and that’s huge because that’s one person scoring 20, 25. We have so many weapons where we can just go out there and be aggressive. Knowing he’s always going to go out there and be consistent is huge for us.”

Robinson will undoubtedly be Kentucky’s go-to scorer this season in blue and white.

Spacing brought Otega Oweh to Kentucky

Speaking of Oweh, he was one of the big talking points following the KWC win. The Oklahoma transfer finished second on the team with 18 points on an impressive 7-9 shooting and 2-2 from three while adding five rebounds, three assists and one steal in just 18 minutes.

The junior wing was a terror getting downhill and driving to the basket while also knocking down open shots. He couldn’t have put together a better debut if he tried.

What we saw Wednesday is the sole reason he transferred to Kentucky this offseason. The spacing brings the best out of his game, finding himself in positional advantages and mismatches on the floor. When he’s hitting threes on top of that, look out.

“It’s huge. It’s actually one of the reasons I came here, knowing I’d be around shooters,” Oweh told KSR. “You’re going to have to stay with your man. If you don’t, it’s an easy play, easy assist. It’s just lovely being around a bunch of shooters knowing I can flourish in that, as well.”