FINAL: Antonio Reeves scores 27 on former team, Kentucky beats Illinois State 96-70

On Friday night, for the first time since Dec. 2, Kentucky played a game at Rupp Arena. It was also the first time that Antonio Reeves went up against his former team since transferring to UK ahead of the 2022-23 season.

And what did Reeves do? Drop a game-high 27 points, just one game after exploding for 30 against Louisville last week, in a 96-70 win for Kentucky over Illinois State. The fifth-year senior shot 10-18 (4-8 3PT) from the field against the Redbirds while also bringing down six rebounds. Reeves was aided by a trio of freshmen double-figure scorers: Rob Dillingham (16 points), DJ Wagner (14), and Reed Sheppard (11). Those three also combined for 15 of Kentucky’s 23 assists.

As a team, Kentucky shot 57 percent from the field, 11-25 (44 percent) from beyond the arc, and 13-17 (76 percent) from the free throw line. The Wildcats turned the ball over just six times while dominating in transition with 21 more fastbreak points than the Redbirds. Kentucky also thoroughly outscored the Illinois State bench, 36-5.

After an eight-day break in between games, it took a couple of minutes for Kentucky to round back into pre-Christmas form. The Wildcats trailed 13-9 after five minutes of action with Illinois State senior forward Myles Foster making the first three-pointer of his career. But Kentucky rattled off an immediate 9-0 run once Sheppard and Dillingham checked in to make it 18-13 in favor of the home team.

Kentucky would extend its lead to double-digits, 29-19, for the first time in the game with roughly six minutes until the break. It would quickly grow to 15 thanks to a Wagner triple before Dillingham closed out the half with another made three to make it 45-30 after 20 minutes of action. Reeves led all scorers at the intermission with 12 while Wagner and Sheppard weren’t far behind with nine and eight points, respectively.

Illinois State came out and hit a three-pointer to open the second half and even hit another one less than a minute later to make it an 11-point lead for Kentucky. But that was as close as the Redbirds would get the rest of the way. Midway through the second half, Kentucky pushed its advantage to 25 points, 72-47.

UK would cool down from there though. The ‘Cats even went through a stretch of making just one field goal across eight attempts. But even still, the lead remained at 20-plus down the stretch. Illinois State cut it down to 19 around the four-minute mark, but a Reeves triple extended it back to 22. The final result was a 26-point Kentucky win.

Up next: Kentucky will take another eight days off before starting SEC play in the new year. The Wildcats will head down to Gainesville on Saturday, Jan. 6 for a matchup with the Florida Gators