FINAL: Kentucky cruises from start to finish against Kentucky State in final exhibition

We’ve seen two different versions of Kentucky men’s basketball through the team’s two exhibition games. The second is the one we’ll hope to see all season long.

On Thursday night at Rupp Arena, Kentucky rolled from the opening tip to the final buzzer in the last preseason outing before regular-season action picks up next week. The Wildcats dominated the Kentucky State Thorobreds, winning by a final score of 99-53 in a game that was never truly close.

It was a far cry from Kentucky’s first exhibition against Georgetown College last week, which saw the ‘Cats struggle in the first half. That was anything but the case against Kentucky State.

The Wildcats were led in scoring by fifth-year guard Antonio Reeves and his 20 points on four made three-pointers. Four other ‘Cats finished in double-figures: Justin Edwards (17), Tre Mitchell (15), Adou Thiero (13) and DJ Wagner (12). Mitchell had the lone double-double with 10 rebounds in addition to four assists. Edwards and Thiero combined for 17 rebounds, as well.

As a team, Kentucky shot over 56 percent from the floor while going 10-25 (40 percent) from beyond the arc. The ‘Cats finished with only six turnovers compared to 25 assists on 37 made shots. UK outrebounded KSU by 13 and dominated the fastbreak battle 38-4.

Preseason ✅ pic.twitter.com/AybmbIyQcS

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) November 3, 2023

After a slow start against Georgetown College, Kentucky came out with a completely different demeanor in their final tune-up. Right out of the gate, the ‘Cats were running right through the Thorobreds’ defense. In particular, Edwards was off to a blazing hot start. The freshman wing connected on his first five shots before the first media timeout, carving out space in the paint for easy dunks and layups.

Although Kentucky State was able to keep the game semi-competitive in the opening minutes, it didn’t take long for UK to assert its dominance. By the second media timeout, the ‘Cats led by 15 points and the onslaught didn’t stop there.

At the half, Kentucky led 50-20 behind a pair of double-digit scorers: Wagner with 12 points and Edwards with 10. Mitchell chipped in six points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals in his first half of action. Kentucky posted 14 assists and zero turnovers in the first 20 minutes of action. There were plenty of highlights up to this point already, but none were better than Wagner’s lefty slam.

#SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/sATq9nzpky

— KSR (@KSRonX) November 2, 2023

If you thought Kentucky might come out of the locker room lethargic with a big lead in hand, think again. Back-to-back triples from Reeves kept the momentum rolling in the opening possessions. Right after that, Mitchell decided to do Reeves one better, raining down three straight three-pointers of his own that pushed to lead to 40-plus.

It wasn’t until the 11:00 mark in the second half that UK finally committed a turnover. A minute later, the Wildcats’ lead had swelled to 50 points for the first time all night. Once freshman Joey Hart checked in, the game was unofficially over as Kentucky eventually cruised to the 46-point victory.

7-foot-2 freshman big man Zvonimir Ivisic, who is awaiting NCAA eligibility clearance, was not in the building due to an illness, according to UK. Head coach John Calipari later said in the postgame press conference that Ivisic came down with food poisoning.

Next up: the season-opener on Monday, Nov. 6 against New Mexico State. Check out a full-game box score below.