FINAL: Kentucky overcomes slow first half, downs Georgetown College 92-69 in exhibition

Even in an exhibition game, a win is still a win.

On Friday night at Rupp Arena, No. 16 Kentucky men’s basketball finally played against someone other than themselves. The opponent? Nearby Georgetown College of the NAIA. It sure didn’t have the feel of a preseason outing though. The Tigers — which rosters mostly Bluegrass-born players — came out ready to fight. Kentucky only led by one point at the break.

But as these exhibitions usually go, the better and more talented team ultimately came away with the victory. Kentucky wound up winning by a final score of 92-69, outscoring Georgetown College by 22 points in the second half. The Wildcats will now play one more exhibition game on Thursday, Nov. 2 against Kentucky State before opening up the regular season on Nov. 6 against New Mexico State.

Kentucky finished the night shooting 48.6 percent from the floor, 36.4 percent from distance, and 80 percent from the free throw line. The ‘Cats outrebounded Georgetown by 14 and finished with six fewer turnovers.

Exhibition game one ✅ pic.twitter.com/KaVPnhCMNv

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) October 28, 2023

The veterans led the way for Kentucky against Georgetown College. Tre Mitchell was the team’s leading scorer with 22 points to go along with nine rebounds, two assists, and three blocks. He was aided by Antonio Reeves, who chipped in 16 points on 7-15 shooting. Freshman Rob Dillingham was next up in scoring with 16 points and five assists while Adou Thiero, Justin Edwards, and Reed Sheppard all added at least nine points each.

The first half was anything but pretty for the Wildcats. Kentucky shot under 41 percent from the field and connected on just 2-9 three-point attempts. Seven first-half turnovers and only winning the rebounding battle by two did them no favors either. The ‘Cats were playing sped up and couldn’t get into a good offensive rhythm.

For Georgetown College, senior forward Kyran Jones was taking advantage of UK’s small lineup — which was missing all three of the team’s seven-footers — by going right into the teeth of the defense. Jones had nine points and six rebounds after 20 minutes, bulldozing through undersized Kentucky defenders on his way for easy layups.

In spite of that, Kentucky still held a slight 35-34 lead at the break behind eight points from Reeves, seven points from Sheppard, plus five points and five rebounds for Mitchell. Georgetown was equally as poor shooting the ball with a 44 percent field goal clip and a 1-8 mark from deep.

Calipari’s halftime speech must’ve inspired confidence though. Out of the locker room, Kentucky came out red-hot, busting out an 8-0 run before quickly pushing the lead to double digits. That was all they needed to polish this one off. The ‘Cats settled in and began to push the pace to their liking. Reeves and Mitchell continued to roll on offense, building a comfortable lead for UK that ballooned to 20-plus.

Kentucky finally began to pull away once we got to under 10 minutes left in the second half. In the end, it was a smooth 23-point win for the Wildcats. Next up: Kentucky State on Thursday.