Former Cats lead USA to win over Canada's former Cats

Las Vegas was the place to be on Wednesday as Team USA took down Canada 86-72 in the USA Basketball Showcase at T-Mobile Arena, doing so in front of a record crowd of 20,757 — all for an exhibition matchup.

It was a battle that featured six former Kentucky standouts with three on each team, Devin Booker starting for the United States and Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo coming off the bench. For Canada, it was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray starting in the backcourt and Trey Lyles coming off the bench in the frontcourt.

Canada took an early double-digit lead in Vegas before USA chipped away to take over before closing out the 14-point victory. Anthony Edwards led scorers on the winning side with 13 points on 6-10 shooting, followed by Steph Curry with 12 on 4-7 shooting and Jrue Holiday with 11 on 5-8 shooting.

As for the former Wildcats, Davis rounded out double-figure scorers with 10 points on 5-10 shooting to go with 11 rebounds, four blocks, two steals and two assists in the double-double effort — all in 19 minutes. Booker added nine points on 4-6 shooting in 20 minutes while Adebayo went for six points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes with the second unit.

For the losing side, Gilgeous-Alexander went for 10 points and four rebounds in 19 minutes, followed by five points and five rebounds in 17 minutes for Murray. Lyles closed things out with four points and four rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.

As you could’ve probably guessed, John Calipari was in attendance checking out his former players in action.

John Calipari is in the house for USA/Canada to support his Kentucky guys: pic.twitter.com/A0SI3rNo2j

— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) July 11, 2024

“I was at the USA vs. Canada game last night. Six of our guys in the game,” Calipari tweeted this morning. “SGA. Jamal Murray. Trey Lyles. Bam. Anthony Davis. Devin Booker. Proud of all of them. Was hoping to have all six on the floor at one time. Now I’m on to Phoenix!”

For the first of five exhibition battles for Team USA — certainly with just four practices under its belt — it was a strong debut for the Americans ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Shooting 50.7 percent from the field while holding Canada to just 33.7 percent and holding advantages on the glass (53-48), assists (25-18), steals (11-5) and blocks (9-1), there is a lot to like about this squad ahead of the real stuff in a few weeks.

“Good first game for us, really just getting started after four days of practice,” head coach Steve Kerr said after the win. “You could see the rust from the offensive end, a lot of turnovers in that first half especially, but I love the defensive intensity and the work on the glass. So it was a good first effort.”

Depositing the Top Plays from 🇺🇸 #USABMNT vs 🇨🇦 Canada into the @SoFi video bank! pic.twitter.com/YOjtu4iA9h

— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 11, 2024

Former Wildcats didn’t make up the top plays, but they certainly contributed to the all-around win.