Notes, Cumulative Stats from Kentucky's 4-0 Bahamas Tour

The Cats wrapped up their Bahamas trip with another big win, this time against a tough, physical Bahamas squad. As we continue to churn out coverage, check out the postgame notes from today courtesy of UK Athletics, the box score, and the cumulative stats from the tour. Antonio Reeves was the leading scorer on the trip with 68 total points, followed by Jacob Toppin with 67.

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FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 98, The Bahamas National Select Team 74

• This was Kentucky’s final exhibition game of the Big Blue Bahamas foreign exhibition tour.
• UK improved to 13-1 in the Bahamas foreign tours. The Wildcats went 5-1 in their first foreign tour in the Bahamas in 2014 and 4-0 in their second stint in 2018.
• Kentucky is 144-12 all-time in exhibition games and has won 23 straight. UK is 41-1 in exhibition contests under head coach John Calipari.

First-Half Facts

• UK utilized a starting lineup of Sahvir Wheeler, Cason Wallace, Jacob Toppin, Daimion Collins and Oscar Tshiebwe.
• The Bahamians opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, but Wheeler scored a quick layup in transition, then Toppin found Tshiebwe for an ally-oop and Collins also got out in transition for a dunk and a 6-3 UK lead. The Bahamas took a timeout at the 17:46 mark.
• At the first media timeout, UK led 10-7. Kentucky made five of its first 11 field-goal attempts and was 0 of 4 from behind the arc.
• The Cats endured a stretch in which they made just one of eight field-goals, but Wallace found Chris Livingston for a corner 3 to end the draught and lift UK to a 15-9 lead.
• The Bahamas continued to chip away and eventually took the lead with 8:15 in the opening half at 26-23 behind a traditional three-point play. 
• The lead stretched to as many as eight at 32-24 with 5:28 in the opening half.
• UK utilized an 11-0 run over 3:23 of clock, which was sparked by back-to-back transition baskets to retake the lead 37-34 with 1:26 to go.
• A Wheeler layup to just beat the buzzer gave the Cats a 41-40 edge at the break. Kentucky held The Bahamas to just one field over the final 4:41 of the first half.
• Kentucky’s defense was once again pesky, forcing The Bahamas into 12 first-half turnovers. It led to 21 fastbreak points for the Cats.
• Playing its fourth game in five days, Kentucky’s outside shooting was hard to come by. UK shot 37.5% (15-40) from the floor and 1-13 (7.7%) from long range.
• Wheeler led the way in the points’ column with 13 points. Toppin added nine and Reeves chipped in with six.
• The Bahamas owned a 20-19 edge on the boards, but Tshiebwe corralled nine in the opening half.

Second-Half Story

• Kentucky began the second half with Wheeler, Wallace, Livingston, Toppin and Tshiebwe.
• UK forced turnovers on each of The Bahamas first three possessions of the second half.
• With The Bahamas keeping things close, Reeves helped break the game open with three straight possessions by draining a 3-pointer to lift UK to a 70-59 lead with 11:05 to play.
• Consecutive Wheeler dishes for dunks to Collins and Toppin ignited the crowd as Kentucky took its largest lead of the contest by a 78-63 score and 8:02 remaining.
• Kentucky shot 66.7% (20-30) from the field and 6-10 (60.0%) from 3-point range in the second half.
• UK also dominated the boards by a 24-8 margin.

Team Notes

• Kentucky shot 50% from the field (35-70), and 84.0% from the free-throw line (21-25).       
  • UK averaged 106.5 points per game behind a 54.8% field-goal clip. The Wildcats also connected on 38.1% from behind the arc with an average of 10 made 3s a game. Kentucky shot 84.8% as a team from the free-throw line over the four games.
• The Cats forced 21 turnovers and turned that into 35 points, including 33 in the fastbreak variety.            
  • Kentucky averaged 21.3 turnovers forced per game in its four games this week.
• Three players scored 20 or more points, Reeves (22), Wheeler (21) and Toppin (20).
  • Six players averaged double-digit scoring, with Livingston almost making it a seventh with a 9.8 points per game average.
• Kentucky dominated the boards with a 43-28 advantage after getting outrebounded in the opening half. Tshiebwe led the way with 12.
  • UK averaged a plus-19.8 rebound margin in its four games.
• The Wildcats recorded 11 steals and seven blocked shots.            
  • Kentucky averaged 14.0 steals and 7.3 blocks per game in its four wins this week.

Player Notes  

• Antonio Reeves was tabbed the tournament’s most valuable player. He scored 22 points and sank four 3-pointers in the win against The Bahamas.
  • He was UK’s leading scorer, averaging 17.0 points per game this week.
  • He made four or more 3s in three of the four games.
  • He made 51.9% from behind the arc this week.
• Sahvir Wheeler scored 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while adding four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
  • Wheeler accounted for 24 assists and just six turnovers in the four games.
  • He averaged 14.5 points per game and 6.0 assists per game.
• Jacob Toppin had 20 points, five boards, two steals and a blocked shot.
  • He averaged 16.8 points per game and shot 53.3% from long range over the four games.
• Oscar Tshiebwe registered his second double-double of the week with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
  • He posted 11.5 points per game and 11.3 rebounds per game this week.
• Daimion Collins had eight points, six rebounds and a game-high-tying two blocked shots.
• Cason Wallace had five assists and a team-high four rebounds to go along with five points.
  • He averaged 10.5 points per game and led the team with 12 steals in the four games.
  • He also made 40% from behind the arc this week.

Box Score vs. Bahamas National Select Team

Cumulative Stats