Kentucky veterans serve as reliable cornerstones in SEC road win

Freshman Aaron Bradshaw needs a wheel barrel for stones he showed by taking and draining the most crucial 3-pointer in the game against Florida with the game tied. Freshman Reed Sheppard invoked the late great Stuart Scott, as he was cool as the other side of the pillow, sinking all six free throws in the closing minute after inexplicably missing two earlier in the contest, including the front end of a one-and-one. However, it was veteran playmakers Tre Mitchell and Antonio Reeves who played the role of Mr. Reliable all game long.

Like many games he plays, Antonio Reeves led Kentucky in scoring but you probably don’t even remember him making more than a bucket or two. Similarly, when no one else looked comfortable with the ball, Tre Mitchell danced in the post with an always impressive combination of toughness and old-man YMCA moves to steady the nerves of the team.

Reeves’ quiet assassin mentality and Mitchell’s confident work in the post combined for 21 of the Wildcats’ 37 first-half points and turned what could have been a blowout into a gettable game.

And get it, they did.

Freshman stars DJ Wagner, Reed Sheppard, and Aaron Bradshaw stepped up big in the second half, and combined with the omnipresent reliability of the veterans (including Reeves’ clutch scoop layup in the final minutes), Kentucky opened up SEC play with a win.

Mitchell came up huge on the glass

John Calipari’s top three points of emphasis coming into the game against Florida were rebounding, rebounding, and rebounding. The Gators entered as one of the top rebounding teams in the country, and while they still out-rebounded the ‘Cats, the margin was only three, thanks in large part to Tre Mitchell.

Mitchell had eight rebounds in the first half alone. Everyone else wearing a Kentucky uniform had 12 combined.

The 5th year senior by way of West Virginia only had two rebounds in the second half, but his first-half performance on the glass helped keep Kentucky within striking distance. Enter a refinance of Aaron Bradshaw, who had six second-half rebounds, and Kentucky did not let rebounding be the determining factor in this matchup.

Mitchell finished with a double-double, 12 points, and 10 rebounds, while Reeves walked away with a team-high 19 points on an efficient 50 percent from the field. The fact that both of these players were nearly not on the team late into the summer seems scary at this point because even though they may be the two guys out of the seven core rotation players not to hear their names called at the 2024 NBA Draft, they very well could be the two most important players on this Kentucky roster.