KSR's takeaways from Kentucky's 71-point win in Mark Pope's debut

Kentucky's Andrew Carr, Koby Brea, and Ansley Almonor celebrate after a win at Rupp Arena - Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio

Yes, it’s just an exhibition game. No, we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. Yes, we are going to acknowledge what an absolute demolition that was — and just how fun it was to watch. What started as a 60-24 lead at halftime closed out as a 123-52 win for Kentucky over Kentucky Wesleyan, more than doubling up the Panthers in Mark Pope‘s coaching debut in Lexington.

It wasn’t a sell-out — exhibitions never are — but the energy inside Rupp Arena was on a different planet to begin a new era of UK basketball. And the product certainly delivered, the Wildcats shooting out of their minds to the tune of 63.2 percent overall and 50 percent from three while holding the opposition to 32.8 percent overall and 14.8 percent from deep. It was the beatdown of all beatdowns from start to finish, as pretty an end-to-end effort you could dream up.

How did it all come together? KSR’s got your takeaways from Rupp.

Kerr Kriisa held out with hamstring injury

Let’s get the not-so-great stuff out of the way so we can celebrate the good. After being held out of the Blue-White Preseason Event with a tweaked hamstring, Kerr Kriisa was declared out ahead of tipoff in the exhibition despite being the first player out for pregame warmups and looking like someone ready to get going when the real stuff starts. A sweaty mess when he left the floor after running and getting shots up, he later came back out in sweats and slides, sitting out of precaution once again.

And you’d prefer it that way seeing how things unfolded, right? No reason to risk injury in a 71-point molly-whopping that doesn’t count at the end of the day. Winning by 100 points would have been a little excessive anyway.

As long as he’s ready by the start of the regular season, the West Virginia transfer is good to rest up in my book.

All 11 Wildcats score with eight in double figures

Kriisa’s absence was quite literally the only downside to Coach Pope’s debut because every single person who suited up for the Cats played well. Hell, even Walker Horn got after it with an assist and a steal in two minutes.

I mean, just go down the list. Every scholarship player scored for Kentucky on Wednesday with eight finishing in double figures. Nobody played more than 25 minutes, but all 11 got at least nine with 10 going for 15-plus. That balanced effort got 48 total makes split between the entire squad, eight guys going for at least four buckets apiece, but everyone staying below that 20-point barrier — can’t let those egos get too big.

The leading scorer? Yeah, that’s not gonna surprise you. Jaxson Robinson went for a game-high 19 points on 7-12 shooting and 5-9 from three to go with three rebounds in 23 minutes. He’s a silent assassin who carries himself like a pro, just like Antonio Reeves did a year ago. It’s fair to expect a similar season out of the BYU transfer.

Trent Noah gets the pop of the night

That statistic was all 10 players have scored for Kentucky until Harlan County’s finest finally entered the game in the second half. Then he came in and banged four straight threes, caving the Rupp Arena roof in after launching shot after shot after shot and hitting his final quartet of attempts to end the game.

Conveniently enough, his last three came immediately after a UK fan wearing a Harlan County Black Bears t-shirt was going crazy on the jumbotron. I wish we could have seen that guy after his fourth make.

Just think of how ridiculous that is, though. You’ve got 10 capable players making shots and playing defense in a blowout, then your ELEVENTH guy comes in and adds a quick 12 points on 4-5 shooting to go with two assists and one rebounds in nine minutes. No big deal.

But hey, the 606 doesn’t mess around.

Just a kid from Harlan, Kentucky. pic.twitter.com/1vqtZXA6XJ
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) October 24, 2024

Surprise of the night goes to Otega Oweh

The narrative surrounding the Oklahoma transfer entering the season was that he was a terrific athlete and defender whose 38 percent mark from deep a year ago was a bit misleading — starting out hot before nosediving a bit during conference play in the Big 12.

Then he confidently knocked down both of his 3-point attempts in his Wildcat debut while doing everything else he’s known for doing well. He finished with 18 points on 7-9 shooting while adding five rebounds, three assists and a steal in 18 minutes, by far the biggest surprise of the night in terms of initial expectations. Everyone knew he’d produce as a slasher and finisher at the rim, someone who would force turnovers and convert those into points on the other end. But confidently knock down shots while making high IQ play after high IQ play as maybe the best all-around player on the team? I’m not sure anyone saw that coming.

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He was awesome and deserving of very real praise.

“My game is to get downhill, but to be a part of this system, you’ve got to put them up,” he said afterward. “When you have the open shot, you take it. When they need you to make a play, make it. I’m best at getting downhill, but I’ll shoot it, for sure.”

Lamont Butler is a defensive menace

He wasn’t the leading scorer, but Butler made the biggest two-way impact to set the tone in the 71-point win. 11 points on 5-8 shooting is solid, but can we talk about his six rebounds, six assists, six steals and two blocks with zero turnovers?

That’s PG1, an absolute terror on defense who runs the show and controls the pace as the primary ball handler while also attacking the glass like a forward or big — not a 6-2 point guard. Pope raved about him after the game, pointing out that he had more steals than than the whole team had turnovers (five).

“I’ve never seen that,” he said. “He’s a really special player. I’ve never coached a guy like him from a defensive standpoint.”

His teammates said before the game they were sick and tired of going against him in practice and were ready to watch opposing teams suffer. Kentucky Wesleyan was undoubtedly the first of many victims to come.

“He’s gonna be an issue,” Oweh said.

Travis Ford was the ‘Y’

How about a little Madisonville reunion? First it was Drew Franklin, then walk-on Zach Tow joining the squad this offseason. Up next? None other than two-time All-SEC member Travis Ford, who was the honorary ‘Y’ inside Rupp Arena in the second half.

“Travis was at shootaround. He was my mentor during my first year here. I redshirted because I transferred and Trav was here, and man, he was a feisty — like, he was just a baller,” Pope said after the game. “What a tough — he was incredible and I learned so much from him about the game of basketball in just one year. Ill always be grateful for Travis Ford.”