KSR's takeaways from Mark Pope's first official win at Kentucky

You truly couldn’t script a better all-around performance for Kentucky in Mark Pope‘s first official game (and win) as head coach. Coming in as a 20-point favorite, the Wildcats were expected to win by a comfortable margin, but Wright State is a respected team out of the Horizon League. The Raiders finished the 2023-24 season with the No. 1 field goal percentage and No. 4 scoring offense nationally and returned the Horizon Preseason Player of the Year with eight letterwinners back overall. They’ve got some talent.

But Kentucky’s got more talent. Much, much more talent. That deficit led to a massive 103-62 win over Wright State in the opener to give Pope the win in his first coaching appearance on the home bench inside Rupp Arena.

How did it all come together? And what does it mean for the Cats as they get the real stuff rolling?

A fitting 41-point win

41 points for No. 41 — why not, right? It was a special night for obvious reasons, that first big win always being one you cherish at any level. But for Pope to get his first at Kentucky and to not only earn it in blowout fashion, but for the margin to match his old jersey number?

Again, you just can’t write a better script than that.

“These guys, man. Our guys, they — I’m pretty sure they cooked that up, but we talked about that after the game,” Pope said after the win. “41 is really special to me, so that is really sweet. Kentucky magic. Nothing like it.”

Mitch Barnhart honored the first-year coach with a bourbon barrel lid to remember the moment while his players celebrated by his side.

Mitch Barnhart honors Mark Pope following his first coaching win at Kentucky

The first of many to come. pic.twitter.com/Sloim1aw7D

— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) November 5, 2024

Koby Brea goes full Steph Curry

The Dayton transfer had a bit of an up and down start coming in as the nation’s top returning 3-point shooter by a mile. He was strong in the first exhibition game vs. KWC, but everyone was — it was a 71-point win. Then Brea followed that up with a 1-5 effort from deep vs. Minnesota State to bring his preseason totals to 4-10 overall.

His response? An 18-point, 4-4 3PT night that included one of the craziest sequences in recent memory. Plenty hot at that point, Brea caught a no-look pass from Kerr Kriisa and lifted for the corner three, turning away like Steph Curry with the ball still on its way toward the basket.

The 6-7 guard was already two steps down the court when it went through the net with Kriisa on his way back, as well. There was a 0.0 percent chance that ball wasn’t going in and everyone knew it.

But the audacity to actually spin around to the crowd with the shot still in the air? Yeah, that’s elite at the highest level. I guess you can do that sort of thing when you’re the best shooter college basketball has seen in a decade.

KOBY BREA 🫣🔥🔥🔥

📺 – ESPNU pic.twitter.com/vqXG9NQwSi

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) November 5, 2024

Amari Williams gets his first double-double

Coming off a knee injury — Pope confirmed afterward it was an issue with his patella, missing a couple of days of practice and only returned to live practice on Sunday — the Drexel transfer couldn’t have gotten off to a hotter start if he tried. He was already up to four points, five rebounds and three assists in seven minutes before ending the first half with eight points and nine rebounds to go with the trio of dimes.

That would lead to his first double-double as a Wildcat and the first for Pope as a coach, Williams finishing with 12 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal in 20 minutes. He turned the ball over four times — a couple with his head in the right place, but a miscommunication with teammates — and went just 2-6 at the line, but goodness gracious, the 7-footer from England was terrific.

And it really makes you wonder how in the world he lasted four years in the CAA before making the jump to a high-major.

That answer is unclear, but Pope sure is happy he’s wrapping up his time in college at Kentucky.

“Tell me you all don’t get excited when he’s racing down the floor with the ball in his hands,” he said. “That’s like 400 pounds of solid steel just racing down the floor at an amazing clip. None of us know what’s gonna happen. It’s fantastic. … Amari is a really special player, I thought he was terrific.”

Otega Oweh is the team’s biggest surprise

The shooting numbers were a bit misleading for Oweh at Oklahoma. Sure, he shot 37.7 percent on the year, but the splits between non-conference and conference play were night and day, making just 20 percent from deep (7-35) from January to March. His solid hit rate appeared to be a product of the low volume at 1.7 attempts per game, taking four 3-pointers just four times on the year and never making more than two, which happened just three times.

Then he went 2-3 from deep in exhibition play and 3-3 in his official debut as a Wildcat, confidently splashing every one of his attempts en route to a team-high 21 points overall on 8-9 shooting to go with three rebounds, three steals, one assist, one block and no turnovers. It was essentially a perfect all-around effort for the junior guard out of New Jersey.

“Otega has done an unbelievable job trusting and being receptive,” Pope said afterward. “He’s just simplified his game a little bit in a couple very specific areas. He’s become a brilliant decision-maker and tonight he was incredible defensively, clearly shot the ball really well. He was great downhill — pretty, pretty good in every facet of the game.”

I’ll be the first to say it: I was wrong on Oweh. I thought he’d be a great defender who earned paint touches and finished well around the basket — a nice sleeper pick who could stand out on occasion. Instead, he’s been Kentucky’s best all-around player and the early team MVP.

30 assists on 39 made shots

This is going to be an every game thing now, isn’t it? We’ve talked about the assist-to-turnover ratio every game, Kentucky racking up 60 to 13 through two exhibition matchups. Tonight, it was another 30 assists compared to seven turnovers with just two coming in the second half. To take it a step further, those 30 dimes came on 39 total made baskets, meaning ball movement and ball security were impeccable once again — this time in a game that counted.

How about the distribution, too? Eight different players scored buckets — all with multiple — while no one scored more than 21. Oweh led the way there, followed by Brea with 18, Lamont Butler with 14 (and five rebounds, five assists and three steals), Williams with 12 and Andrew Carr and Ansley Almonor adding 11 apiece to round out double-figure scorers.

This team is equally unselfish and talented as shooters and scorers. That’s a troubling sign for the rest of college basketball.

An all-time Rapid Reaction with Tom Hart

The party didn’t stop inside Rupp, either. We had plenty of fun right outside the building after the final buzzer, Big Blue Nation coming to celebrate the win with the KSR crew during our regularly-scheduled Rapid Reaction.

Oh, and SEC Network’s own Tom Hart joined the action — though he definitely asked us for cash to make an appearance. Worth every cent, if you ask me.

Go Cats.