KSR's ten favorite things from Kentucky's blowout win over Jackson State
The competition wasn’t the best, but the product sure was. Kentucky rolled to a 49-point victory over Jackson State inside Rupp Arena to move to 5-0 on the season — the program’s best start since the 2016-17 season.
How did it happen? Well, that doesn’t matter as much in a beatdown. Instead, how about we talk about some of our favorite things from yet another 100-point effort for the Cats?
1. Big Blue Nation showing out (again)
As impressive as the effort was on the court, what we saw in the stands was similarly brilliant. BBN showed up and showed out against Lipscomb on Tuesday, but it was the first home game following the program’s first win over Duke since 2015. That’s to be expected. Tonight? Well, it was a Friday night in rainy 40-degree weather against one of the worst teams in college basketball. It’s fair to expect some slippage there in terms of attendance and energy.
Instead, the crowd was better. Against a 0-5 team in the SWAC, ranked No. 322 out of 364 DI teams in college basketball, it was better.
Half of the entire lower bowl stuck to listen to Mark Pope on his postgame radio show, if that tells you anything.
2. Kenny “Sky” Walker honored with Purvis Short
A former Kentucky great is honored alongside a former legend with the opposing program each year in the Unity Series, this being the fourth inside Rupp Arena. It was Kenny “Sky” Walker making his return for the Wildcats this season, joined by Jackson State legend Purvis Short — the former No. 5 overall pick in the 1978 NBA Draft who finished with 14,607 career points as a pro.
The former stars were brought out to the floor midway through the first half and received a standing ovation from Big Blue Nation.
3. Flying sneakers in transition
How do you defend a player barreling down the middle of the lane for a wide-open dunk in transition? If you’re Dylan Canoville of Jackson State, you throw a sneaker at Brandon Garrison and hope for the best.
Have you ever seen anything like it? I certainly haven’t. It’s easy to joke about it now because the game was never within reach, but could you imagine something like that happening in a competitive matchup with the win up for grabs by either team? There would have certainly been some type of call there — unlike the stripes swallowing their whistles tonight.
At least Pope can make light of a weird situation.
“We got to see shoes flying in the air,” he said. “It was a magical evening.”
4. Another game hitting the magic defensive number
Pope said after the Lipscomb win that 39 percent is the team’s magic number defensively, a mark the Wildcats limited their first four opponents from breaking to open the regular season.
“That’s really important,” he said.
Against Jackson State? Yeah, the Tigers weren’t even close, finishing the day shooting just 33.3 percent from the field and 19.0 percent from three — plus an abysmal 50.0 percent at the free-throw line.
Elsewhere, the Wildcats forced 17 turnovers with 13 steals, leading to 24 points off turnovers and 43 points in transition.
5. The eRupption Zone singing the Oweh song
We know the crowd did its part inside Rupp Arena, but how about some bonus points for the student section? After being called upon to change the words of the soccer chant “Olé, Olé, Olé” in Otega Oweh’s honor, the eRupption Zone — and we heard you loud and clear.
“Oweh, Oweh, Oweh, Owehhhhhh. Owehhhh, Owehhhh.”
6. Koby Brea going nuclear again from three
You know you’re feeling yourself when you knock down a 3-pointer and immediately turn to talk trash to your head coach. That was the case with Brea, who knocked down five of his eight attempts from deep against the Tigers and somehow dropped his season average five whole percentage points — from 78.9 to 74.1, now 20-27 overall.
His teammates call him the best shooter in college basketball by a mile, none witnessing this type of efficiency in their entire lives. Pope hasn’t, either — and he loves it.
Top 10
- 1New
Tom Brady helped land QB
Michigan got assist on Underwood
- 2
MSU TE hospitalized
Jack Velling injured on first possession
- 3
Rhett Lashlee
SMU coach gets extension
- 4
Justin Fields
OSU legend to make CGD picks
- 5Hot
Bryce Underwood
Michigan flips No. 1 QB Bryce Underwood from LSU
“One of my many favorite moments tonight, he banged a three right in the corner in front of me and turned around and started talking trash to me. That was awesome, I love that,” he said. “Koby is in a tough spot, man. He goes 5-8 and it’s destroying his shooting percentage, which is just crazy. I’ve never seen that in my lifetime.”
7. Zack Geoghegan getting a picture with Mo Williams
Before he was an up-and-coming coach, Mo Williams was an All-Star and world champion in the NBA — and one of Zack Geoghegan’s favorite players as a fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers. After some mandatory peer pressure, my coworker on the basketball beat went up and grabbed a picture leading up to the opening tip.
It’s not often you get a dude who scored 10,759 career points in the league coaching from the opposing bench inside Rupp Arena.
8. Travis Perry gives Kentucky 100 (then Trent Noah follows)
One of the coolest moments of the night came at the 2:23 mark with the Wildcats in victory formation. Up 41 points with 98 as a team, Lyon County’s finest drilled a dagger stepback three to give Kentucky 100-plus for the third time in five games — the fourth being a 97-point outing against Lipscomb outside of the 77-point effort vs. Duke.
As you can probably imagine, the crowd went wild as Perry hit his first career three as a Wildcat.
Shortly after? You guessed it, Harlan County’s finest doing the same from the other side of the floor, drilling his first three as a Wildcat.
9. Ansley Almonor could not be better in his role
The Fairleigh Dickinson transfer signed with Kentucky specifically to take on a secondary role, one that included spot minutes off the bench with threes and energy plays. He knew he wasn’t going to be a star with a ton of touches, but still took it on anyway because he wanted the opportunity to be in Lexington for his final year of eligibility. Fortunately for us, it’s exactly what this program needed and he’s making the most of every second he’s out there.
Tonight? 10 points on 3-6 shooting and 2-5 from three with three rebounds in 15 minutes. That puts him at 7.8 points on 52.0 percent overall and 38.9 percent from deep with 2.2 rebounds in 12 minutes per game — about as good as it gets for your ninth man.
10. Otega Oweh quietly emerging as Kentucky’s best player
I saved the best for last intentionally — because that’s actually how things unfolded in the postgame press conference. Brea was the headliner with 22 points and five makes from deep, obviously, but Oweh was right behind with 21 points on 8-12 shooting to go with three steals, two assists and a rebound in 20 minutes.
In Pope’s eyes, he’s Kentucky’s most consistent player game after game, which adds up considering he leads the team in scoring at 16.2 PPG. He does it while playing the fourth-most minutes each night.
“He gets us off to unbelievable starts every single night,” Pope said. “He’s got a physicality and a joy about him. I think he’s been incredible, I’m really proud of him. One of the things that he’s been focusing on, growing on is like being an every-day, every-play guy. And man, he’s probably been our most consistent guy in games. That is a massive tribute to him.”
Your sleeper pick going into the year may just be team MVP.
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard