KSR's top takeaways from Kentucky's 100-60 win over Robert Morris

Kentucky is officially in the win column, with the Wildcats knocking off Robert Morris by a final score of 100-60. It was the team’s first home game at Rupp Arena, the start of a seven-game homestand.

What were the biggest takeaways from the win? And what should fans expect as the team looks ahead to Mount St. Mary’s next week and beyond?

Rupp Arena was electric

For the first time since the 2019-20 season, Rupp Arena was Rupp Arena again.

It was a late-arriving crowd, but as Kentucky’s play ramped up, the fans grew louder and louder. In the final four minutes, the crowd finally blew the lid off the venue, exploding to celebrating the highlights and the team’s 100 points on the night.

After a year of limited attendance, cancellations and losses, this one felt pretty darn good. Well done, BBN.

Back-to-back double-doubles for Oscar Tshiebwe

Another day, another monster double-double for Oscar Tshiebwe. With a clear size advantage over Robert Morris, the 6-foot-9, 255-pound center absolutely dominated the paint, finishing with an absurd 16 points (5-11 FG, 4-6 FT), 20 rebounds (10 offensive), three blocks, two assists, one turnover and just two fouls in 29 minutes.

It was Tshiebwe’s second 20-rebound game in a row, adding to the history he already made against Duke. His 20 rebounds in the Champions Classic was an event record, the most by a UK player in a debut, the most by a UK player in the John Calipari era, and the most by a UK player in any game since Jared Prickett (20 vs. Arkansas on Feb. 9, 1994).

Now, he has the most rebounds over a Wildcat’s first two games in their career in school history, passing Dan Issel. His 22 offensive rebounds on the year is also tied with Paul Millsap for the most by any D-I player in any two-game span over the last 25 seasons.

UK has the best rebounder in college basketball, and I don’t think it’s close.

Kellan Grady and Davion Mintz catch fire

Looking for 3-point makes? How about eight combined from Kellan Grady and Davion Mintz.

The former finished with a team-high 19 points on 7-11 shooting and 4-6 from three to go with three steals and one assist, while the latter added 13 points on 4-5 shooting from three and 1-2 from the line to go with four rebounds and two assists.

Grady got things rolling with some smooth makes from three, while Mintz got hot in the second half, hitting all four shots in less than four minutes (11:13-7:32).

As a team, the Wildcats, hit 12 3-pointers on 23 attempts, good for 52.2% overall. That’ll play.

Welcome to Lexington, Daimion Collins

It wasn’t the best debut for Daimion Collins, who finished with zero points, zero rebounds, one assist and one foul in Kentucky’s loss vs. Duke.

In his first regular season game at Rupp Arena, though, the 6-foot-9 freshman exploded onto the scene, finishing with 14 points (7-8 FG), six rebounds, four blocks and three assists in 21 minutes. He was a highlight machine, swatting shots on one end and catching lobs and finishing ridiculous dunks on the other.

“He needs to play,” John Calipari said after the win. “… He’s in the making, we’ve just got to play him.”

He had his mistakes, sure. He turned the ball over three times and got beat on defense a time or two. At his best, it’s hard to find a more intriguing player on the roster than Daimion Collins.

CJ Fredrick, Jacob Toppin and Lance Ware sit due to injury

Kentucky started the season down one player in CJ Fredrick. Entering game two, the team was down three, as Jacob Toppin and Lance Ware were added to the injury report before the game. The former was declared out before the game, while the latter was limited and ended up playing just one minute in the win.

The Toppin and Ware injuries appear to be relatively minor, while Fredrick’s is a bit more significant. The Iowa transfer came in on crutches, with John Calipari referring to it as a hamstring injury — a different ailment than the one that has kept him out since the summer.

“He’s got a hamstring injury, going to be out for a minute again,” ssaid Calipari. “How long? I don’t know.”

Calipari said Ware tried to give it a go, but couldn’t play through the injury. As for Toppin, he’ll be getting an MRI tomorrow after tweaking “a different part of his shoulder.”

The good news? Other players are ready to step up in their place.

“The one good thing is, one man’s misery is another man’s opportunity,” said Calipari.

Hopefully that misery doesn’t last too long. Kentucky needs them back sooner rather than later.