KSR's top ten takeaways from Kentucky's win over Colgate

I’d love to say that was pretty and Kentucky coasted to a feel-good victory coming off the Gonzaga win and ahead of the rivalry matchup vs. Louisville. Instead, I will be honest and tell you a 9-1 start to the season was the goal going into the evening and that’s how the game wrapped up. There were some pretty high highs to go with equally low lows that brought us to the finish line inside Rupp Arena with a final score of 78-67 in favor of the good guys.

How did it all come together for the Cats? What needs to improve going into the in-state battle this weekend? KSR’s got the top takeaways from the late-night win.

A 17-0 start for the Cats…

Kentucky looked to be on a different planet in terms of talent, Colgate struggling to get much of anything going early while the Cats got essentially whatever and wherever they wanted. That led to a 17-0 lead to open the game with the Raiders not scoring their first field goal until the 13:20 mark. It was exactly what you wanted to see following the team’s promise that this, like every other game on the schedule, is the biggest and most important of the season up to that point. No hangover coming back from Seattle and no looking ahead to the dorks in red down I-64 — at least in the first six minutes or so.

… leads to a three-point second-half deficit

Then the “weird energy” kicked in, as Pope described it. The world-beaters we saw to start the game disappeared as Colgate responded with an 11-0 run to cut it to five, then another 17-7 move after pushing it back up to 12, leading to a head-scratching 38-36 lead at the break. The punches wouldn’t slow down anytime soon — and really for the remainder of the game, all things considered — with the Raiders opening the second half on a 9-4 run to take a three-point lead with 17:30 to go in the game. Whoops.

Their final lead would come with 15:51 remaining, Kentucky using a 12-0 run of four straight 3-pointers to finally create some breathing room. Right when you thought the Cats were ready to brush off the sleepy effort and coast down the stretch, Colgate responded once again with a 12-5 run to close out the game and crush the spread.

Thank goodness for Koby Brea — Mr. 1,000

The team made four 3-pointers in the first half. All four came from Brea, who finished the day 5-8 from deep to bring his season-long hit rate to 56.1 percent on 5.7 attempts per game. He would wrap things up with a team-high 17 points on 6-12 shooting while adding five rebounds in 33 minutes. With the performance, he surpassed the 1,000-point mark in career scoring and now has 1,013 points as a collegiate hooper.

Outside of the Dayton transfer, though, Kentucky’s shooting was on the cusp of another disaster after coming in shooting 27.1 percent from deep in its last four games. The rest of the Wildcats shot 0-11 from the perimeter in the first half before starting 0-3 as a group to open the second. That 12-0 stretch with four consecutive makes saved the day — two from Jaxson Robinson, one from Trent Noah and one from Otega Oweh. Brea and Oweh would add another pair to give the team a 10-31 night for 32.3 percent from three.

That’s the first 10-make, 30-attempt game since Jackson State.

Trent Noah wins the Next Man Up Award

Travis Perry got the first stab at brownie points off the bench among unexpected contributors, checking in at the 15:41 mark in the first half thanks to injury issues in the backcourt. That led to a quick 0-4 shooting start with three misses from three in seven minutes — just not his day, unfortunately. He was a part of the momentum shift that saw the 17-point cushion disappear going into the half.

Insert Trent Noah, who played the final three minutes before the break, followed by another eight in the second. That time on the floor included a gutsy left-wing 3-pointer right in front of Mark Pope as his head coach was telling him to feed it inside.

“I’m yelling, ‘Punch it, throw it in the post!'” Pope said. “He shoots the three. That’s how I know he’s going to be a big-time player. He really gave us a boost.”

When you feel it, you feel it! He finished with three points, one rebound and one assist in 11 solid minutes off the bench.

Kentucky needs Lamont Butler back

Jaxson Robinson was fine taking over as the team’s starting point guard, playing with pace and poise to help set the tone in the 17-0 start before things got sloppy for everyone. All in all, he finished with 11 points on 4-14 shooting and 2-11 from three with four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal in 34 minutes — missed shots, but a well-rounded effort elsewhere.

It was clear, though, the Cats were missing the straw that stirs the drink on both ends. They got by without Butler in Seattle, but his absence was clearly felt back in Lexington, especially as the Raiders picked up some offensive momentum. Having a guy you trust to pick up 94 feet and take over when intensity slips is so valuable, the perfect espresso shot in a sleepy midweek battle against mediocre competition you can’t help but look over.

Louisville barely escaped UTEP at home on Wednesday and is severely shorthanded, as well, but you’d still feel a whole heck of a lot better about Kentucky’s chances on Saturday with Butler back in the lineup.

Kerr Kriisa is ‘high as a kite’ (and six weeks away from a return)

Speaking of injuries, Pope expects Kerr Kriisa to be out for six weeks after undergoing surgery on a broken foot. He joked that we’d circle back in 10 days for another update, but the Vegas odds are putting him back on the floor for the Cats by late January.

We all expected that, though. What we didn’t was Coach Pope saying Kriisa decided to FaceTime him after his surgery when he was ‘high as a kite.’

“He was going down a laundry list of all the people that he loved so much,” he said. “And my instinct was I gotta find a way to take this to Instagram Live so we can all enjoy this moment.”

That’s the good stuff right there.

Five score in double figures

We know about Brea and Robinson going for 17 and 11, respectively, but three other Wildcats finished in double figures to bring the team total to five, as well. That’s the sixth time in 10 games that at least five players have hit double digits in scoring.

Otega Oweh and Amari Williams added 15 points apiece, the former shooting 6-13 overall and 2-5 from three to go with five rebounds and four assists while the latter shot 6-8 while contributing eight rebounds, two assists and one block. Then you have Andrew Carr going for 11 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and the 13th of his career.

A major size advantage

The Raiders are missing some serious size inside with 6-11, 270-pound center Jeff Woodward out with injury since November. That left them with a pair of 6-6 and 6-9 forwards starting in the frontcourt. Meanwhile, the Wildcats’ starting point guard was 6-6 on Wednesday with 6-11 and 7-0 players in the frontcourt.

The result? A 46-35 victory in the rebounding battle, meaning Kentucky has now won or tied on the glass in all but one game this season. The Cats also destroyed the competition in the paint with 40 points compared to just 24 inside.

Kentucky is 9-1 for the first time since 2017-18

The goal was to come away with a win and that’s exactly what the Cats did — albeit in sloppy fashion. With it, Kentucky moves to 9-1 on the year for the first time since 2017-18, that group losing its eleventh game right after. Should they beat Louisville and Ohio State, the Cats’ 11-1 start would be the best since 2014-15 — quite the feat if they can get it done over the next 10 days.

The last time UK was 11-1 through 12 games? 2011-12.

Ready for Louisville

We got past this one just to get excited for the Cardinals coming to town on Saturday, a chance for Pope to earn his first victory over the in-state rival as head coach. He knows what’s on the line with that one.

“I’m well aware of the beauty of this rivalry,” he said.

The Wildcats talked about attending La Familia’s TBT win over The Ville at Freedom Hall this summer and how it’s prepared them for this matchup. Now they get to experience the rivalry for themselves — even if it took a sleepy win over a toothpaste brand to get there.