MVP performance from Antonio Reeves provides Kentucky with another weapon

Kentucky’s Big Blue Bahamas Tour was exactly what the Big Blue Nation was expecting: four blowout victories (including one battle on the final day) across a five-day stretch in the middle of August that provided some much-needed juice for the program. Both on and off the floor, the team was able to learn a lot about their identity.

Coming into the event, there were plenty of players that fans were eager to get their eyes on. Returnees such as Daimion Collins and Jacob Toppin put on full display their many offseason developments while freshmen Cason Wallace and Chris Livingston looked like anything but 18-year-olds. Oscar Tshiebwe was still Oscar Tshiebwe and we got our first look at CJ Fredrick in a Kentucky uniform, but no one shocked the fanbase more than Illinois State transfer Antonio Reeves.

The 6-foot-5 senior guard was named the event’s Most Valuable Player after pouring in scoring performances of 20-plus points in back-to-back outings. Reeves went for 22 points on 7-14 shooting (4-9 from three-point range) on Sunday after popping off for 23 points on 8-12 shooting and 5-8 from deep on Saturday. Keep in mind that he did this with a turnaround time of roughly 16 hours.

“It’s been good, man. Just enjoying this moment right now,” Reeves told the media following Sunday’s victory. “Enjoying it with my teammates as well. I’m just happy to be here right now.”

“He got it going. And I think what you saw is what we preach all the time. When someone’s got it going, the rest of the guys are fully aware and they want to keep feeding that guy,” Associate coach Orlando Antigua said of Reeves. “But he’s demonstrated that in practice, throughout the summer, that he can get going pretty quickly.”

It was his performance on Sunday afternoon that solidified Reeves’ case for MVP. After scoring just six points in the first half, he lit up the Bahamas National Select Team for 16 points on 6-8 shooting (4-6 from deep) across the final 20 minutes. At one point, he drilled four consecutive triples over a two-and-a-half-minute span that proved to be the nail in the coffin for the Bahamas.

Kentucky led 56-52 before Reeves’ hot streak and took a commanding 70-59 advantage once he finally cooled off. The ‘Cats went on to win 98-74.

On FIRE 🔥@ToniooReeves pic.twitter.com/Qmu004HNUC

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) August 14, 2022

“Just keep shooting,” Reeves said of his second-half run. “If I get on a hot streak like that, I know in my head that I’m not gonna miss. That’s my mindset, that’s my thought process.”

Reeves posted double-figure scoring numbers across all four games for the Wildcats this week. He finished with per-game averages of 17.0 points (team-high) and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 52.4 percent from the floor, 51.9 percent from distance (14-27 overall), and a perfect 10-10 from the free-throw line.

For the coaching staff, who has watched him develop and learn every day for months now, these numbers didn’t come as much of a surprise.

“How about Antonio? Antonio was everything we thought he was,” Assistant coach Chin Coleman told Jack “Goose” Givens after Sunday’s win. “Maybe Big Blue (Nation) now knows but we kinda knew what we were getting in him.”

Reeves has drawn plenty of rave reviews throughout the summer, but to see him put it all into action against live competition was an encouraging development for Kentucky heading into the 2022-23 season. If he can play close to this new standard once the fall rolls around, the ‘Cats will have another lethal scoring weapon at its disposal.