Kentucky is (unofficially) off to a 2-0 start in the Mark Pope era. The games finally begin to count next week.
To finish off the preseason, No. 23 Kentucky overcame a slow shooting start on Tuesday night against Minnesota State, the defending Division II national champions, behind the hot hand of Jaxson Robinson as the Wildcats pulled out a 98-67 win. Robinson finished with a game-high 24 points on 8-12 shooting from long range.
While it wasn’t the near-perfect performance from UK we saw in the preseason opener against Kentucky Wesleyan College (an impressive 123-52 beatdown) last week, it was nice to see some adversity come the Wildcats way. Minnesota State was clearly not intimidated by the bright lights of Rupp Arena. It was a two-point game over halfway through the first 20 minutes. But Kentucky responded with confidence and won this game in blowout fashion.
Joining Robinson in double-figures were Otega Oweh (15 points), Andrew Carr (14), and Brandon Garrison (12). In his first-ever game as a ‘Cat, Kerr Kriisa finished with three points, six assists, and four rebounds. Kentucky shot 54 percent from the field and went 13-37 from distance while holding Minnesota State to just 39 percent shooting.
The start of this one was much different than what we saw in the first exhibition last week. Kentucky came out and took an early lead, much like they did against KWC, but was unable to blow the game wide open this time around. Minnesota State never held the lead, but with under eight minutes in the first half, it was just a two-point game.
Then Kentucky caught fire.
After making just two of its first 13 three-point attempts, the Wildcats closed the half by going 6-12 from deep. During that span, UK rattled off an 18-0 run. That two-point lead rapidly ballooned to 20 in under five minutes of game time as Kentucky took a 43-23 lead into the half. Robinson led all scorers with 15 points on a 5-9 clip from beyond the arc. Amari Williams played just three minutes before going down with a knee injury. He would not return.
Kentucky continued to pile onto the lead out of the break as Robinson continued to pile on the three-pointers. The Wildcats took a 30-point lead midway through the second half as the game was all but over at that point. A couple of beautiful no-look passes from Kriisa in his debut put a stamp on the win. UK’s advantage eventually grew to 40 points down the stretch before settling on the 31-point victory.
The first real game of the season is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 4 against Wright State. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. EST on ESPNU.
