Cats romp over No. 8 Miami
Kentucky freshman guard Rob Dillingham split the Miami defense for a driving basket in Tuesday's ACC-SEC Challenge game at Rupp Arena. (Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor Edit
@JDrumUK
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- In trying to make sense of what just happened to his eighth-ranked Miami Hurricanes on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena, Jim Larranaga kept it simple.
"Kentucky was terrific tonight," the veteran head coach said in the aftermath of a 95-73 blowout in the ACC-SEC Challenge. "Very explosive, and we couldn't really defend anyway... I said the first team to 80 would win, but we didn't score."
Buckets were no problem for the No. 12 Wildcats, who placed five players in double figures and got a combined 33 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds from freshman guards Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham off the bench.
"He's so good at everything," Larranaga said of Sheppard, who had a game-high 21 points to lead UK. "... And then Dillingham had nine assists and no turnovers. That's a pretty good night from your bench. (Incredulously) They don't start."
All part of another thoroughly impressive offensive showing from new-look Kentucky (6-1), which has now scored 101, 96, 118, and 95 points in its last four games, much to the delight of Big Blue Nation.
“The crowd was unbelievable," Sheppard said. "I don’t think they sat down. It was so loud. From the first possession to the last possession, they made a huge impact on the game. They made it tough for Miami to run plays. It will be a moment we will never forget.”
"Electric," added Kentucky senior guard Antonio Reeves. "Everybody was so tuned into the game."
Kentucky head coach John Calipari said he's always wanted to coach a team that could play at this tempo and put up gaudy, crowd-pleasing scoring totals but did not always have the right blend of players to pull it off.
"The way we run and fly up and down the court, you know, I don't know if you can remember some past years where I'm just yelling "Go! Go!" You could hear me through the TV. Because that's how I wanted us to play," Calipari said. "But to play that way, you have got to run. And it can't be me telling you to run. Just run. And it was good stuff today."
Sheppard led the Cats in scoring with 21, followed by Reeves (18), Tre Mitchell (14), Dillingham (12), and Justin Edwards (11). They shot 60% from the field and 43% from beyond the 3-point arc despite starting the night 2-for-10. UK dished out 26 assists on its 37 made baskets.
"I think that's what's impressive about Kentucky's offense is how well they share the ball," Larranaga said. "They had 26 assists and we had eight. It's not a good stat for us.”
The Hurricanes were also among the nation's leading offensive clubs entering the matchup but were held well under their season average of 89 points per game. They shot just 44% from the field and 26% (5 of 19) from 3-point range after coming to town leading the nation at 46%
Center Norchad Ormier led Miami (5-1) with 20 points but encountered early foul trouble and was disqualified on his fifth foul with 7:41 remaining in the game.
Kentucky led by as many as 29 points in the second half before taking its foot off the gas and working on some of its late-game situation sets after failing to put away then-No. 1 Kansas earlier this season in a game it led by 14 in the second half.
"We played it as an eight-point finish," Calipari said. "We wanted to keep shortening the game and make baskets. We are still not quite there. We didn't finish off. We got too late in the shot clock."
*****
In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK victory...
KEY MOMENT:
Kentucky led by double figures midway through the first half, much to the delight of an raucous Rupp Arena crowd, but Miami hit the Wildcats with an 18-2 run in the blink of an eye to grab a 29-23 lead and take some air out of the building. But the Cats regrouped after a timeout and closed the half on a 19-8 spurt with scoring contributions from six different players. An 8-0 run going into the locker room turned into an extended 20-2 run with a great start to the second half, including a 3-point shot by Antonio Reeves and an old-fashioned three-point play by Adou Thiero. Miami was shell-shocked, and the Cats were never threatened the rest of the way.
GAME BALL:
Reed Sheppard, Kentucky -- The freshman guard from London, Ky., once again energized the Rupp Arena crowd with a stellar performance off the UK bench. He finished with a team-high +/- of 35 with a stat-stuffing line of 19 points, 5-of-9 from the 3-point arc, five rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a blocked shot.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1st - Time ever that Kentucky football and basketball have each defeated a Top 10 opponent in the same week. The Football Cats upset No. 10 Louisville 38-31 on Saturday in the annual Governor's Cup game.
4-1 - The Wildcats' lead in the all-time series against the Hurricanes.
8+ - Three-pointers made by UK in each of the first seven games. It's the first time in program history that has occurred.
22 - Largest margin of victory against a Top 10 opponent in Rupp Arena history. The previous high was 21 against No. 6 Louisville in 1983.
26 - Assists on 37 made baskets by the Cats, who shot 60% from the field.
95+ - Points scored by Kentucky in four straight games for the first time since December of 1989. This year's Cats are already halfway to the most such games in the Calipari era (8 in 2016-17).
QUOTABLE:
"He’s so good at everything. I mean, he can shoot it, he can handle it, he can pass it. He finds the open man great, and he defends. You might look at him and think, OK, he's not that athletic. You try to score on him, but he’s moving his feet, using his hands, and doing a great job at the defensive end of the floor as well. He comes up with a lot of deflections and steals as well." -- Miami head coach Jim Larranaga on UK freshman guard Reed Sheppard
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action on Saturday at Rupp Arena against UNC Wilmington (5-1) who will play at East Carolina on Thursday before heading to Lexington. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
