Kentucky center Amari Williams drove past a Wright State defender in the Wildcats' season opener on Monday night at Rupp Arena. (Photo by Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)
In our regular postgame feature, the Cats Illustrated staff offers its first impressions from Kentucky's 103-62 win over Wright State on Monday night at Rupp Arena in Mark Pope's first game as the Wildcats' new head coach.
JUSTIN ROWLAND:
Impressive opener as Kentucky's coach for Mark Pope. We'll hear all year about how new this team is to playing together and it's impressive he got all these parts in one month, but this is an experienced group and that experience has shown through two exhibitions and tonight. Amari Williams was very impressive. Koby Brea was a dead-eye shooter. Kentucky found a lot of quality looks from outside but they were able to get to the rim and get good looks inside the arc so it was more about efficiency than a barrage. However they got the points, the execution was impressive and it looks like a team that checks most of the boxes, competition the outstanding caveat through three games as a small sample. It will be interesting to see how Kentucky handles high-major ball pressure, a force down low, or great athletes, but this team passes the ball well, defends, and seems to have guys who have embraced roles and finding them in the system. The scoring balance was impressive but expected. This team's not going to lean too heavily on any one or two guys and that might be one of the best things about them.
JEFF DRUMMOND:
I don't think that could have gone much better for a new head coach in his first game. The Cats were impressive on both ends of the floor tonight. Kentucky recorded 30 assists on 37 made baskets, knocked down 11 of 24 shots from 3-point range, held a plus-9 rebounding advantage, and tallied 11 steals against a solid Wright State squad. You could really sense how much the fans at Rupp Arena enjoyed watching this style of play and the way the Cats shared the basketball. Wright State coach Clint Sargent sounded bewildered by the way Mark Pope has constructed this type of team so quickly in Lexington. I think we all share in that sentiment.
TRAVIS GRAF:
Heck of a start to the Mark Pope era at Kentucky. I wanted to see how Kentucky would look on offense without Jaxson Robinson going nuclear and we got a chance to see that tonight. The Cats didn’t even take a ton of threes but made a lot of them, and still found a way to score 100. The team has good chemistry early and all of the pieces really fit the offensive system. I’m still worried about rim protection with this team, but they have a great defensive core of Butler, Oweh, and Williams. The offensive style has to be fun for fans and there’s a good buzz around the fan base to start the season.
DAVID SISK:
There are plenty of good things to talk about for Kentucky tonight. They came in roughly a 20-point favorite, and blew that out if the water by a 103-62 score. BBN expected offense and they got it in bushels. They shot 60% from the field, 45.8% from three, had 36 fast break points, and had an impressive 30 assists on 39 made shots. But stats aside it was aesthetically pleasing to see an obvious offensive flow of seamless player and ball movement. It was a beautiful thing to watch. There were also six Cats who scored in double figures. This team looks to be unselfish, and there isn’t one player the opponent can key on. The defense was solid too. There were few breakdowns, and they defended actions like they had worked on it. Otega Oweh, Lamont Butler, and Amari Williams make for a heckuva trio on that end. The price of poker will go way up in one week, but this was a very positive start.
QUICK TAKES: UK 103, Wright State 62
First impressions from Game 1 of the Mark Pope Era at Kentucky.
