Kentucky finally turns it on in the second half, beats Georgetown in exhibition opener

Kentucky got off to a slow start in its first exhibition game of the 2023-24 season.

And then the Wildcats stepped on the gas.

UK defeated Georgetown College 92-69 on Friday night in Rupp Arena, the first two preseason games before UK plays its season opener Nov. 6 against New Mexico State.

The Cats clearly have a lot to work on in the meantime.

Kentucky missed seven of its first 10 shot attempts to open the first half. And the Cats missed nine of their final 11 shots before the break.

The halftime score: UK 35, Georgetown 34. (And the Tigers missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity that could have given them the lead going into the break.)

Kentucky was 2-for-9 from 3-point range before halftime, and — with all three of their 7-footers sidelined — the Cats outrebounded their NAIA opponent just 22-20 before the break. Three of their first five shot attempts were blocked by the Tigers, who never trailed by double digits in the first half and scored the final seven points going into the halftime locker room.

UK turned things around as soon as the second half began.

Adou Thiero scored five points in the first 32 seconds of the second half, and Antonio Reeves nailed a 3-pointer less than a minute into the final period. Before the whistle blew for the first TV timeout, Kentucky’s one-point halftime lead had grown to a 54-40 advantage.

Georgetown managed to keep things relatively close from there — by exhibition game standards — and the Tigers never trailed by 20 until there was just 1:12 left on the clock.

Reeves and fellow fifth-year player Tre Mitchell were steady throughout for the otherwise young Wildcats. Mitchell led the way with 22 points and went 4-for-5 from 3-point range. He also had a team-high nine rebounds. Reeves scored 18 points.

Freshman guard Rob Dillingham, who scored 40 points in UK’s Blue-White scrimmage last weekend, tallied 16 on Friday night, with a team-high five assists. Justin Edwards added nine points and eight rebounds, and D.J. Wagner had four points and just one assist.

Kentucky was playing without its trio of 7-footers. Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso are recovering from offseason injuries, while Zvonimir Ivisic — a late addition to the Wildcats’ roster — is still awaiting word on his NCAA eligibility. Ivisic joined the program after playing professionally in Europe, though John Calipari has said repeatedly that he’s confident the 7-foot-2 freshman — referred to by the coach as “Big Z” — will ultimately be cleared.

Bradshaw, Ivisic and Onyenso were all present Friday night, but none of them participated in any basketball activities on the court before the game.

Their absence leaves Mitchell — a 6-9 transfer from West Virginia — as the team’s starting center.

UK’s frontcourt situation also means Calipari has just nine scholarship players for the time being. He deployed an eight-man lineup for most of the night. Freshman guard Joey Hart made his first appearance with 2:01 left in the game.

Georgetown had a 30-6 record last season. The Tigers lost in the semifinals of the NAIA national tournament and returned four of their top five scorers from that squad. Georgetown’s roster for the 2023-24 season features 12 players from Kentucky high schools (though none are from Lexington).

Reeves, Thiero and Onyenso are the only scholarship returnees from last season’s Kentucky team, and only Reeves played major minutes for the Cats during the 2022-23 campaign. The rest of the roster features nine newcomers: Mitchell and eight freshmen.

Kentucky starting lineup

Four UK players were expected to be in the Wildcats’ starting lineup this season: freshman guard D.J. Wagner, senior guard Antonio Reeves, freshman wing Justin Edwards and fifth-year forward Tre Mitchell, and all of those Cats were indeed in Calipari’s first five Friday night.

The other spot went to sophomore guard Adou Thiero, who is likely to play quite a bit of the 4 role for the Wildcats during the early portion of the season as UK awaits the return of their injured centers.

Freshmen Rob Dillingham and Jordan Burks were the first subs of the game, coming in for Reeves and Thiero after the first TV timeout.

Reed Sheppard watch

As the reigning Kentucky Mr. Basketball and the son of two former UK stars, Reed Sheppard was likely near the top of many fans’ watch list for his first game against outside competition at Rupp Arena.

Sheppard made his first appearance with 12:07 left in the first half, the third Wildcat off the bench. It didn’t take him long to get into the scoring column.

The 6-3 guard took a perfect pass from Dillingham and nailed a corner 3-pointer with 10:27 left in the half to give the Cats an 18-14 lead. He missed a long-range shot the next trip down the court, but Sheppard drove the ball and pulled up from the elbow a short time later to swish a mid-range jumper.

He was on the passing end of one of the highlights of the night, running in transition and finding Edwards for an alley-oop dunk toward the end of the game. That play, along with Sheppard’s 3-pointer shortly after checking in, accounted for two of the biggest cheers of the night.

The former North Laurel star finished with nine points and was 2-for-6 from the floor. He was 1-for-4 from 3-point range.

Sheppard’s parents — former UK stars Jeff Sheppard and Stacey Reed Sheppard — sat in the fourth row at midcourt to watch their son’s debut as a Wildcat.

Kentucky’s next game

Kentucky will play its final exhibition game of the 2023-24 preseason at 7 p.m. Thursday against Kentucky State, the second consecutive year that the two programs will meet. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network Plus.

Last preseason, UK defeated KSU 111-53 in the final exhibition game leading into the 2022-23 schedule. Antonio Reeves scored 23 points in that victory. The Thorobreds finished last season with a 15-13 record and 11-9 mark in the SIAC, falling in the semifinals of the league tournament. Kentucky State led the SIAC in both points per game (80.0) and 3-pointers (238 makes in 28 games) last season, so the Cats could be playing at a fast pace Thursday night.

This matchup will also serve as UK’s annual “Unity Series” game, which aims to raise awareness of the missions of historically black colleges and universities while also raising funds to provide opportunities for students and those institutions.

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