Kentucky makes easy work of Kentucky State in final exhibition before the season begins

The few veterans on Kentucky’s team did most of the heavy lifting in the Wildcats’ first exhibition game of the 2023-24 preseason last week.

On Thursday night, it was the much-hyped new guys who stepped into the spotlight.

UK defeated Kentucky State 99-53 in the Wildcats’ final exhibition before next week’s season opener, with projected one-and-done freshmen Justin Edwards and D.J. Wagner leading the way before the margin got completely out of hand.

Kentucky struggled at times in a 92-69 victory over Georgetown College last week — the Cats led by just one point at halftime of that one — but this game was never much of a contest.

A 12-9 UK lead to start the action out of the first TV timeout quickly ballooned to a double-digit advantage, thanks to a lineup consisting of four freshmen — Wagner, Edwards, Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard — plus fifth-year player Tre Mitchell.

That group managed a quick 11-0 run — over a span of exactly two minutes — with Wagner going for two layups and ending the flurry with a 3-pointer. Sophomore guard Adou Thiero re-entered the game and hit two free throws to make it a 13-0 run before KSU scored again.

Kentucky’s advantage was never smaller than 14 points after that, and the Wildcats led 50-20 at halftime.

Wagner, who is viewed as a possible NBA lottery pick in next year’s draft, put a less-than-stellar Rupp Arena debut behind him with Thursday’s performance. The five-star freshman point guard struggled against Georgetown last week — tallying just four points and one assist in 27 minutes — but he got off to a much better start against the Thorobreds, leading Kentucky with 12 points at halftime. He didn’t score in the second half but did finish with seven assists, two steals and zero turnovers.

Edwards, who is positioned at No. 1 on a few preseason NBA draft boards, scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds against Georgetown, but he was 3-for-10 from the floor and committed four fouls in 25 minutes. Against KSU, he had 17 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and a steal. He was also 8-for-12 from the field.

Fifth-year players Antonio Reeves (a team-high 20 points) and Mitchell (15 points and 10 rebounds) also stood out, as did Thiero, who had 13 points and eight rebounds in 20 minutes.

Wagner and Edwards were the Cats’ only double-digit scorers in the first half.

Kentucky didn’t commit its first turnover until the 11:00 mark of the second half. John Calipari said in his pregame radio interview that he had asked Kentucky State’s staff not to play zone defense, explaining that he hasn’t spent much time in practice working against that set. Calipari implied that the team’s practices between Thursday’s exhibition and the season opener Monday night would have a major focus on zone.

The Wildcats had 25 assists on 37 made baskets.

Kentucky State finished with a 15-13 record and an 11-9 mark in the SIAC last season. The Thorobreds led the conference in both points per game and made 3-pointers, so the faster pace of Thursday’s exhibition was expected.

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John Calipari said in his pregame radio interview Thursday night that UK freshman Zvonimir Ivisic would participate in the layup line before the game against Kentucky State.

When that time came, Ivisic was nowhere to be seen.

The 7-foot-2 recruit from Croatia was not in Rupp Arena due to illness, a UK spokesperson told the Herald-Leader before tipoff. Ivisic did participate in the team shootaround earlier in the day. That’s when Calipari’s pregame radio interview is typically recorded.

Ivisic is still awaiting an NCAA ruling on his eligibility and was not cleared to play for the Wildcats in their two exhibition games. He would have been eligible to play in the team’s Blue-White Game last month, but Calipari decided to hold him out of that scrimmage after ruling that he was not physically fit enough to participate. Ivisic did a light workout on the court before the Blue-White Game. He did not participate in any pregame warmups before the Wildcats’ exhibition game against Georgetown College last week.

Bradshaw and Onyenso

Fellow UK big men Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso remain sidelined after undergoing offseason foot surgeries. Bradshaw and Onyenso were both on the Rupp Arena court well before the game putting up jump shots. Bradshaw showed off some deft dribbling moves in between shots, but neither player did any serious jumping or anything else that showed a return to the court was imminent.

Calipari has not outlined a specific timetable for either player, only saying that Bradshaw, who underwent his medical procedure in June, is further along in his recovery than Onyenso, who was injured in July.

Kentucky’s next game

Their two exhibition games now behind them, the Wildcats will tip off the 2023-24 regular season schedule Monday night against New Mexico State in Rupp Arena.

The season opener is scheduled for 8 p.m. on SEC Network.

The Aggies are the No. 178 team in the preseason KenPom ratings, but it’ll be tough to gauge their ability until they actually play some basketball. New Mexico State is coming off a tumultuous season that was canceled in February following multiple scandals. The Aggies had a 9-15 record and 2-10 mark in the Western Athletic Conference when the rest of their season was called off. They will compete in Conference USA this season.

Following last season’s turmoil, New Mexico State hired a new coaching staff, and the roster is completely different from the 2022-23 campaign.

Box score from Kentucky basketball’s 99-53 exhibition win over Kentucky State

View the shot charts from Kentucky’s 99-53 exhibition win over Kentucky State

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