The Reed and Rob connection has Kentucky clicking. ‘Ain’t no such thing as a starter.’

At this point, everyone knows it’s coming.

There are no surprises. No tricks. Regardless of the score, no matter the situation, John Calipari does the exact same thing.

Right around the time that the game clock hits 17:00, the Kentucky coach strolls down his bench, sticks his thumb out, and tells two talented teenagers to head to the scorer’s table.

Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard get out of their seats, remove their warm-ups, and get ready to check in. And then the fun begins.

“It’s just electric,” said senior guard Antonio Reeves. “As soon as they get in the game, the crowd just erupts. And it gives us all energy. When they come in, it definitely shows.”

The numbers back it up. In a big way.

Ever since Dillingham and Sheppard entered the game separately against Kansas on Nov. 14, both providing a spark that was nearly the catalyst for an upset of the nation’s No. 1-ranked team, Calipari has chosen to deploy them together. A mini-platoon, of sorts, the dynamic backcourt duo checks in at the same time and provides a different look for the Wildcats.

It’s happened like clockwork the past four games, and the results have been both consistent and considerable.

The Dillingham-Sheppard effect

On Tuesday night against No. 8 Miami, the duo checked in at the 15:38 mark after sitting around at the scorer’s table waiting for a whistle before the first TV timeout. The game was tied at 10 when they entered. Kentucky led by seven points when they both checked out five minutes later.

Last Friday against Marshall, the freshmen came in with 16:32 left in the first half. The Cats led by three points. When Dillingham checked out six minutes later, UK’s advantage was 13. And when Sheppard finally left the court after 13 minutes of play, Kentucky was up 25.

Last week against Saint Joseph’s, the Wildcats trailed by four when the two players came in at the 16:26 mark. They led by one when each returned to the bench.

And against Stonehill College on Nov. 17 — three days after the loss to KU and the first instance of Calipari trying this approach — the game was tied when Dillingham and Sheppard walked onto the court with 16:16 left in the first half. When Dillingham walked off about three minutes later, the Cats were up nine. And when Sheppard headed for the bench about three minutes after that, Kentucky’s lead was 17 points.

“I think it’s solid,” Dillingham said of the arrangement. “I like playing with Reed. I like playing with all the guys. I feel like it helps our team, because their starters are still in, and we got me and Reed coming in, so we push the tempo. And then we get D.J. (Wagner) right back in the rotation, or leave him in with three guards. So I feel like — either way it goes — it works out, because we got so many good players.”

Dillingham — a five-star recruit and NBA prospect long billed as one of the best offensive players in his class — doesn’t dwell on not being a starter. The 6-foot-3 guard says those first few minutes on the bench allow he and Sheppard to lock in on the opponent, get a feel for the flow of the game, and then make any necessary mental adjustments before checking in.

“We go in and we both have the mindset of, ‘We’re gonna do whatever we need to do to win.’ And we’re gonna go in and make the right passes, the right plays, and just try and bring energy off the bench,” Sheppard said.

Sheppard said he and Dillingham clicked as soon as they got to campus over the summer. That’s seemingly a collective trait across the entire roster, but the dynamic between the two freshmen is the most noticeable — and most notable — because of the way Calipari’s rotation has been working. Two guys who could start for perhaps any other team in America are instead coming off the bench at Kentucky, and they’re doing it at the same time.

UK assistant coach Chuck Martin joined the program over the summer, and he, too, traced the origin of this dynamic back to the earliest days, specifically when the Cats traveled to Canada for the GLOBL JAM tournament.

“Those guys feed off one another. We feed off those two,” Martin said. “They’ve got a tremendous chemistry. … Those two really are fun to watch. They’ve got something going on. And I think it started in Toronto, and it’s grown over the last few months.

“It puts pressure on the opposing team, for sure. They’re two kids who are unselfish. They’re looking for one another. They’re capable 3-point shooters. They can beat you off the bounce and get to the rim. It does put pressure on opposing teams, knowing that — within four minutes — D.J. and Justin (Edwards) are coming back.”

‘Those two are NBA guys’

Miami coach Jim Larranaga — just minutes removed from being beaten by 22 points — still managed a smile before explaining what makes the duo of Dillingham and Sheppard so hard to handle.

“Those guys are pretty good,” he said with a grin. “.. I mean, those two are NBA guys. They’re terrific college players, but they’ll play beyond for sure. They can shoot it, they handle it, they defend it, they share it extremely well. And I think that’s what’s impressive about Kentucky’s offense is how well they share the ball.”

Larranaga noted after Tuesday’s game that the Wildcats had 26 assists. His team had eight. Kentucky is averaging 20.9 assists per game this season, seventh in the country. The Cats are No. 1 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio. Dillingham and Sheppard are a major reason for that.

Dillingham leads the Cats in assists with 40, despite playing the sixth-most minutes on the team. Sheppard is second on the squad in assists per 40 minutes, behind only Dillingham. Each player has committed just nine turnovers in seven games.

Larranaga looked at the stat sheet after Tuesday night’s loss.

“(Sheppard) had four assists and one turnover, and then Dillingham had nine assists and no turnovers. That’s a pretty good night from your bench,” he said, before adding with emphasis: “They don’t start.”

The two players came to Lexington with much different reputations.

Dillingham was perhaps the shiftiest player in high school basketball. A quick wizard on the court capable of creating space in an instant and making defenders look silly, though he had a penchant for “messin’ with the ball” — as Calipari has said — that could lead to costly turnovers.

Sheppard was “steady Eddie” — another Calipari-ism — the guy you could rely on to make the right basketball play. He wasn’t flashy. He just did what was needed, never forcing the issue.

Dillingham has indeed been shifty in his early games for Kentucky, and Sheppard has been steady. But they’ve both been something more. The former toning down the “crazy” stuff and playing within the flow of the game. The latter coming up with highlight-reel plays few expected to see this early in his college basketball career.

Sheppard is shooting 63.3% from 3-point range. Dillingham is shooting 53.3% from deep. Reeves, the college basketball veteran who shot what seemed like a lights-out 39.8% last season has actually improved on that number this time around — 44.0% on 50 attempts — yet remains a distant third behind the two freshmen.

Dillingham’s smallish stature and inconsistencies coming into college left some doubt about his NBA Draft status, especially after just one season. When ESPN updated its 2024 NBA mock draft Thursday morning, he was No. 20, well within first-round territory, and rising.

No one seriously considered Sheppard a one-and-done candidate when he got to campus in June, yet that same ESPN mock draft had him at No. 25 overall, with a bullet.

“He’s so good at everything,” Larranaga said Tuesday night. “I mean he can shoot it, he can handle it, he can pass it. He finds the open man great, and he defends. You know, you might look at him and think that ‘OK, he’s not that athletic.’ But you try to score on him, he’s moving his feet and 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.”

Sheppard has 22 steals, in fact, tied for fourth in the country. The 6-3 guard’s seven blocks are second on the team behind 6-9 starting center Tre Mitchell.

The college basketball analytics website EvanMiya.com ranks Sheppard as the No. 7 player in the country, the sport’s top freshman, and the top player in the SEC. Dillingham is the No. 27 player nationally — second-best on UK’s team — and the No. 3 freshman in America, according to the site’s ratings.

Of the more than 2,300 duos that have played at least 170 possessions together this season, the tandem of Dillingham and Sheppard rank No. 1 in the country in team efficiency.

Kentucky’s starting lineup

With all of these early results and all of those impressive numbers, the obvious question: Why not put Sheppard and/or Dillingham in the starting five?

The obvious response: Why mess with success?

Those two are thriving as it is, and they’re both playing considerable minutes in their current roles. Calipari has the confidence to put them on the court in those final few minutes of “winning time” in close games, so what does it really matter if they aren’t in at the very beginning?

The two players that are typically subbed out when Dillingham and Sheppard come in — Wagner and Edwards — are also crucial to Kentucky’s long-term goals of contending for a national championship. Both players have been projected as one-and-done NBA lottery picks, but each got off to a relatively slow start to their college careers.

Keeping them in the flow of things will be important for this team moving forward. And as long as Dillingham and Sheppard are fine coming off the bench — so far, so good — and Wagner and Edwards are OK with early exits — no complaints there, either — things should work out just fine.

“On our team, ain’t no such thing as a starter,” Wagner said. “Even those guys coming off the bench — they could be starters, too. It don’t matter who’s starting.

“Having them two coming off the bench — that just shows you how great of a team we got. They take the intensity up a notch even more.”

Wagner went on to dub Kentucky’s current rotation “seven starters” — a unique mix that has kept opponents on edge these past couple of weeks.

It’s possible the rotation could get shaken up here soon. Wagner fell hard to the court late in the first half of the win over Miami and did not return. Calipari said afterward that he had suffered an ankle injury, but there’s been no official update beyond that. Sheppard started the second half in his place.

But, when Wagner returns to full health, it’s logical that Calipari will go back to what’s worked so well so far. The Wildcats have taken the excitement up a notch or three these past couple of weeks, and everyone appears to be having a ball.

“I think Coach Cal has done an unbelievable job of creating a fun environment,” Martin said. “I think those guys enjoy playing. I think they enjoy playing the style of play. I think they enjoy playing with one another. And I think Cal did a great job in Toronto, setting the parameters — like, ‘This is going to be fun. We’re going to play this way. We’re going to share the ball. You guys gotta trust each other.’

“And I think that’s starting to really show as the year goes on.”

Saturday

UNC Wilmington at No. 12 Kentucky

When: 4 p.m.

TV: SEC Network

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: UNC Wilmington 5-1, Kentucky 6-1

Series: First meeting

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