Three takeaways Kentucky basketball’s win over the Penn Quakers

Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 81-66 victory over the Penn Quakers at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday:

1. Say hello to Aaron Bradshaw

Saturday was not Aaron Bradshaw’s debut. That came last Saturday when the 7-foot-1 freshman played his first college basketball game, scoring all of three points and blocking a shot in 13 minutes of action, his first since breaking his foot in the McDonald’s All-Star Game last spring.

Ah, but Bradshaw’s second college game, the Wildcats’ 15-point win over Penn, was the first time the Camden, New Jersey, native showed what he can. Answer: He can do a lot. Bradshaw scored 17 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots as the Cats bounced back from that upset home loss to UNC Wilmington.

“Somebody told me to sub him, I’m like, ‘Are out of your mind? Are you watching this?’” UK coach John Calipari said after playing Bradshaw 29 minutes. “And you know, who rebounded better with him in the game? Tre (Mitchell with nine rebounds).”

Indeed, Bradshaw showed what he can bring to this team. Better rebounding. Better rim protection on defense. An inside presence on offense. Bradshaw even stepped out an nailed a 3-point shot from the right wing.

He makes Kentucky a different team, a better team. Head coach John Calipari and his Cats still have to learn how to make best use of its 7-footer, how to play with him on both ends of the floor. So far, so good, however.

Said Penn coach Steve Donahue, “I was hoping he’d have a little more rust.”

2. Kentucky’s defense was slightly better

At the start of the question-and-answer session of Calipari’s postgame press conference, I asked the coach what he thought of UK’s defensive effort coming off the loss to the Seahawks.

“You can answer that,” Cal said with a laugh.

After all, down 10 at the half, Penn came out in the second half sizzling, making four of its first six 3-point attempts on the way to pulling within 47-46 with 15:15 remaining. At the 13:51 mark, after Penn’s fourth made triple of the second half, the Quakers trailed 51-49.

Kentucky pulled away after that. Up 61-57 with 10:17 remaining, the Cats went on a 15-4 run to take command, all with former UK guards Tyrese Maxey and Immanuel Quickley in attendance on the first row.

After the UNC Wilmington game, Calipari pinned the loss on his team not being able to stay in front of Seahawks on drives to the basket. And UNCW did average 1.032 points per possession, the fourth straight team to top the 1.0 mark against the Cats.

On Saturday, Penn made 9 of 28 3-point shots, but the Quakers managed just 0.926 points per possession. Surely part of the improvement had to do with Bradshaw’s long, 7-foot frame being in the lane.

“I thought Wilmington was able to get to the rim and so some things,” Penn’s Donahue said on Saturday. “I just thought his presence made a big difference.”

3. Next up, another test vs. North Carolina

Next Saturday, the Cats’ road show continues as Kentucky travels to Atlanta to face North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic at the All-State Arena. Everyone always looks forward to Cats vs. Heels.

Hubert Davis’ Tar Heels are 7-2 after losing to UConn 87-76 at New York’s Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday. They get a 10-day break before facing Kentucky. They also lost to Villanova 83-81 in overtime in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Nov. 23.

The two blue bloods have met four times in the CBS event. Kentucky has won three of the four — 103-100 in Denver in 2016, otherwise known as the Malik Monk game; 80-72 in Chicago in 2018 and 98-69 in Las Vegas in 2021. North Carolina’s only win came during the COVID year of 2020 when the Heels prevailed 75-63 in Cleveland.

Kentucky is 1-1 in “marque games” after losing 89-84 to Kansas in the Champions Classic on Nov. 14 before whipping Miami 95-73 in the ACC/SEC Challenge at Rupp Arena on Nov. 28. The Cats were without Bradshaw in both those games.

North Carolina will be a true test. The Tar Heels boast Armando Bacot, the 6-11 fifth-year center who is averaging 15.9 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. Veteran guard RJ Davis is averaging 21 points per game while standout freshman guard Elliot Cadeau is averaging 4.1 assists per game. Harrison Ingram, a 6-7 transfer from Stanford, is averaging 15.1 points per game.

Box score from No. 16 Kentucky basketball’s 81-66 win over Penn

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