Kentucky took down Morehead State 92-67 in second exhibition game in Rupp Arena Monday night, but the score wasn’t that lopsided for the entire game.
The Wildcats led by 11 at the midway point thanks to 17 first-half turnovers from the Eagles, but Morehead rallied early in the second half to cut the Wildcat lead to two at one point. UK responded by getting to the rack and drawing fouls, especially with their guards.
Guards Hamidou Diallo, Quade Green, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander combined for 37 of Kentucky’s 53 second-half points. 14 of those 37 points from Kentucky’s three guards came at the foul line.
Here are some takeaways from Monday’s matchup:
Kevin Knox can get to the rack.
Dunk after dunk, Kevin Knox played with intensity, collecting 16 points and having no trouble getting to the rack. Check out this cram:
This needed to be seen by more people. #BBN @KySportsRadio @DrewFranklinKSR @MrsTylerKSR pic.twitter.com/0OO3AljpUn
— Scott L. (@tscottlowery) October 31, 2017
Knox is 6’9” swing forward and plays with a lot of athleticism, but he needs to be able to contribute more than three rebounds, which was his total on Monday.
The Cats’ defense forced 17 first-half turnovers
And the Cats finished ahead in the turnover margin by a 26-11 count. This margin kept Kentucky’s lead in tact early on, as UK turned those 17 turnovers into 21 points. But the Eagles handled the ball much better in the second half.
Hamidou Diallo was 2-for-4 from three, but Cal doesn’t want him shooting that much.
If Diallo can develop an outside shot, watch out. But Coach Cal made it clear that shooting threes is not Diallo’s bread and butter. “He shot a three, so he came out, that’s not the way he plays,” Calipari said in the post-game presser. “I’ve got to get him playing the right way.”
Morehead got within a possession of the Cats early in the second half...then Cal went with the press.
When the Golden Eagles cut Kentucky’s lead to two in the second half, Cal switched up his defense by adding in some full court pressure. Kentucky’s length and stamina proved too much for Morehead to handle, and the Cats went on a nice run to pull away mid-way through the second half.
Final Rebound Count: Morehead State 30, Kentucky 25
For as much as Morehead Coach Preston Spradlin talked about Kentucky’s length, the former Kentucky assistant director of basketball operations didn’t realize in the post-game press conference that his current team actually out rebounded his former team by five. Wenyen Gabriel led the Cats with six rebounds, while Sacha Killeya-Jones hauled in five, and Gilgeous-Alexander and P.J. Washington each had four.
6’11” freshman Nick Richards was basically non-existent in Monday’s match-up. The big man played only twelve minutes, where he failed to get a single point or rebound. He has to get to the level where Kentucky can rely on him to come in and snag 5-6 boards per game. Knox, as mentioned earlier, also needs to crash the boards a bit harder moving forward.