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The Kentucky Wildcats picked up their first win of the season Friday night by dominating Robert Morris 100-60.
The Cats came out and started about as well as they could, giving the fans a much-needed sigh of relief about how this team might respond from Tuesday night's loss. But the main theme of this first half continued to be the play of Oscar Tshiebwe.
Oscar dominated the boards once again, just proving the fact that we might be the best rebounder in the country. Add in solid play from Kellan Grady, Sahvir Wheeler, and TyTy Washington, and this team's offense really is a force to be reckoned with when they get rolling.
The second half continued to be much of the same, as the ‘Cats athleticism and size were just too much for the Colonials to handle.
On top of Oscar dominating, Grady showed that he is going to be a major factor on this team. Everyone knew that he was a 2,000 point scorer at Davidson, but the question was would it translate to this level?
Well, with these two games back to back, it is safe to say he will be a factor.
Also, Daimion Collins is that dude. Big Blue Nation has been missing dunks like those tonight.
Oh, and after tossing out 10 assists vs. seven turnovers vs. Duke, Wheeler had 11 more assists tonight...with no turnovers. The Georgia transfer looks well on his way to another All-SEC campaign.
Overall, this team is going to quite alright. They can score the ball with ease both in transition or in a half-court set, and even though the defense still isn’t great you can really see the potential they will have on that end of the court come January.
Now, let’s check out what twitter had to say throughout tonight’s game:
Home Opener Starting 5️⃣
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) November 12, 2021
⚪️ @KeionB_12
⚪️ @KellanGrady31
⚪️ @Oscartshiebwe34
⚪️ @tytywashington3
⚪️ @sahvir_ pic.twitter.com/wdGe1SNfIq
Jacob Toppin and CJ Fredrick will both miss tonight's Kentucky game https://t.co/cZwaY2OKuv
— Ben Roberts (@BenRobertsHL) November 13, 2021
Won’t be shocked if they let Duke shoot some free throws during the Kentucky Classic.
— Big Blue Drew (@BigBlueDrew33) November 12, 2021
Oscar on track for 60 rebounds
— Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) November 13, 2021
Just put four shooters out there and let 'em fly, then assume Oscar will grab an offensive rebound if they miss, right? That would be a fun strategy to watch for a game.
— Ben Roberts (@BenRobertsHL) November 13, 2021
Tom Leach just said CJ Fredrick is dealing with a hamstring injury unrelated to his prior injury. #BBN
— Alex Walker (@AlexWalkerTV) November 12, 2021
Now see THIS is the basketball fun I missed so much last year.
— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) November 13, 2021
This is what you'd hope to see from Kentucky after the Duke loss, validating some of the positives.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) November 13, 2021
Kellan Grady still the sweet stroke. Oscar Tshiebwe (4 pts, 6 reb) still a monster inside. Sahvir Wheeler making it all go.
Kentucky 13, Robert Morris 4 at the first timeout.
Let The Big O cook.
— Adam Luckett (@AdamLuckettKSR) November 13, 2021
Trouble, Trouble, Trouble.
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) November 13, 2021
@Oscartshiebwe34 pic.twitter.com/81c6vxwgsT
Really interesting lineup of TyTy Washington, Davion Mintz, Bryce Hopkins, Keion Brooks and Oscar Tshiebwe there for a little stretch.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) November 13, 2021
Someone just won $10,000 on a halfcourt shot at Rupp Arena. Followed it with an L’s down. pic.twitter.com/DUK6uDoXOA
— Shawn Smith (@gbbcountry) November 13, 2021
Us: "Just make a half court shot for $10,000."
— Kentucky Athletics (@UKAthletics) November 13, 2021
Him: "Okay." ‼️ pic.twitter.com/RlYvXtGaZ5
A familiar face back in Rupp tonight, Tyler Ulis! pic.twitter.com/BtCsIW40cF
— Lee K. Howard (@HowardWKYT) November 13, 2021
Keep on rolling, 'Cats. Speeding up Robert Morris and pulling away early. Adding a little pressure is how you blowout bad teams. Really hope to see more of that this season.
— Brandon Ramsey (@BRamseyKSR) November 13, 2021
9 shots at the rim and 11 three-point attempts out of 29 total field goal tries pic.twitter.com/5xbei2wgcZ
— Adam Luckett (@AdamLuckettKSR) November 13, 2021
HALFTIME: Kentucky 46, Robert Morris 30
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) November 13, 2021
Daimion Collins' length and quickness forced another TO before half and a Kellan Grady runout. pic.twitter.com/T4Dha9KUWY
Kentucky has to finish stronger at the rim. They're going to be a good team but rim protectors are going to cause them a problem if they don't go up stronger.
— Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) November 13, 2021
I hope Dontaie Allen follows the lead of Kellan Grady this year
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) November 13, 2021
The way Grady plays, in addition to his pure stroke, is the path to get minutes for Allen longterm
Daimion Collins’ defensive instincts will give him a chance to play real minutes this season. Back-to-back possessions he closed out short w/ high hands which led to a block and then got vertical at the rim to get another block. He is way head of Ware when it comes to that stuff.
— Brandon Ramsey (@BRamseyKSR) November 13, 2021
3 point shooting thus far...
— Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) November 13, 2021
7/15 vs RM
7/18 vs Duke
11/29 vs Wesleyan
11/19 vs Miles
Most of 2 reg season + 2 exhibition = 44.4%.
They can shoot.
The nice thing about transfers is you can kinda get what you expected to get.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) November 13, 2021
Sahvir Wheeler, SEC assist leader at UGA, has 17 assists in two games for Kentucky.
Kellan Grady, a bucket at Davidson, has been a sniper for Kentucky.
Oscar Tshiebwe, nation's best OR% at WVU ...
Allen to Collins alley-oop was awesome. Best part? Kellan Grady almost sprinting onto the floor in celebration. If this team can just love each other they will be great.
— Brandon Ramsey (@BRamseyKSR) November 13, 2021
There it is. Back-to-back 20-rebound games for Oscar Tshiebwe.
— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) November 13, 2021
First time in the John Calipari era. https://t.co/UKo6PMePOU
OH. MY. DAIMION. COLLINS.
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) November 13, 2021
@CollinsDaimion pic.twitter.com/24hw1YGezi
That's 21 assists in two games for Sahvir Wheeler. And zero turnovers tonight.
— Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) November 13, 2021
Rupp Arena just exploded. Haven't heard (or felt) that in a LONG time.
— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) November 13, 2021
Kentucky basketball is back.
"We're gonna be fine."
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) November 13, 2021
John Calipari was totally upbeat walking out of MSG on Tuesday night. I left NYC feeling like Kentucky actually showed signs of a soon-to-be-excellent team against Duke.
Right now, I'd say: Checks out.https://t.co/vs9KD2iMck
First question to Calipari is about Daimion Collins. Cal simply says “He needs to play.”
— Big Blue Drew (@BigBlueDrew33) November 13, 2021
Now he’s on some tangent about petitioning the NCAA to make games longer so there’s more available minutes.
Oscar Tshiebwe’s 20 rebounds was indeed a UK record in Rupp Arena, but he ties with Jared Prickett (9-FEB-1994 vs. Arkansas) and Chris Mills (17-DEC-1988 vs. Marshall).
— bigbluehistory (@bigbluehistory) November 13, 2021
Shaquille O’Neal of LSU holds overall record with 21 rebounds in Rupp (15-FEB-1990).
Keeping it pic.twitter.com/f4tpYZocGc
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) November 13, 2021
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