Monday Headlines: Kentucky Basketball Sweeps GLOBL JAM

Heck of a trip for the Wildcats.

By John Morgan Francis@MonJorgan Jul 17, 2023, 6:40am EDT

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Another summer, another dominant pre-season trip for the Kentucky Wildcats. John Calipari’s team traveled to Canada last week and played in four exhibition games — sweeping all of them to win the Gold Medal at the 2023 Global Jam.

First, the Wildcats beat Germany 81-73. Then they beat Canada in a blowout, 93-69. The Wildcats then beat Africa, 104-92, before advancing to the Gold Medal game. For a second time, Kentucky got the best of Canada — winning the Gold Medal by a score of 89-72.

Canada kept the game relatively close in the first half with Kentucky holding a narrow 45-39 lead. But the Wildcats put together a 27-point third quarter and matched their explosive offense with suffocating defense to build a lead that was out of reach of the Canadians.

Throughout the trip, almost every player in Kentucky’s rotation had a game where they really stood out. On Sunday, it was Justin Edwards who led the charge. He scored 23 points for the game (17 of them in the first half) while grabbing five boards and dishing out two assists.

Edwards was joined by Tre Mitchell, who also continued to impress in his fourth game as a Wildcat. He notched a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds in the win. Antonio Reeves was far and away the best player on the floor for the Wildcats throughout the trip. He finished the game with 18 points — his only game below 20 points during the week.

Big Blue Nation will have to wait a while until they see their basketball team in action again, but it’s safe to say this trip has sparked a fire with the fan base and created a real urgency for this fall.

Tweet of the Day

.@KentuckyMBB show off their well deserved #GLOBLJAM Gold Medals. pic.twitter.com/RSjAuNgURN
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 17, 2023

Annnddd for anyone thinking cal will play different with his two bigs back…

He was asked how different will you play when both your bigs are back pic.twitter.com/FdQKXd6V72
— Eli Cox (@elic0Xx) July 17, 2023

You absolutely love to see it.

Headlines

Golden! Cats Top Canada to Win 2023 GLOBL Jam – UK Athletics

UK completed its dominant run in Toronto on Sunday night, topping homestanding Team Canada 89-72 to claim the gold medal in the second year of the event. Kentucky won all four of its games in this year’s GLOBL Jam by an average of 15 points per contest.

The GLOBL Jam Celebration in Photos - KSR

Good times.

Kentucky basketball wows with GLOBL Jam performances - CatsPause

The Kentucky Wildcats are making believers.

Brad White Leaves “no stone unturned” to Prepare a Game Plan - Vaught’s Views

Kentucky is lucky to have him.

Suns add Bol Bol, trade Cameron Payne, get picks - ESPN

Will there be more moves to come?

Carlos Alcaraz stops Novak Djokovic to win 1st Wimbledon title - ESPN

Cool story here.

Look for these Kentucky players to generate buzz at SEC Media Days - KSR

Mark Stoops and company will speak on Wednesday.