The new batch of Kentucky Basketball players was together for the first time is a preseason foreign trip. Who were the biggest standouts in the Bahamas?
The Kentucky Wildcats were the lone SEC program to make a foreign trip this summer. The Wildcats spent a week in the Bahamas while playing four games. UK won each of its four games by 20 or more points.
The purpose of August foreign trips for US colleges are multiple fold and it was no different for the Wildcats. Coach John Calipari told UK Athletics that “experiment” was going to be the keyword for the trip. The Cats used multiple lineup combinations, including eight different players starting at least one game, and did different things on the defensive end.
Of course, the team had some fun as well. UK took time to tour the island including spending a day enjoying Atlantis Waterparks.
Kentucky opened the tour against Bahamas National Team in Paradise Island on Aug. 8. UK ended up winning the game 84-61, but it was not easy. The Wildcats got off to a fast start, taking a 13-0 lead in the first three minutes. However, the Bahamas fought back to make the score 25-22 with just under eight minutes left in the opening half. They got within two points on several occasions.
With UK leading 42-35 at halftime, the Bahamas scored the first seven points in the second half. Following a brief lead by the Bahamas, its first of the game, the Wildcats went on an 11-2 run to take control of the game. Four Cats scored in double figures.
UK played much better in the second game of the trip. The Wildcats defeated three-time Argentine National League champions San Lorenzo de Almagro 91-68. The Cats once again got off to a fast start (12-4) and took a 30-20 lead after the opening 10 minutes. Overall, they led the game for all but two minutes.
Kentucky outscored the Argentine’s 15-7 in the second quarter to take a commanding 45-27 halftime lead. UK, which shot 64% from the floor for the game, had six players in double figures.
The Wildcats coasted past Serbian professional team Mega Bemax (100-64) in game three. And then the Cats closed out the trip with an easy 93-60 win over Team Toronto.
This was UK’s first trip abroad since 2014 when they were also in the Bahamas. The Wildcats are now 9-1 all-time in exhibition games held on the island. UK returns six players from last year although they will have still have six true freshmen on its roster. Plus, transfer Reid Travis.
Kentucky averaged a tad over 92 points a game and ended up the tour with a plus 29.0 point scoring margin. The Wildcats shot the ball well, with the lone exception being the first game, making 49.8% of their field goal attempts overall and 38.2% (26-82) from beyond the arc. They were excellent on the defensive end, holding their opponents to 35.2% shooting through the four games, and hit the boards all tour long. Perhaps the most impressive stat, for a “new team”, was that they finished with 68 assists and only 45 turnovers.
Redshirt freshman Jemarl Baker, one of the returning players, and true freshman Zan Payne missed all four of the exhibition games. Baker was dealing with swelling in his left knee while Payne will sit put the 2018-19 campaign as he is rehabbing his knee. In the meanwhile, freshman EJ Montgomery missed the final three games of the tour with a lower-back injury. Baker and Montgomery are expected to be 100% by the time practice starts.
There were many impressive displays of basketball for Kentucky overall. Here are the five biggest standouts.