Kentucky Basketball: 3 takeaways from Wildcats dominating win over Robert Morris

Days after a disappointing season-opening loss to Duke, Kentucky Basketball rallied for its first victory of the season, toppling the Robert Morris Colonials in the first game of the Kentucky Classic on Friday evening, 100-60.

Eight years after the Wildcats fell to Robert Morris in the NIT, Kentucky desperately needed this win – it was their first non-conference win since beating Morehead State in November of 2020, and it also showed both how deep and proven the Wildcats’ roster is this season – across both their returners and their newly-acquired transfers.

The Colonials were no slouches, by any means, despite their woeful 4-15 record last season in their inaugural campaign in the Horizon League.  Led by 12th-year head coach Andy Toole – who is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament and has at least five 20-win seasons under his belt – Robert Morris was coming off a 10-point road loss to a potential NCAA Tournament team in UCF just two days prior.

This game was never really in doubt after Kentucky built a 10-point lead less than 10 minutes in; the Colonials would cut it down to single-digits on a few occasions, with the last coming with six and a half minutes remaining in the opening stanza.  Robert Morris’ effort was too little, too late, however, as the Wildcats would quickly turn their advantage to 20 less than a minute into the second half.

Six different Wildcats notched double-digits – Kellan Grady, Oscar Tshiebwe, Keion Brooks Jr., and TyTy Washington Jr. all logged double-figures among the starters, while Daimion Collins and Davion Mintz contributed as many off the bench.  Georgia transfer Sahvir Wheeler – the lone starter to not pass the 10-point threshold – provided significant contributions in other ways, including a game-high 12 assists.

Very little went wrong for Kentucky in this tilt, and there was decidedly a slew of positives for John Calipari and his team to grasp at and build on – especially after the woes that the Wildcats faced last year.  With time remaining before Kentucky’s November 16th meeting with Mount St. Mary’s, here are the key takeaways from the duel with Robert Morris ahead of Tuesday.