After an offseason that featured many ups and downs, Kentucky Basketball was on center stage Tuesday night, taking on Kansas in the Champions Classic. It was an opportunity for Coach Mark Pope and the Wildcats to make a national statement and show that they’re true contenders.
Instead, it was a disaster from start to finish. They were down early and often, down by 10 at the half and trailing by more than 20 points at one point before losing 89-69. It’s still the first loss of the season to a top-15 team but there were still some major glaring issues. Here’s a closer look at the overall takeaways from the game.
1. Milan Momcilovic shut down
The former Iowa State forward was the best three-point shooter last year in college basketball, shooting 46% on over eight attempts. But when the game was remotely in doubt, the junior forward didn’t put up a single attempt from deep in the first half. Momcilovic finished with five points and seven rebounds, shooting just 1/3 from deep. As a team, Kentucky shot just 4/21 from the three-point line, an easy explanation as to why they got handled.
2. No bench production
Some of the transfer and recruiting setbacks the Wildcats suffered in the offseason led to a roster with some depth questions. There was hope that freshman guard Mason Williams would be a standout player after putting up 15 ppg during the three exhibition games. However, he went 0/3 from the field in 17 minutes, while Justin McBride, Braydon Hawthorne, and Kam Williams had just four points combined off the bench. If the starters struggle or get into foul trouble, it’s a true concern that the second unit can’t give them much help as of now.
3. Zoom Diallo a lone bright spot
Malachi Moreno did recover from early foul trouble to finish with 19 points and 10 rebounds but that was largely due to foul trouble. The only light from the game from Kentucky was Diallo leading the team with 24 points on an efficient 10/15 shooting from the field. He had a rough preseason so this breakout game was needed from the Washington transfer.
Now, Kentucky Basketball just needs to get all of its key players to play well at the same time to win more games.
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