NCAA Basketball: Alabama, Duke, Marquette rise in latest top 25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
11. Kentucky (5-0)
Everything is new in Lexington this season and the initial results are about as great as humanly possible. New head coach Mark Pope built this roster from scratch, utilizing the Transfer Portal to nab great talent from all over the place. As evident in their impressive win over Duke at the Champions Classic, these Wildcats can win, and the winning certainly continues on.
Kentucky took care of Lipscomb to start the week, earning a 97-68 victory back on Tuesday night. Jaxson Robinson had 20 points and 7 rebounds as the Wildcats shot 55% from the field. Friday was an even better result with a 108-59 win against Jackson State. The offense was even better, led by Koby Brea’s 22-point performance off the bench while Otega Oweh added 21 points of his own.
The Wildcats are averaging more than 100 points outside of the Duke game, and they played pretty brilliant basketball in that win as well. Nearly everything is going right in these initial matchups for Kentucky, though obviously this slew of mid-major opposition pales in comparison to SEC play later in the season. That aforementioned slew continues for now, as the Wildcats welcome Western Kentucky and Georgia State to town next week for what should be two more wins.