Kentucky plays its Blue-White Game in Pikeville. Antonio Reeves was the night’s MVP.
Having only eight scholarship players available for the Blue-White Game on Saturday evening made the annual Kentucky men’s basketball scrimmage a tough endeavor, but the show went on as planned in Pikeville.
The UK team spent the day in Eastern Kentucky, as promised months earlier, as part of the program’s ongoing objective of aiding relief efforts in the region that was devastated by historic flooding over the summer and has been trying to recover in the nearly three months since.
UK Coach John Calipari addressed the sellout crowd at the Appalachian Wireless Arena around the scheduled tipoff time of 6 p.m., telling them that Oscar Tshiebwe, Sahvir Wheeler and Lance Ware would all be sidelined from basketball activities due to injuries. Tshiebwe had a knee procedure a little more than a week ago, and it was already known that he would not be participating. The injuries to Wheeler and Ware are not serious, and all three players were with the UK traveling party for the entirety of Saturday’s events in Eastern Kentucky.
Calipari got back on the microphone a few minutes after his first announcement and said that there were still long lines of fans trying to get into the arena, so the team went through some additional warmups while folks got settled.
Around 6:30 p.m. — with the 6,000ish-capacity gym pretty much full — they put 20 minutes on the clock and started scrimmaging.
Cason Wallace, CJ Fredrick, Chris Livingston, Jacob Toppin and Daimion Collins formed the White team, with walk-ons Brennan Canada and Walker Horn joining UK newcomers Adou Thiero, Antonio Reeves and Ugonna Onyenso on the Blue squad.
There were several highlights in the predictably freewheeling scrimmage that followed, and Reeves — the team’s top scorer during its August trip to the Bahamas — was arguably the biggest star.
The Illinois State transfer scored 22 points in 20 first-half minutes Saturday night, going 7-for-13 from the field and 4-for-8 from three-point range, showing off that quick release from deep that will no doubt delight Rupp Arena fans this season.
Calipari announced before the second half began that the team would compete for just 10 minutes after halftime — with minimal stoppages in play — then get to the autographs and photos.
Reeves finished with a game-high 27 points, according to the official stats, and he was named the night’s most valuable player. He had multiple series where he scored a flurry of points all at once, including one stretch in which he put up 12 points in a little more than four minutes. He also hit two three-pointers in the final 90 seconds of the first half.
“I just go out there and I know I can get hot,” Reeves said. “Having the experience that I have in college — and just playing basketball, in general — I just know my game and how I operate. …
“Guys know that I’m going to heat up, and they look for me.”
Fredrick was another scrimmage standout. He missed last year’s Blue-White Game and the two preseason exhibitions with an injury and then suffered a torn hamstring during warmups for UK’s season opener, ultimately sitting out the entire 2021-22 campaign as a result.
One of the best three-point shooters in the country over his two seasons at Iowa before transferring to Kentucky, the veteran guard showed off that skill Saturday night, going 4-for-5 from deep and leading the White team with 18 points.
The White team defeated the Blue squad 70-67.
Thiero had 21 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Blue team, while Wallace recorded 15 points, went 3-for-6 from deep, and dished out a game-high eight assists for the White squad.
Wheeler announced at halftime that the program had raised $162,450 with the scrimmage, and the entire Wildcats team presented a check to Gov. Andy Beshear in that amount for his Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief fund.
Oscar Tshiebwe update
As Calipari announced earlier in the week, reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe did not participate in any basketball activities Saturday after undergoing a knee procedure nine days earlier.
Tshiebwe is expected to be held out the entire preseason, with a possible return to the court coming Nov. 7 against Howard University in the Wildcats’ season opener.
During his talk at the Greater Louisville UK Alumni Club Tipoff Luncheon on Thursday, the Kentucky coach said Tshiebwe was “doing good” and already ahead of schedule on his recovery, getting off crutches more quickly than was expected.
“First of all, I gotta make sure he doesn’t try to go too fast,” Calipari said. “… It was about a 15-minute procedure — he’s gonna be fine. But when you invade — even though it’s for 15 minutes — you’re gonna have swelling, you’re gonna have pain.
“But they said his tendons and all his joints and everything in his knee — they said are unbelievable. So it was good that we did what we did. It was more precautionary than anything, but he’ll be fine. I will say we’re practicing without him. And here’s something for everybody: we’re not quite as good without him.”
Calipari said the day before at SEC media day in Birmingham that Tshiebwe no longer had swelling in his knee, just six days after the procedure. The UK star took part in the team’s community service activities in the region Saturday afternoon without the use of crutches and appeared to be walking without a limp throughout the day.
The Cats’ first major test of the season is expected to come Nov. 15 against Michigan State in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis.
Who’s next for UK?
Kentucky will get more than a week off before its next game of the 2022-23 preseason.
UK hosts Missouri Western State on Oct. 30 in Rupp Arena, an exhibition that will serve as a homecoming for a few former Wildcats.
MIssouri Western is coached by Will Martin, who was UK’s head manager during the 2011-12 national championship season. Two of Martin’s assistant coaches are former Kentucky players: Jon Hood and Perry Stevenson.
The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be shown on SEC Network.
This story was originally published October 22, 2022 at 8:13 PM.
