Calipari talks freshman Rob Dillingham, veteran leader Tre Mitchell, more after UK win

For the first time since the (ultimately ill-fated) 2020-21 season, the Kentucky men’s basketball team is off to a 2-0 start in SEC play.

An at times choppy 90-77 home win over Missouri on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena featured plenty of good things to note for the No. 6-ranked Wildcats, who are now 12-2 overall this season.

Five different UK players scored in double figures, led by freshman guard Rob Dillingham’s 23 points, a career high at the college level. Fifth-year forward Tre Mitchell added a double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds, the third time in the last four games that Mitchell has achieved a double-double.

UK also out-rebounded Missouri handily, 42-27, despite sophomore standout Adou Thiero missing his third straight game due to “general soreness.”

But there were also some warning signs for head coach John Calipari’s team.

Kentucky again had a below average showing from 3-point range: The Cats went 7-for-23 (30%) from distance, more than 10% lower than their season average. Fifth-year guard Antonio Reeves had made a 3-pointer in each of the last 24 games dating back to last season, but went 0-for-5 from 3 on Tuesday.

UK’s famously good assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.96 for the season also took a hit: The Wildcats had 14 assists compared to 13 turnovers against the Tigers.

But a key discrepancy that helped secure the win for UK came at the foul line: UK shot 27-for-32 (84.4%) on free throws in the win.

Postgame, Calipari touched on everything from the big games enjoyed by Dillingham and Mitchell, to the difficulty of playing in a deep SEC this season.

Here’s everything Calipari said after the win:

Question about Tre Mitchell.

It’s not his confidence, it’s his motor. When his motor runs, he is a double-double. And we all — these guys rely on him. And they do Antonio too. But they rely on him. You know. He can play 4 and 5 and he can shoot the 3 and he can put it on the floor. What he proved today is he can rebound in traffic when there are all kinds of guys whacking at the ball and he did it and then he made free throws. He was really good today.

You know, five guys in double figures. We missed a lot of shots today. Um. Defensively again, first half, shaky. Give them credit with how they played and then second half we played better or maybe they just missed shots, I don’t know. But the numbers look like we played better in the second half defensively.

Um. Robert, you know, I told them, I said Robert, you cannot get three and four fouls. Don’t reach your hand in. The second one wasn’t a foul. Don’t reach your hand in. Ask Reed. You don’t even try. You just be active but you’re not going to reach in to get three and four fouls. Because the whole team, I said, do we need him in the game at the end, and they are all like, yes. You can’t do that to us.

The only thing if I had to do it over again, I didn’t do my rotation as quickly as I have been. And then part of it is that that group was playing so well offensively that I let them go. It kind of got us out of whack in the first half and in the second half I did what we’ve always done at the 17 minute mark, a couple of guys in, you know, we went from there, but. That was a good game.

Look, people are going to play them, you cannot run your offense. It ends up being a spread the court, maybe a pick and roll and dribble handoff. Try to get in the lane and hope they collapse and you are shooting some 3s and hopefully you can make some layups. Just like I said to the team after. How many plays did we run? We had a couple of double drags and they said we ran a fist down and a couple of top heads and that was it. And that’s why a guy like Robert in a game like that, where you can iso him. It’s — because they switch everything. They muck it up. Their zone is a little different. They are out of bounds on the baselines a little different. I thought we did good in there again. But we got every player on the court can pass, dribble, and shoot. So whoever you throw to, like he can pass, dribble, shoot. It’s a little different with that uniqueness that we have.

Question about what Calipari told Rob Dillingham after Dillingham picked up his fourth foul.

The whole thing that I said to him after the game, I said you know I love coaching you. And I love coaching you because you can really play. I love guys who can really play. If you can’t really play, I like you, but I don’t like you as much, OK.

So, he can really play. But, we had to get him to make easier plays. Because he thinks — some of your older people know the And1 tape, now it’s different, they do it on Snapchat or whatever the stuff is they do it on. But the other thing he has to continue to work on, I had him in my office, your body language. That’s what I talked to him about. You can’t do that to your teammates. Your body language screams, just come out.

You miss a shot. I had another guy missed a shot. And it was like, oh I can’t leave you in the game. You are saying to me you got to take me out because my mind isn’t into this. But the young team that we are, body language is that next thing. It was OK in the AAU games to act like, why did you take me out or, oh, you can’t do that now. And as you move in this sport. Your body language screams, you just can’t do it. And that’s why I grabbed him and talked to him after. He knows I love him. Like I love coaching him. And I’ve got to take some of the stuff that he does and just (bites hand) I’m an Italian, but he is as good as they get to go get baskets and fouled.

Question about Adou Thiero’s injury and what the team misses without him playing.

I don’t — he didn’t practice or play shootaround today. I will get an update and they will tell me. The thing that’s happening is it’s giving Ugo a chance, It’s giving Jordan a chance. Probably playing Tre more than he needs to but all of a sudden you got guys asking about the double doubles because he is playing more minutes.

But what he brings to the table. Eight rebounds and a toughness. Rebounding in traffic. Another guy that can pass, dribble, and shoot, but he is more of a perimeter guy who is eventually going to be about 6-9 at 240 or 250 and a player like inside outside, shoot, drive, dunk, make a pass. But he’s got to get healthy.

The back was bothering him and this was the best course of action. So hopefully he is back soon.

Question about the value of Tre Mitchell’s experience on this Kentucky team.

So how he handles me. Like, if I say something that’s funny, he laughs. Like, he also — when I get on him, I got on him yesterday in the locker room about something and I can’t remember what it was but I kind of needled him without looking at him and he said well, the guy may be struggling because you are drawing up six plays in a timeout and we don’t know which one we are running and he said that to me which I sometimes do.

No, he’s — I love coaching him. I love it. And I love how he is as a teammate. You may say well, if he is capable of getting 20 and 15 — I said to the guys, OK. If, without D.J. we didn’t win. We played UNC Wilmington, we lost. So D.J., — you can’t just say take minutes. How about Reed, should he play less, or should he play more? OK, if he plays more, who plays less — Antonio, our leading scorer?

I went around the room. And I said and then there is Tre. He was in my office the other day complaining about not getting enough shots. And they all went, what? You think he did that? They go, no, he didn’t do that and they all know and he laughed back there. He doesn’t complain about it. He knows his role. But, the game is moving to him. When you are 6-9 and you can stretch the floor and you can shoot and you can play basketball, there is a place for you. I am happy about Antonio, what he’s doing. How about defend him, I’m putting him on the best defensive player.

Let me just tell you again, Missouri, they play a way that takes you, you better just be playing basketball. You better be playing random. You better be playing with space. Because if you don’t, you are going to struggle to score.

Question about the depth of the SEC this season.

Again, I’ve said this over and over for 30 years. Basketball coaches win games and administrations win championships because they invest in it. You think of what happened in this league. Mike Slive got this TV deal done and you had a choice of where you can put all that money. Put it into one sport or you can say basketball needed it. And many of the schools said we are invested in basketball and invested in baseball and we are doing this and we are going to upgrade football stuff. And now all of a sudden they got unbelievable facilities, they got the top coaches in the country and they are able to go recruit.

I was on with Mike Krzyzewski and he said in 2013, we would go to Augusta (for the Peach Jam tournament) and he would be in a private plane and I would be in a private plane. A matter of fact Joe Craft’s plane. Right, there would be two of us. Do you know how many planes is private there — everyone in our league is in a private plane moving around. To recruit, you can’t — If you think you are going to fly commercial during the year and do this job and recruit and then stay overnight and get a 5 o’clock flight back. You better be 30 years old. And so, now the investment in the facilities, the way they travel, the way they treat their players. Everybody charters. That investment just came from the TV deal.

And then, it is like the cool place to play now. This is a hard league now. The bad news is, you got — it’s hard to run the table or do anything like that anymore. But the other side of it is. I can remember (former South Carolina coach) Frank Martin apologizing to people in the room that he beat. Because I ruined your season. Because we aren’t very good and we just beat you and knocked you out of the NCAA Tournament. That doesn’t happen now. Do you remember when you lost a game with somebody and they say you went from 10 to 21, why? Everybody else loses — we lose, It’s like, I’m not just saying us but I’m saying in our league. It’s really hard but it’s the way it should be. Instead of, I said at that time we should be getting seven, eight, nine teams in and that’s where we are. It wasn’t because of me but I may be chasing Kentucky was part of it. But I think it is the investment that the administration has made to upgrade all these basketball programs.

Question about Kentucky’s free-throw shooting.

For the year, The teams are making more than they are shooting. So that is a normal, like if you look at the stats. We went into the game and people who were in the gym today, I told them, guys, we want to attack the rim. I like 3s but I love dunks and layups. So attack that rim and you will get fouled. You will make it. I was upset the play D.J. drove in and the other thing is don’t get the shot blocked. If he comes to block it throw it so high on the backboard. You are not making it but we will rebound that one. And tip it.

The block is going the other way but we are trying to attack the rim. I said, you don’t want to end up shooting 40 3s. Because you could go 5-for-40. You would lose the game. Yeah, but we took 40 and that’s how we want to play. I’m trying to win. And we knew in this game they force you to take 3s. So you want to say we’re taking the inside-out open 3s uncontested, which we did and we missed a bunch of them today. Like I was surprised some of the misses we had. But, they are not machines and they are not robots. What else?

Question about balancing the frustration that some of Kentucky’s top recruits may experience in college.

What happened — last game, Aaron was so bad in the first half and he flipped it. Did I do something or did he do something? He did it. He learned that I don’t have to play great the whole game. If I play bad I can flip it and I can get myself in the right frame of mind. Who else was awful in the first half? Robert was so bad. He was throwing balls to them for layups. How was he in the second half? Really good. I told him.

Today I thought Justin did that. He made some plays, he banked one on the corner. And then he came back in the second half and missed it and we stuck with him and I want him to try to play through it. It’s not what I’m saying. It’s what he is saying to himself. What is the inner talk. You are not making every shot, so stop. If you missed, just keep playing and get back and block a shot and defend. Him in transition. He is playing good, but in a month from now you will all say wow, this is what they were talking about.

He is working really, really hard. But the stuff doesn’t happen on our time, or his time. It doesn’t. Sometimes you have to go three months, four months, and all of a sudden you start breaking through and then you go. Most of the stuff they have to work through. If they are taking, like If I have to build their confidence, you are not going to be a player in that next league. Because they are not there. You either help them win or you are out.

It’s what it is. I’m struggling today. Great, you are not playing so I’m going to put you in the G league. You’re going to complain. All right, now you are in the YMCA league, how about that. You have to have that inner drive and toughness.

Let me just say one thing. Five-star players have been chased their whole lives. They have never chased anybody. They got chased and they can deal with it. When you come here at Kentucky. You are being chased. If you are not used to it, you will struggle. If you are a three-star or four-star and you are always chasing and all of a sudden it flips and they are chasing you, it’s a different mentality. That’s why these kids have been chased and none of it phases them.

The way they are playing — playing for each other. Still had a few turnovers too many, but I give credit to Missouri because of how they played. The first half I was like whoa, we — it’s going to be ugly, I’m kind of bouncing around. Is that it?

This story was originally published January 10, 2024 at 12:06 AM.

Cameron Drummond

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-242-5257

Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting and the UK men’s basketball team, horse racing, soccer and other sports in Central Kentucky. Drummond is a second-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter in Austin, Texas. Support my work with a digital subscription