Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s 95-63 season-opening win over Howard
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Game day: No. 4 Kentucky 95, Howard 63
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Monday night’s men’s basketball season opener between Kentucky and Howard in Rupp Arena.
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Five things you need to know from the Kentucky Wildcats’ 95-63 win over the Howard Bison in the 2022-23 NCAA men’s college basketball season opener from Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center:
1. No stars, no problem for UK. Kentucky opened its season without consensus 2021-22 National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe (injury), All-SEC point guard Sahvir Wheeler (injury) and promising sophomore forward Daimion Collins (death in family).
The remaining Cats were more than good enough to overwhelm the visiting Bison.
Backing up talk that he is set up for a breakout year, senior forward Jacob Toppin went for a double-double, 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Illinois State transfer Antonio Reeves looked every bit like the instant bucket he is reputed to be, draining six of 12 three-pointers en route to a team-high 22 points.
With Wheeler sidelined, freshman Cason Wallace had the keys to the UK car and he drove it well. The 6-foot-4, 193-pound Dallas product flirted with a triple-double in his first college game before finishing with 15 points, eight rebounds and nine assists.
Freshman big man Ugonna Onyenso brought the Rupp Arena fans out of their seats with his shot blocking. The 6-11, 255-pound product of Nigeria finished with six points, four rebounds and four blocks.
All in all, it was an encouraging showing for the short-handed Cats.
2. Defensive length is back. Kentucky harried Howard into a horrid shooting night. The Bison made only 23 of 67 field-goal attempts, seven of 25 from behind the three-point arc.
For the Big Blue Nation, that should be an encouraging development.
The lack of the traditional, John Calipari-era, defensive length and athleticism in the backcourt and on the wings was the fatal flaw in last season’s UK team — whose premature exit from the 2022 NCAA Tournament at the hands of No. 15-seed Saint Peter’s we will not belabor here.
3. Kentucky proud. In his UK debut, former Covington Catholic star CJ Fredrick scored more points than any product of Kentucky high school basketball has produced in a Wildcats season opener in the 21st century.
Fredrick made six of nine shots, two of five treys and six of seven free throws to finish with 20 points. That put him atop this list of the most points scored in a UK season opener this century by an alumnus of Kentucky high school hoops:
1. CJ Fredrick (Covington Catholic High School), 20 points, 2022-23, 95-63 over Howard;
2. Rajon Rondo (Eastern High School), 17 points, 2005-06, 71-54 over South Dakota State;
3. Derek Willis (Bullitt East), 15 points, 2016-17, 87-64 over Stephen F. Austin;
4. Derek Willis (Bullitt East), 14 points, 2015-16, 78-65 over Albany;
4. Marquis Estill (Madison Central), 14 points, 2002-03, 82-65 over Arizona State;
6. Antwain Barbour (Elizabethtown), 13 points, 2002-03, 82-65 over Arizona State.
4. The Cats in season openers. With the win, John Calipari is now 12-2 in season openers as UK head man (since 2009-10) and 14-0 in home openers.
Overall, Kentucky is now 44-4 in home openers in Rupp Arena (since 1976-77).
5. The long game. If you are already looking ahead to March Madness, the eight Kentucky teams that went on to win the NCAA championship all began their seasons with victories — and won by an average of 29.3 points.
Having won by 32 in their opener, the 2022-23 Cats are ahead of the game.
This story was originally published November 7, 2022 at 8:36 PM.
