Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s season-opening win over New Mexico State
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Game day: No. 16 Kentucky 86, New Mexico State 46
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 New Mexico State in Rupp Arena.
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Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 86-46 victory over New Mexico State in the season opener on Monday night at Rupp Arena:
1. The Cats looked much like they did in Canada
The Kentucky Wildcats we saw Monday night at Rupp looked very similar to the Kentucky Wildcats we saw this past summer up in Canada when UK swept four games at GLOBL JAM 2023.
The Cats were unselfish in Canada. The Cats were unselfish at Rupp. The Cats passed the ball well in Canada. The Cats passed the ball well at Rupp. The Cats pushed the ball in transition in Canada. The Cats pushed the ball in transition on Monday night.
“They are an elite transition offense team,” New Mexico State coach said Jason Hooten after the hosts outscored his Aggies 25-7 in fast-break points.
Kentucky was credited with 17 assists on its 32 made baskets. Tre Mitchell, the 6-foot-9 grad student from West Virginia, led the team with five assists. D.J. Wagner added four. Rob Dillingham had three. Seven different Wildcats was credited with at least one assist.
According to John Calipari, that was all part of his goal to have this particular team play “random” basketball. What does that mean? Spacing the court and playing off each other, the coach said. “Random means you’ve got to be really unselfish.”
Impressive stat: Kentucky committed but six turnovers on the night.
As it was in Canada, unselfishness appears (so far) to be the best part of this Kentucky team.
2. Reed Sheppard can play some defense
During his heralded high school career, Reed Sheppard made headlines for his points, his rebounds, his assists, his triple-doubles, all as the son of former Kentucky stars Jeff Sheppard and Stacey Reed.
Monday night, the 6-3 freshman from London showed he can play some defense. Sheppard was credited with two of Kentucky’s 13 steals on the night, compared to just two for New Mexico State.
“Reed and Robert (Dillingham) were both disruptive,” Calipari said.
One highlight play came in the first half when Sheppard back-tipped the ball away from an Aggie. Teammate D.J. Wagner not only saved the ball before it went out of bounds, he saved it ahead to a streaking Sheppard, who finished the play with a dunk with 6:04 left and a 25-17 UK lead. It was Sheppard’s first points as a Wildcat.
Afterward, Sheppard credited going up against Wagner and Dillingham in practice — “That’s no fun,” he said — for his defensive chops. That, and as he said, his desire to do whatever he can to get a win.
One more thing, Calipari also said this afterward: “Reed may have the best hands of anyone I’ve coached.”
3. UK using a gang-rebound method to its boardwork
In case you haven’t noticed, Oscar Tshiebwe isn’t around anymore. For two years, we had the pleasure of watching one of, if not the best, rebounders in modern college basketball history. We might never see his likes again.
Also missing are the three 7-footers on the Kentucky roster. Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso are both still rehabbing from their offseason foot surgeries. Zvonimir Ivisic is still waiting to pass through the NCAA clearinghouse for his eligibility.
Asked for a postgame update, Calipari said that Bradshaw is “about two weeks” ahead of Onyenso. He said he’s not sure what that means, though he speculated it could be another week or two before Bradshaw is back practicing in full. As for Ivisic, Calipari said UK is still waiting to hear from the NCAA, but that the Croatian was sick for four days.
“I told the kid he has ‘buzzard’s luck,’” Cal said. “With him being sick, I’m not sure he could play Friday (against Texas A&M-Commerce) anyway.”
Even with the trio of towers on the sideline, and no Oscar, Kentucky still outrebounded New Mexico State 43-33. Mitchell led the way with nine boards. Adou Thiero had seven in just 20 minutes. He left the game with a headache, Calipari said. Justin Edwards and Sheppard each had five rebounds.
“We’re just going to have to do it a different way,” Calipari said.
This story was originally published November 6, 2023 at 11:43 PM.
