Big Blue Preview: Kentucky vs. Manhattan

After going 3-0 in a trifecta of exhibition games, No. 23 Kentucky begins its regular season on Tuesday night, facing Manhattan at Rupp Arena (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network Plus).

The Cats opened with a 69-49 win over Travis Ford and his Little Rock team. Milan Momcilovic led UK with 16 points in that contest, while Alex Wilkins added 11. Kentucky made 12 of 28 from behind the arc in the victory.

In the following contest, the Cats stepped up in competition level, facing No. 19 Texas Tech. UK placed five players in double figures in a 76-65 win over the Red Raiders. Momcilovic and Malachi Moreno each had 15, freshman Mason Williams had 14, Wilkins had 13 and Ousmane N’Diaye added 10.

Kentucky needed overtime to win its final exhibition contest, taking down Central Florida 90-76. UK tied the game on a Wilkins basket at the end of regulation, then outscored the Knights 19-5 in extra time. Momcilovic again led the Cats, this time with 19 points, while Williams had 18.

UK head coach Mark Pope liked how his team continued to improve through the preseason.

“I thought we just showed so much growth and so much progress,” Pope said. “It was fun to mark them in the games. We saw tremendous trajectory growth in our turnover percentage going down, our assists going up. Our offensive rebound percentage on missed threes tripled from game one to game three. It was great progress there. There were so many ways we saw progress. It was fun to see players grow.”

Manhattan went 12-20 last season and lost in the first round of the Metro Conference Tournament.