No. 10/9 Kentucky Hosts Richmond in Bluegrass Showcase Finale
After opening its season with an easy 81-45 win over Morehead State on Wednesday, No. 10/9 Kentucky returns to action on Sunday, facing Richmond in the final game of the Bluegrass Showcase at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on ESPN.
In Wednesday’s opener, it was Kentucky’s talented freshman class that carried the load. Brandon Boston Jr. led all scorers with 15 points, while fellow freshmen Devin Askew and Terrence Clarke added 12 apiece. Cam’Ron Fletcher and Isaiah Jackson, two more freshmen, had nine points apiece.
However, Sunday’s game will be much more of a challenge for the Cats. Richmond had the attention of Kentucky head coach John Calipari prior to the Bluegrass Showcase.
“Their experience, their ability to control the game, to make you play through every possession. If you play 15 seconds, you’re getting beat. You’ve got to play the whole possession,” Calipari said. “On offense, because of how they play, you cannot take high-risk plays. You’ve got to be efficient offensively. Attack and run and get in the lane.”
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| Kentucky vs. Richmond | ||
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Sun., Nov. 29 – 1 p.m. ET |
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TV: ESPN |
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| UK | Stats | UR |
| 1-0 | Record | 1-0 |
| 0-0 | Conference Record | 0-0 |
| 81.0 | PPG | 82.0 |
| 45.0 | Opp PPG | 64.0 |
| .559 | FG% | .556 |
| .340 | Opp FG% | .431 |
| 37.0 | RPG | 35.0 |
| .375 | 3PT FG% | .292 |
| .143 | Opp 3PT FG% | .267 |
| 18.0 | APG | 17.0 |
| 8.0 | SPG | 8.0 |
| 6.0 | BPG | 3.0 |
Richmond got its season started with an 82-64 win over Morehead State on Friday in the second game of the Bluegrass Showcase. Senior forward Nathan Cayo hit all 10 of his field goal attempts, including one from behind the arc, on his way to 23 points in the game. Richmond also got 16 points from 6-10 forward Grant Golden.
The Spiders are a very experienced team, with four graduate students and three seniors on their roster. Head coach Chris Mooney starts two of those graduate students, two of the seniors and a sophomore.
Calipari knows that his team will have a challenge on its hands due to Richmond’s style.
“If you’re going to take a bad shot against them, you take it late in the clock,” Calipari said. “Me saying all that to you, we have no chance of being like that. Just so you know. It’s the second game of the year, 10 new players. They’ve never played against a college team let alone a team that runs, quote, Princeton kind of stuff.”
Of course, Richmond will also have to contend with Kentucky’s ability and especially with its size. The Cats starting lineup on Wednesday included only one player shorter than 6-7.
Kentucky’s task on Sunday will be to use their superior size and talent to counteract Richmond’s experience.
Freshmen Shine in UK Debut in Win over Morehead State
John Calipari loved the cohesion, and it was just Kentucky’s unveiling of virtually a whole new roster.
Brandon Boston Jr. had 15 points and seven rebounds, Devin Askew and Terrence Clarke each added 12 points and No. 10/9 Kentucky cruised past Morehead State 81-45 in the season opener Wednesday night.
Starting with more roster turnover than usual with 10 new faces, including seven freshmen and three transfers, the Wildcats were surprisingly solid in their first real action together. They never trailed and steadily built a double-digit lead that reached 34 points with about five minutes left.
There were some mistakes, but nothing is ever perfect.
“What I was encouraged about was we looked like an organized basketball team,” Calipari said. “Ten new guys, never played together, never played for me. … Can you imagine? We’ve been 40 days, 30 practices in 42 and this is what we look like. So I’m happy now.”
Boston, a 6-foot-7 guard, was 7 of 14 from the field in his debut, and Askew and Clarke each made 5 of 9 attempts. Graduate transfer Davion Mintz added 10 points off the bench as Kentucky rolled in its first game of the Bluegrass Showcase.
“We just played as a team,” Clarke said. “Cal kind of wanted us to make the extra pass or whatever the case may be, just be unselfish. As organized as we looked, I think everybody was kind of anxious and just didn’t know what was going to happen. So, us going out there and performing how we did, I think that we’re just going to keep on building.”
Isaiah Jackson and Cam’Ron Fletcher each added nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. Freshman forward Lance Ware contributed five rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 19 minutes.
The Wildcats shot 55.9% and outrebounded the Eagles 37-25.
Johni Broome had 12 points and Julius Dixon 11 off the bench, while James Baker Jr. added 10 for Morehead State. The Eagles shot 34% in falling to 0-11 against the Wildcats.
Rupp Arena at tipoff felt more like the doors had just opened, with physically-distanced spectators sprinkled around the 20,500-seat facility at 15% capacity (3,075 reported attendance). Pumped-in crowd noise provided initial energy that quickly warmed up fans, some sitting next to 3-foot photo cutouts selling for at $50 and up.
On the floor, players sat on two rows of folding chairs spaced six feet away, with Calipari taking the second seat up front — though never for long. But those cutouts drew lots of attention.
“With the cutouts, I mean, it’s lovely,” Clarke said. “It feels like people are there.”
Morehead State had some early juice but were overwhelmed on both ends by Kentucky’s size and quickness. That led to 20 Eagles turnovers for 20 Wildcats points, and they struggled keeping up with Kentucky’s movement on its end. The bright spot was the Eagles’ 26 points in the paint, six fewer than Kentucky, but they were close most of the night.
Kentucky started four freshmen and a senior but played like a team tired of facing each other, showing impressive chemistry despite all that youth. The Wildcats pushed the tempo and passed well, posting 18 assists on their 33 baskets. Nine players scored overall, with former Wake Forest 7-footer Olivier Sarr overcoming a slow start to finish with eight points.
• UK forced Morehead State into more turnovers (20) than the Eagles made field goals (17)
• Kentucky improved to 11-1 in season openers under Calipari and 12-0 in home openers
• The Wildcats moved to 78-0 under Calipari when keeping the opponent to 55 or fewer points
• Morehead State’s 45 points are the fewest UK has given up since a 79-44 win over Abilene Christian in the 2019 NCAA Tournament
• Kentucky led by as many as 39 points during the game. UK is 282-2 (.972) under Calipari when leading by at least 10 points at any time in the contest
Spiders Provide Young Cats with First Big Test
An experienced and talented Richmond team will provide the young Wildcats with their first test of the season.
The Spiders were picked to win the Atlantic 10 in the conference’s preseason poll, receiving 19 of the 28 first-place votes from a panel of the league’s head coaches and media members. It is the first time Richmond has been picked to win the A-10 since joining the conference in 2001.
Richmond started four seniors (Blake Francis, Jacob Gilyard, Grant Golden and Nathan Cayo) in its 82-64 win over Morehead State on Friday. Over the previous three seasons, the Spiders have had only one senior start a game (Julius Johnson, 10 starts in 2018-19). All four senior starters shined in the win. Cayo scored a game-high 23 points on a perfect 10-of-10 shooting, Golden added 16 on 8-of-10 field-goal efficiency, Gilyard posted 13 points, five assists, five rebounds and three steals, and Blake had 13 points and five assists.
Gilyard was named preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team and Golden and Francis were named to the A-10 Second Team. Richmond is the first team to have three players on the preseason All A-10 First Team or Second Team since Xavier in 2011. Gilyard was also named to the Bob Cousy Award (nation’s top point guard) watch list and Golden was named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (nation’s top center) watch list. Richmond is one of four schools, along with Illinois, Virginia, and Wisconsin, to currently have a player in the running for the nation’s best point guard and center.
Richmond received 40 votes in the Associated Press Top 25, 32nd among all teams and the most votes the Spiders have ever received in the AP’s preseason poll. It’s the best showing by Richmond in any AP Top 25 poll since the final poll of 2010-11, when Richmond received 47 votes prior to its run to the Sweet 16.
