UK Overcomes Stiff MSU Challenge in Kentucky Cares Classic
Two weeks ago, the game wasn’t even on Kentucky’s schedule.
Fans found a way to be there anyway, and they got to watch their Wildcats survive a battle.
“We needed this kind of game, to be honest with you,” John Calipari said.
UK hosted a fearless Morehead State squad in the Kentucky Cares Classic on Monday in Rupp Arena, downing the Eagles in an early exhibition test against a Division-I opponent that was closer than the 92-67 final score suggests. Hamidou Diallo scored 23 points to lead all scorers, while Quade Green had 20, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 17 and Kevin Knox 16.
“This was a toughness test for us,” Green said. “They were coming back and we had to do something, so we did what we had to do. Cal got on us and we had to strap it up today.”
It was a unique atmosphere in Rupp, with tickets to the game sold separately from any other this season and no television broadcast. That meant the 14,138 in attendance were the only ones able to watch a competitive game with Morehead State, coached by former Kentucky staffer Preston Spradlin.
UK’s length and athleticism caused problems from the outset for the Eagles, leading to 26 turnovers. That generated plenty of transition opportunities for a team that’s still a work in progress in the half-court. The Cats had 30 points off turnovers, often generated by its two-headed point-guard monster of Green and Gilgeous-Alexander, who combined for nine assists and six steals.
“I’m defense first and I think that’s where we can be really special, is on the defensive end,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “So I just try to bring the defensive energy to the team and I know offense will come because we have so much talent.”
UK’s 12 steals and even more deflections helped make up for the Eagles’ 30-25 rebounding edge and 49-percent shooting from the field, including 10 of 21 from 3. Morehead State didn’t back down when the Cats built a 16-point lead late in the first half and cut the margin to two points at the 12:34 mark of the second.
“Morehead State should be proud of what they have got going,” Calipari said. “Somebody said they were picked ninth in their league. Wow, they’re going to have four teams going to the NCAA Tournament then, if they’re ninth.”
That brought the contingent of fans cheering on in-state Morehead to its feet, but Kentucky – both the team and fans – answered in kind. UK turned up the pressure and promptly ran off a 12-0 run to build a 66-51 lead. The Eagles never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
“I feel like we all stepped up,” Diallo said. “The five that were out there, we all just huddled up and just said we had to get it together. It’s a game of runs. They’re going to have a run, but we knew our run was coming. When it came, we just didn’t stop.”
The way the Cats responded to the Eagles’ rally was encouraging, but the most important development of the evening was two Kentucky schools coming together to do good. Full net proceeds from ticket sales totaling $448,220 from the Kentucky Cares Classic will benefit victims of recent disasters through Team Rubicon, a non-government 501(c)(3) organization that unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams.
“We’re really thankful that Coach allowed us, our university, our department and team to be a part of something special like this, to partner together and showcase how much people in Kentucky care about basketball,” Spradlin said. “It’s a big part of my sales pitch when I recruit players from all over the country that people here are going to love to watch you play basketball. They are going to really care about you and to use that going forward to give the money to charity, an unbelievable charity such as Team Rubicon is pretty gratifying.”
