Robinson Leads Cats Past Minnesota State in Final Exhibition
In Tuesday’s men’s basketball exhibition game against Minnesota State, Kentucky guard Jaxson Robinson missed two of his first three shots from behind the arc. He didn’t miss many after that.
Robinson made 8 of 12 from three-point range on his way to a game-high 24 points as Kentucky cruised past the defending Division II national champions 98-67. UK head coach Mark Pope liked what his team did in Tuesday’s exhibition finale.
“A good night for us, really good night,” Pope said. “It was good for us to have that experience. There were some numbers in the game that we’re really excited about. It’s another chance to grow. Proud of our guys.”
Three other Cats reached double figures. Otega Oweh had 15 points, Andrew Carr had 14 and Brandon Garrison added 12.
Oweh was solid early, making three of his first four shots on his way to scoring UK’s first seven points. UK would lead 14-5 before Minnesota State went on a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to one,18-17. The Cats would answer with a 22-3 run, including 10 straight, to lead 32-20. Threes by Trent Noah, Lamont Butler and three triples by Robinson sparked the run. UK would close the half on a 25-6 run to lead 43-23 at the break. Robinson led all scorers with 15 points in the first half.
Kentucky had a bit of a sluggish start from beyond the arc. The Cats were 2 of 15 to start the half but caught fire late, making six of their last night three-point shots in the first 20 minutes. Pope liked how the Cats adjusted to get better three-point shots as the game went on.
“I wasn’t really thrilled with us in the first half from the three-point line,” Pope said. “We did a much better job as the game went on about earning shots for each other. There’s a huge difference, and it might be an imperceptible difference, when you just isolate shots. How you earn those shots matters. The karma of this game matters, it’s wildly important. I thought we did a much better job as the game went on. It’s a huge part of what we do.”
The Cats opened the second half with an 10-2 run to extend the lead to 53-26 and UK never looked back from there. Kentucky led by as many as 40 (90-50) before settling for the 31-point victory.
Kentucky opens regular season play on Monday, hosting Wright State at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on ESPNU.
