Kentucky-Manhattan Postgame Notes

KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
RUPP ARENA AT CENTRAL BANK CENTER | LEXINGTON, KY.
NOVEMBER 3, 2026
ATTENDANCE: 19,304

Final Score: #23 Kentucky 85, Manhattan 47

Team Records and Series Notes

This is the season opener for both teams.
This is the first meeting between the schools in men’s basketball.
Kentucky stays home for Friday’s tilt vs. James Madison. Game time is 7 p.m. and it will be televised on the SEC Network.

Team Notes

Entering its 125^th season of college basketball, Kentucky is 103-21 all-time in season openers (no schedule in 1952-53).
Kentucky has won its last five season openers.
Kentucky is 108-16 in home openers.
Kentucky is 47-4 in the first game of the season played in Rupp Arena.
In limiting Manhattan to 57 points, UK is now 18-0 under Mark Pope when keeping the opponent to 66 points or fewer.
Good shooting night for the Wildcats – 53.3 percent from the field, 38.7 percent from 3-point range, 81.8 percent at the foul line
The 12 made 3-pointers are the most in a season opener since Nov. 12, 2010, when the Wildcats made 13 against East Tennessee State.

Player Notes

Milan Momcilovic led all scorers with 24 points, the fifth-most points by a UK player in his first game.
- He made 6 of 9 on 3-point shots, tying Antonio Reeves for most 3-pointers made in a season opener and most threes made by a player in his UK debut. Reeves made six triples in his first Wildcat appearance on Nov. 7, 2022 vs. Hampton.
Zoom Diallo had 12 points in his first UK game.
Alex Wilkins had 11 points, five assists and seven steals, the most thefts ever in a player’s debut as a Wildcat.
- Seven steals is one shy of the single-game school record of eight:
- Cason Wallace, Michigan State (11/15/2022)
- Ashton Hagans, North Carolina (12/22/2018)
- Rajon Rondo, Mississippi State (2/19/2005)
- Wayne Turner, George Washington (11/24/1997)
Malachi Moreno notched eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Coach Mark Pope

Pope has won nine season openers in a row, including his final season at Utah Valley, all five openers at BYU, and all three at Kentucky.
Pope is the second head coach in Kentucky history to win each of his first three season openers by at least 26 points, also Adolph Rupp.
Pope began his 12^th season as a head coach and now has a 234-134 all-time record, including 47-24 in his third season at Kentucky.

In the First Half

Kentucky started Zoom Diallo, Alex Wilkins, Milan Momcilovich, Ousmane N’Diaye and Malachi Moreno.
Mason Williams was the first substitution at the 14:32 mark.
N’Diaye scored the season’s first basket on a tip-in with 18:40 on the clock.
Manhattan came back to take five-point leads at 9-4 and 12-7.
Trailing 13-9, Kentucky …
- Went on a 13-0 run to make it 22-13
- Lengthened the run to 25-3 for a 34-16 lead
- Made seven straight field goals in one stretch, five of which were 3-pointers
By the 8:18 mark, all nine Wildcats who had played also had scored.
UK’s largest lead of the half was 26 points at 46-20 and the halftime tally of 48-22.

In the Second Half

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