Jaxson Robinson hit eight 3-pointers Tuesday. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Okay I know it was only an exhibition game and Kentucky “only” won by 31 points this time, not 71 like in the first exhibition, and hit “only” 13 3-pointers in the 98-67 victory over Minnesota State Tuesday night.
However, it’s still clear how much fun this season might be. Maybe it is not exactly like Pitino’s Bombinos from just over 30 years ago but it might be close as UK has put up 78 3-pointers in two exhibition blowout wins.
Minnesota State, the defending NCAA Division II national champion, was hanging around in the first half when the UK 3-pointers were not falling … and then it happened.
Kentucky had a 10-0 run in 2 minutes, 17 seconds when Lamont Butler, Trent Noah and Jaxson Robinson hit 3-pointers and just like that the lead was all. Kentucky eventually had an 18-0 run and what was a close game turned into a 43-23 halftime lead. The Cats never looked back.
The Cats made six of their final eight 3-pointers in the first half after missing 13 of the first 15.
“I wasn’t really thrilled with us in the first half from the 3-point line,” Kentucky coach Mark 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 13-for-37 shooting from 3-point range — a 35 percent mark — got a huge boost because Robinson went 8-for-12 from 3. The rest of the game was only 5-for-25 but Robinson is showing he potentially could carry the team and is even a better shooter than most expected. He’s also just as comfortable playing in coach Mark Pope’s system for a third year as most hoped he would be when he also transferred to UK.
Robinson led Kentucky with 24 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in 24 minutes.
“They’re all shots that I take in practice. I work on them every day. My teammates got confidence in me, my coaches, so just shooting the shots I normally will take,” Robinson said. “I can’t credit my teammates enough. They got me open and found shots for me, so it was just good to go out there and hit some open shots.”
Otega Oweh carried the offense early and finished with 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting, six assists, three rebounds and three steals in 20 minutes.
Andrew Carr got in early foul trouble but still managed to score 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting and also had three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Brandon Garrison came off the bench after Amari Williams hurt his knee early and had 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting, four rebounds, one block and one steal in 19 minutes.
“Always staying ready. Coach preaches that to us, ‘next guy up,’ if a man goes down you got to be there for your teammates,” Garrison said.
Pope liked what he saw overall from his team.
“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.”
Minnesota State coach Matt Margenthaler likes the way Kentucky plays.
“We’re going against a really really good, old Kentucky basketball team, and I love the way Mark makes his guys play and that’s the way we want to play,” the Minnesota State coach said. “I just told the guys in the locker room, they’re really shooting the ball, they have shooters– that’s how we recruit.
“We were watching Kentucky; we have a lot of the same things that Kentucky does – we don’t have the same players though. But, they did a really good job.”
11 Responses
I’m so glad Cal left and we hired Pope. I was so angry about the hiring of Pope when the news first dropped but he won me over like he does on the recruiting trail. He’s just a honest and humble person. You won’t find one person who doesnt like Mark Pope. I spoke with D.A. and he said Mark Pope hasn’t changed one bit since college. He was a goofy and I mean that in a good and funny way. He finds ways to make every situation fun but you also work hard and the reward is winning. I think he wins a championship in the next 3 years. We could win it this year, but I’m saying I think he 100% wins a championship in 3-4 years. I do have to say this…… I was wrong about Noah. He’s actually better than I thought he would be. Maybe Perry is the odd man out. When I say these things I’m not bashing these kids I love watching them play ball. I say how I feel and sometimes it comes off as a bit much. But I was wrong about Noah. I still think Noah and Perry play the least minutes. I was right about Chandler being the best freshman. So I will toot my own horn with that one because I really had no clue how he would respond without playing competitive basketball in 2 years. He’s electric he really is. I absolutely love watching this team play. Remember when everyone said Brea would start over Oweh and he’s better than Oweh and i said no way in helping Brea who played for a small school and only averaged 10.9 ppg would not start over Oweh who played in the big 12 which last year was the best conference in basketball and as a sophomore Oweh averaged 11.8 ppg. Oweh is night and day better than Brea. He has better defense and better all around offense than Brea. All Brea can do is shoot the basketball. That’s why he didn’t start for Dayton or Davidson or whatever small school he played for. No defense.
Mark Pope actually makes sense when he speaks I love it.
Yes he does Terry
Garrison is going to get better and better as the year goes on. Any information on Williams?
Williams is all good. X-rays came back negative and he was able to walk, jog without a brace.. As for the team I do like the offense better than I thought I would I was really doubting the guard play especially when it came down to attacking the rim and I still think this is going to hurt us down the road in big games when they have to get a basket and they are not hitting 3’s or they are being covered up and can’t get open who is going to attack the rim and get that basket.. I think they will get better and will win most of their games but I don’t think they will be able to beat the really good teams just don’t think we have the talent level to match some of the higher caliber teams hopefully I am wrong.
Butler and Oweh can get to the rim anytime they want to.
Have surprised me so far with how they can do that. Oweh looking great
Oweh has incredible defense and he has the body of a tight end. He’s going to get a ton of and 1s this year.
I think we have the players that can play any style we need to based on what the defense is giving up. I think our Achilles heel may be rebounding; offensively and defensively.
I agree about rebounding being the problem especially offensive rebounds. They should get better as the year goes on and Williams gets to play as well. We were playing small ball. That was one of the reasons we weren’t rebounding very good.
Pope has assembled a coaching staff and team that is built to win a national championship. All the kids need to do is believe in themselves and not be afraid of failure. This team defends and that will always be constant as will the rebounding. This alone will keep us in games when our shots don’t fall. The ONLY reason a shooter misses an open shot is because he thinks he is going to miss. One or two guys can have an off night every now and then, but that will never happen with all 12 of them on the same night! If this team takes 40 threes a game they will make 15 or more every time…they are that good! Now all they have to do is stop listening to the talking heads and listen to Pope!