Otega Oweh had 21 points and three steals in Friday's win. (Les Nicholson Photo)
It was a fun night for Kentucky.
The ninth-ranked Wildcats reached the century mark for the third time this season and set a season-high in scoring in a 108-59 rout of outmanned Jackson State on Friday night in the fourth installment of the Unity Series.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. “They did a ton of good things and it was fun. We got to see everything. We got to see a ton of (plays in) transition, a ton of shots, and all kinds of fireworks from all of our guys. … it was a magical evening.”
The Wildcats (5-0) connected on at least 10 treys for a school-record fifth consecutive time to open the season, had 29 assists on 42 field goals and 11 of 12 players who played scored in the lopsided contest.
Pope was mostly impressed with his team’s unselfishness, a trait that has been consistent so far this season.
“I thought our guys did an unbelievable job making plays for each other,” he said. “You know, 29 assists is a good number for us and I will take that any night.”
While the scoring was plentiful, sparked by a season-high 17 3-pointers, four players finished with five or more assists, including Kerr Kriisa, who led the team with seven, despite not entering the scoring column.
“That’s exactly how a Kentucky basketball team is supposed to function,” Pope said. “We had one guy (Kriisa) that did score and he led us with seven and every other guy on the court scored and shared the ball.
“We had four guys with five or more assists in the game and those are really important markers for how we want to represent this state and how we want to play this game and what we believe wins (the game).”
Koby Brea came off the bench and led five players in double figures with a season-high 22 points. Brea made a team-high five 3-pointers for the Wildcats. Brea not only made 3-pointers, but was aggressive in driving to the basket. Paced by Brea, Kentucky got 52 points from its reserves.
“He could get up at any minute because, obviously, we know he’s a knockdown shooter,” Otega Oweh said of Brea. “It was just great seeing him go out there knowing that he’s going to stay aggressive and keep on going.”
It was Oweh who set the tone early for the Wildcats and finished with 21 points after scoring a team-high 13 in the first half. Oweh added three steals, while Jaxson Robinson made four shots from long range and followed Oweh with 14 points. Lamont Butler had 11 points and Ansley Almonor added 10.
Kentucky Mr, Basketball Travis Perry even got in on the scoring and connected on his first career 3-pointer. Perry finished with five points, while classmate Trent Noah swished a 3-pointer for his first career trey in the final three minutes.
“They’re really, really special and they’re having a massive impact on this team,” Pope said of Perry and Noah. “Their futures are incredibly great and I think it’s hard to sit for 35 minutes and come play. I think they’re taking it really seriously and I thought they came to play tonight and they were awesome.”
One Response
More passing, more assists, more 3 point shots and makes and better defense. This is Pope ball! Go CATS!!!