The Kentucky Wildcats returned to Lexington tonight as they welcomed the Loyola Greyhounds to Rupp Arena. In need of a bounce-back game, the Cats trounced the Greyhounds, 88-46.
With a ton of turbulence
surrounding the program over the last two weeks, the Cats needed to show some fight in a game that should have been a cakewalk. They did exactly that in the first 20 minutes, including an awesome shooting performance from 3. Add that in with some connected defense, and it was a 50-20 game heading into the half.
Then they kept the momentum rolling in the second half, absolutely dominating Loyola on both ends of the floor. Flashing the ability to score from all three levels, despite the level of competition, it is good to see the team come together and show some more consistency, especially on offense.
The Cats have some major games on the horizon, as North Carolina and Gonzaga are a little over a week away. After the flops in the first two major non-conference games, Kentucky is going to have to take advantage of the next few matchups to get really locked in to make some noise against the Tar Heels on December 2nd.
If you wanted to see some growth, the Cats did show it tonight. They might have also found something by giving Kam Williams a bigger role. It will be interesting to see how it all shapes up going forward.
However, tonight we will celebrate this win. Go Cats!
Highlights
Game MVP
Two players really stood out tonight, but we have to give this one to Kam Williams.
In his first start for UK, Williams finished with 13 points on 5-9 shooting (1-4 from 3). He also added nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals. He was also Kentucky’s +/- champ at +40.
They have been looking for some more production out of the power forward spot through the first five games, and Williams has flashed during his brief stints. He really shined tonight in an expanded role due to the injury to Mo Dioubate.
Will we see more of Williams going forward? I think we will, especially if he can continue defending at a high level.
Box Score
