Led by Milan Momcilovic’s six 3-pointers and 24 points, Kentucky Basketball led by as many as 39 points and cruised to an 85-57 win in their season-opener against the Manhattan Jaspers.
Kentucky had three players in double figures and nine players scored in the game. Despite not scoring in the final 3:48 of the game and missing their last six shots, it was still a wildly successful night for the Cats offensively.
It was also a great night for the Cats on defense, making life tough for Manhattan on offense
all night. The Cats swarmed the basket and ball-handlers on seemingly every possession.
Highlights
Observations
- 23-3 run by the Cats in the first half completely put the game out of reach
- Ousmane N’Diaye with an emphatic alley-oop dunk on an assist from Wilkins at the end of the first half.
- Milan Momcilovic showed what’s to come this season with six 3-pointers and 24 points overall.
- Alex Wilkins banged in three triples and tied Mason Williams for a team-high five assists
- Malachi Moreno finished with eight points and 10 rebounds
- Braydon Hawthorne showed potential with two blocks and four assists to go with eight points
MVP: Milan Momcilovic
This is why the Cats paid $6 million to land the best shooter in the country in Lexington. Momcilovic’s performance speaks volumes to that. Momcilovic finished with a game-high 24 points on 6-9 3-pointers and 8-12 overall from the field. He also pulled down five rebounds, including two offensive boards, in 28 minutes.
Box Score
First Half
There definitely looked like some first-game jitters in the first segment of the game. Kentucky turned the ball over three times in the first 5:28 of the game and picked up three fouls, including Zoom Diallo picking up a foul on the opening tip-off. But once they settled in, they were able to pull within 9-7 at the first media timeout. Ousmane N’Diaye scored the first bucket of the game for the Cats, and Zoom Diallo made the first 3-pointer of the season.
After Kentucky fell behind 13-9, they started to click on both ends of the floor. Alex Wilkins, Justin McBride, and Mason Williams drained 3-pointers in succession, and the Cats’ defense clamped down to hold the Jaspers to five straight missed shots. The Wildcats took an 18-13 lead with 10:23 left in the first half.
The Cats really got hot from the field, hitting seven straight shots from the field as Kentucky built a 41-19 lead with 2:30 left in the first half. Kentucky went on a run as big as 13-0 and a total run of 23-3, raining in eight 3-pointers on 18 attempts and shooting 17-31 overall from the field to build a 48-22 halftime lead.
Milan Momcilovic hit 3-5 3-pointers, and Wilkins made 2-4 from deep. Kentucky had 10 assists on 17 made field goals, and they only had five turnovers. On the final play before halftime, Alex Wilkins stole the ball and raced to the other end of the floor. He then lobbed a pass that Ousmane N’Diaye emphatically dunked in for the final points of the half. Kentucky had 10 assists in the first half, two each from Diallo, Wilkins, Malachi Moreno, Braydon Hawthorne, and Williams.
The Cats out-rebounded Manhattan 21-14 in the first half, with Moreno pulling down seven boards that included five offensive rebounds. The Wildcats’ defense held the Jaspers to 8-28 shooting and 2-12 from 3-point range. It didn’t help that the Jaspers were just 4-9 from the free-throw line and had seven turnovers to just two assists.
Second Half
Zoom Diallo got the crowd energized to start the second half with multiple drives to the basket for scores. It got the crowd into multiple “ZOOOOOOOOOOM!” chants. Diallo scored six quick points to double his total on the night to 12. Momcilovic also banged in his fourth 3-pointer as part of five quick points to get his total to 16 points.
The Cats pounded Manhattan on the glass on both ends of the floor. Even if it’s just Manhattan, the Cats showed their capabilities on the glass Tuesday night. This team has several really good rebounders, and a great rebounder in Moreno.
Franck Kepnang got in on the action towards the under-eight media timeout, scoring back-to-back buckets including an emphatic dunk that stretched the Cats’ lead to 75-39 with 7:23 left in the game. Hawthorne joined in on the dunk fest, putting back a missed Justin McBride 3 with a tomahawk dunk.
Momcilovic hit his fifth 3-pointer with 5:34 remaining to cross the 20-point mark at 21 points. For good measure, he made a sixth 3-pointer to finish with a team-high and game-high 24 points.
Kentucky finished the night shooting 53.3 percent from the floor and 12-31 from 3-point range. They had 20 assists on 32 made shots, and the Cats outrebounded Manhattan 40-26, including 14-12 on the offensive glass and 26-14 on the defensive glass.
The Cats also held Manhattan to just 35.2 percent shooting overall and 7-26 from 3-point range. Manhattan only shot 12-23 from the free-throw line, and they had 13 turnovers to just seven assists.
Kentucky vs. Manhattan Twitter Reactions
Here are the best reactions from Big Blue Nation during Tuesday night’s season opener. It was a great night for Big Blue Nation on Twitter, with fans also reacting to Kentucky being ranked No. 6 in the first College Football Playoff rankings this season.
