That, my friends, was pretty darn fun. Kentucky took the court in front of a raucous Rupp Arena crowd- mind you, this was just an October Exhibition game- and took the No. 1 team, the Purdue Boilermakers, behind the woodshed. Expectations have been sky-high for this Kentucky team all Summer and entering the Fall, and Friday night’s performance confirmed this team can absolutely win a national championship.
Let’s look at Friday night’s stars of the game in Kentucky’s 78-65 win over Purdue.
4 stars of the game in Kentucky vs. Purdue
1. Jasper Johnson
A five-star,
homegrown prospect, Johnson shined in his Kentucky debut. Playing against the No. 1 team, Johnson led the Wildcats in scoring with 15 points. He made three of his seven three-point attempts, going six of 10 overall from the field and dishing out a team-tying high in three assists.
“I’m really proud of Jasper because he is trying so hard to learn what we do,” Kentucky head coach Mark Pope said. “He has committed himself to trying to do what we do and then letting that part of him that he brings to the game come out through it rather than just going to what he does. And that’s why he’s growing so much so fast.
“You know, he’s clearly a really talented player. He’s got a huge future. He’s going to play well because he’s trying to do this the way we do it. It’s going to make him look good and certainly did tonight.”
Johnson played 19 minutes Friday night and added a steal and a rebound to his stat line.
2. Malachi Moreno
On his 19th Birthday, Moreno showed what makes him such a promising prospect.
With Reece Potter out due to an illness, Moreno saw an expanded role off the bench and more than held his own. Moreno scored eight points on 4-5 shooting, and he added four rebounds in his 22 minutes.
“I just came into college ready to work,” Moreno said. “College is a lot different than high school and—I think since then—it has only been trying to prove myself and just trying to get better every single day. So, I think that has been the main focal point for me, and I think that has really helped me so far.”
Moreno certainly looks the part on this Kentucky team.
3. Collin Chandler
Despite scoring just two points Friday night, Pope said he would give Chandler the team’s MVP award from the game.
“He was unbelievable,” Pope said. “He played 15 minutes, he was a +15. He was +1 per minute, that’s a ridiculous ratio for anything over six or seven minutes of play. He had a ridiculously spectacular dunk.
“I have so much confidence in him to make the right decision on offense and so much confidence in him to be incredibly defensively sound with great energy and you have guys like that, it makes you feel good as a coach because good things are going to happen when he’s on the floor.”
Chandler had five rebounds and tied for the team lead with three assists while playing solid defense, an area he needed to improve on this offseason.
4. Trent Noah
Noah was second on the team with 23 minutes played Friday night. Expectations are high for Noah going into his second season, and Friday night was his first time starting in any capacity at Kentucky.
“It’s every little boy’s dream in Kentucky growing up,” Noah said. “It really was super surreal. But there is nothing like [Big Blue Nation] either. You come in in October and play in front of a sold-out crowd with Rupp Arena jumping—it is incredible. There is nothing like the fans that we have here. It is a real honor to be able to play for the state of Kentucky.”
Noah had 10 points on 3-6 shooting, including 2-4 from three-point range. He also had two rebounds and an assist Friday night.
