Kentucky basketball wins its first exhibition game. But it wasn’t pretty for the Cats.
With their star player sitting on the sidelines, the Kentucky Wildcats were quite slow out of the gate in the team’s exhibition opener Sunday night.
UK trailed at the first TV timeout, scored only 26 points before halftime, looked sloppy out of the break and ultimately finished out a 56-38 victory over Missouri Western State, a Division II team coming off a 14-17 season.
Kentucky shot 40.4 percent from the floor, struggled from three-point range and was outrebounded 36-35 by the Griffons.
There’s clearly plenty for these Cats to work on.
Reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe was unavailable for the game — sitting on the bench in UK warmups — while he continues to recover from a preseason knee procedure that has been deemed “minor” in nature by Coach John Calipari.
UK has not announced a specific timetable for Tshiebwe’s return, but he is not expected to miss much time and has said he plans to be back on the court for next week’s regular-season opener.
The Cats got another injury scare midway through the second half, when starting point guard Sahvir Wheeler fell awkwardly to the court and stayed down on the baseline for a couple of minutes as trainers looked at his right leg. He was eventually helped to the Kentucky bench, putting no weight on his right side, and then headed back to the Wildcats’ locker room. UK announced a few minutes later that he would not return to the game.
There were relatively few highlights for the Cats.
CJ Fredrick got the scoring started for Kentucky — hitting an and-one jumper in the game’s opening minute — and finished with 15 points in his first exhibition game in Rupp Arena with the team. Fredrick transferred to UK from Iowa last summer but missed all of the 2021-22 season with a torn hamstring. He played on a limited minutes count in the team’s four-game trip to the Bahamas but said last week that he’s feeling 100 percent going into this season.
Fredrick — a 46.6-percent three-point shooter in two seasons at Iowa — made four of his six three-point shots Sunday night. The rest of the team combined to go 3-for-16 from long range.
Freshman Ugonna Onyenso — a late addition to the Kentucky roster — was the biggest bright spot of the first half, blocking five shots in just nine minutes of playing time before halftime. Onyenso was brought into the program as a long-term option at the “5” position, but he’s impressed coaches and teammates with his early play in practice.
Kentucky’s starting lineup
With Oscar Tshiebwe sitting out the game due to injury, the starting lineup Sunday consisted of Sahvir Wheeler, CJ Fredrick, Antonio Reeves, Jacob Toppin and Daimion Collins.
Coming into the season, Wheeler and Toppin were expected starters, along with Tshiebwe, when he’s ready to return to the court. It’s been projected that McDonald’s All-American guard Cason Wallace — the team’s highest-projected NBA Draft pick — would also be a starter this season, with the fifth spot undetermined. Reeves, who led the Cats in scoring during their preseason trip to the Bahamas and the MVP of the team’s Blue-White Game last weekend, would also be a logical choice to start for Kentucky.
With the Cats trailing, 6-5, early, John Calipari sent Wallace, Chris Livingston and Lance Ware to the scorer’s table. That trio checked into the game after the first TV timeout.
The team’s other two scholarship players — Ugonna Onyenso and Adou Thiero — entered the game for the first time with 9:13 left in the first half.
Oscar Tshiebwe update
Eight days before Kentucky’s season opener, Oscar Tshiebwe didn’t show off anything basketball-wise in the pregame festivities Sunday night.
Tshiebwe was not out on the Rupp Arena court for the initial wave of team shootaround activities, making his first appearance when the Cats returned to the floor for their last round of warmups. The UK star posed for some photos, grabbed a basketball, and dribbled around on the baseline while his teammates were on the court. He came out of the tunnel with the team for the final layup line, dribbling near midcourt during that time.
Tshiebwe said at UK’s media day Tuesday that he doubted he would play in either of the Cats’ exhibition games, but he expected to be ready for the Cats’ regular-season opener against Howard University on Nov. 7.
What’s next for UK?
The Wildcats will play their second and final exhibition game of the 2022-23 preseason Thursday night in Rupp Arena against the Kentucky State Thorobreds, which finished 9-15 last season and tied for fourth in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference West Division.
KSU’s top three scorers last season will return, led by senior guard Montrell Jacobs, who averaged a team-high 16.9 points per game and hit 59 three-pointers in 2021-22.
UK last played Kentucky State in the 2019-20 preseason, defeating the Thorobreds 83-51.
The game is set for 7 p.m. and will be live on SEC Network Plus.
John Calipari discusses Sahvir Wheeler’s injury, CJ Fredrick’s debut after UK’s exhibition win
Box score from Kentucky basketball’s 56-38 exhibition win over Missouri Western State
John Calipari discusses Sahvir Wheeler’s injury, CJ Fredrick’s debut after UK’s exhibition win
John Calipari opens the door for Kentucky basketball to play in ‘secret scrimmage’
