The Kentucky Wildcat that has rivals in ‘panic mode’ is as even-keeled as they come

Just moments after dropping a career-high 37 points on Arkansas in Kentucky’s regular-season finale last weekend, Antonio Reeves came face to face with star teammate Oscar Tshiebwe.

Surely college basketball’s reigning national player of the year was there to offer some congratulatory words.

“I told Tone, I said, ‘Man, you suck,’” Tshiebwe recalled a few days later.

“What do you mean?” a perplexed Reeves asked.

“You cannot get 40 against Arkansas?” Tshiebwe replied.

Reeves just rolled with the playful ribbing from his fellow senior.

Once the team got to the locker room after that 88-79 upset victory over the Razorbacks, their coach announced that senior guard CJ Fredrick had earned the “most impactful player” award that has gone to one Wildcat after each victory this season. John Calipari’s postgame declaration to reporters that Fredrick had been the recipient was met with quizzical looks.

Fredrick had played through a painful rib injury and dished out a team-high four assists on an afternoon that Kentucky was without a point guard, sure, but Reeves had scored 37 points.

Reeves took that one in stride, too.

“It’s not all about scoring,” he said Wednesday. “You have to actually do other things on the floor than score to get that impactful award. So I’m not really concerned about it. I’m not tripping about anything like that. CJ did his part out there. You know, he had some (injury) issues off the floor, and for him to be able to play — it’s a good thing for us. So I’m glad he got that impactful award.”

To those on the outside, that probably sounds like a veteran player taking a diplomatic approach. To anyone who has spent any time around Reeves this season, it’s nothing new.

After playing three years at Illinois State — all three of those seasons ending with losing records — Reeves transferred to Kentucky last summer, and it’s safe to say no one involved knew quite what to expect.

Reeves had blossomed into an elite scorer with the Redbirds, and he wanted to test his skill against a higher level of competition. But there was no guarantee it would translate from the mid-major to high-major level. He knew he would have to take a step back in his offensive role — Reeves averaged 15.3 shots per game last season — in order to blend into a more talented Kentucky team, but exactly what his role would be, no one knew right off the bat.

As Reeves discovered his way and his game over the course of the season, those around him found an honest, go-along-to-get-along 22-year-old who simply wanted to better himself as a basketball player.

In Kentucky’s first game of the season, Reeves scored a team-high 22 points and the Cats beat Howard 95-63. But he didn’t make the starting lineup. Did it matter?

“Nah, I don’t care,” he said that night. “I don’t care too much about that stuff. I just don’t let that affect me. And hopefully I can guide the freshmen like that, too, if they don’t know — you just gotta keep hoopin’ and keep your head down.”

At the time, those new to Reeves had to assume that this was a bit of a put-on. What basketball player doesn’t want to start? Especially at Kentucky?

Over time, it became quite clear that the UK newcomer genuinely meant these things he was saying. Fast forward four months, and Calipari was given the news that — with two games left in the regular season — Reeves could start only one of them to remain eligible for the Southeastern Conference’s Sixth Man of the Year award. Calipari went to Reeves with that information and asked what he wanted to do. Reeves told him he’d be fine coming off the bench the next game, even though it was Senior Night and quite possibly his final appearance in Rupp Arena.

Calipari circled back to double-check the next day.

Reeves’ response: “I’m good, Coach.”

So Calipari started freshman Cason Wallace alongside four other seniors.

When the SEC awards were announced this week, Reeves had indeed won the sixth man award — sharing it with Alabama’s Jahvon Quinerly — and he said Wednesday that it was “a blessing” to get it. But his always-even tone suggested that if he hadn’t received the award, that would have been OK, too.

What the honor did indicate was yet another sign of something that he already knew. Coming to Kentucky was the right decision.

“I made a good choice,” he said. “I made a good move. I’m so happy to be here. This is a great opportunity for me.”

‘That boy is good’

The adjustment that comes with moving from a place like Illinois State to Kentucky is a big one, and Reeves is the latest in a line of “transfer era” players — like Kellan Grady and Nate Sestina — who have made the jump from mid-major to UK and needed some time to figure things out.

Reeves — a 6-foot-5 guard from Chicago — actually started off quite strong, with big-scoring games against lesser opponents before hitting a wall in UK’s loss to UCLA (2-for-13 shooting) and tallying a total of just 10 points over the Cats’ first two SEC games.

But since scoring only two points against LSU on Jan. 3, he’s failed to hit double figures just twice in 17 games — once when Calipari yanked him for getting beat on backdoor cuts in a win over Florida, the other time when he scored eight points (and went an uncharacteristic 1-for-4 on free throws) in a win over Tennessee.

Reeves chalks up his early winter slump — and the hot streak that has followed — to the time it takes to fully find a role on a new team at a new level of basketball, and then building the confidence to perform once the path becomes clear.

“I think later on in the season it was just more so playing my game with off-the-dribble pull-ups and trying to get to the rim and things like that,” he said. “At the beginning of the season, I was still trying to find my role in the team. I wasn’t as confident as I am now.”

Tshiebwe delightedly held court Wednesday when talking about Reeves’ progress this season.

“That boy is good,” he said. “It’s very tough to stop him right now.”

On opponents trying to defend the two of them in ball-screen situations, he was direct: “They can’t guard it,” Tshiebwe said.

On that floater that Reeves has called his favorite shot: “You cannot defend that,” Tshiebwe said.

On Reeves’ ability to score in different ways: “Some people who are gifted just shoot it, shoot it, shoot it,” Tshiebwe said. “He can handle the ball. He can dribble. He can come off the screen and shoot it. Attack the rim. Floater. He reminds me of TyTy (Washington) last year, a little bit. But TyTy had no three-pointer like him. … He got a three-pointer.”

Reeves is UK’s second-leading scorer behind Tshiebwe at 14.2 points per game and (by far) the Cats’ most-reliable three-point shooter, hitting at 41.0 percent and making a total of 71 threes. (Wallace is next best on the team with 42 threes.) Washington shot 35.0 percent and made about half as many as Reeves last season. And while Grady was just as good as Reeves from deep, he didn’t have as many other offensive moves as the current Cat possesses.

“He’s helping us a lot,” Tshiebwe said. “His offense, it’s shaking many people. Many teams right now — they’re in panic mode because of how he’s playing.”

Kentucky’s biggest star said Reeves’ work ethic is at least partly responsible for his play. Walk into the gym two hours after a practice ends, Tshiebwe says, and you’re likely to see Reeves putting up shots.

That even-keeled approach also surely plays a part.

After a win, Reeves is clearly happy, but he’s never too amped up. After a loss, there’s disappointment but not despair. Even Saturday afternoon in Fayetteville, his teammate, Jacob Toppin, seemed more pleased with Reeves’ 37-point outburst than the top scorer himself.

“It’s a mentality I’ve always had,” Reeves said. “I make sure I don’t get too energized for the game, because that could be a bad thing. Or too low, because that could be a bad thing, as well. I make sure I try to stay in the middle, as much as possible. And try to give that energy off to my teammates. …

“I’ve always been a humble guy. Like, I don’t try to, ‘Oh yeah, 37 points! That’s a career high!’ I’m not that type of dude. I just stay level-headed. There’s plenty of other games we need to play throughout the season, so I just make sure I take it one game at a time. And stay focused.”

That’s a good mentality to have going into the NCAA Tournament, when every play often matters and highs and lows are usually in large supply on any given night.

For Reeves, year four in college will mean year one in March Madness. His Illinois State teams never sniffed the NCAA Tournament, winning a total of just one league tourney game over three losing seasons in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Whatever happens at the SEC Tournament this week in Nashville, he’ll finally get to experience the big one next week.

“Man, it’s a dream come true. I always wanted to play in that tournament. I never thought I would’ve played in the tournament two or three years ago. But just having the opportunity to do that — it’s a blessing. … I’m truly beyond honored and blessed to have that opportunity.”

Friday

Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt

What: SEC Tournament quarterfinals

When: About 9:30 p.m.

Where: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville

TV: SEC Network

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: Kentucky 21-10 (12-6 SEC), Vanderbilt 19-13 (11-7)

Series: Kentucky leads 155-48

Last meeting: Vanderbilt won 68-66 on March 1, 2023, in Lexington

SEC Tournament

At Bridgestone Arena in Nashville

(All times Eastern)

Wednesday

No. 13 seed Ole Miss 67, No. 12 South Carolina 61

No. 14 LSU 72, No. 11 Georgia 67

Thursday

No. 9 Mississippi State 69, No. 8 Florida 68

No. 5 Tennessee 70, No. 13 Ole Miss 55

No. 10 Arkansas 76, No. 7 Auburn 73

No. 6 Vanderbilt 77, No. 14 LSU 68

Friday

No. 1 Alabama 72, No. 9 Mississippi State 49

No. 4 Missouri 75, No. 5 Tennessee 71

7 p.m.: No. 2 Texas A&M vs. No. 10 Arkansas (SEC Network)

About 9:30 p.m.: No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 6 Vanderbilt (SEC Network)

Saturday

1 p.m.: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Missouri (ESPN)

About 3:30 p.m.: Texas A&M-Arkansas winner vs. Kentucky-Vanderbilt winner (ESPN)

Sunday

1 p.m.: Championship game (ESPN)

Antonio Reeves was given a challenge. He responded with a smirk. (And 37 points.)

Will tournament time produce a breakout star for Kentucky? ‘I’m just going to be ready.’

Kentucky’s path to SEC title, latest odds, and more to know before the tournament begins

Kentucky hasn’t been to an SEC title game in five years. Is now the time to end that skid?

Oscar Tshiebwe at the center of chippy UK-Arkansas game. ‘They tried to punk us.’