UK basketball game today score: Mark Pope, Kentucky Wildcats win big
LEXINGTON — There’s a belief surrounding Kentucky basketball in 2024-25 that it will live and die by the 3. Shoot them early. Shoot them late. Shoot them when they’re open. Shoot them when they’re guarded.
The UK coaching staff is as guilty as anyone — particularly assistant (and offensive coordinator) Cody Fueger — of furthering that line of thinking, regularly voicing its goal of attempting at least 35 triples per game this season.
But in its exhibition finale Tuesday against Minnesota State Mankato, Kentucky showed it can do far more offensively than merely fire away from long range.
The Wildcats knocked down shots from near and far against the Mavericks, easing to a 98-67 victory at Rupp Arena.
"A good night for us, a really good night," Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. "So much of what we needed tonight. So I was really happy with it."
UK was 13 of 37 beyond the 3-point arc Tuesday, totaling 39 points. But the Wildcats actually scored more points in the paint (46).
Any way a team can play offensively, Kentucky displayed it in the 31-point win.
The Wildcats had 39 points from their reserves. They scored 18 off the Mavericks’ 17 turnovers. UK tallied 35 fast-break points.
The best measure of the hosts’ excellence offensively: UK scored on 58.1% (43 for 74) of its possessions — an average of 1.324 points per possession.
"I love the way Mark has his guys playing. That's the way we want to play," Mavericks coach Matt Margenthaler said. "I just told our guys in locker room, 'They are ready to shoot the ball all the time.' They've got the shooters. That's how we recruit. When we were watching Kentucky, we run a lot of the same things that Kentucky does.
"... We don't have the same players, though," Margenthaler added with a laugh. "But they really do a good job."
Senior guard Jaxson Robinson led the way for the Wildcats, pouring in a game-high 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting (61.5%). All eight of Robinson’s field goal makes were 3-pointers, going 8 for 12 from deep.
"I can't credit my teammates enough," Robinson said. "They got me open and found shots for me, so it was just good to go out there and hit some open shots."
Fellow guard Otega Oweh was next in line with 15 points, missing just one of his eight shots from the field. UK had two other players finish with in double figures: forwards Andrew Carr and Brandon Garrison had 14 and 12 points, respectively.
As effective as the Wildcats were offensively, however, Pope still found room for improvement. Kentucky missed 11 of its first 13 attempts from 3.
"We did a much better job as the game went on about earning shots for each other," said Pope, whose team ended the game sinking 11 of its final 24 shots from downtown. "There's a huge difference — and it might be an imperceptible difference when you just isolate shots, but how you earn those shots matters."
Pope also wasn't pleased the Wildcats pulled down only six offensive rebounds.
"That's not us at all," he said. "We miss 24 3s, and we only came up with six offensive rebounds? That's just not how we play."
Still, few aspects of the contest will stick with Pope more than how his team shared the ball. He checked off a list of his players — and how they limited mistakes while also creating opportunities for others.
"There wasn't a real rhythm in this game, so there's a lot of weirdness," Pope said. "And for us to be 28 (assists) and eight (turnovers) — in this game, under 10 turnovers is super exciting to me. And nearing 30 assists is really important for us.
"So I'm really ecstatic about those numbers."
Amari Williams started at center for UK and played the first 3 ½ minutes of Tuesday's exhibition before exiting with a leg injury. He did not reenter the contest.
"I think he's doing fine," Pope said of the 7-foot transfer from Drexel. "I think X-rays came back solid, but there will be more. We'll get some more imaging (Wednesday), but we're hopeful that he'll be back soon."
Kriisa sat out the Blue-White preseason event. And also was an observer for last week's exhibition.
But at the 15:26 mark of Tuesday's first half, the fifth-year senior guard from Estonia finally made his first appearance for the Wildcats. He went on to play 16 minutes, scoring three points (making one of his four 3-point attempts) to go along with his aforementioned six assists. Kriisa also grabbed four rebounds.
Beyond any individual statistics, Pope said simply getting Kriisa on the floor and "under the lights" was Tuesday's primary consequence.
"He's such an infusion of energy, right?" Pope said, "which is such a beautiful thing. ... Man, he's going to be really fun, and he's really dangerous.
"As we feel that space more, it's gonna be fun."
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.