Kentucky men’s basketball earned an 86-46 win over New Mexico State on Monday.
Despite the Wildcats being up by just eight points going into halftime in Monday night’s season opener, they were able to flex their muscles in the second half for the lopsided win.
With that in mind, three takeaways from the win stuck out more than others.
ROB DILLINGHAM MAY BE THE BEST SIXTH MAN IN THE NATION
How many teams in the nation can bring a five-star recruit off the bench? Not a lot.
Well, Kentucky is one of those teams that can as Dillingham showed on Monday night when he solidified himself as a game-changer and showed why it is so important to have him on the court.
Dillingham would go on to lead the Wildcats in points with 17, going 6-11 from the field, and kept the rock safe, not committing a turnover in his 19 minutes of play.
The North Carolina native also shared the ball well as he had three assists. He defensively also made an impact as he had two steals in his collegiate debut.
Now, Dillingham won’t start every game, but that’s because he doesn’t need to.
Simply put, this is a guard-heavy team as D.J. Wagner and Antonio Reeves continue to grow their starting backcourt relationship.
Luckily for John Calipari, he has a good problem in that he has too much talent that can’t always be on the court and Dillingham provides the perfect offensive spark off the bench, which is something Cal might have been planning this whole time.
It isn’t very common to see a player with the potential to be a team’s best scorer come off the bench, but for Kentucky in 2023-2024 that might very well be the case in many of its games.
REED SHEPPARD IS NOT JUST A BACKUP POINT GUARD
Simply put, the London, Kentucky, native has met and exceeded all expectations set for him coming into the season in the team’s exhibition games against Georgetown College and Kentucky State, as well as the season opener on Monday night.
In his 21 minutes against New Mexico State, Sheppard scored 12 points, hitting four of six from the field, dishing out two assists in the process.
Defensively, however, the 6-foot, 3-inch freshman showed he can really play on both ends. Sheppard had as many steals as the entire New Mexico State team with two while also grabbing five defensive boards.
With both Dillingham and Sheppard finding success there might be questions about how Calipari can have both on the floor more often or maybe the plan going forward is exactly what the hall of fame coach has been doing thus far.
THIS IS AN UNSELFISH TEAM
It is always a good thing when five guys have double-digit scoring nights. Well, Kentucky did just that on Monday night.
Dillingham led all Cats with 17, Wagner had 13, Justin Edwards and Sheppard both had 12 and Reeves had 11.
With four freshmen having more than 10 points, there were other guys who nearly joined them as Tre Mitchell scored nine points while leading the team with five assists. Jordan Burks also shined in his debut as he scored seven and, if it wasn’t for Adou Thiero taking himself out of the game with what Calipari described as a “headache,” the latter could have very well joined the rest of the guys in double-digits.
So, what does this all mean? It means Kentucky is sharing the ball, which was a concern during the offseason.
The talk prior to the start of the year about Kentucky regarded how the team can get the most out of a very talented group that has so many usable guys.
Kentucky had 17 assists on 32 made buckets against New Mexico State, highlighting the Cats’ ability to spread the love offensively.
Just like fans saw in Canada, being able to have everyone involved might be what makes this Kentucky team special.
That’s not to say things are perfect, though. Each still has aspects that need to improve individually which they most likely be able to do, but lest anyone forget, Kentucky’s big men, who still are out, provide a lot more to be excited about.
The pieces are there for Coach Cal and reinforcements are on the way. The ceiling for this Kentucky team is no doubt its first deep run in March in a few years and is as sky-high as anyone. It will just be about actually getting there from here.
