Cats Cruise Without Tshiebwe, Wheeler, Defeat Howard 95-63

No reigning unanimous National Player of the Year and no Preseason All-SEC point guard? No problem for No. 4 Kentucky. 

The Wildcats opened their 2022-23 season with a 95-63 drubbing of the Howard Bison inside Rupp Arena. 

Kentucky has now won 12 of 14 season-openers under John Calipari and remains undefeated in home season-openers. The Wildcats are now 7-0 against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponents all-time. 

"I thought that Kentucky certainly played an outstanding game," Howard coach Kenneth Blakeney said after the game. "They were ready to play from the jump and really executed their gameplan to a tee."

Four players finished with double-digit points in the win, headlined by 22 off the bench from Antonio Reeves. 

The Illinois State transfer shot 8-16, including 6-12 from 3-point range. He was flanked by CJ Fredrick, who cashed in on two treys of his own, totaling 20 points to go along with three assists, three rebounds and a steal. It was the first non-exhibition game of Fredrick's Kentucky career. 

"Antonio was unbelievable," Kentucky coach John Calipari said of the shooting guard. "I mean, I know ego, you want to start, but who cares?" 

"After the game, he sits next to me, I just joked to him like 'man, it'd be fun if we could play like that all year," Fredrick added. "Just making plays for each other, just playing basketball. Everything's random, it's not designed or anything like that, we're just hooping."

As a team, Kentucky shot 11-24 from deep. Five different Cats buried a trey in what was an impressive night on the offensive side for Calipari's group. 

"You know people talk, just shoot threes. It's not that. It's make threes. Make threes," Calipari said after the win.  "And if you can make 'em, because if you're taking 30 and you go 4-30, which can you do, you're losing. And so that's why I'm saying, this team though, got a lot of guys that can make shots."

The Cats were sharp defensively, holding the Bison to 34 percent shooting from the field and forcing 16 turnovers. 

Kobe Dickson led Howard with 17 points, lighting it up from the paint on 8-9 shooting. As a team, the Bison were abysmal from behind the arch, making just seven of 25 attempts. 

While Oscar Tshiebwe was missing on the court, the presence of a powerful big man down low was still there, as Ugonna Onyenso provided a dominant defensive outing. After totaling nine blocks in the Cats' pair of preseason exhibitions, he added four more in 20 minutes on the court Monday night. 

"Ugonna, I mean come on, kid walks in and just starts blocking balls," Calipari said. "So you think, okay, I can get a basket, I can get a basket. Then he walks in and he blocks how many blocks did he have? He had four blocks. That's big. Changes the game."

The scoring came from all over for UK, as it notched 36 points in the paint, 32 points off the bench and 23 fastbreak points. The Cats also won the battle on the boards handily, out-rebounding the Bison 42-37.

“Chemistry was definitely out there," Reeves said post-game. "We all moved the ball pretty well. [We] ran the floor pretty well – rebounded and got a couple of assists through there. So, I think the whole team had a great game today and we just have to move on to the next game.”

Kentucky fought through an ugly first few minutes, eventually finding a stride where it imposed its will consistently on the Bison for the remainder of the game. In what was supposed to be a bit of a slog without key pieces in the lineup, the Cats showed off their depth and defensive prowess in a comfortable opening-night win. 

Up next for the Wildcats is another mid-major matchup in the form of the Duquesne Dukes. The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. EST on Friday, Nov. 11 and will air on the SEC Network.