Mark Pope raved about Malachi Moreno, Jasper Johnson for stepping up against Purdue

Kentucky got the unique opportunity of welcoming the #1 team into Rupp Arena on Friday night, as they faced off against the Purdue Boilermakers. The Wildcats were faced with circumstances though, as they were without point guard Jaland Lowe and star big man Jayden Quaintance, but they won, and in convincing fashion. Kentucky played incredible defense all game, shutting down arguably the best offense in college basketball.

They certainly made a statement on Friday, but the stars of the game weren't who you might think, as in-state freshmen Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno looked to have the best performances of anyone else on Kentucky's squad. Many assumed Otega Oweh would have to have a very good game to win, and even though he still had 10 points in 17 minutes on the floor, it was the two freshmen who took the game into their own hands. Johnson finished with a team-high 15 points on 6-10 shooting overall and 3-7 from three, while Malachi Moreno had 8 points on 4-5 shooting, 4 rebounds and an assist.

Moreno looked very comfortable, running the floor well, and he even had a few highlight dunks. Pope raved about him early in his postgame press conference. He has seen a lot of progress from Moreno, and it's looking like it's already paying off.

"I'm really proud of him and I got to know his family really well. His mom is incredible and his brother Michael, oriented his whole life to take care of his brother and Malachi himself has just made great changes," Pope said. "I talked about this this summer when I was at USA and saw him compete, I was blown away also, because he was kind of a one position guy and was not rebounding out of his position and was not rim protecting out of his position. He's just made incredible progress and that's a real tribute to his family and himself and he's got a chance to grow into a really special player. He's got a lot of work to do and got so much growth ahead of him but he's got a chance to have massive impact on this game."

As for Johnson, Pope has noticed he has really been letting the game come to him, and adapting his game to the team's system. His play as of late was certainly on display, as it helped lead to a team-high 15 points on the night.

"I'm really proud of Jasper because he is trying so hard to learn what we do. He's got a very unique game, he's got a very unique skill set, and he has committed himself to trying to do what we do and then letting that part of him that he brings to the game come out through it rather than just going to what he does. And that's why he's growing so much so fast. He's clearly a really talented player. He's got a huge future. He's going to play well because he's trying to do this the way we do it. It's going to make him look good and certainly did tonight."

The performances from those two were a few of the biggest surprises from the night, but it's also super encouraging for Kentucky knowing that a pair of freshmen are able to contribute the way they did against the best team in the country. Kentucky controlled the Boilermakers all game, and Moreno and Johnson had a massive part in that. The two were also included in Kentucky Wildcats on SI's biggest stockrisers from the win, which you can find here.