LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- John Calipari dressed in a track suit, not a suit designed by Armani.
Bench players spaced at least six feet apart on the sidelines.
Cardboard cutouts occupied the seats Kentucky fans have filled enthusiastically for decades -- without anybody sitting within 20 feet of the court.
Masks on. Concessions stands closed.
Those were a few of the different sights in Rupp Arena for the delayed start of the Wildcats 2020-21 basketball season.
But one sight remained familiar -- the scoreboard. Did somebody say something about a panic button?
For the 12th consecutive season Calipari has another string of precocious and productive freshmen, talented players. Kentucky, ranked No. 10, dispatched Morehead State, 81-45, Wednesday evening in Lexington.
Calipari coached like a guy determined to show that he has more than the usual 8-man rotation that he can rely on -- and that was without Keion Brooks, who missed the game with a reported calf injury.
Calipari started four freshmen -- guard Devin Askew; wings B.J. Boston and Terence Clarke and forward Isaiah Jackson -- as well as Olivier Sarr, the center who transferred after playing three seasons for Wake Forest.
Jackson started strongest, making three quick baskets. Credit him with 9 points, 4 rebounds and a pair of blocks.
Clarke looked like the guy who believes he can create a path through the lane and get to the rim whenever necessary. He finished with a dozen as well as four assists and three steals.
Boston took 14 shots and made half of them. He led Kentucky with 15 points, even though he finished 0-for-4 from distance.
Askew doesn't have the burst that Calipari's best point guards at Kentucky have showed but played with poise and made a pair of three-point shots. Boston had 12 with four assists, although he also made four of the UK's 15 turnovers.
Sarr did not force the issue and contributed a quiet eight points and three rebounds.
The guy who played like he believes that he will contribute was Davion Mintz, the transfer from Creighton. Credit him with 10 points, including a pair of shots from distance.
But remember: This was Morehead State. Not the Morehead State of the Kenneth Faried Era.
This was the Morehead State that went 13-19 last season as well as 7-11 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Ken Pomeroy's analytics power formula ranked Morehead No. 318, the worst team on the UK schedule by miles.
Coach Preston Spradlin's team was picked to finish eighth in the OVC this season.
Kentucky is scheduled to return to Rupp on Sunday. The Wildcats game Friday against Detroit has been postponed because the Titans have issues with the novel coronavirus.
On Sunday at 1 p.m. the Wildcats will play Richmond. The Spiders won 24 games last season, defeating Wisconsin and Vanderbilt. They return all five starters from that team. They are the pick to win to win the Atlantic 10 Conference this season.
Pomeroy's formula slots Richmond at No. 64 and the Spiders earned votes in the AP college basketball preseason Top 25.
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