No. 23 Kentucky pummels Wright State 103-62 in Pope's debut

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The anticipation in Lexington for former Kentucky captain turned current Kentucky head coach Mark Pope's regular debut has been palpable. Monday night showed it was well worth the wait.

The 23rd-ranked Wildcats routed Wright State 103-62 to get their new coach his first career win at the school he helped win a national title for in 1996. And they showed off some of the excitement we saw in two easy exhibition wins, flashing it on both ends of the floor.

Wright St Kentucky Basketball — Kentucky's Otega Oweh, left, and Wright State's Alex Huibregtse (3) chase the ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Lexington, Ky., Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/James Crisp)
James Crisp

By halftime, five Wildcats had already tallied 8 points. Six finished the game in double figures, with Otega Oweh leading the way at 21 points, and UK continued to show off the ball movement Pope has promised with 30 assists to just 7 turnovers.

It was an efficient debut performance from the field. Kentucky shot 39/65 overall and 11/21 from three-point range. Koby Brea showed why he was one of the best shooters in the country last season, making all four of his triples while only missing one shot on the way to 18 points of his own.

Defensively, Kentucky did a lot of damage in transition. The Cats clamped the Raiders and forced 12 turnovers, including 11 steals, scoring 18 points off of them. They continuously pushed the tempo to the tune of 36 fast-break points while only allowing the Raiders to score 5.

Amari Williams took over in the first two minutes, finding fellow big man Andrew Carr for an alley oop to kick off Pope's tenure. He followed it up with by leading a fast break and then throwing a dunk down to set the tone. He finished with a double-double (12 points, 13 rebounds) and controlled the glass for the home team.