UK overcomes early slow start, runs away
with 97-53 win over Transylvania University

With just less that two minutes elapsed in the University of Kentucky’s exhibition game versus Transylvania University Wednesday, UK head coach John Calipari did not like what he saw.

The Pioneers had opened the game on a 5-0 run, and UK had missed each of it’s first three shots — all of which came behind the three-point arc.

“Here we are with a big height advantage. I think probably five of our first six shots were threes,” Calipari said. “Am I missing something here? But that’s what happens when you have a lot of young guys or guys that aren’t playing with that fire that you got to play with. They settle.”

The Wildcats got Calipari’s message during the timeout. After falling down 11-4, UK went on a 13-0 run to take a 17-11 lead. Transy would keep the game close for the first 10 minutes, but after taking a 20-19 lead with 10:38 left in the first half UK didn’t look back en route to a 97-53 win.

“We got a ways to go,” Calipari said.

“There are 60 teams right now, maybe more, that we could not beat if we had to play today,” he added. “Thank goodness we got another couple weeks before we’ve got to play another game, a real game.”

While expressing concern with UK’s overall toughness and performance Wednesday, Calipari did single out one player as propelling the Wildcats to victory: freshman forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

“He was the difference in what happened,” Calipari said. “He did what I knew he would do. I would say, looking at today, he’s a starter because you have to have him start the game. Can’t start the game like we did today.”

Coming off the bench, Kidd-Gilchrist totaled 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and one block in his first unofficial game with UK.

“It just felt great,” Kidd-Gilchrist said. “We just got the win, that’s all that matters to me.”

As for his role as a starter or reserve, Kidd-Gilchrist said he has other thinks to think about.

“It doesn’t bother me at all, coming off the bench,” he said. “I just have fun.”

“It’s great to know but it doesn’t mean anything,” he said of Calipari’s pronouncement that he had locked up a starting spot. “I just want to win to tell you the truth, so it doesn’t matter who starts.”

Kidd-Gilchrist wasn’t the only standout performer for UK. Sophomore forward Terrence Jones led all scorers with 22 points and added 12 rebounds. Freshman center Anthony Davis scored six points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked eight shots. Sophomore guard Doron Lamb scored 19 points.

Still, Calipari and his players said this team has plenty to work on.

“We got a lot of work to do,” Calipari said. “I wish it was easy. Just put a group of guys together, a bunch of freshmen, you throw them together and they just play. That’s not how it works.”

“We just know we’ve got to communicate more,” said freshman point guard Marquis Teague, who dished out nine assists in the game. “That was our biggest problem tonight. On defense we were making little mistakes because we weren’t talking and things like that. We just got to work on communication and just playing tougher. They were playing tougher than us tonight honestly.”

For Calipari, the game offered a valuable teaching moment.

“It’s a teaching tool,” he said. “It’s a chance for me to talk to them about, ‘you know, look, they’re a good team, but they’re Division III.’”

(Box Score)