LEXINGTON, Ky. — This appears to be a Kentucky basketball team that will be capable of beating opponents in a lot of different ways.
Part two came in Friday night’s 77-52 victory over Duquesne.
With top returnees Oscar Tshiebwe and Sahvir Wheeler out with injuries for the Wildcats’ season opener Monday, others stepped up. Antonio Reeves and CJ Fredrick led UK in scoring that night. Cason Wallace nearly had a triple-double. Jacob Toppin recorded his first double-double.
On Friday night, Tshiebwe was still out, but Wheeler made his return to the court, coming on as a reserve. Freshman center Ugonna Onyenso also made an early appearance from the bench. And they helped provide the spark the Cats needed to put Duquesne down double digits relatively early.
With the Dukes leading 8-7 and little going UK’s way to that point, Onyenso finished an alley-oop on his first offensive possession of the game to start the flurry. That basket was quickly followed by a Wheeler-to-Onyenso connection for a layup, then a Wheeler assist to Toppin for a dunk. Before long, the Cats led, 23-13, and the two bench sparks were all over the box score.
The story to start the second half was similar.
In less than 2 minutes, Kentucky’s halftime lead had dwindled from 16 points to nine, and in came Wheeler and Onyenso to stop the run once again. Onyenso hit a layup, Wheeler drove and fed Fredrick for an open three, and Onyenso added a free throw after that to give the Cats a 44-29 advantage. The margin never reached single digits again.
Wheeler ended up with 11 points, six rebounds, 11 assists and just two turnovers in his season debut. Onyenso added nine points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots in the second game of his college career.
Reeves led a balanced UK scoring attack with 18 points, including two late 3-pointers. Fredrick was next with 14 points. The combined to go 8 for 13 from deep.
Duquesne finished 14th and last in the Atlantic 10 last season — with a 1-16 record in conference play — and was picked to finish last again this season, according to a media poll of league reporters last month.
The team’s roster does feature 10 new players, however, and they came into Friday’s game off of a season-opening, 91-63 victory over Montana on Tuesday night. Duquesne shot 64.4% from the field in that game, making 10 of 24 3-point shots against a Grizzlies’ squad projected to finish third in the Big Sky Conference this season.
The Dukes didn’t get anywhere close to that against Kentucky’s defense.
Duquesne shot just 30.3% from the field and went 7 for 26 from deep.
Next game for UK
Kentucky will return to the court Tuesday night for the annual Champions Classic and a meeting with Michigan State in Indianapolis.
The Spartans are not ranked in the Associated Press preseason poll, but they were 31st in total votes. Michigan State defeated Northern Arizona, 73-55, in the season opener Monday, leading into a marquee matchup — against No. 2 Gonzaga in San Diego — on Friday night. The Spartans fell to the Zags, 64-63.
Kentucky will play Gonzaga in Spokane on Nov. 20.
A preseason poll of Big Ten reporters projected Michigan State to finish fourth in the league, behind Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. Senior forward Malik Hall was chosen as the Spartans’ top player heading into the season, according to that poll.
Michigan State is a No. 8 seed in the latest Bracketology from ESPN. UK has won the two most recent Champions Classic matchups with the Spartans, most recently a 69-62 victory at the beginning of the 2019-20 season. The Cats lead the overall series, 14-11.
