Kentucky earned their shots in exhibition win over KWC

The Wildcats did a good job creating their shots.

Oct 23, 2024; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Trent Noah (9) shoots the ball during the second half against the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images / Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Kentucky played their first exhibition game on Wednesday night, and it couldn't have gone much better. The Wildcats took down in-state Kentucky Wesleyan in a 71-point victory. That big of a victory is hard to come by in any game. The team looked really good, and it's clear what they're going to proritize this season offense. They'll be making spacing, ball-movement, and threes huge priorities.

The Wildcats put up a lot of shots in the dominating victory, and they shot 50% from three-point range, even still while putting up 42 attempts from long range. Mark Pope talked about the team wanting to shoot a lot of threes each game this season. He also talked about how the Wildcats weren't forcing shots on Wednesday, and instead earned every attempt.

"It's hard to get 42 (threes) up. It's really hard to do that. Our goal is to be over 30, and that can get really complicated to get to 30. I thought we turned a couple down tonight that I wish we would have taken. I like the fact, what I like is most of the shots were earned. There wasn't a lot of belligerent shooting. There was a lot of shots that were earned. We earned them a bunch of different ways. We earned them by erasing the space and by screening and earning by finishing cuts. We earn them by feeling pressure, hitting corner. We earn them by sprinting to the deep corner and making sure our spacing is right, and I thought our guys did a great job of earning those shots."

- Pope on the team earning their shots.

Shooting is going to be an emphasis on offense, and the Wildcats have makers all over the floor. That can't be more true after looking at the box score from Wednesday's game. Seven players that saw action in the game made at least one three. The top shooters on the night from three were Jaxson Robinson (5-9), Ansley Almonor (5-7), Trent Noah (4-5), Koby Brea (3-5), and Otega Oweh (2-2). There are a couple of others who got on the board from deep, too. The Wildcats are going to be a dangerous shooting team this season.