Mark Story: What if I told you a perceived weakness has become Kentucky basketball's greatest strength?

Mark Story, Lexington Herald-Leader on Jan 4, 2025

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — In the preseason, one of the major knocks on the prospects for Mark Pope’s first Kentucky team was that the Wildcats lacked star power.

A collection of good players — no great player — was the consensus.

Well, don’t look now, but the Wildcats have flipped their perceived weakness into their greatest strength.

Before a boisterous Rupp Arena crowd of 21,903 Saturday that included Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the No. 10 Wildcats put their greatest weapon on full display in recording a thrill-packed 106-100 win against the sixth-ranked and previously unbeaten Gators.

“If you guys didn’t have fun, you should quit now and find a new job,” Pope told reporters afterward.

In a scintillating offensive performance, Kentucky’s top six players all scored between 14 and 23 points. That allowed the Wildcats to overcome star-caliber performances from veteran Florida guards Walter Clayton Jr. (33 points) and Alijah Martin (26).

Koby Brea swished seven of nine 3-point shots en route to a team-high 23 points for UK. The Wildcats also got double-digit scoring from Lamont Butler (19 points), Otega Oweh (16), Amari Wiliams (15) and Andrew Carr and Jaxson Robinson (14 apiece).

“They are a very good offensive team,” Florida coach Todd Golden said of Kentucky. “I think that is well known across college basketball.”

After earning his first Southeastern Conference win as Kentucky’s coach — in a game whose tipoff time, 11 a.m. ET, is believed to be the earliest for a UK game played at Rupp Arena — Pope said, “How fun is this SEC league going to be? Because this (game) was just incredible.”

UK’s offensive balance has been on display all season. Through the Wildcats’ first 14 games, UK (12-2, 1-0 SEC) has had five different leading scorers — and it has never had the same player lead the team in points in consecutive games.

Meanwhile, six Cats have taken turns leading Kentucky in assists. Against Florida, UK’s depth of scoring options was featured during the game’s three decisive runs.

With Florida up 26-15 in the first half, Oweh scored 10 points and Brea swished two 3-pointers as UK launched a 16-0 run to seize a 31-26 advantage.

The score was knotted at 40 with 2:20 left in the first half when UK’s Robinson and Butler each scored five points in a 10-0 UK run that allowed the Cats to take a 10-point halftime edge.

Kentucky was clinging to a 70-69 advantage with 12:05 left in the game when Oweh (six points), Brea (two) and Carr (two) keyed a 10-0 Wildcats run to open an 80-69 lead.

The Gators were within 89-87 when Butler drilled a 3-pointer from the left corner just ahead of the shot clock expiring with 3:46 left.

UK was clinging to a 96-91 edge when Carr drained a trey from the left corner at 1:26 that was, essentially, the kill shot for the Cats.

So while Kentucky might not have the one player it knows it can go to to get a bucket, what the Wildcats do have is at least six players any one of whom is capable of making big plays in a given situation.

“It’s tough to guard us because you can’t really focus on one guy,” Butler said. “I think that’s going to help us through the year.”

Added UK’s Williams: “It’s tough for other teams to know who is going to have that night and how they are going to guard us. It’s great having that.”

In what appears to be the strongest top-to-bottom SEC men’s basketball league ever, winning home games is paramount for any team with championship aspirations.

Next week, UK will see if it is good enough to win on the road in the league when it visits Georgia (No. 28 in the NET rankings) and Mississippi State (No. 17).

On Saturday, Florida (13-1, 0-1 SEC) came to Lexington and shot 55%, dominated the second-chance points 31-12, put 100 points on the scoreboard — and took a loss.

That happened because Kentucky hit 57.8% of its shots, made 14 3-pointers (in 29 tries) and assisted on 25 of its 37 made buckets.

“They will not lose many games if they play this efficiently,” Golden said of the Cats.

The 2024-25 Wildcats might not have the sure-fire NBA star(s) that became associated with UK during the John Calipari era. But Mark Pope’s collection of “good college players” turned their balance into the dagger that spoiled Florida’s perfect record.

“I can only imagine what it is like to be in the opposing team’s locker room knowing there are so many (Kentucky) guys who can put the ball in the hoop,” UK’s Brea said. “I think we make it really hard for them.”

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