Kentucky takes on Miles College on Friday evening in Rupp Arena in its second and final exhibition game before the 2021-2022 regular season.
Here are some storylines to watch for.
How clean will this experienced team play?
Kentucky had only nine turnovers in its 95-72 win against Kentucky Wesleyan last week in the first exhibition game tune-up. All of those were in the first half. For about the last 22 minutes of the game the Wildcats did not commit a single turnover.
Some of Kentucky's other teams under Calipari have been much sloppier than that in early season action. Perhaps because of this team's experience they will be able to avoid that.
Outside shooting from Brooks?
Coming into this year one of the reasons to be excited about Kentucky basketball is the assortment of shooters who have come together to join Calipari for this year. Davion Mintz was Kentucky's best long range option last season and Dontaie Allen was right there as well. Throw in TyTy Washington and Kellan Grady, plus eventually CJ Fredrick, and it's no wonder some would be excited about the team's shooting potential.
But it was a bit surprising to see Keion Brooks attempt six three pointers. That was more than any other player on the team attempted and he knocked down four of them. He shot early and often with the confidence of a player who obviously hoisted a lot of attempts in practice and individual work over the offseason.
Brooks has always been right on the line between 'tweener and utility man, the former meaning he's not quite enough frontcourt or perimeter but the latter implying he's a matchup problem. If he can knock down outside shots at a good clip it would make this team even more interesting offensively.
Will the Cats dominate the glass?
Kentucky beat Kentucky Wesleyan on the glass 39-31 in the exhibition season opener. There's nothing about that which screams concern but you would like to see a more lopsided margin against a team outside the Division I ranks.
One reason for that is Oscar Tshiebwe only played 17 minutes. The minutes were spread around so much and Calipari was tinkering with so many lineups that it wasn't about dominating any one category, it was about getting guys to play well together. But since the frontcourt aside from Tshiebwe is at least an open question it's something to watch.
UK got 18 combined boards between Tshiebwe and Brooks. Because this figures to be a guard-dominated team the forwards like Bryce Hopkins and Collins are going to need to really crash the glass when they are on the court. In the Duke-Kentucky game on Tuesday aggressiveness on the glass will probably play a major factor.
How many three-point attempts?
It was not only Brooks who was attempting a number of three-pointers early against Kentucky Wesleyan. Several other players had the green light and used it until Calipari finally told them to start working for more looks inside.
In all, Kentucky attempted 29 three-pointers but at one point it seemed they were pacing for a lot more than that.
This team was largely constructed on the basis of three-point shooting proficiency and with so many capable outside options it will be interesting to see how comfortable Calipari is with a long ball heavy approach. Those 29 attempts were not too much of an outlier compared to what Kentucky has sometimes done in the past under Calipari but were definitely an increase over the average we've been accustomed to seeing.
"The ball moves a little more and we keep driving ..."
After the win against Kentucky Wesleyan when asked about the offensive performance of his team John Calipari said, "We're trying to get to the point where the ball moves a little more and you keep driving."
The ball movement against Wesleyan was a big upgrade from when everyone witnessed last year when Kentucky had arguably its poorest passing team in a very long time. But with so many guards and capable ball-handlers and passers that should be an area where the Wildcats become elite this year and Calipari knows it.
The focus on being relentless in attacking the rim off the ball movement is a sign that we should look for an aggressive, attacking mentality when Kentucky has the ball.
Defensive improvement needed
After that first exhibition Calipari knew right away that he would be upset with the defense when he sat down to watch the tape, although being so early he didn't seem too concerned about it.
Kentucky gave up some open looks in the first half but Wesleyan was not able to convert as much as it could have. In the second, UK gave up 18/32 (56%) shooting including 4/9 from outside the arc and 42 total points. That was not up to UK's defensive standard under Cal.
In particular UK had a difficult time slowing down Tarik Dixon, who scored 29 points on 12/17 shooting in 30 minutes.
A good tune-up for Duke
No Division II team is going to be favored to keep it close against Kentucky in Rupp Arena but Miles College has led Division II basketball in scoring defense each of the last three seasons.
That's probably as much real prep for Duke as Kentucky could ask for in one of these tune-up exhibition games against a team from outside the D1 ranks.
According to Miles College's game notes before this exhibition, "The Golden Bears defend the 3-point line, finishing fifth, second, and 13th among Division II teams in defensive 3-point field goal percentage over the past three seasons."
Tonight will be a different challenge for the Golden Bears but UK's players might have less separation on the perimeter tonight than against Wesleyan.
