LEXINGTON, Ky. -- "Letdown game" will not be part of Kentucky's vocabulary this season.
So said the Wildcats' new head coach, Mark Pope, after his team followed an emotional upset of No. 6 Duke in the Champions Classic with an impressive 97-68 thrashing of Lipscomb on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.
"It's human nature to worry about that a little bit," said Pope, acknowledging the typical narrative that sports fans and media fall into after a team records a big win, "but we really work hard to focus on what we are trying to do. Our guys are really hungry to get better. We're hungry to become a great team, and we don't have a lot of time to do it. The last game was over, and it was 'How can we get better?' It's the only thing we talked about.
"The biology of that, the neuroscience of that, is actually 100% in support of it. We're not going to focus on what we don't want to happen, we're going to focus on what we do want to happen. Our guys have received that really well."
The Cats' grad senior point guard, Lamont Butler, seemed to back that mentality up during postgame interviews.
"A letdown game? What's that?" he asked. "... (Pope) just preaches to us that every next game is the biggest game of your life. I think that's how we approach it."
No. 9 Kentucky (4-0) made it look easy on this night against a respected Lipscomb program. The Cats shot 58.8% from the field, knocked down 12 of 25 from 3-point range, held a 43-28 rebounding advantage, and held the Bisons to just 39% from the field.
Four UK players scored in double figures, including a game-high 20 points from grad senior wing Jaxson Robinson, who bounced back from an uncharacteristic one-point showing in the Cats' 77-72 upset of Duke. Lamont Butler followed with 16 points, while Otega Oweh and Koby Brea added 14 and 12, respectively.
Meanwhile, Kentucky centers Amari Williams and Brandon Garrison combined for 17 points and 16 rebounds in a well-rounded effort by the Cats.
"I'm tremendously impressed," Lipscomb head coach Lennie Acuff said of the Wildcats. "We play a lot of these games, unfortunately. We play a lot of them, and we've done well in a lot of them. But that's the best offensive Power 4 team that we've played in my six years at Lipscomb.
"I tell you what," Acuff continued. "If Butler and Robinson and Brea play like that, they're going to be a tough, tough, tough out."
The UK backcourt trio combined to go 9-of-12 from the arc.
"Boy, oh boy, if you make one mistake or you're a half-second late, it's 3," Acuff said. "... It's real pleasing to the eye unless you have to guard 'em."
Lipscomb (2-4) was led by senior forward Jacob Ognacevic with 17 points. Charl Williams and Will Pruitt added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
*****
In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK victory...
KEY MOMENT:
The game got away from Lipscomb early as Kentucky hit eight 3-pointers in the first half while the Bisons shot 26.5% and made just two of their 19 attempts from the arc. Kentucky led 43-26 at the break and pushed the lead out to 24 by the first media timeout of the second half. The Cats led by as many as 40.
GAME BALL:
Jaxson Robinson, Kentucky -- It was a nice bounce-back game for the Cats' grad senior wing, who scored only one point the last time out against Duke. He finished 6-of-10 from the field, 3-of-6 from the arc, and 5-of-5 at the line. He also chipped in with seven rebounds.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1st - Kentucky team to ever hit 10-plus 3-pointers in each of it first four games of the season.
3-0 - The Cats' lead in the all-time series with Lipscomb.
4-for-4 - Four games, four different leading scorers for UK this season.
78.9% - Kentucky's Koby Brea has hit 15 of 19 from the arc to start the season.
19,314 - Attendance at Rupp Arena.
QUOTABLE:
"We've played some good shooters, but every time Brea shoots it, it looks like it's going in." -- Lipscomb head coach Lennie Acuff on UK's Koby Brea
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action on Friday at Rupp Arena against Jackson State. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network+.
