In our regular postgame feature, the Cats Illustrated staff offers its first impressions from Kentucky's 97-68 win over Lipscomb on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena. In our new format beginning tonight, each staffer offers his three main takeaways from the game...
JEFF DRUMMOND:
1. A lot of folks are going to play the comparative scores game tonight and feel good about the Cats absolutely rolling a solid Lipscomb team that gave Arkansas trouble deep into the second half in Fayetteville.
2. Good to see Jaxson Robinson bounce back from his one-point outing against Duke. We should have all seen that coming. I'm sure Mark Pope made building his confidence a priority in practice these past seven days, and Robinson responded with a really nice 20-point, seven-rebound line, going 6-of-10 from the field.
3. Another fantastic shooting night from the 3-point arc. The Cats went 12 of 25 from deep, including three apiece from Lamont Butler, Koby Break, and Robinson. I think Pope would like to see those attempts come up a bit if they keep shooting like this.
JUSTIN ROWLAND:
1. No emotional letdown after the win against Duke. Maybe the length of time since that game had something to do with it. Maybe it's the maturity of this team. But they were locked in and ready to go the same way they had been in the previous three games.
2. Jaxson Robinson is really good. We've seen that he can positively impact the game even when he's not on a scoring binge, but he was smooth and efficient on the offensive end tonight. He doesn't have to carry the load that some team-leading scorers will have to and that's a luxury, but this is a really good basketball player who will be contributing at a high level all season.
3. Collin Chandler just isn't ready. Long-term he may still have a great college career. I've always liked some of his attributes. But he looks out of place compared to the rest of the players on the team. Maybe it's rust from his mission, maybe a combination of things. They can afford to give him a chance early in the season but when the games matter more, I'm guessing we see him less.
TRAVIS GRAF:
1. This team showed their maturity by maintaining focus after a big-time win over Duke. They dominated from start to finish and the game was never in doubt from the opening tip. It was a classic letdown spot for most teams, and previous, younger Kentucky squads would’ve come out flat in this matchup.
2. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the rebounding from this Kentucky team. That was a big question mark I had leading into this season, and they’ve either dominated or held their own in every matchup so far this season. They had the size advantage across the board tonight and it’s a team effort on the glass.
3. It’s scary to live and die by the 3-ball as a main component of your offense, but something tells me you’re going to see a lot of these “40-something percent to 20-something percent” splits over an opponent in SEC play as well. This team just has so many guys that can make shots. It won’t always translate to a 30-point win, but their shooting is going to flat-out win them ball games throughout the season.
DAVID SISK:
1. Kentucky is winning the 3-point line in a big way. After holding down Duke, Lipscomb only made 5 of 29 tonight. UK has now allowed 26 of 115 for 22.6% on the year. That’s tied for seventh in the country. They made 12 of 25 and are now 46–110 for 41.8% which is 24th nationally. Kentucky is +60 points over four games from behind the arc.
2. Lipscomb was guard-heavy, and UK’s backcourt was not only up to the challenge, they dominated. Kentucky’s big men only accounted for 19 points. Kentucky’s perimeter hit threes and got to the rim in one-on-one battles. The Cats only had 10 assists on 34 makes which is definitely an outlier.
3. Lamont Butler stood out to me. He was known as a defensive stopper, but once again he displayed his talents with the ball. He scored 16 points and only took eight shots. But the real head-turner was a perfect three-point performance on three tries. It will be important against good teams that his defender doesn’t play off him. He made 1 of 6 trifectas coming in so this was a breath of fresh air.