
Kentucky played its final exhibition game on Sunday against Asbury University and the things the Wildcats did were borderline criminal. Kentucky won this game 156-63. You read that correctly — Kentucky won by 93 points. That’s the highest offensive output in program history and must have John Calipari feeling good about his team heading into Friday’s opener against Stephen F. Austin (as well the Nov. 15 showcase game against Michigan State).
Kentucky’s box score from this game was incredible. The Wildcats shot 66-of-96 (68.8 percent) from the field. They out-rebounded Asbury 71-44. They finished with 34 assists compared to eight for Asbury. The halftime lead was 63 points, and at multiple times in the second half, Kentucky led by 100 or more.
The stats are good, but the highlights are even better. We already told you this Kentucky team was going to be a ton of fun to watch and that was evident again on this night.
That De’Aaron Fox jam deserves all the camera angles. #BBN pic.twitter.com/le16uXu06X
— Scott Charlton (@Scott_Charlton) November 7, 2016
That’s freshman point guard De’Aaron Fox, who led all scorers with 25 points in 17 minutes. He is going to be fun. Fox’s partner in the backcourt, fellow freshman Malik Monk, is even more of a highlight machine. A small sampling:
Malik Monk. You know what’s next. #BBN pic.twitter.com/EGpqhBQJ2G
— Scott Charlton (@Scott_Charlton) November 7, 2016
Malik Monk with the showstopper. Yowza! #BBN pic.twitter.com/DfYK5lY5Xn
— Scott Charlton (@Scott_Charlton) November 7, 2016
Reserve guard Mychal Mulder might have done the rudest thing of the night. Kentucky was up by 96 points when he dunked all over a poor Asbury defender. Props to this guy for still trying to block a dunk down almost 100, but all he gets for the effort is a memorable Vine:
his team is down 96 points and he still jumps to try and block the dunk i respect this kid so much https://t.co/RNWlYpZKQa
— Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) November 7, 2016
How many times do we have to say: don’t jump. It just isn’t worth the slander.
Here’s the box score. It is every bit as beautiful/ugly as you might expect.
Talk about “everybody eats”
All 14 Wildcats scored tonight. pic.twitter.com/xQJcsQrCr8— Kentucky Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) November 7, 2016
At least Asbury got a nice paycheck out of it:
Asbury got $20,000 for playing Kentucky tonight. Or, if the game ended now, $143.88 for every point the Cats have scored.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_AJC) November 7, 2016
Kentucky had all of Rupp Arena doing the “Mannequin Challenge” in this game, and it sure seems like Asbury was staying frozen in place on the court, as well. Get ready, Stephen F. Austin. Kentucky is coming.