Alex Wilkins Breaks Steals Record and Other Postgame Notes From Win Over Manhattan

Final Score: #23 Kentucky 85, Manhattan 47

Team Records and Series Notes

– This is the season opener for both teams.
– This is the first meeting between the schools in men’s basketball.
– Kentucky stays home for Friday’s tilt vs. James Madison. Game time is 7 p.m. and it will be televised on the SEC Network.

Team Notes

– Entering its 125th season of college basketball, Kentucky is 103-21 all-time in season openers (no schedule in 1952-53).
– Kentucky has won its last five season openers.
– Kentucky is 108-16 in home openers.
– Kentucky is 47-4 in the first game of the season played in Rupp Arena.
– In limiting Manhattan to 57 points, UK is now 18-0 under Mark Pope when keeping the opponent to 66 points or fewer.
– Good shooting night for the Wildcats – 53.3 percent from the field, 38.7 percent from 3-point range, 81.8 percent at the foul line
– The 12 made 3-pointers are the most in a season opener since Nov. 12, 2010, when the Wildcats made 13 against East Tennessee State.

Player Notes

– Milan Momcilovic led all scorers with 24 points, the fifth-most points by a UK player in his first game.
He made 6 of 9 on 3-point shots, tying Antonio Reeves for most 3-pointers made in a season opener and most threes made by a player in his UK debut. Reeves made six triples in his first Wildcat appearance on Nov. 7, 2022 vs. Hampton.
– Zoom Diallo had 12 points in his first UK game.
– Alex Wilkins had 11 points, five assists and seven steals, the most thefts ever in a player’s debut as a Wildcat.
Seven steals is one shy of the single-game school record of eight:
Cason Wallace, Michigan State (11/15/2022)
Ashton Hagans, North Carolina (12/22/2018)
Rajon Rondo, Mississippi State (2/19/2005)
Wayne Turner, George Washington (11/24/1997)
– Malachi Moreno notched eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Coach Mark Pope

– Pope has won nine season openers in a row, including his final season at Utah Valley, all five openers at BYU, and all three at Kentucky.
– Pope is the second head coach in Kentucky history to win each of his first three season openers by at least 26 points, also Adolph Rupp.
– Pope began his 12th season as a head coach and now has a 234-134 all-time record, including 47-24 in his third season at Kentucky.

In the First Half

– Kentucky started Zoom Diallo, Alex Wilkins, Milan Momcilovich, Ousmane N’Diaye and Malachi Moreno.
– Mason Williams was the first substitution at the 14:32 mark.
– N’Diaye scored the season’s first basket on a tip-in with 18:40 on the clock.
– Manhattan came back to take five-point leads at 9-4 and 12-7.
– Trailing 13-9, Kentucky …
– Went on a 13-0 run to make it 22-13
– Lengthened the run to 25-3 for a 34-16 lead
– Made seven straight field goals in one stretch, five of which were 3-pointers
– By the 8:18 mark, all nine Wildcats who had played also had scored.
– UK’s largest lead of the half was 26 points at 46-20 and the halftime tally of 48-22.

In the Second Half