While the jury is still out on Kentucky’s depth, the early returns from Friday’s monstrous 85-45 win over Grand Canyon leaves plenty of optimism for Wildcat fans.
Coach John Calipari toyed with a ten-man, two-team platoon system throughout much of Kentucky’s summer and exhibition schedules and it seemed to pay off against the Antelopes.
Sophomore guard Andrew Harrison scored 16 points and freshman forward Trey Lyles added 14 to pace the Wildcats who led by 27 at the half and as many as 40 in the second frame. 11 Kentucky players saw floor time with nine of them scoring.
Defensively, the Wildcats held Grand Canyon, coached by former NBA star Dan Majerle, to only 31% shooting. The Lopes managed only 16 first half points, due in large part to Kentucky’s height advantage that saw them block 10 GCU shots.
No Kentucky player played more than 24 minutes on the night, and Calipari’s second platoon saw an average of 15 minutes of court time.
"The first half, it was good," Calipari said afterwards. "The second half was not good. We never got in rhythm. We never made extra passes, so we kind of reverted. But I expect some of that early."
The Wildcats’ front line of Lyles, Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, and Dakari Johnson combined for 44 points and 27 rebounds against the undersized Antelopes.
While Kentucky fans were excited to finally see their beloved Wildcats in live action, Grand Canyon serves as much less than an accurate measuring stick. The first true test of the Cats will come on Tuesday when they travel to Indianapolis to face the number 6 ranked Kansas Jayhawks in the first annual Champions Classic.