Recap And Takeaways From Kentucky’s Win Against New Mexico State

Originally posted on KY Insider | By Wyatt Huff | Last updated 11/7/23

Kentucky basketball is back. Opening the 2023-24 season against New Mexico State, Kentucky cruised to an 86-46 win on Monday night. Kentucky only led by a margin of eight points at halftime, only to win by 40 points after a strong second half.

Led by Rob Dillingham as the leading scorer with 15 points, Kentucky had four others score in double figures on Monday night. DJ Wagner had 13 points, followed by Justin Edwards and Reed Sheppard both with 12 points, and Antonio Reeves with 11.

Let’s get into the takeaways as college basketball season has begun.

Balanced Scoring Attack

Kentucky was on point with the ball movement. Finishing with 17 assists, Kentucky had four players in double-figure scoring. Playing fast and sharing the ball, Kentucky played a clean second half, ending up winning by 40 points.

Tre Mitchell was a bright spot when talking about ball movement. He finished with 5 assists to go along with a near-double-double of 9 points and 9 rebounds.

Solid Bench Contribution

Maybe the best one-two punch coming off the bench in college basketball, Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard both shined. Rob Dillingham got to the basket with ease and was active on defense. He had 17 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Reed Sheppard was also active on defense. He had 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Safe to say that Kentucky shouldn’t lack much bench production this season.’

Chemistry Is Top Notch

One of the best things about this year’s team, the chemistry is already at a high level. It is very encouraging how much the team has fun together and gets along so well, and the on-court results have shown that.

But what you didn’t see was off the court. After the win on Monday, the team was blasting music in the locker room postgame, and singing with each other. Only one game of the season has passed, but the chemistry is already high.

Kentucky looks to be shaping up to be one fun team. Highlight plays, ball movement, unselfishness, and the ability to get to the rim as well as knock down threes. It’s going to be even more fun when Kentucky’s frontcourt is healthy.