Antonio Reeves is quietly playing the best basketball of his life

ZGeogheganKSR

Kentucky freshmen Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham have understandably received the majority of the early headlines this season. Former West Virginia transfer Tre Mitchell has been right there too, followed up recently by the breakout play of another freshman, DJ Wagner. But the player we’re not talking about enough is Antonio Reeves, who is quietly playing the best basketball of his life.

Through seven games, Reeves leads Kentucky with 18.9 points per game, nearly four more points than the next-highest scorer (Dillingham; 15.4 PPG). The fifth-year guard ranks fourth in the Southeastern Conference in scoring and is first in made triples (22). 18.9 points per game is still under his career-high of 20.1 during his third and final season at Illinois State (2021-22), but let’s look a bit closer at what he’s doing in 2023-24 that makes this current stretch so much better.

Reeves is shooting 50.5 percent overall from the field, 58.1 percent on two-pointers, a blistering 44.0 percent on three-pointers (on 7.1 attempts per contest), and 84.2 percent from the line. All five of those statistics are career highs. One more made freebie and he’d be flirting with the lauded 50/40/90 shooting split, which is only reserved for the elite scorers. Reeves should be included in that category if he isn’t already.

But it’s not just the scoring that has stood out from the steady veteran. Reeves is averaging career-highs in other key categories such as rebounds (5.0 per game) and assists (1.9 per game) while also turning the ball over a measly one time per game — tying his career-low that he previously set as a freshman playing just 22.4 minutes per game. And oh yeah, that’s the other thing: Reeves is doing all of this while playing 32.1 minutes per game, second-most on Kentucky behind Mitchell (34.3).

Aside from the scoring numbers, rebounding is what stands out about Reeves so far this season. He’s bought into that area of the game, mostly because he has to with Kentucky still missing all three seven-footers, but he’s not exactly the most physical guy at 6-foot-6 and under 200 pounds. Last season, Reeves averaged a career-low in rebounds (2.1 per game).

Obviously, Oscar Tshiebwe had something to do with that, but don’t discount Reeves’ newfound effort on the glass. He’s legitimately fighting for boards against bigger dudes. There have been several instances where he’s out-jumped taller opponents for contested rebounds. That doesn’t necessarily take skill; it takes desire and some of that good old-fashioned grit.

Reeves deserves more recognition for what he’s been able to do so far this season. After all, he was tabbed Preseason All-SEC First-Team by the league’s coaches. They certainly know what kind of production he brings, especially the folks down in Arkansas. But if Reeves scoring in double-figures every single game continues to go under the radar, it probably means Kentucky is doing a lot of winning.