FINAL: Reed Sheppard shines, Kentucky dominates Team Canada 93-69
Who cares if it’s mid-July? Kentucky men’s basketball has the Big Blue Nation celebrating like it’s March.
In the second game of the 2023 GLOBL Jam Tournament in Toronto, Canada on Thursday night, Kentucky played like a team with high expectations going into the 2023-24 season. The Wildcats poured it on Team Canada from the opening tip to the final buzzer, pummeling the home team by a final score of 93-69.
After coming away with a win over Team Germany, 81-73, on Wednesday afternoon to get the event rolling, head coach John Calipari slightly altered his starting lineup. Freshmen Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham replaced DJ Wagner and Justin Edwards in the first five. That move must’ve instilled some extra confidence in Sheppard.
The Bluegrass-born guard was all anyone is going to be talking about the next 24 hours. Get a load of this stat line from the legacy Wildcat: 14 points on 5-8 shooting (2-4 3PT), two rebounds, four assists, four steals, and two blocks in 25 minutes. He produced multiple highlights on both ends of the floor that could (and probably will) make for a viral mixtape.
Leading Kentucky in scoring was Antonio Reeves and his 23 points on 10-15 shooting while Edwards wasn’t too far behind with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals in under 20 minutes. Adou Thiero was the only other ‘Cat to hit double-figures, finishing with 11 points, six rebounds, and five assists in 27 minutes. Dillingham added just six points on 2-7 shooting but dished out nine dimes with only one turnover.
Kentucky came out on fire in the opening minutes. The Wildcats only missed one of its first nine shot attempts as everyone was getting involved. Sheppard canned back-to-back triples — his first made buckets of the event — before Reeves got in on the fun with a three-pointer of his own.
The offensive momentum would eventually slow down for the ‘Cats — Kentucky roughly went three minutes without a point before Wagner drilled a corner three to end the drought. But there was enough focus on the defensive end of the floor to keep UK in front. At the end of the first frame, Kentucky led 24-16 thanks to a 4-6 clip from distance.
Kentucky began the second quarter by extending its lead to double-digits, but the Canadians wouldn’t go down quietly. UK’s lead was cut down to five, 31-26, at the six-minute mark before Edwards finally connected on his first long ball of the event and Thiero cruised into the lane for an easy slam. Edwards would then hit another triple to push Kentucky’s advantage out to 13 points.
The lead would hold firm from there with Sheppard and Reeves continuing to find the hoop. Kentucky’s defense was especially impressive in the last few minutes of the half, forcing multiple turnovers that led to clean fastbreak opportunities. Sheppard, in particular, was toying with the Canadians, finishing off a steal-and-score and a block-and-score down the stretch of the first half.
At the intermission, Kentucky led 49-34 while shooting 51 percent overall and 46 percent from long range to go along with nine steals and six blocks. The ‘Cats would keep both feet on the gas out of the break, too.
Canada simply had no answers for Kentucky’s lightning-quick pace. The lead broke 20 points near the end of the third quarter as it was once again Sheppard making highlight play after highlight play. A timely three-pointer from Wagner right before the third-quarter buzzer gave the ‘Cats a commanding 71-49 lead heading into the final period.
It wouldn’t get any better for Canada in the fourth either. Kentucky’s lead grew to 27 points courtesy of a fastbreak slam from Edwards that forced the Canadians into a timeout with under seven minutes left in the game. Calipari was eventually able to throw in freshman Joey Hart for the first time all week in the closing possessions as the Wildcats cruised to the dominating victory.
As a team, Kentucky finished with shooting splits of 48/36/85 with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 27-9. For a group made up mostly of guys yet to play in an actual college basketball game, the vibes are certainly high right now for the Wildcats.
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