Malachi Moreno is defending without fouling

Malachi Moreno has zero intentions of giving up his starting spot. If he keeps playing at the level he has been, he won’t have to worry about moving back to the bench.

Moreno has started the last two games for Kentucky after coming off the bench in the first five. An injury to Mo Dioubate at the 4 allowed head coach Mark Pope to toy with his starting five, bringing in Kam Williams to replace Dioubate, with Moreno taking over for Brandon Garrison at the five.

“I just felt like Malachi would complement [Williams] better,” Pope said when explaining the lineup change.

Regardless, Moreno might just be the best option Kentucky has at center right now (at least until Jayden Quaintance, a projected NBA lottery pick, is healthy and ready to roll).

Through seven games played, the Georgetown native is averaging 10.6 points and 7.6 rebounds in just 20.3 minutes per outing while shooting 59 percent from the field. He posted a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double (his second double-double of the season) during the Wildcats’ 50-point win on Wednesday against Tennessee Tech. He’s 12-15 from the free-throw line over his last three games and has 14 assists to just seven turnovers on the season.

It’s his defensive impact, however, that is going to keep him on the floor moving forward.

According to Synergy, Moreno is holding opponents to shoot just 31.6 percent (12-38) on field goal attempts for which he’s credited as being the primary defender. That mark ranks him in the 69th percentile among all college players, a well-above-average percentage, especially for someone who doesn’t foul. Moreno has been tagged with just two fouls all season despite ranking fourth on the team in total minutes played (142). Per KenPom, he ranks sixth nationally in fewest fouls committed per 40 minutes and is the only player above 6-foot-8 among the top 10.

My new favorite Moreno stat is that the 7-footer leads UK in blocks (8) and rebounds (53), yet has been called for just TWO fouls all season in 142 mins played.

He ranks 6th nationally, per KenPom, in fewest fouls committed/40 minutes. No one else in the top 10 is over 6-8. https://t.co/SFuFV8RAPi pic.twitter.com/ceBRx9Dtwt

— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) November 27, 2025

Some responses to the tweet above wondered if a low foul rate for Moreno might be a bad thing. Should he actually be more physical? I toyed with that idea for about 30 seconds before shutting it down. Moreno leads Kentucky in total blocks (8) and rebounds (53). His 20 offensive rebounds lead the team and are twice as many as Garrison’s 10. Even with a 7-foot-1 wingspan, which is a tad on the short side for someone already as tall as him, Moreno is still able to defend shots effectively without fouling. His constant activity and movement when he’s on the floor are purposeful — that’s what elite rim protectors do.

“Malachi [Moreno] is a guy that we recruited, put a lot of time into; he’s got a promising future,” Purdue head coach Matt Painter, who is known for developing extremely tall big men, said after Kentucky beat the top-ranked Boilermakers during a preseason exhibition.

We’ll note that Kentucky hasn’t exactly played a schedule of world beaters just yet. The Wildcats sit on a 5-2 record, all five wins coming against teams ranked 250 or worse in KenPom. The two losses came against a pair of top 25 programs: Louisville and Michigan State. All of the positive numbers we’ve talked about in this article still come from a small sample size. No one is expecting Moreno to average less than half a foul per game all season long.

But the start to his freshman season has been about as promising as even the most optimistic fan might have expected. It’ll be fun to follow the rest of the season.

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