Shorthanded Kentucky shatters John Calipari's 80-point goal

Fans rolled their eyes when John Calipari set a goal of scoring 80 points per game this season following Kentucky‘s 56-point performance to open the exhibition slate vs. Missouri Western. Only one of his teams during his time in Lexington hit that mark, with the 2016-17 squad led by De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk and Bam Adebayo scoring 84.9 per contest.

“We’ve got to be a team that scores 80 points a game,” Calipari said on The Alan Cutler Show. “We’ll defend well enough, we have enough guys who can make baskets.”

At the time, he said missing Oscar Tshiebwe and Sahvir Wheeler played a part in the offense’s struggles. Then Daimion Collins lost his father and took time away from the team, giving the Wildcats just eight scholarship players for their second exhibition game and the season-opener vs. Howard.

Their response? 111 points in an exhibition win vs. Kentucky State, then 95 in the win over the Bison. 50% shooting overall and 46.2% from deep (26 attempts) in the first, 54.8% shooting and 45.8% from three (24 attempts) in the second.

Calipari credited the offensive success last season — 79.4 PPG — to transition success, tempo and offensive rebounds (14 per game). Tshiebwe down low is a big reason for that, but the UK head coach added that he can’t be the only one attacking the glass on that end of the floor.

Kentucky scored a combined 54 points in transition and pulled down 14 combined offensive rebounds vs. the Thorobreds and Bison.

All in all, a night and day difference from the first exhibition, exactly what the Wildcats are looking for.

“That was something (Calipari) emphasized, said we needed to score 80-plus points per game,” junior forward Lance Ware said Wednesday. “It’s something he said last year in the middle of the season at some point. We had a meeting and he was like, ‘I think I need to start telling the guys we need to start scoring 80 points a game again.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I think that will help, it’ll be beneficial.’ So he said that and then we go out and score 90-something points. That’s what you want to do.

“If you’re scoring 90 points, 80 points and the other team beats you, that’s just a good game. With our team and our defense, I don’t see that happening too often.”

And Kentucky did it without three rotation pieces, a scary thought for opposing teams when Tshiebwe, Wheeler and Collins return to the floor.

“We just have a good team, you know? We have a good team. The guys can play,” Ware added. “We want those guys back and we want them playing, but I think we’re fine holding it down until they’re back — whatever happens, happens. We’ll deal with that stuff when they get back, take things one game at a time, win these games and go out there and compete. We’ll figure everything else out later.”

Freshman wing Chris Livingston agrees, stressing that Kentucky’s depth is what makes this team special.

“Missing Daimion, Oscar and Sahvir, but still being able to play at that pace and score as much as we did, it’s really encouraging,” Livingston said. “I’ve been preaching to people about the depth of our team, I just feel like that’s something we’ll really be able to count on. Playing that well without those guys is just really encouraging for us.”

The Wildcats look to continue that offensive success Friday evening when Duquesne heads to Lexington, with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. ET at Rupp Arena.