Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s victory against Bucknell

Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 100-72 win against the Bucknell Bison at Rupp Arena on Saturday afternoon:

1. Yes, Kentucky can score

Fun fact: With the 103-62 win over Wright State last Monday and the 100-72 victory over Bucknell on Saturday, Kentucky has opened the season hitting the century mark its first two games for the first time since the 1978-79 campaign.

Three-pointers had something to do with it. After going 6-for-19 from beyond the arc in the first half, Mark Pope’s club really started popping after the break. Sharpshooter Koby Brea lead the way, making 6 of 8 from downtown on the afternoon.

Overall, the Cats were 7-for-17 from beyond the arc in the second half. That made the Cats 13-of-36 from long distance for 36.1% for the afternoon. UK was 11-for-24 from 3-pint range in the win over Wright State. So through two games, Kentucky is 24-for-60 for 40% from 3-point range.

Brea was 4-for-4 from 3 against Wright State in the 2024-25 opener. That makes him 10-for-12 from 3 in the first two games.

Bucknell coach John Griffin was the associate head coach at Saint Joseph’s, which plays in the same conference where Brea played previously at Dayton. “Having scouted him before, I’ve never seen Koby Brea miss two 3-pointers in a row,” Griffin said.

Kerr Kriisa contributed 12 assists in 21 minutes. One was a perfect no-look pass to Brea, who knocked down the three. The Arizona/West Virginia transfer did so with his mother in the audience after making the trip from Estonia. And Kriisa did so coming off the bench, a new role for him.

“You have great teams when guys embrace their space on the roster and make it bigger than you can possibly imagine,” Pope said. “That’s what he’s done.”

“Mark Pope has done an excellent job of putting together a team of really good college basketball players,” Griffin said. “The quickness of their offense was something we didn’t totally anticipate.”

2. Kentucky owned the glass

After UK’s first exhibition game, Pope said he was not happy with his team’s rebounding effort. After the Wildcats’ second exhibition game, Pope said he was happier but didn’t sound overjoyed.

Surely, he felt much better about UK’s board work Saturday.

The Cats enjoyed a 32-14 rebounding advantage in the first half and ended up batting Bucknell 57-35 on the glass. Amari Williams, the 7-foot center from England, grabbed 14 rebounds. Brea snatched six. Otega Oweh and Brandon Garrison each had five.

“For these guys to respond to the challenge,” Pope said Saturday, “to go from not where we want to be to getting almost 60 rebounds is really gratifying.”

Bucknell had outrebounded its first two opponents in wins over Delaware and Southern Indiana. Kentucky’s long rebounds off those 3-pointers were a different story.

“Some of the rebounds were in areas where we weren’t physically able to reach them,” Griffin said adding, “They’re going to attack the glass when they see an advantage and that’s what they did.”

3. Bring on the Duke Blue Devils

Next up is Tuesday’s night clash with the seventh-ranked Duke Blue Devils in the Champions Classic at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The UK-Duke game is the second game of the doubleheader, following Kansas-Michigan State. The first game starts at 6:30 p.m. The second is scheduled — put “scheduled” in air quotes — for 9 p.m. ESPN will televise both.

Duke is off to a 2-0 start with wins against Maine (98-62) and Army (100-58). Its all-world freshman star, Cooper Flagg, is averaging 17.5 points in 27.5 minutes per game. But Flagg has been bothered by cramping problems, reportedly much to the consternation of Duke coach Jon Scheyer.

How will Kentucky match up with the Blue Devils? That’s a big question, especially so early in the season. While the Cats are experienced, most of their players have not been on a stage as big as the one they will step onto Tuesday. How Pope’s pupils handle the environment might have as much to do with the outcome as the actual matchup with Duke’s talent.

While I doubt they’ll hit 100 points again, the guess here is that these new Cats will do just fine.

UK basketball makes quick work of Bucknell in game two. Cats roll to 28-point victory.

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