LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Otega Oweh scored 21 points, Koby Brea added 18 off the bench, and No. 23 Kentucky shot 60% to blow out Wright State 103-62 in Mark Pope’s Wildcat debut on Monday night.
Pope replaced John Calipari in April after the Hall of Famer left for Arkansas and revamped the roster with nine transfers. Oweh, an Oklahoma transfer, went 8 for 9 from the floor and made all three shots from deep.
Brea made all four of his 3-pointers for Kentucky, which shot 11 of 24 from behind the arc.
Lamont Butler shot 6 of 12 for 14 points while Amari Williams, who left Kentucky’s final exhibition game with an injury, scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Andrew Carr and Ansley Almonor each had 11 for the Wildcats.
Brandon Noel had 20 points, Alex Huibregtse scored 16 and Solomon Callaghan added 15 for the Raiders, who shot just 35% from the field.
Takeaways
Wright State: The Raiders’ only consistent offensive stretch didn’t come until it strung together four consecutive baskets in the second half. Wright State had to work for opportunities against a Kentucky defense that challenged everything.
Kentucky: The Wildcats were quick at both ends of the floor, attacking the glass defensively and spreading the ball around on the other end. The Wildcats owned the boards 41-32 and outscored the Raiders 56-26 in the paint and 37-21 in bench points.
Key moment
Pope walked into Rupp Arena to a crowd of 19,635 that was spread out around the arena he once called home.
Key stat
30 — Kentucky’s assists on 39 baskets.
Up next
Wright State hosts Ohio Christian on Wednesday night, while Kentucky hosts Bucknell on Saturday before facing Duke in the Champions Classic.
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