The Wildcats are off to a hot start on multiple fronts.
The Kentucky Wildcats are on a roll, and to open the season, both their men’s and women’s basketball teams are off to a hot start. Not only are they winning on the court, but they’re dominating in a few critical areas.
The Kentucky men’s basketball team has averaged a country-best 26.5 assists per game in what’s been a very promising start to the Mark Pope era. That’s what you call sharing the rock. It’s even more impressive when you consider that most of their players are transfers, so they didn’t have those previous years to build into each other’s style of play.
The Cats have also been listening to Mark Pope’s preaching as they absolutely dominated the offensive and defensive glass in their win against Bucknell on Saturday. Kentucky is off to a strong start, ranking No. 19 in the country in the latest AP Poll. It has taken down Bucknell by 28 and Wright State by 41. Their first real test comes Tuesday vs. the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils.
As for the women’s team, they have been the best shot-blocking team in the country. The Wildcats are averaging the most blocks per game in the country (14.0). Freshman center Clara Silva has 11 blocks so far this season. Sophomore center Clara Strack has six of her own.
The Wildcats have a 98-43 win over USC Upstate and a 70-41 win over Northern Kentucky to tip off the Kenny Brooks era. They will have their first real test of the season on Saturday as they welcome the No. 18 Louisville Cardinals to Memorial Coliseum.
Kentucky’s women’s basketball team is coming in at No. 20 in the country in the latest AP Poll.
Both teams will be tested this week, and we’ll see if they can keep these sky-high numbers for a longer stretch of the season.