Five things you need to know from Kentucky men's basketball's 81-45 win over the Morehead State Eagles in the 2020-21 season opener at Rupp Arena:
1. Kentucky's defensive length is going to be a problem. The Wildcats' starting lineup went 6-3, 6-7, 6-7, 6-10, 7-foot.
The Cats came off the bench with 6-3, 6-6, 6-6, 6-9, 6-9.
Kentucky's length and athleticism swallowed up Morehead State, forcing MSU into a horrid shooting performance — 17-of-50 from the field, 3-of-21 on three-point attempts.
Preston Spradlin's Eagles were not a good shooting team a season ago (hitting 43.4% from the field overall; 28.8 on three-pointers and 63.8% on foul shots), so it's not a shock that Morehead struggled vs. UK.
But one suspects that more offensively-skilled teams from power-five leagues are going to have trouble scoring against Kentucky in 2020-21.
2. Lavishly-hyped Kentucky freshmen did not disappoint. Wings Terrence Clarke (12 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals) and Brandon Boston (13 points, seven rebounds) impressed with all-around skill.
The pre-season buzz player, Isaiah Jackson (nine points, four rebounds, two dramatic blocked shots in 20 minutes) showed what the fuss has been about. Point guard Devin Askew (12 points, 2-of-3 three-point shots) showed a smooth shooting stroke. Backup wing Cam'Ron Fletcher (nine points, five rebounds, a steal) was active and efficient.
Better, more experienced teams will no doubt find Kentucky weakness to exploit. Still, John Calipari's latest class of highly-touted recruits looks more than capable of living up to its billing.
Consider: In a game in which Kentucky did not dress a single player who had ever scored a point in a UK uniform, the Wildcats shot 55.9% and had 18 assists on 33 made field goals.
3. John Calipari is now 11-1 in season-openers as Kentucky head coach. The one loss, 118-84 to Duke in the 2018-19 Champions Classic, was memorable.
As Kentucky head coach, Calipari is now 20-2 vs. in-state schools.
4. Morehead State is now 0-11 all-time vs. Kentucky. The other in-state Division I schools have not enjoyed an abundance of success vs. UK, either.
Eastern Kentucky is 0-12 against the Wildcats, Louisville 16-37, Northern Kentucky 0-2 and Western Kentucky 2-4.
Bellarmine and Murray State have never played UK.
5. Kentucky's eight NCAA championship teams, for what it's worth, all won their season openers and did so by an average margin of 29.3 points.
1947-48 Indiana Central 80-41
1948-49 Indiana Central 74-38
1950-51 West Texas St. 73-43
1957-58 Duke 78-74
1977-78 SMU 110-86
1995-96 Maryland 96-84
1997-98 Morehead St. 88-49
2011-12 Marist 108-58
