Kentucky Basketball vs. Little Rock: 3 Things To Watch in the Wildcats’ First Exhibition

To be honest: I have never been someone who gets overly excited about exhibition basketball.

The games do not count, coaches are still figuring out rotations and players are still getting comfortable with one another, so I think it is important to keep these games in perspective and not put too much stock into the final score. We learned that last season after Kentucky beat preseason No. 1 ranked Purdue 78-65. If you need more evidence, Cincinnati beat Michigan last year in an exhibition.

Kentucky will host Little Rock at Rupp Arena at 7 p.m. ET for its first exhibition game against outside competition this season, giving Big Blue Nation its first real opportunity to see Mark Pope’s revamped roster play against somebody other than themselves.

I am not going to sit here and pretend the final score is going to tell us everything about Kentucky’s season, but there are 3 things I will be watching closely.

Travis Ford Returns to Rupp Arena

The biggest storyline outside of Kentucky’s roster is standing on the opposite sideline.

Little Rock hired former Kentucky point guard Travis Ford this offseason, bringing him back to Lexington more than 3 decades after he played for Rick Pitino and helped lead the Wildcats to the 1993 Final Four.

Ford played at Kentucky from 1991-94 and finished his UK career with 951 points, while his 428 assists rank 9th in program history. He was also an outstanding shooter, averaging 13.6 points per game during the 1992-93 season while shooting 52.9% from 3-point range and making 101 3-pointers, becoming the first Kentucky player to make at least 100 3s in a season.

He has spent more than 2 decades coaching at the Division I level, including stops at Eastern Kentucky, Massachusetts, Oklahoma State and Saint Louis. Ford has a 424-335 career record at the Division I level and has taken his teams to the NCAA Tournament 7 times, including 5 appearances during his time at Oklahoma State and another at Saint Louis, where he won the 2019 Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Little Rock Has Some New Faces, Too

Little Rock went 12-20 last season and has essentially rebuilt its roster from scratch under Ford, so this is not exactly the same team Kentucky would have seen last season.

There are a few players worth knowing, though, starting with Aaron Clark, who transferred from Pepperdine after averaging 15.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game last season. Clark earned All-WCC honorable mention and led the conference with 4 games of at least 30 points. He’s the biggest individual scoring threat Kentucky will have to deal with Friday night.

Jah’Likai King is another guard to watch after transferring from UMBC, where he averaged 14.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 41.7% from the field and 32.2% from 3-point range.

Little Rock also returns Taj Walters, who averaged 8.5 points and 5.4 rebounds last season, while the Trojans added former Pittsburgh big man Papa Amadou Kante. The 6-foot-10 Kante averaged 2.8 points and 5.4 rebounds in limited action at Pitt before a knee injury ended his season.

1. How does Kentucky Shoot the Ball?

This is probably the biggest offensive question heading into Friday night.

I do not necessarily need Kentucky to make a bunch of 3s. What I want to see is whether this team is actually willing to let it fly when the opportunities are there, because there is a difference between shooting the ball poorly and simply not taking the shots that are available.

If somebody is open, let it fly. Whether a player creates enough space for his own 3 or drives, draws help and kicks it out to an open teammate, I want to see Kentucky take advantage of those opportunities.

I want to see what this team looks like as a whole from behind the 3-point line, especially with a roster that has several players who should be capable of creating shots for themselves and others.

Milan Momcilovic is obviously the big name to watch, but this is bigger than just him. How do Zoom Diallo, Alex Wilkins, Braydon Hawthorne and the rest of Kentucky’s perimeter players operate within Pope’s offense and whether the ball moves enough to consistently create good looks. Kentucky brought in 6 transfers this offseason, so Friday will be our first real look at how those pieces fit together offensively.

2. Who Holds the Starting 4 Spot?

The second thing to watch is the battle at power forward between Justin McBride and Ousmane N’Diaye.

We all want to see who gets the start, but more importantly, how does that player actually play once the game gets going.

Neither guy needs to win the job permanently Friday night, and I do not expect Pope to suddenly have every rotation decision figured out after one exhibition. I want to see what each player brings to the floor, how they fit next to Malachi Moreno and which option gives Kentucky the best combination of size, athleticism, rebounding and offensive ability.

Friday gives us our first opportunity to see how Pope approaches it and whether one player begins to separate himself from the other. The power forward is going to be one of the most important areas on this team all season.

3. What Does This Kentucky Defense Actually Look Like?

I am not expecting Kentucky to be a great defensive team this season, and honestly, I am not even sure I expect this team to be good defensively all the time.

What I do want to see is the effort and some evidence that there are actual defensive rules and schemes being taught and executed.

I want to see Kentucky communicate, rotate, help when someone gets beat and compete on that end of the floor, but I also want to see what the Wildcats are actually trying to do. How are they defending ball screens? Where is the help coming from? Are they going to pressure the ball? What happens when the first defender gets beat?

Those things are much more important to me Friday than whether Kentucky wins by 20 or 40.

And yes, Kentucky will win this game comfortably. Little Rock went 12-20 last season, and Ford has essentially rebuilt the roster entering his first season with the program, so Kentucky should have too much talent and depth for the Trojans to stay with the Wildcats for 40 minutes.

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