Cats Knock the Rust Off, Beat Little Rock by 20

Kentucky basketball is officially back.

The Wildcats opened their 2026-27 exhibition schedule Friday night with a 69-49 victory over Little Rock in front of 18,955 fans at Rupp Arena. It wasn't always pretty—especially offensively in the first half—but there was still plenty for Big Blue Nation to like in the first real look at Mark Pope's new roster.

Kentucky's length and defense were impressive, the Wildcats heated up dramatically from three-point range after halftime, Milan Momcilovic looked exactly like the elite shooter Kentucky hoped it was getting, and freshman Mason Williams provided an encouraging debut off the bench.

There were also some obvious areas to clean up. Kentucky committed 19 turnovers, struggled at times against Little Rock's pressure and shot only 58.3 percent from the free-throw line.

That's what exhibition games are for.

The opening minutes looked exactly like what you might expect from a team playing its first exhibition game with a dramatically different roster.

Little Rock scored first and Kentucky missed several early shots before Momcilovic finally put the Cats on the board with a turnaround jumper. Alex Wilkins then converted a three-point play and Zoom Diallo attacked the basket to give Kentucky a 7-4 advantage.

From there, the Wildcats began taking control.

Ousmane N'Diaye knocked down a three, Diallo scored again and Momcilovic buried a triple as Kentucky put together a 13-0 run. The Wildcats eventually stretched the lead to 27-14 before taking a 30-19 advantage into halftime.

Kentucky's offense wasn't exactly humming. The Cats shot only 10-of-28 (35.7 percent) in the opening 20 minutes and made 4-of-13 from three.

The defense was a different story.

Little Rock shot just 7-of-31 (22.6 percent) in the first half and only 1-of-11 from three. The Trojans missed 14 of their final 18 shots before halftime as Kentucky's size and length repeatedly made clean looks difficult.

If the first half showed what Kentucky might be capable of defensively, the second half offered a glimpse of what Pope's offense could eventually become.

Kentucky shot 15-of-29 (51.7 percent) from the floor after halftime and, more importantly, caught fire from the perimeter.

The Wildcats buried 8-of-15 three-pointers in the second half—a scorching 53.3 percent.

Little Rock managed to cut Kentucky's advantage to 12 midway through the half, but the Wildcats responded with an 8-0 run that essentially ended any thought of a comeback. Kentucky eventually pushed its lead to a game-high 22 points with 5:29 remaining.

By the end of the night, UK had connected on 12-of-28 three-pointers (42.9 percent).

Kentucky brought Milan Momcilovic to Lexington because the 6-foot-8 forward can shoot.

It took him exactly one exhibition game to show Big Blue Nation why his shooting could completely change the geometry of Kentucky's offense.

Momcilovic led all scorers with 16 points, shooting 5-of-9 overall and 4-of-7 from three-point range. He also grabbed seven rebounds and didn't commit a turnover in more than 30 minutes.

Kentucky is going to need shooters who force defenses to extend well beyond the paint. Momcilovic demonstrated Friday night that leaving him open is going to be a dangerous proposition.

Malachi Moreno didn't need a huge scoring night to make a major impact.

The sophomore center finished with only six points on 3-of-4 shooting, but he was arguably Kentucky's most important player on the defensive end.

Moreno grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds—nine on the defensive glass—and blocked three shots. He also recorded three assists and a steal.

That's exactly the type of performance Kentucky needs from Moreno this season. With so many shooters and perimeter scorers around him, the Cats don't necessarily need him taking 15 shots every night. They need him rebounding, protecting the rim, passing and finishing efficiently.

One of the most encouraging performances of the night belonged to freshman Mason Williams.

Williams came off the bench and scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in just under 21 minutes. He made his only three-point attempt and added three assists and a team-high three steals.

Those numbers are impressive enough, but Williams also looked comfortable. For a freshman making his first college appearance in Rupp Arena, he didn't look overwhelmed by the moment.

If Williams can consistently provide that kind of steady two-way play, Pope may have another dependable rotation option.

The offense will receive most of the attention in a Mark Pope system, but Kentucky's defense produced the most encouraging statistic of the entire night.

Little Rock finished just 18-of-58 from the field (31.0 percent).

Even more impressive: the Trojans made only 2-of-20 three-point attempts.

Kentucky finished with eight blocked shots and nine steals. Moreno had three blocks, N'Diaye had two, and Kepnang, McBride and Braydon Hawthorne each rejected one shot.

Kentucky also won the rebounding battle 42-35 and completely shut Little Rock out in second-chance scoring, winning that category 10-0.

There was one number on Kentucky's stat sheet that Pope certainly won't like.

Nineteen turnovers.

Kentucky finished with only 12 assists against those 19 giveaways, and Little Rock's pressure created some uncomfortable moments. Wilkins committed four turnovers, Moreno had four and Diallo had three.

That's something that will have to improve considerably as the competition gets tougher.

The encouraging part is that this is exactly the type of issue an exhibition game can expose. Kentucky has time to improve its spacing, communication and decision-making against pressure before the games begin counting.

It was one exhibition game in October.

Kentucky isn't a finished product, and nobody should expect it to be.

The Wildcats turned the ball over too much. The offense was stagnant at times. The free-throw shooting wasn't good enough. There were stretches when Little Rock's pressure clearly bothered Kentucky.

But there were also some very encouraging signs.

Kentucky held an opponent to 31 percent shooting. The Cats dominated the defensive glass. They blocked eight shots. They made 12 threes. Momcilovic looked like a major offensive weapon. Moreno controlled the paint and the glass. Williams looked comfortable immediately.

And after an ugly offensive first half, Kentucky adjusted and shot 51.7 percent overall and 53.3 percent from three after halftime.

That's what you want from an exhibition opener: enough positives to get excited about and enough problems to give the coaching staff plenty to work on.

Kentucky won't have to wait long to find out how some of these encouraging signs translate against stronger competition.

The Wildcats return to Rupp Arena on Friday, October 23 for their second exhibition game against Texas Tech. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, with the game available on SEC Network+.

After a 20-point win to open the exhibition schedule, that matchup should tell us considerably more about just how far Pope's newest Kentucky team has come—and how far it still has to go.