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UK MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES

KENTUCKY vs. CANADA

GLOBL JAM | TORONTO, ONTARIO | MATTAMY ATHLETIC CENTRE

JULY 16, 2023

FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 89, Canada 72

• This was Kentucky’s fourth and final exhibition game of the GLOBL JAM FIBA event, with the Cats winning gold at the four-team event.
• Kentucky is 150-12 all-time in exhibition games and has won 29 straight. UK is 47-1 in exhibition contests under head coach John Calipari.

First-Quarter Facts

• Kentucky started the combination of D.J. Wagner, Antonio Reeves, Justin Edwards, Adou Thiero and Tre Mitchell for the second time in the event after the group started the opener against Germany.
• Behind a pair of Mitchell 3-pointers and a trio of Canada turnovers, UK opened up a 13-7 lead it would never relinquish less than five minutes into the contest.
• After a pair of Canada free throws, Kentucky went on a 12-2 run over a 2:45 spurt, using eight points from Edwards, to make it a 25-11 contest.
• Rob Dillingham was the Cats’ first substitution at the 4:26 mark of the opening quarter.
• The Canadians notched a 3-point play in the final minute as the Wildcats took a 25-14 advantage into the break.
• UK held Canada to 5-for-14 from the field in the opening quarter while forcing seven Canadian turnovers.

Second-Quarter Story

• A 10-4 Canada spurt over the opening 3:20 of the second quarter cut the Wildcat advantage to five at 29-24 before a Reeves 3-pointer ended the run.
• A pair of free throws from Reeves stretched the UK advantage to 39-29 at the 4:22 mark but Canada scored the next five to make it a 39-34 contest with 3:00 remaining.
• The two teams exchanged baskets before combining to miss eight straight shots before back-to-back buckets on the break from Reed Sheppard and Edwards made it a 45-36 game with 34 seconds remaining.
• Canada connected on a free throw and a fast-break layup to trim the Kentucky lead to 45-39 at the half.
• Edwards led the Cats with 17 points and tied for the team lead on the boards with Mitchell at four.
• Mitchell scored 10 while Reeves added nine for Kentucky, which shot 50% (18-for-36) in the opening 20 minutes.
• Kentucky recorded an assist on 14 of 18 first-half field goals.
• UK went 4-for-5 from the charity stripe in the opening half while Canada went 8-for-13.

Third-Quarter Tidbits

• The Cats opened the second half with the starters on the floor.
• A Canada 3-pointer made it a 49-44 contest just over two minutes into the second half but a 3-pointer from Wagner followed by a beautiful tip-in dunk from Edwards pushed the UK lead right back to 54-44 at the 7:00 mark.
• The Kentucky advantage stood at just six at 58-52 after a Canada 3-pointer with 3:42 left in the period but the Cats would outscore Canada 14-1 the rest of the way to hold a 72-53 lead after three.
• After a pair of baskets each by Jordan Burks and Mitchell, Dillingham capped the run with a 4-point play and then a deep 2-pointer in the closing seconds.

Fourth-Quarter Findings 

• Canada scored the opening four points of the final quarter, but the Cats bounced right back with a corner 3 from Reeves followed by an Edwards dunk on the break to push the lead to a game-high 20 at 77-57 with 8:18 to play.
• The Canadians went on an 8-2 spurt over the next 3:57 to make it 79-65 but a pair of Reeves treys put that to an end as the Cats breezed to the 17-point victory.
• Brennan Canada made his first appearance of the tournament in the final two minutes.

Team Notes 

• Kentucky led by at least 16 points in every game of the event and by at least 20 in each of the final three.
• The Cats shot 50% (37-for-74) from the field and 40% (10-for-25) from deep.
  • Kentucky connected on 44 made 3-pointers for the event.
• Kentucky assisted on 26 of 37 made field goals and led for 37:51 of the contest.
• For the tournament, UK had a 74-46 advantage in points off turnovers.

Player Notes  

• Justin Edwards led the Cats with 23 points to go along with seven rebounds.
  • UK was plus-20 with him on the floor.
• Antonio Reeves was named tournament’s most valuable player, connecting on four 3-pointers while scoring 18 points in the final.
  • Reeves averaged 23 points per game and shot 56.3% (18-for-32) from deep in the event.
• Tre Mitchell notched the Cats’ first double-double of the tournament with 18 points and 11 rebounds in addition to five assists.
  • Mitchell also grabbed a team-best 31 rebounds while dishing out 18 assists over the four games.
• D.J. Wagner went for 13 points and a game-high six assists.