No. 23 Kentucky wasted little time turning its season opener into a runaway Monday night at Rupp Arena, rolling past Manhattan 85-57 in the 2026-27 regular-season debut.
The Wildcats were slow out of the gate and trailed 13-9 with 12:24 left in the first half, but that was about as long as the Jaspers could hang around. Over the next 6:21 of game time, Kentucky ripped off a 25-3 surge and took control for good.
Once the outcome was settled, one of the more intriguing questions became whether Mark Pope’s team would reach his target of 35 3-point attempts. Pope has made that number a talking point since taking over at Kentucky, describing his aim as having the Wildcats average “35 good 3-point” attempts a game.
That has not been the reality so far. Kentucky averaged 25.3 3-point attempts per game in both the 2024-25 and last season, taking 910 threes in 36 games one year and 859 in 34 games the next.
Against Manhattan, the Wildcats at least gave it a real run. They were 8 of 18 from deep at halftime and had more than half the needed attempts in hand. But the second half brought only 13 more 3-point tries, and Kentucky finished 12 of 31 from beyond the arc.
The best individual work from long range belonged to Milan Momcilovic, who arrived as the nation’s most accurate 3-point shooter last season for Iowa State. He launched nine threes, made six, and finished with a game-high 24 points.
Alex Wilkins also made his presence felt in a big way. The Furman transfer had four steals by halftime and reached seven midway through the second half, putting him one away from Kentucky’s school record of eight in a game.
That mark is shared by Wayne Turner (1997-98 vs. George Washington), Rajon Rondo (2004-05 vs.
Mississippi State), Ashton Hagans (2018-19 vs. North Carolina) and Cason Wallace (2022-23 vs.
Michigan State). Wilkins did not return after that and ended with 11 points, two rebounds, five assists and seven steals in 26 minutes.
The night also brought an unusual scene in Rupp Arena. While Kentucky basketball was handling business on the floor, the loudest cheer came for the football team. When ESPN’s first College Football Playoff rankings reached Kentucky at No. 6, the ranking appeared on the arena video boards, and the crowd responded with a standing ovation for Will Stein’s 7-1, 5-1 SEC Wildcats.
The win also nudged Kentucky’s numbers in a few familiar categories. The Wildcats improved to 103-21 all-time in season openers, 108-16 in home openers and 47-4 in home openers at Rupp Arena.
And in the all-time NCAA Division men’s college basketball wins race, Kentucky’s lead over Kansas remains intact. The Wildcats opened the season with a six-game edge, 2,444 to 2,438, and after Bill Self’s Jayhawks beat Fordham 95-65 on Monday night, the margin now stands at 2,445 to 2,439.
Both teams are back in action Friday night at home - Kentucky against James Madison and Kansas against Middle Tennessee State - before meeting Tuesday night in the State Farm Champions Classic in Chicago.
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Kentucky Heads Into Tennessee With Stakes This Rivalry Rarely Sees
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The setting only adds to the intrigue. Both teams still have realistic postseason paths, and the stakes are high enough that the result could shape the rest of their schedules as much as the standings. It also gives Kentucky a fresh coaching wrinkle to watch in the 122nd meeting between these schools, with Will Stein and Josh Heupel set to guide the next chapter of a rivalry that rarely has this much national relevance attached to it. [Read more 🡒]