Kentucky basketball earns resounding victory to open 2026-27 season
By Rolando Rosa
Published:
No. 23 Kentucky tipped off the season with an emphatic 85-57 win against visiting Manhattan on Tuesday night.
Senior forward Milan Momcilovic led the Wildcats with 24 points along with 5 rebounds. Momcilovic made 6 of his 9 attempts from beyond the arc. It was a memorable first game by Momcilovic as a member of Kentucky after spending his first 3 seasons at Iowa State.
Junior guard Zoom Diallo added 12 points. Sophomore guard Alex Wilkins finished with 11 points and was extremely disruptive defensively with 7 steals. Wilkins is a transfer from Furman.
Kentucky sophomore center Malachi Moreno had a game-high 10 rebounds. The Wildcats out-rebounded the Jaspers by 14.
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Kentucky held Manhattan to 35 percent shooting overall and 27 percent from the 3-point line. The Jaspers scored just 22 points in the first half to head into the break down by 26.
The Wildcats drained 12 3-pointers while also going 53 percent from the field. Manhattan took 12 more free throws than Kentucky but only shot 52 percent from the line. Kentucky led by as many as 39 points.
Next up for Kentucky is a home matchup vs. James Madison on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. ET that will be televised on SEC Network.
