The beginning of the Mark Pope era of Kentucky basketball has been a points-a-palooza. The Wildcats ended the game with a pair of Brandon Garrison free throws that gave Kentucky a 100-72 victory over Bucknell.

Kentucky also surpassed the century mark in the season-opening 103-62 win over Wright State. According to our friend Corey Price, this is the first time since the 1978-1979 season that the Wildcats have opened the season with consecutive 100-point performances. Kentucky also became just the third team since 1980 to win their first two games by at least 28 points.

As was the case in the opener, it was the Wildcats’ passing, not their three-point shooting, that really stood out on the stat sheet. Kentucky had 23 assists on 38 made field goals.

There’s another stat that will jump off the sheet for the head coach. Mark Pope made offensive rebounding a point of emphasis ahead of today’s game. It’s clear his team was listening. Kentucky outrebounded Bucknell by a dozen and grabbed 22 offensive rebounds for 19 second-chance points.

Before I share a few more statistics that are surrounded by sunshine and rainbows, you could feel the sloppy play through stints of the game. Kentucky committed 15 turnovers, with five coming from the 7-footer in the middle of the paint. Those need to be cleaned up when Kentucky takes on Duke this Tuesday at the Champions Classic.

Top Performers

Kerri Kriisa — He only scored six points, but he was wheeling and dealing on the court, dishing out 12 assists in only 21 minutes of action. Kriisa was the plus-minus champion of the night at +20.

Koby Brea — The sharpshooter has lived up to the billing. The Dayton transfer hit 6-8 three-pointers to score a team-high 20 points. He’s now shooting a remarkable 83.3% from three (10-12) this season.

Amari Williams — Another night, another double-double for Kentucky’s 7-footer. Five of his 14 rebounds were on the offensive glass. He had 13 points and also dished out a couple of pretty assists. Williams is just the fourth player to have at least 13 rebounds in his first two Kentucky basketball games, joining Dan Issel, Julius Randle, and Oscar Tshiebwe. Not too shabby.

Kentucky vs. Bucknell Final Box Score

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