GAMEDAY Mens Basketball
Kentucky 95, Howard 63
(AP Photo/James Crisp)
By GARY B. GRAVES
AP Sports Writer
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Antonio Reeves scored 22 points, CJ Fredrick had 20 and No. 4 Kentucky opened the season by beating Howard 95-63 with All-American Oscar Tshiebwe and two other players sidelined.
Tshiebwe, the consensus national player of the year, had a procedure last month on his right knee and anticipated being back for the opener. But other than some pregame stretching and receiving his Naismith Trophy - one of six awards he collected last spring along with being named Associated Press player of the year - he was a bystander and cheerleader.
Point guard Sahvir Wheeler (right leg) and sophomore forward Daimion Collins (personal reasons) were also out, but the Wildcats still shot 55% against the overmatched Bison.
Reeves, an Illinois State transfer who averaged 20.1 points per game last season for the Redbirds, hit 6 of 12 from 3-point range and 8 of 16 overall. Fredrick, who transferred from Iowa but missed last season with a hamstring injury, shot 6 of 9 overall and 2 of 5 from beyond the arc.
Jacob Toppin and freshman Cason Wallace each added 15 points for Kentucky, which made 34 of 62 from the field and 11 of 24 3-pointers.
Kobe Dickson scored 17 points and Elijah Hawkins had 14 for Howard, which shot 34%.
BIG PICTURE
Howard: The Bison didn't convert consecutive baskets until late in the first half and only four times all night. They did manage to lead Kentucky on the glass for a while, especially offensively, but were no match once Kentucky became more assertive.
Kentucky: The absences of all three regulars opened up a lot of minutes for others, and the results were encouraging. Reeves and Fredrick were a strong backcourt tandem, and the Wildcats showed depth in outscoring Howard's bench 32-15.
November 7, 2022
| Howard | ||||||||||
| Player | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| J. Williams | 2-8 | 0-1 | 0-3 | 2-3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| E. Hawkins | 4-10 | 3-4 | 3-5 | 0-3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 14 |
| S. Settle III | 2-5 | 3-3 | 1-2 | 1-6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| K. Dickson | 9-9 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 19 |
| S. Odom | 2-9 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| J. Wood | 1-12 | 0-0 | 1-8 | 1-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| B. Harris | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| O. Okojie | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| M. Stewart | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| R. Brown | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| T. Weaver | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Lewis | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| F. Rhames | 1-1 | 2-2 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Totals | 23-66 (.348) |
10-13 (.769) |
7-25 (.280) |
13-38 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 63 |
| Kentucky | ||||||||||
| Player | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| C. Wallace | 7-11 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 2-8 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
| J. Toppin | 5-12 | 4-7 | 1-2 | 3-11 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 15 |
| C. Fredrick | 6-9 | 6-7 | 2-5 | 0-3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| A. Reeves | 8-16 | 0-1 | 6-12 | 0-1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 22 |
| L. Ware | 1-2 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| C. Livingston | 4-6 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| U. Onyenso | 3-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| A. Thiero | 0-1 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| B. Canada | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| W. Horn | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 34-62 (.548) |
16-28 (.571) |
11-24 (.458) |
15-48 | 20 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 95 |
