FINAL: Cats Roll Little Rock 69-49 as Momcilovic Lights Up Rupp in the Exhibition Opener

Basketball is back at Rupp Arena. The first look at Mark Pope's third Kentucky team ended in a 69-49 win over Travis Ford's Little Rock Trojans on Friday night. It was an exhibition, so it doesn't count on either record, but it was the first time nine Wildcats played a game in blue and white. Here's what stood out, what needs work, and what it says about where the season is headed.

The headliner: Milan Momcilovic
The Iowa State transfer led the nation in 3-point shooting last season, and he looked the part in his Rupp debut. He scored a game-high 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting, made 4 of 7 from deep and grabbed seven rebounds. His late pull-up three in transition put Kentucky up 61-39 with 5:29 left. Kentucky's spacing on Friday started with him. Defenders stayed attached to him on the perimeter, and that opened driving lanes for everyone else.

The supporting cast
Furman transfer Alex Wilkins added 11 points, and freshman Mason Williams had 10 to go with three assists and three steals. Malachi Moreno controlled the glass with 11 rebounds, six points and three assists in 26 minutes, and Zoom Diallo handed out a team-high five assists. Reece Potter got his first minutes as a Wildcat in the final 90 seconds.

How it went
Kentucky took its first lead, 5-4, nearly five minutes in and never trailed again. The Cats led 30-19 at halftime after holding Little Rock to 19 first-half points. When the Trojans got within 12 with 10:40 to play, UK answered with an 8-0 run, including threes from Wilkins and a fast-break layup by Williams, to go up 53-33. The lead peaked at 22.

By the numbers
- UK shot 44 percent from the field and 12 of 28 from three.
- Little Rock shot 31 percent overall and 2 of 20 (10 percent) from deep.
- Kentucky had nine steals and eight blocks.
- The thing to clean up: 19 turnovers against 12 assists, many of them against the full-court press Ford used in the second half.

Three things we learned
1. The length is real. With Moreno, Franck Kepnang and Potter all at 7-0 or taller, Kentucky can change shots without fouling. Little Rock's 2-of-20 night from deep came partly from bigs who closed out hard and still recovered to the rim.
2. The shooting travels. Twelve threes in an exhibition doesn't make a trend. Still, with Momcilovic and Wilkins on the floor together, opponents won't get to pack the paint.
3. Ball security is the October project. The press exposed a group that's still learning to play together. Expect Pope to spend practice time on press breaks and on who brings the ball up when the first option is denied.

Who sat
Kam Williams (foot), Trent Noah (hamstring) and Jerone Morton (knee) did not play. Pope later said Noah is likely out several weeks to a month, while imaging on Williams' foot was described as extremely positive. That leaves Kentucky short on wings for now, and it's one reason Mason Williams' defense matters so much early.

Our Take: The offense is still a work in progress, but the shooting and the defensive length are real, and that's a fun place to start. A 20-point win with 19 turnovers suggests there's plenty of room to improve, which is exactly what you want to see in mid-October. The next test is much tougher.

Next up: Texas Tech comes to Rupp on Friday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. ET (5 p.m. MT) on SEC Network+. Central Florida follows on Oct. 28 in the final exhibition, and the real opener against Manhattan is Nov. 3. GO CATS.

Sources: WKYT · LEX 18 · Lexington Herald-Leader · KSR/On3 · Kentucky Kernel · UK Athletics preview, Texas Tech (steals and blocks totals) · KSR/On3, injury report · ESPN roster (heights)