Kentucky's Alex Wilkins Breaks Rajon Rondo's Debut Steals Record With 7

Kentucky basketball has a new name in its record book after one game.

Alex Wilkins had seven steals in Kentucky's 85-57 season-opening win over Manhattan on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena, the most ever by a Wildcat in his debut. The mark had belonged to Rajon Rondo, who had five against Coppin State in his first game.

Seven steals is also one shy of Kentucky's single-game record of eight, shared by Rondo, Wayne Turner, Ashton Hagans and Cason Wallace.

Wilkins, a transfer from Furman, came to Lexington known for his scoring. On Tuesday he did both. He finished with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, made 3 of 6 threes and handed out a team-high five assists, with two rebounds and two turnovers in 26 minutes. He finished plus-35, the best mark on the team, according to KSR.

His hands set the tone. Kentucky had nine steals as a team, and Wilkins had seven of them. Manhattan turned it over 13 times, and the Wildcats turned those into 18 points. Kentucky led 48 to 22 at halftime.

The one cost was fouls. Wilkins was whistled four times, so the gambling came with some risk.

Mark Pope had pointed to this side of Wilkins' game after the exhibition win over Texas Tech. "His effort and focus and intentionality on the defensive end, if he can live in that space consistently, then we got a young man that could really grow into a big-time player," Pope said then, as reported by KSR.

Kentucky (1-0) hosts James Madison on Friday at 7 PM ET on SEC Network, then meets Kansas in the Champions Classic in Chicago next Tuesday.

Sources: ESPN box score · On3/KSR · UK postgame notes via Nation of Blue · Sports Illustrated