Preview
Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of Kentucky’s first exhibition game, a 56-38 win over Missouri Western State, was freshman Ugonna Onyenso, who made an immediate splash for the Cats.
Onyenso, who reclassified to be eligible to play collegiately this season, entered the game mid-way through the first half. By the time the half ended, he had managed to block five shots over a four-minute span, giving a lift to his team and getting the Rupp Arena crowd excited about what they were seeing.
For Onyenso, it wasn’t anything out of the norm.
“This is what I do,” Onyenso said. “This is how I play.”
Admittedly, he was a little bit surprised how well things went in his first game at Rupp Arena.
“I wasn’t expecting to play that well,” Onyenso said. “But I told myself to do what you do best.”
The Cats get another chance to play in front of the Rupp Arena crowd on Thursday, hosting Kentucky State in the final exhibition game of the 2022-23 slate.
Kentucky got 15 points from CJ Fredrick in Sunday’s win over Missouri Western. Jacob Toppin added 10 for the Cats in the win.
While the offense struggled at times, the defense was solid for Kentucky on Sunday. Led by Onyenso’s five blocked shots, the Cats held MWSU to 30.8 percent shooting from the floor.
