Year 2 feels different. Mark Pope can sense it. The man knew what he was signing up for when he took the reins at Kentucky, but no one said the first year would be easy. He built a roster and a staff on the fly, turned doubters into believers, and still led the Wildcats to a 24-12 finish and a Sweet Sixteen run. But that was just the beginning. Now, even with the sting of losing Travis Perry still fresh, Pope isn’t worried. He calls his Year 2 squad “deep” and “skilled.” 

And if you saw them in action vs. the No. 1 Purdue Boilermakers, you know exactly what he means.

Now, exhibition games are supposed to be fun. But the Wildcats didn’t exactly play around in their 78–65 win over Purdue. And mind you, they did it without their starting point guard, Jaland Lowe, and Jayden Quaintance. But that wasn’t the main story here. This is what happens when you’ve got a roster as deep as Kentucky’s. Ten Wildcats logged more than 15 minutes, and just four hit the 20-minute mark.

Still, if you asked Mark Pope who the MVP was, he’d point to the guy who scored just two points. Yes, two!

When asked about Collin Chandler’s stat line, only two points, but a team-high +15 plus-minus, Pope didn’t hesitate. “He was the highlight of the whole game for me. I would give him the MVP of the game,” the HC said of the guard. “That’s the defining feature of who…. if this team wants to do something historic, that’s what we need. We need to champion it, we need to take pride in it. We need him to be like, ‘Yes, that was me.’ He was unbelievable.”

Chandler filled the box score with five rebounds, three assists, one steal, and just one turnover in 15 minutes. But his biggest moment was a double-pump slam that had the arena and the bench on their feet. So, in Pope’s eyes, the rest of the Wildcats wouldn’t have eaten the way they did if Chandler hadn’t stepped up.

“He played 15 minutes and he was a plus-15, I think. He was a plus-one per minute, that’s a ridiculous ratio for anything over six or seven minutes of play,” Pope said. What impressed him most, though, were “two elite-level wait in the corner full-speed cuts where he hit the roll late and just broke it open.”

That sequence sparked something Kentucky had been missing: the bigs finally started rolling. The Wildcats took an eight-point lead into halftime, but missed chances inside. Then Chandler set things in motion – the first domino to fall – and soon Mo Dioubate, Malachi Moreno, and Brandon Garrison followed, combining for 23 points on 11-of-16 shooting. 

So yes, Chandler was the difference-maker. The sophomore guard’s impact might not always show up on the scoreboard, but it’s going to matter, and eventually, those contributions will translate to points. 

For now, though, it was the freshmen class who carried the torch.

Mark Pope’s young guns make their statement

Kentucky’s defense was the story of the night, locking down what many consider the best offense in college basketball. But their offense, led by a pair of fearless freshmen, deserves just as much credit.

In-state standouts Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno stole the show, proving that the future of Kentucky basketball is already here. Johnson led the way with a team-high 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including three triples, while Moreno added 8 points on 4-of-5 shooting, 4 rebounds, and an assist, all in a composed, confident fashion.

And then there was the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment from freshman Andre Hawthorne, a play that won’t make the box score but left its mark. With just 4.3 seconds left in the first half, Hawthorne checked in and used his massive wingspan to deflect an inbound pass from Purdue star Braden Smith. The tip led to a Moreno steal, halting what could’ve been a momentum-swinging bucket before halftime. Even though Moreno missed the layup, the sequence showcased the kind of hustle and awareness he is going to bring.

Along with pointing out what the team lacked, Mark Pope was quick to praise the effort across the board, and the players echoed that confidence. “I feel like we the best team in the country for sure,” Johnson said after the game, and he might be onto something. With a roster this deep, defense this sharp, and freshmen this composed, Kentucky might defy every early-season expectation. 

For now, all we know is that it won’t just be Otega Oweh shining under the Rupp lights this year.