Kentucky Basketball Opens Season With Two Blowout Wins as Momcilovic Shines and Freshmen Debut

Momcilovic Leads the Men Past Manhattan

Milan Momcilovic powered the Wildcats with six 3-pointers and 24 points. Kentucky led by as many as 39 points and cruised against the Jaspers. Three players scored in double figures, and nine players found the scoring column.

The Cats finished the night cold, failing to score in the final 3:48 and missing their last six shots. Even so, the offensive performance still counted as a wildly successful opener. The defense matched it, as the Cats swarmed the basket and the ball-handlers on seemingly every possession and made life tough for Manhattan all night.

Momcilovic Earns MVP Honors

Momcilovic earned MVP honors with a game-high 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting overall and 6-of-9 from beyond the arc. He also grabbed five rebounds, including two offensive boards, in 28 minutes. His night showed why the Cats paid $6 million to land the best shooter in the country in Lexington.

Several teammates contributed as well. Malachi Moreno finished with eight points and 10 rebounds, and Alex Wilkins hit three triples. Wilkins also tied Mason Williams for a team-high five assists. Braydon Hawthorne showed potential with two blocks and four assists to go with eight points.

A Shaky Start Gives Way to a Dominant Run

Kentucky showed some first-game jitters early, turning the ball over three times in the first 5:28 and picking up three fouls. Zoom Diallo drew one of those fouls on the opening tip-off. Once the Cats settled in, they pulled within 9-7 at the first media timeout. Ousmane N’Diaye scored the first bucket of the game, and Diallo knocked down the first 3-pointer of the season.

Manhattan pushed ahead 13-9, but Kentucky then started to click at both ends. Wilkins, Justin McBride, and Williams drained 3-pointers in succession, while the defense held the Jaspers to five straight missed shots. The Wildcats seized an 18-13 lead with 10:23 left in the first half.

A 23-3 run in the first half then put the game out of reach. N’Diaye capped the half with an emphatic alley-oop dunk on an assist from Wilkins. Kentucky never looked back.

Women’s Team Rolls Behind a Deep Roster

The women’s team put its own depth on display Tuesday with the 85-42 win over Morehead State. The Wildcats are one of only two teams in the country with five former McDonald’s All-Americans on the roster. Two of those playmakers, Emily McDonald and Savvy Swords, came from the same high school program at Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, New York.

Both freshmen made an immediate impact in their college debuts. Swords came off the bench first for head coach Kenny Brooks, dominating the glass with 11 rebounds and adding six points. McDonald found her offensive rhythm quickly and finished with 10 points and two rebounds. Their chemistry looked like a seamless continuation of their high school days, and the two also room together in Lexington.

“We are roommates, so it’s been a lot of fun coming in here with someone I already knew and going through freshman year with her. I think we have all had ups and downs since we got here… Me and Savvy are like the same person,” McDonald said.

“We are very similar. It’s so funny, when we were like making our dorm room, we didn’t talk about this at all; we had this same throw blanket, same vibe in the room,” Swords said.

Friends First, Teammates Second

Swords also described how she handled the recruiting process, balancing her hope that her friend would join her with a desire not to pressure her.

“When she was talking like Kentucky was in her top, I was trying to push but not like too much. I wanted her to make her own decision. But yeah, it has been a continuation,” Swords said.

Both players bring strong resumes to Lexington. McDonald, a Buffalo, New York native, ranks as the No. 23 player in the Class of 2026 according to ESPN, and she is a certified perimeter sniper. She proved it by winning both the girls and co-ed 3-point championships at the McDonald’s All-American events.

What the Openers Signal

The two openers delivered the same message from different courts: Kentucky has talent from top to bottom. The men’s team leaned on a record-setting shooting performance from its prized transfer shooter, and the women’s team showed off a freshman duo that already plays like a veteran pair. Both squads still have room to grow, from the men’s late-game scoring drought to the early turnovers and fouls. For now, the Wildcats can enjoy a strong start on both sides of the program.