Previewing Pope's Cats season opener: Will Kentucky handle Wright State? Team breakdown and score prediction

Kentucky’s next opponent, Wright State, is a team in transition. After finishing with an 18–14 record (13–7 in the Horizon League) last year, the Raiders are rebuilding under first-year head coach Clint Sargent, who was an assistant under Scott Nagy last year after Nagy left for Southern Illinois. Several key players also moved on, leaving Wright State a rebuilt team, though they do return some firepower.

Player to Watch

The Raiders’ biggest returning weapon is forward Brandon Noel, a 6’8” junior who was recently named the Horizon League Pre-season Player of the Year. He 14 points and eight rebounds per game last season while shooting over 50% overall and 41% from three. His ability to score and rebound consistently will be crucial against Kentucky, and he is my player to watch for this game.

Wright State also welcomes back Alex Huibregtse, a shooting guard who averaged 12 points, three rebounds, and three assists last year. Huibregtse is another efficient shooter, with over 50% shooting from the field and 41% from three. The Cats must run him off the three-point line all night.

The Raiders have several new faces as well. Jack Doumbia, who joins from Norfolk State (averaged 5 points a game), and Michael Imariagbe (11 points and 8 rebounds last year), a strong rebounder from Houston Christian. Imariagbe only shot 18 percent from 3-point last year and is known for his inside scoring and rebounding, but we will need to block him out consistently.

Freshmen Alex Bruskotter and Ayden Davis are fresh recruits. Bruskotter averaged 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists per game as a senior in high school, and Davis, a 6’10” forward, is an around threat averaging 24 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocks per game as a senior,

Rest of the players:
Ben Sutherland joins from Liberty University, where he played only 6 minutes a game as a Freshman
Keaton Norris redshirt last year but was a 3 points per game scorer the year before
Solomon Callaghan is a redshirt freshman
Braden Grant played only 3 minutes a game,
Logan Woods a 6'5 sophomore played only 11 minutes a game and averaged 2 points.
Grad student Andrew Welage shot over 50 percent from the field and 45 percent from 3 but didn't see much time, only averaging 15 minutes and 5 points.
Jack Doumbia joins from Norfolk State, averaging 5 points a game as a reserve.
Drey Carter is a sophomore who averaged 4 points per game as a freshman

In their only exhibition game of the year, Wright State saw a balanced scoring effort lead to a 108-59 win over Wilmington.

Prediction, score, MVP

The Cats have the better talent and will shoot much better than Wilmington, but this Wright State team will not just fold on its own. I expect a close game for the first two TV timeouts and the Cats to slowly pull away, creating a comfortable first win for Mark Pope.

Kentucky- 91
Wright State-70
MVP- Andrew Carr