Milan Momcilovic scored 24 points and made six 3-pointers in his Kentucky debut, and No. 23 Kentucky opened its season with an 85-57 win over Manhattan on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena. The senior forward shot 8 of 12 from the field and 2 of 2 at the free throw line. His six made 3s tied the school record for a player in his first game as a Wildcat.
A slow start, then a runaway first half
For the first eight minutes, the opener did not follow the script. Manhattan scored six straight points early, led by five points twice, and still held a 13-9 lead with 12:24 left in the first half. Kentucky answered with a 13-0 run to move in front 22-13. The Wildcats stretched the run to 25-3 for a 34-16 lead, and they outscored the Jaspers 41-10 over the final 13 minutes of the half. By halftime, Kentucky led 48-22.
The second half brought no comeback. Momcilovic opened it with another 3-pointer, and the lead later reached 39 points at 83-44, the largest of the night. Kentucky outscored Manhattan 37-35 after the break to finish a 28-point win. A crowd of 19,304 watched the first meeting between the two schools.
A record-tying debut for Momcilovic
Momcilovic, a 6-foot-9 senior forward, came to Kentucky after three seasons at Iowa State. He led the nation in 3-point shooting last season with the Cyclones, and he looked the part in his first game in a Kentucky uniform. He scored 11 points in the first half, finished with five rebounds, and posted the fifth-most points by a Kentucky player in his first game, according to UK Athletics. His six 3-pointers tied the debut record set by Antonio Reeves in 2022.
“It was great to see Milan make shots; I think we are going to see that every single night all season,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said in the postgame press conference. “He is like the sun, man. He just has so much gravity and he pulls defenders to him away from other guys on our team and makes everybody’s life easier.”
Momcilovic said his shooting lifts the whole offense. He described it as “seeing the ball go through the rim is just confidence for myself first, and then for my teammates a little bit.” Manhattan coach John Gallagher came away impressed too. “What I see in him, I see an NBA player, because of his release,” Gallagher said.
The newcomers were not done
Zoom Diallo scored 12 points in his first Kentucky game. Alex Wilkins, a transfer from Furman, added 11 points, five assists and seven steals. The seven steals are the most ever by a Wildcat in his debut, and they left Wilkins one short of the single-game school record of eight. Malachi Moreno added eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Kentucky shot 53.3 percent from the field, made 12 of 31 attempts from 3-point range, won the rebounding battle 40-26, recorded 20 assists and got 26 points from its bench. Novak Manojlovic and Kevin Kearney led Manhattan with 11 points each. The Jaspers shot 35.2 percent from the field.
What comes next
Kentucky (1-0) has won five straight season openers, including three in a row under Pope. The Wildcats stay home to host James Madison on Friday night, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. on the SEC Network. Manhattan (0-1) returns home to host Albany on Friday night, according to the Associated Press.
Reporting note: This story is based on the UK Athletics game recap, official postgame notes and postgame press conference transcript, with confirmation from the Associated Press and Field Level Media reports.