By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Kentucky will get its first look at an outside opponent when the Wildcats take on Kentucky Wesleyan in the first of two exhibition games Wednesday night at Rupp Arena.
“We’re excited to give other people headaches other than ourselves and to compete together is exciting,” Kentucky freshman guard Collin Chandler said Tuesday. “We’ve already started scouting and planning on how we’re going to play together.”
The contest will be the unofficial debut for first-year Kentucky coach Mark Pope and the revamped Wildcats ahead of the season opener set for Nov. 4 against Wright State. The Panthers defeated Louisville in an exhibition game last season.
Although it will be the first game against an outside foe, Chandler said the Wildcats have been preparing for the first game at Rupp Arena since last summer.
“I think we’ve tried throughout the summer to keep our focus and what you might call, game mode throughout the summer, so when games come, it’s nothing new,” Chandler said. “We don’t do anything different. We focus on doing the little things, the habits of preparing for practice every day.”
Chandler scored 19 points during the team’s Blue-White event last Friday and won the slam dunk competition at Big Blue Madness. He admitted that playing 40 minutes in last week’s scrimmage was tiring, but said the Wildcats are in shape going into the season.
“Playing 40 minutes non-stop is a challenge, I think, for everybody,” Chandler said. “Everybody bounced back on Saturday and felt good actually. I think we’re all ready to go. It’s nice now that we won’t have to play 40 minutes and be ready to sub in and out and know that a guy’s ready to come in. That’s another nice thing about playing together is that we can kind of tag team it.”
Following his impressive showing, Chandler, a BYU transfer, said he’s starting to get more comfortable on the court following a two-year hiatus. He also had to overcome a “tweak” in his hamstring that he considered a “nagging injury” last summer.
“I’m starting to get my legs under me a little bit and I’m trying to just be aggressive to feel the game out because it’s been a while since (I’ve played),” he said. “I’m just trying to get a feel and I feel like that’s coming back. I’m feeling very comfortable out on the floor and going after guys — I’m feeling good.”
As a team, Chandler said the Wildcats have been working on being an unselfish unit. The Wildcats had 30 assists on 47 field goals combined in last week’s scrimmage.
“I think our big focus lately has been making plays for our teammates,” Chandler said. “Focusing on what we can do to assist our teammates. Not even just passing but screening, setting real screens, getting each other open.
“If that’s our thought process and we worry about our teammates getting shots, then we think everything’s going to work out.”
Gametracker: Kentucky Wesleyan at Kentucky, 7 p.m., Wednesday. TV/Radio: SECN-Plus, UK Radio Network.