Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats got the 2026-27 season started on Tuesday night with Manhattan making the trip to Rupp Arena. The Wildcats blew out the Jaspers 85-57 to move to 1-0 on the season. Kentucky fans seem to be quite pleased with the way the Wildcats played on Tuesday night.
A big reason why the fans were so happy with the performance from the Wildcats was because of the way Alex Wilkins played. In this game, Wilkins scored 11 points to go with five assists, seven steals, and two rebounds. Wilkins was also efficient from the field, going 4-for-7.
In the three exhibition games, Wilkins showed flashes but wasn't efficient from the field and was taking some bad shots. Fans were hoping to see him play much better in the season opener, and that was the case for the Furman transfer.
After the win for the Wildcats, Manhattan's head coach John Gallagher spoke with the media, and he was asked about the play of Wilkins. Big Blue Nation will love to hear what the Jaspers' head coach had to say about Wilkins.
Here is what Manhattan's coach had to say about Wilkins: "The thing that jumps out at me, we just played him last year, he was at Furman. He actually had seven turnovers in the game. He's way more mature. I think he did a great job with the opportunity, and at the end of the day, he really understands angles, and his length bothers people. He's a 6-foot-6 point guard. He's going to be a handful. And he really understands when to go, when not to go, I think he could be a real defensive menace in the SEC."
This goes to show how much Wilkins has grown over the last year and how much better he has gotten. He is a player that will continue to get better and better as the season goes on for Coach Pope. Wilkins is known as an elite shooter, but his defense really stood out to Big Blue Nation last night.
The leader in steals in a single game for Kentucky is Rajon Rondo, who had eight in a game for the Wildcats. Wilkins had seven in the season opener for the Wildcats and was right on Rondo's heels. This game was a great start for Wilkins, and things are only going to get better for the young guard.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/kentucky as Manhattan's head coach believes Alex Wilkins has already seen a ton of growth at Kentucky .
