No. 8 Kentucky coming together, next target Georgia State

Basketball in Lexington, Kentucky, looks a lot different right now than the “Big Blue Nation” has grown accustomed to.No. 8 Kentucky has a brand new roster, led by a brand new coach. Six games in, it hasn’t seemed to matter at all.The Wildcats have are off to a 6-0 start ahead of Friday’s home meeting with Georgia State. Under first-year head coach Mark Pope and an entirely revamped team, Kentucky is off to its best start since the 2016-17 season, when it won its first nine contests.Last time out, the Wildcats pulled away from Western Kentucky, earning an 87-68 home win on Tuesday. Otega Oweh and Andrew Carr, transfers from Oklahoma and Wake Forest, respectively, led Kentucky with 18 points apiece in the victory. The Wildcats shot just 40.3 percent from the field, but attempted 42 free throws, making 29 of them.For Pope, it’s important for his team to learn how to win defensive battles.”We weren’t functioning great on offense, but we were finding joy on the defensive side of the ball,” Pope said. “That is a winning formula. We’re going to have games that we have to win on defense. If we can really find joy there, and keep going back to that well over and over, we have a chance to win a lot of games.”Kentucky’s 95.3 points per game rank second in the nation through Wednesday’s play. The Wildcats are led by Oweh’s 16.5 points per contest, followed by Dayton transfer Koby Brea’s 14.8. Former San Diego State star Lamont Butler adds 11.7 ppg, while Carr and BYU transfer Jaxson Robinson add 10.8 each.”It’s fun to know we can win games in different ways,” Pope added. “That’s really important. It bodes well for our guys and our team.”