Kentucky 108 - 58 Marist (No. 2,053)

Well, that was fun. Marist is not a very good team -- Ken Pomeroy has them as the worst team in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and the 307th worst team in America -- but Kentucky put on an amazing show in the second half of this game. Up by 45-36 at the half, the Wildcats blitzed the Red Foxes 63-22 in the second half for a 108-58 victory. This was the most points the Cats have scored since Coach Cal arrived, and their first time to hit the century mark since they beat East Tennessee State 100-71 in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. (Last year's team reached the Final Four, but it never scored 100 points in a game.

Kentucky played at a very high speed throughout the game -- the Cats took 75 shots from the field, an extremely high number. But their defensive intensity in the first half was not very good, and this allowed Marist to hang around. In the second half, however, the Cats put the hammer down, and they seemed to just keep going faster and faster as the evening went on. They hit 46-75 from the field, including 4-10 from three-point range. They also out-rebounded the Red Foxes 50-27.

This was, of course, our first chance to see the new class of freshman against D-1 competition, and they did not disappoint. For those of you who don't know them, here is a brief description:

Anthony Davis is a 6' 10" forward from Chicago who has remarkable ball control skills for such a tall player. Time and again he finished off possessions with alley oop dunks, and he also showed some ability to handle the ball in transition. He finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, making him only the third freshman in UK history (after Sam Bowie and Terrence Jones) to open his career with a 20-10 game.

Marquis Teague is a 6' 2" guard from Indianapolis who will play the point this year. He is blazingly fast, and showed the ability to make good passes and to finish at the rim. His big challenge will be to play smart and avoid turnovers. He finished with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is a 6' 7" forward from Somerdale, New Jersey. He likes to explode toward the basket, and will probably commit a number of turnovers until he adjusts to playing against big-time competition. But UK fans will love his intensity. He had 15 points and 7 rebounds.

Kyle Wiltjer is a 6' 9" forward from Portland, Oregon -- the same town as Terrence Jones. He has a nice touch around the basket and a little hook shot that Kentucky fans will really enjoy. He had 14 points and 4 rebounds.

Against this background, it is easy to forget that Kentucky still has three of my very favorite Wildcats -- Terrence Jones, Darius Miller, and Doron Lamb -- as well as 6' 11" forward Eloy Vargas. All those guys did last year was go to the Final Four. Tonight they pretty much stayed in the background, but I expect them to become more important as the games get bigger. I liked what I saw from each of them tonight. Jones looked very athletic, Miller looked smart and focused, Vargas looked to be in much better shape, and Lamb -- whose three-point shooting could make the difference between victory and defeat at the end of the season -- seemed to have his shooting stroke already.

How is Calipari going to use all of these guys? It looks as through the starting lineup will be Jones, Miller, Teague, Kidd-Gilchrist, and Davis, but that Lamb, Wiltjer, and Vargas will all get significant time off the bench. Calipari evidently intends to press the pace this year with lots of full-court pressure and transition offense, and he will seek to wear down the other team -- as he did tonight.

While tonight's game was fun, the Red Foxes (who were very short, but who played very hard) simply lacked the firepower to put the young Cats under much pressure. But next Tuesday, they will play another high-profile team in Kansas in the most high-profile of arenas -- Madison Square Garden. The Jayhawks rarely get the chance to play flat-out, because everyone usually tries to slow them down. So that game should be amazingly good.

In fact, it seems clear that if there is no big scandal or other controversy, the 2011-12 NCAA season should be one to remember. It has been many years since the college game featured so many big-time players. UNC, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, U of L, Florida, UConn, Syracuse, and Ohio State all have very strong teams, along with excellent coaches who know what to do in big games. Plus the college game will have the basketball stage to itself until the NBA's lockout is resolved. I thought last year's season was incredibly entertaining, but this could be even better. And Kentucky fans -- who will see their team play Kansas, UNC, St. John's, Indiana, and Louisville before 2011 comes to an end -- should have a front-row seat for the drama.