Kentucky steamrolls No. 8 Miami, and John Calipari's Wildcats look like contenders

Two of the best offenses in the country met at Rupp Arena Tuesday night.

Only one lived up to the billing.

No. 12 Kentucky steamrolled No. 8 Miami, 95-73 in a matchup of two teams that entered Tuesday averaging better than 89 points per game. Kentucky's offense was dynamic and aggressive with a multitude of scorers getting buckets in the paint and from beyond the 3-point line.

Its defense, meanwhile, shut down options for a Miami team that entered Tuesday as the nation's best 3-point shooting team (45.8%). There were no easy looks for the Hurricanes in Lexington. It was a dominant effort against a top 10 team, the kind that announces Final Four intentions.

Kentucky cruised with an eight-man rotation featuring heavy minutes from five freshman. Five players scored in double figues in a balanced effort that saw the Wildcats shoot 59.7% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point distance. A young team that looked strong in a five-point lost to then-No. 1 Kansas on Nov. 15 is playing at another level four games later.

Justin Edwards, a projected lottery pick and the prize of No. 1 ranked recruiting class, played perhaps his best game as a Wildcat while shooting 5 of 7 from the field in a 11-point, three-rebound effort. Senior Antonio Reeves anchored the starting lineup with 18 points and five rebounds as the veteran presence on the floor.

But it was freshman Reed Sheppard who shone brightest in a breakout game on a national stage. The sharpshooter scored 21 points off the bench while shooting 8 of 13 from the field and 5 of 9 from 3-point distance. He added five rebounds, four assists and one steal.

The Wildcats as a team assisted on a whopping 26 of their 37 made field goals in the kind of effort normally seen from veteran-laden teams this time of year, not a group of mostly freshman learning to play together.