On a night with three former Wildcats on the sidelines, it was the current crop of Cats who walked off the court at Rupp Arena with the win. Mark Pope opened his third season as the Kentucky men's basketball head coach with an e xhibition victory against Travis Ford's Little Rock Trojans, 69-49.Tonight's exhibition will not count toward either team's final record.Kentucky's new director of player development, John Pelphrey sat court side alongside a trio of his fellow newcomers in assistant coaches Mo Williams and Alfred Aboya and director of roster management, Keegan Brown.Nine Wildcats wearing the blue-and-white for the first time earned their first lead of the night, 5-4, nearly five minutes into the contest. The home team never trailed again, with the Cats leading by as many as 22 before earning the 20-point victory.Milan Momcilovic paced his new team's offense, as the nation's leading three-point shooter from a season ago picked up as a Wildcat right where he left off as a Cyclone. The senior finished with 16 points, including 4-7 shooting from beyond-the-arc.Furman transfer Alex Wilkins and true freshman Mason Williams joined Momcilovic in double-figure scoring, with the guards finishing with 11 and ten points, respectively.Key returner Malachi Moreno had a well-rounded outing with six points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in 26 minutes.As a team, the Wildcats had 12 assists to 19 turnovers, and shot 44 percent from the field, 43 percent from deep (12-28) and 58 percent (7-12) from the free throw line, compared to Little Rock's 31/10/79 clip. Kam Williams (foot), Trent Noah (hamstring) and Jerone Morton (knee) were unavailable and did not play.Kentucky returns to Rupp Arena for a second exhibition next Friday, when the Cats will host Texas Tech. Tipoff is set for Friday at 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network+ and the UK Sports Radio Network.UK will play its third and final exhibition at home on Wednesday, October 28th against Central Florida, before opening the season officially on November 3rd against Manhattan. For more on Kentucky basketball and all of the Wildcats, join us onBBN Tonight, airing weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on the official station for UK Athletics, LEX 18. ...read more read less