What started as a fun family scrimmage inside Rupp Arena quickly turned into a fiery showdown that had players yelling, benches talking, and one viral moment that stole the show. This Kentucky team isn’t just practicing — they’re competing like it’s March already. Let’s dive in and see what really went down.
Mark Pope turned Rupp Arena into a family playground on Wednesday — but make no mistake, the competition was real. In a rare move, the Kentucky head coach opened the doors of Rupp to the entire media crew — along with their families — for a special Family Day that featured a full 90-minute practice and an intense, five-minute intrasquad scrimmage that looked and sounded like the real thing.
With the Wildcats set to face Georgetown in their final exhibition just a day later, Pope gave reporters and their kids a front-row look at how he runs the program — and how fiery this roster can get, even in a closed setting.
Family Day Turns Competitive
Before the scrimmage began, Pope kept things lighthearted, taking questions only from the kids in attendance during a pre-practice Q&A. But when the basketballs came out, the tone changed fast. Staff members cranked up the artificial crowd noise, and the players — split into Blue and White teams — treated it like a live game, battling in front of a crowd of reporters, friends, and families.
Three Wildcats — Jayden Quaintance, Jaland Lowe, and Denzel Aberdeen (who sat out unexpectedly for undisclosed reasons) — didn’t participate, while Reece Potter suited up but did not play due to roster numbers. That left 10 players ready to go head-to-head.
Lineups
Blue Team
Collin Chandler
Otega Oweh
Trent Noah
Mouhamed Dioubate
Brandon Garrison
White Team
Jasper Johnson
Braydon Hawthorne
Kam Williams
Andrija Jelavic
Malachi Moreno
Opening Moments
The Blue Team struck first. Collin Chandler attacked off the dribble, the ball zipped around the perimeter, and Oweh dropped it to Brandon Garrison inside for an easy bucket.
White answered immediately — Hawthorne found Jelavic for an up-and-under finish after narrowly escaping a steal from Trent Noah.
Chandler then gave Blue the edge again with a smooth three off an Oweh screen, but Jasper Johnson quickly responded with a contested triple over Garrison to tie things up.
After a quick timeout, Chandler and Noah fumbled a pass in the backcourt, turning it over, but Jelavic couldn’t capitalize with a corner three. The scrimmage tempo ramped up from there.
Kam Williams Lights It Up
Kam Williams made one of the plays of the day when he poked the ball loose from Oweh and turned it into a coast-to-coast dunk that brought the crowd to life. Seconds later, he nearly repeated the feat before being stopped by a foul call.
Oweh responded immediately, knocking down a confident three to push Blue ahead 8–7. Then came another flurry — Johnson’s nasty crossover-stepback three rimmed out, Moreno missed the rebound putback, and Dioubate pushed the pace the other way, only for Oweh to miss a transition layup that could’ve stretched the lead.
Trading Blows Down the Stretch
With under a minute to go, Kam Williams hit again — this time from deep — giving White a 10–8 lead and sending the onlookers into cheers.
Dioubate answered, however, jumping a passing lane to steal the ball and drawing a foul on Jelavic before finishing a breakaway dunk. He tied the game at the free throw line as both the real and fake crowd noise blared through Rupp.
Moments later, a foul 90 feet from the basket gave Johnson a one-and-one opportunity — and he calmly sank both, putting White back on top 12–10 with 24 seconds left.
Trent Noah then pulled off one of the smartest plays of the scrimmage — faking a three, sidestepping, and dishing to Garrison for a two-handed dunk that tied things again at 12–12. Johnson’s deep shot at the buzzer missed, forcing overtime.
Overtime: “Back Up, Malachi!”
Overtime gave fans the viral moment of the day. On the first possession, Mouhamed Dioubate caught the ball at the top of the key, and from the White Team bench came the taunt: “Back up, Malachi! Back up!”
So, Dioubate let it fly.
Splash.
He turned to the White bench and yelled it right back: “Back up, Malachi! Back up!” — a perfect exclamation point on an already fiery scrimmage.
Assistant coach Mikhail McLean jokingly shouted, “Is that really what you drew up?” as the benches erupted in laughter and applause.
White had one last chance, but Kam Williams’ straightaway three went wide, and Pope blew the whistle, calling it at 15–12 in favor of the Blue Team.
As the fake crowd noise faded, the players jogged back into drills — the scrimmage may have been short, but it was a sharp reminder of how competitive and connected this group already is.
If Family Day was supposed to be relaxed, Kentucky’s players clearly didn’t get the memo.
