Kentucky Basketball Blue-White Game 2014: Score and Twitter Reaction

While the Kentucky Blue-White Game is just a scrimmage, there was likely as much talent on the floor as there will be in just about any college basketball game this season.

The squad was split into two teams, which could be the first look at John Calipari's platoon system. The Blue team, which seemingly featured more likely starters, came out with the 65-44 "win" until the scores were reset about three-quarters into the game.

Calipari announced the two teams on Facebook:

Blue	White
Andrew Harrison	Tyler Ulis
Aaron Harrison	Devin Booker
Willie Cauley-Stein	Alex Poythress
Trey Lyles	Marcus Lee
Karl-Anthony Towns	Dakari Johnson
Derek Willis	Dominique Hawkins

After the under-12 timeout, the teams shifted to freshmen versus veterans, with the older players coming away with a 29-22 victory.

The breakout star of the game had to be Karl-Anthony Towns. The versatile freshman was as good as advertised, showing the ability to score both inside and out. He officially finished with 18 points and nine rebounds with a number of highlight-reel plays throughout.

Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal noted an impressive stretch for the player who can likely play any frontcourt position this season:

On the other hand, it was not all roses for the young player:

Still, he did showcase some serious talent, which Jerry Tipton of Kentucky.com described:

ESPN's draft expert Chad Ford had some high praise for the young player:

When he wasn't dealing with cramps or committing close double-digit fouls (it is a scrimmage, after all), Devin Booker also had a strong performance, with 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting. He showed a great shooting touch, as well as the ability to get to the basket and score in the paint.

He has the skill to be the best natural scorer on the team, and at the very least, he could be a valuable piece off the bench who can score in bunches.

Fellow freshman Tyler Ulis was also solid in his start, making some key plays early, as noted by Ben Roberts of the Lexington Herald-Leader:

There were some turnovers and plenty of mistakes for the young point guard, but this is hardly something to be worried about in an October scrimmage. The important thing is that he showed the speed and quickness that many expected coming into the year, along with the court vision to make great passes on the break.

Just as importantly, his ability to step back and hit a three gives the squad something it desperately lacked last season outside of Aaron Harrison.

Of course, it was not just the freshmen who shone in this one. Andrew Harrison, who was too inconsistent in his first season, played in control throughout this one and finished with 19 points in the first session.

Jeff Drummond of Fox Sports was impressed with the improvements seen in the second half:

Dakari Johnson also appears ready to take a big leap in his sophomore season with some play that Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio liked to see:

He was strong in the low post and was an excellent rebounder throughout. On the other hand, he struggled mightily from the free-throw line, which could be a problem for the entire season.

Also playing well inside was Willie Cauley-Stein, who found his normal place on the end of numerous alley-oops and easy putback dunks. However, his most impressive play came thanks to a steal and dunk, as described by Roberts:

Marcus Lee, Alex Poythress, Trey Lyles and Derek Willis each had their moments in the spotlight, but they will likely only see limited playing time this season on such a deep roster.

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Likely the biggest challenge Calipari will have this season is finding a way to get everyone enough minutes to remain satisfied. This is why he will try to use his platoon system with mass substitutions to make sure he goes 10-12 players deep in each game.

He discussed his thoughts with the plan earlier in the week, via Kami Mattioli of Sporting News:

"

It'd probably be better for me and my program if I played seven, but that's not what this is about. How do I do this to make sure every player on this team eats and we still do all of the other stuff? What I'm doing is what's best for these kids. And that's this way of playing.

"

We saw how much skill was available at his disposal in this scrimmage, so there likely will not be too much of a drop-off no matter what types of substitutions he makes.

Still, it is clear this season is championship or bust for Kentucky, so Calipari has to do whatever it takes to get the most out of his players throughout the year.

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