LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- Kentucky coach John Calipari knew there would be growing pains as the fourth-ranked Wildcats struggled to learn how to play in his vaunted "dribble-drive" offense.
Calipari shrugged his shoulders when they committed 24 turnovers in a 75-59 win over Morehead State on Friday. He had no problem with 15 missed 3-pointers. It's all a part of the process.
What he could live without, however, was the way he had to persuade his team to play hard on every possession. It's why he spent half the game flipping between stomping his feet on the Rupp Arena floor or throwing his arms in the air in exasperation.
Just winning might have been good enough before at Kentucky. Not anymore for the man charged with restoring the program to greatness.
"I have coached the last four years (at Memphis) and the one thing I didn't have to do is beg my team to compete," Calipari said. "We competed. We beat people. We ran harder than they ran and when I don't see that I lose my mind."
He didn't see it enough during Kentucky's relatively drama-free opener.
"When I watch the tape I'll be sick because we came out of our (defensive) stance, we fouled guys 50 feet from the basket," Calipari said. "I wanted to tackle them when they did that."
Such is life in the land of great expectations.
Then again, Calipari admits winning beats the alternative, and the Wildcats showed they're more than just star freshman guard John Wall.
With Wall serving an NCAA suspension for accepting improper benefits from his AAU coach, fellow freshman Eric Bledsoe scored 24 points and Patrick Patterson added 20 points and 12 rebounds as the Wildcats (1-0) pulled away from the defending Ohio Valley Conference champions in the second half.
"If John Wall is better than him, wow," Morehead State coach Donnie Tyndall said.
It was the kind of performance that was hardly a surprise to Bledsoe's teammates, who have gotten used to the epic battles Bledsoe and Wall go through during a typical practice.
"Coach tells us he wants us to play like we play in practice and pretty much Eric did that tonight," Patterson said. "He's a phenomenal basketball player and I can't wait to see what he does the next game."
Neither can the capacity crowd that gave Bledsoe a standing ovation when he walked off the floor with under 2 minutes remaining.
The soft-spoken Bledsoe admitted he felt some pressure starting in place of Wall, but he grew more comfortable as the game wore on.
When Calipari urged Bledsoe to push the tempo after a sluggish first half, he delivered.
"Coach told me just push it, they're getting tired, they're starting to get fatigued, so just push it down their throat," Bledsoe said.
During one sequence in the second half, Bledsoe fed a streaking Patterson for a lay-up, then followed a few moments later with a breathtaking coast-to-coast dash for another easy basket.
The best, however, came on that improbable flip over his head that pushed Kentucky's lead to 56-39 with 7:59 remaining. Even Bledsoe isn't quite sure how he did it.
"I don't know what happened. I just threw the ball up," Bledsoe said.
They're the kind of plays Calipari expects from Bledsoe no matter who is on the floor.
"He's just a gamer," Calipari said. "One of the guys said to me 'he's tired,' and I said, 'I know but he's better than most guys that are fresh, so I'll leave him in."'
Bledsoe was fresh enough to help the Wildcats avoid the kind of massive early season letdown that plagued former coach Billy Gillispie's tumultuous two-year tenure.
There would be no Gardner-Webb or VMI. Not this time.
Kentucky made Calipari the highest paid coach in the country to restore the program to greatness, and although he said before the game he wouldn't be surprised or particularly upset if the Wildcats opened 0-5 as long as they kept getting better, there was little doubt how much his first night as the coach of college basketball's all-time winningest program meant.
He stomped, he pleaded, he cajoled. He called a 30-second time-out after Morehead State's Kenneth Faried dunked to pull the Eagles within 52-39 with about 9 minutes left, and slammed his fist a couple of times while urging his team to go play ball.
He saw glimpses in the end, but acknowledged there's still plenty of work to be done if Kentucky want to return to the Final Four.
"We have to make easy plays and compete, accept what your game is offensively and compete," Calipari said. "Surrender, you must surrender to play for me. Don't fight it or argue it, just surrender."
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
