Kentucky fans didn’t get to see much of the dribble-drive offense on Friday night, but they didn’t care.

Once the lights went dim and the spotlight shone down on the 2009-10 Wildcats, the introduction music began to resonate and so did the roar of Rupp’s faithful.

The University of Kentucky opened up the much-anticipated new chapter in its rich basketball history with a 75-59 win over Morehead State University.

Wildcats coach John Calipari was not entirely pleased with his team’s performance, but he began his Kentucky coaching career with a victory.

“I’m just happy to win,” he said.

The Eagles played 40 minutes of zone defense, which erased the chance to see much of Calipari’s dribble-drive style, but point guard Eric Bledsoe and Patrick Patterson put on a show to start the season.

Without the ineligible freshman phenom John Wall, Bledsoe was given the chance to shine. He scored 24 points, 22 of which came in the second half alone, while Patterson recorded his 22nd career double-double.

Morehead State coach Donnie Tyndall was certainly impressed.

“If John Wall’s better than that, wow,” Tyndall said.

Depth perception

With Bledsoe’s outstanding

effort, Kentucky is just fine without John Wall. At least for now. The Wildcats will be glad to welcome back the hyped freshman for Monday’s game against Miami (Ohio), and Calipari has already decided that Wall will join at least Patterson and Bledsoe in the starting lineup.

“Right now, we have three starters,” Calipari said. “We still have to figure out the other two.”

Either way, minutes will be had for almost everyone on this team. Only DeAndre Liggins and Jon Hood did not see playing time Friday.

Calipari’s bunch is so deep that, if anyone makes a mental mistake, Coach Cal can yank a player out quicker than Wall can go baseline-to-baseline.

Morehead State cut the lead to 28-20 after Kenneth Faried slipped by Perry Stevenson for a catch on a long pass that resulted in an easy basket.

Bye bye Stevenson. Hello Daniel Orton.

Darnell Dodson missed a defensive assignment a little later in the first half, allowing an easy two.

Take a seat Darnell.

DeMarcus Cousins made a similar mistake in the second half, but hurriedly made a great play on offense to make up for it. Calipari applauded the freshman’s aggressive effort and sent Stevenson back to the bench from the scorer’s table, where he was ready to check in.

That’s sort of a change of pace from the recent past, when players racked up turnovers in a matter of minutes, but stayed in the game regardless.

That’s because there are options now. This could prove to be the deepest Kentucky team since 1997.

Second chances

Coach Cal didn’t take long to re-insert players he took out Friday night, a message that carried over to the postgame.

“This is all about learning,” Calipari said. “If they didn’t play well, but learned something from it, that’s great. If they played well, they still need to learn from it. I’ve got to learn myself to be patient.”

The coach is still getting used to dealing with the most inexperienced group he’s possessed in a few years -- a group that tallied 24 turnovers.

According to Calipari, that number will be cut down with Wall and Bledsoe both running the floor.

Barnum and Bailey and Bledsoe

The crowd’s volume reached its highest level after a tight-roping, circus-shot reverse layup by Bledsoe that brought the Bluegrass to its collective feet.

The 6-foot-1 freshman also had two blocks, with just one good ankle.

When Wall returns, Calipari hopes that does not change Bledsoe’s mindset.

“I don’t want Eric to defer (the ball),” Calipari said.

Sizing up the Cats

Kentucky clearly controlled the paint with the play of Cousins, Orton, Stevenson, Patterson and even Bledsoe.

The Wildcats outrebounded the Eagles 43-24. Morehead State finished in the top 10 in the nation in rebounding last season, led by Faried. Faried was limited to seven boards.

Patterson came out of the gate on fire, grabbing a number of offensive rebounds that turned into points. He began the game shooting 5-for-6.

“For us to get outrebounded by 19 is a credit to how hard Kentucky plays and how physical they are,” Tyndall said.

Eagles guard Brandon Shingles supplied an even bigger compliment.

“There is no reason Kentucky should not go to the Elite Eight or even the Final Four.”

Stallworth stalled

The Eagles’ top 3-point shooter from last year’s team that reached the NCAA Tournament is Maze Stallworth.

The senior was just 1 of 12 from behind the arc and 2 of 15 overall.

Kentucky did not necessarily stop him from having decent looks, but the shots were not falling for No. 1.

Fight of the Eagle

Morehead State jumped out to an early 5-4 lead, but after a blistering 10-0 run by Kentucky, the Eagles still never backed down.

They looked like a team that could very well repeat as Ohio Valley Conference champions and make its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

AARON SNYDER can be reached at asnyder@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2664.