"John Wall catching it and going, I loved it," Calipari said.
How could he not?
Wall finished with 19 points and five rebounds in his highly anticipated debut as the Wildcats (2-0) escaped the RedHawks (0-2).
Considered the top high school player in the country when he signed with the Wildcats last spring, Wall was forced to sit out Kentucky's season-opening win over Morehead State last week as part of an NCAA suspension for accepting improper benefits from his AAU coach.
He proved to be worth the wait. Wall's heroics prevented Miami from joining Gardner-Webb and Virginia Military Institute as November giant killers at Rupp Arena.
"I wanted to see what we were made of," Calipari said. "In the huddle, they were saying 'We are not going to lose this.' Hey, this was kind of fun."
In other Top 25 games:
* At Minneapolis, high-flying freshman Rodney Williams had three dunks and a pair of threes, finishing with 14 points to help 24th-ranked Minnesota pull away from Stephen F. Austin, 82-42. Lawrence Westbrook and Devoe Joseph led the Gophers (2-0) with 15 points apiece.
* At Durham, N.C., Kyle Singler had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Duke beat Coastal Carolina in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off. Freshman Andre Dawkins had 13 points and Jon Scheyer and Miles Plumlee added 10 apiece for the Blue Devils (2-0), who earned a second-round matchup with Charlotte tonight.
* At Storrs, Conn., Stanley Robinson scored 18 points leading five Connecticut players in double figures as the No. 12 Huskies beat Colgate, 77-63, in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off. UConn will play Hofstra in the second round today.
