After sitting out the first exhibition game as part of the NCAA's ruling on his eligibility, Kentucky freshman John Wall wasted little time in showing why he's perhaps UK's most hyped freshman since Jamal Mashburn. 

Playing without fellow freshman guard Eric Bledsoe, who was out with an ankle injury, Wall racked up a game-high 27 points and nine assists in 28 minutes as the Wildcats beat up on John Calipari's alma mater--Division II Clarion--117-52 at Rupp Arena Friday night. 

"He's the real deal," Clarion coach Ron Righter said. "He's in another league."

UK coach John Calipari--master of the obvious--said Wall gave the Cats an added dimension they didn't have on Monday.

"I asked him, 'is that your 'A' game?'" "He was pretty good. He made us different."

Wall, who was forced to sit out Monday's exhibition versus Campbellsville, was just thankful to finally get on the court. 

"I was just so happy to play," Wall said. "I was nervous. I had butterflies until I made that first basket. I'm happy the fans are glad to have me out there."

The crown jewel of UK's top ranked recruiting class, Wall wasn't the only one doing damage. Fellow freshman DeMarcus Cousins poured in 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting and in all, six Cats finished in double figures. 

The Cats shot roughly 60 percent from the field, piled up an absurd 64 points in the paint and scored 36 points off of 23 Clarion turnovers. Oddly enough, Calipari said it wasn't the offense--which he deemed had a long way to go--that improved against Clarion. It was in fact the defense that helped spark the 117-point outburst--43 points more than they scored Monday night.

"We defended," Calipari said. "We're getting closer. They're trying to do what we ask them to do. There was a lot of good."

After it's 74-38 win in its exhibition opener, Calipari challenged his team to get better, mandating a curfew and two-a-day practices. Righter says he thinks he got their attention.

"I am thoroughly impressed with John's team," Righter said. "I think he got their attention. That was a completely different team than the one that played Monday night. That's as skilled a team as I've seen. It's just a matter of time people that this place is going to see something special."

The Cats open the regular season Friday at home against Morehead State, an NCAA Tournament team a year ago.

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