What did we learn from Kentucky’s season opener? This team could be a whole lot of fun.

Something was clear from Kentucky’s first 40 minutes of basketball.

This UK team could be a lot of things. Boring won’t be one of them.

It took a little bit for the Wildcats to get going in their season opener Monday night — an 86-46 victory over New Mexico State in Rupp Arena — but when they did, it was pure entertainment.

Kentucky had its moments over the course of a so-so first half and took an eight-point lead into the locker room at halftime. Out of the break, the Cats were relentless. They ran. And ran. And ran some more. They got in the Aggies’ faces defensively and never let up, UK’s young guards showing off quick hands and getting steals that allowed them to keep on running.

A dunk here, a 3-pointer there, a layup or two or three in transition. Turn away for a minute, risk missing a highlight-reel play.

“We played random the whole second half,” UK coach John Calipari said. “Ran two or three things, everything else was random. And random is we are spacing the court and we are playing off of one another. That’s random basketball.”

That’s been the latest buzzword from the Hall of Fame coach who has fallen on relatively hard times and hopes this is the team to return Kentucky basketball to the banner-raising greatness of his earliest years in Lexington.

It’s way too soon to know whether that will happen or not. There’s a lot of basketball left.

If there was a snap judgment to be made Monday night, it’s that folks are likely to have a whole lot of fun watching these Wildcats find their way.

Kentucky outscored New Mexico State 49-17 over the course of the second half. The Cats shot nearly 60%, dished out 12 assists and came up with eight steals over those final 20 minutes. Eighteen of UK’s 20 made baskets after halftime were tallied as either dunks, layups or 3-pointers. The ball rarely stopped moving, and neither did these Wildcats.

“What makes it really hard to guard is that a different guy can bring the ball up the floor,” New Mexico State coach Jason Hooten said. “Most people in the transition, the point guard brings it up, or maybe an off guard.”

But with this Kentucky team, he conceded, it could be anybody.

“You’ve got so many guys that are bringing it up and pitching it ahead,” Hooten said. “It’s hard to guard. I’ll be honest, when we started the game, we sent three guys back tonight, and we still didn’t stop them.”

Even when the Aggies had five men back, they couldn’t do much to match the controlled chaos of the Cats.

On one such play, five New Mexico State defenders had feet inside the arc when UK freshman Rob Dillingham sprinted toward the basket and hit fellow freshman Jordan Burks with a no-look pass near the rim. Burks caught it, then dunked it, an Aggie coming over too late to contest.

On New Mexico State’s next possession, Burks came up with a steal that led to an Antonio Reeves layup in transition. That basket gave UK a 22-point lead and forced a New Mexico State timeout.

Burks chest-bumped everyone in sight as he practically floated back to the Kentucky bench. Once there, another freshman, Aaron Bradshaw leaned down in his face to yell further encouragement and exchange a series of hand-slaps with his teammate.

After the game, Dillingham explained the play in such great detail — naming off where each player on the court was when he started his drive — that a reporter interrupted, amazed he could recall it so exactly.

“Yeah, yeah,” Dillingham said, excitedly. “I remember everything.”

Calipari’s been talking about “random” basketball for a few weeks now. He’s been driving home the point that he’s got a bunch of players that can “pass, dribble and shoot” since the team’s summer trip to the GLOBL JAM in Toronto.

The two go hand in hand. To play random, you have to know how to play basketball. To earn that freedom from the coaches, you have to prove you deserve it. And that you respect it.

These young Cats have passed the test, so far.

“Random means you gotta be really unselfish,” Calipari said.

Tre Mitchell, the team’s starting center, led the way with five assists Monday night. D.J. Wagner, the Cats’ freshman point guard, had four assists. Dillingham had three. Reed Sheppard had two. Those players combined for just one turnover. The team as a whole committed only six.

“We’re just so unselfish,” Dillingham said. “And we play together. We don’t care who scores, we’re just happy for everyone. So when we play like that, I feel like it’s hard to beat us.”

Perhaps only one word was used more than “random” following Monday’s game. Fun.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Wagner said of playing this random style.

Letting basketball players be basketball players and play the game as they always have.

“Super fun,” Dillingham said. “I ain’t gonna lie — it’s fun for me when I’m on the bench. It’s just fun for me being in that environment. It’s just a blessing to even be out there. A lot of people don’t get that chance to play in Rupp Arena, with all those fans. I’m just blessed to even be here.”

Toward the end of the game — on a night that ended with a 17-0 Kentucky run — Dillingham had one final little scoring flurry and turned to the New Mexico State bench to offer the Aggies a wink.

“If you say something to me, I’m not gonna say nothing,” he said of some trash talk that had preceded that move. “But I’m going to show it with my game.”

After the game, music could be heard blaring from the UK locker room. That’s something new this season. A few minutes later, three freshmen — Dillingham, Sheppard and Wagner — made their way to the postgame interview area. That’s a change, too, from previous seasons, when veterans like Oscar Tshiebwe, Sahvir Wheeler and Jacob Toppin were the guys doing the talking.

The top four scorers Monday night? Dillingham had 17 points. Wagner had 13. Sheppard and Justin Edwards scored 12 each. All freshmen. All new faces playing in their first college game.

“What I like is these guys are trying and will listen,” Calipari said. “I told the staff, ‘They’re gonna do whatever we tell them.’ It’s unbelievable. So let’s make sure we’re telling them the right thing, because they’re doing what we’re saying. And they’re trying. And we have got some dogs.”

Kentucky’s road will get a lot tougher from here. This New Mexico State team consisted of a completely revamped roster and a brand new coaching staff. No. 1-ranked Kansas is on the schedule for next week. Nationally ranked Miami and North Carolina after that. The SEC schedule is two months away.

There will be some bumps along that road. There will also be opportunities for these Cats to continue their growth. And Calipari, who has often been a little tight with the reins in recent seasons, seems perfectly content to let these young Cats run free and hope they find their way.

“We know everybody can make plays,” Wagner said. “So it just makes it funner, honestly. It just makes the game fun for us. … Just from playing with each other for the past couple of months. We’ve been getting better and better in practice. I feel like since we got here, that’s how it’s been. Playing random. Just playing off each other. Because we all knew that everybody can play. So we just try to let each other play as free possible.”

Next game

Texas A&M-Commerce at No. 16 Kentucky

When: 7 p.m. Friday

TV: SEC Network+

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: Texas A&M Commerce 0-1, Kentucky 1-0

Series: First meeting

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