TORONTO — Kentucky ran away from Canada, 89-72, to capture the men’s basketball gold medal in the 2023 GLOBL JAM.

UK coach John Calipari expressed some concern entering the tournament with his young team playing against rosters built with under-23 year old players. But the Wildcats showed no signs that inexperience would be a problem, mainly because their veterans set the example.

Senior guard Antonio Reeves, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, led the team in scoring in every game but the last.

UK led by as many as 14 in the first half, but Canada rallied to cut that lead down to 45-39 at halftime. West Virginia graduate transfer Tre Mitchell helped the Cats break the game wide open in the third quarter. Mitchell scored eight of his 18 points in the quarter to help them take a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter.

The Cats' No. 1 recruiting class was as advertised. Freshman wing Justin Ewards exploded for a game high 23-point performance in the gold medal game. Highly-touted guard D.J. Wagner scored double figures in three games. Freshman guard Reed Sheppard may have been the biggest surprise of the group as he led the team in assists.

The Cats won their three games of round robin play — against Germany (81-73), Canada (93-69) and Basketball Africa League Select (104-92) — by an average margin of 14.6 points.

In Case You Missed It from C.L. Brown: UK should keep lineups small to win big — even when 7-footers return

More from C.L. Brown: UK basketball action in Toronto starts season-long battle of talent vs. experience

Kentucky basketball's run to 2023 GLOBL JAM gold medal, by the numbers:

23.0 - Reeves' team-leading scoring average.

7.7 - Mitchell's team-leading rebounding average.

5.7 - Sheppard's team-leading assist average.

37.9 - UK's 3-point shooting percentage. Reeves led the team with 18 made 3s while shooting 56.2 percent from behind the arc.

12.7 - The Wildcats' per game turnover average. To have so many newcomers, UK took pretty good care of the ball. Kentucky outscored its opponents 82-38 in points off turnovers.

23 - The total margin the Cats were outscored by on second-chance points. Rebounding was one of their weaknesses, especially since their pair of 7-footers — Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso — were both out with injuries.

Off the court in Toronto: UK basketball team spends day at Drake's mansion during GLOBL JAM trip

Kentucky, Louisville or the field?: Karter Knox, 5-star 2024 recruit, weighs 'difficult' decision

Louisville women's basketball comes from behind to win gold medal for United States at 2023 GLOBL JAM

Louisville defeated Canada, 68-66, in the women’s basketball gold medal game of the 2023 GLOBL JAM tournament Sunday at Mattamy Athletic Centre thanks to a 3-pointer from Sydney Taylor — her only bucket of the second half. Taylor was named the event's Most Valuable Player.

U of L jumped out to a 26-17 lead midway through the second quarter powered by Taylor, who went on a personal 8-0 run with three straight baskets including two 3s. Canada erased most of its deficit by halftime and took a five point lead into the fourth quarter.

The Cardinals went 2-1 in round robin play of the event, beating both Puerto Rico, 78-55, and the Basketball Africa League Select team, 72-39. Their only loss was a 74-71 defeat to Canada, when Jayda Curry’s 3-point attempt to tie it in the closing seconds rimmed out.

U of L clearly had more talent than Puerto Rico and BAL, but 11 of the 12 players on Canada's roster had NCAA Division I experience including Shayeann Day-Wilson, who played for Duke; and Niyah Becker, who played at Wake Forest.

The tournament adhered to FIBA rules, which allowed for more physical play than a typical NCAA game. That’s part of the reason why the Cards totaled more than 20 turnovers in two of their games. Many more occurred because of the newness of adding five new transfers to the rotation and only having 10 days of practice before the games.

C.L. Brown: On new-look Louisville WBB team, Olivia Cochran is Cards' most irreplaceable player

More from C.L. Brown at GLOBL JAM: U of L's national brand on full display as it plays on international stage

Louisville women's basketball team's run to 2023 GLOBL JAM gold medal, by the numbers:

13.2 - Taylor's team-leading scoring average.

6.5 - Nyla Harris' team-leading rebounding average.

5.5 - Kiki Jefferson's team-leading assist average.

41 - U of L's per game average of points in the paint scored in four games. The Cards enjoyed a +66 advantage over their opponents in the category.

30.0 - The Cards' 3-point shooting percentage. Taylor led the team with 12 made 3s, including six in the win over Puerto Rico.

28.2 - Louisville's average bench points per game. The Cards got consistent scoring from their reserves. The highest single-game total was Hennie Van Schailk’s 15 points against BAL.

C.L. Brown: 2023-24 Louisville women’s basketball roster proof few adapt better than Jeff Walz

C.L. Brown on U of L men: Emmanuel Okorafor's showing against UK a reason for Louisville basketball optimism

Sydney Taylor on her game-winning shot for Cardinals with 29.5 seconds left:

"It was just a regular out of bounds play just to get it in and run the offense. But I think that'd be like nine or 10 on the shot clock. But I saw (Nina Rickards) come across, I screened for her, try to get her open. Both both of our defenders went with her, left me wide open, and I took the shot. It wasn't even for me, I promise."

Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on Twitter at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter atprofile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball and Louisville women's basketball win gold medals