A huge second-half surge lifted the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team to a 94-72 victory over Ouachita Baptist Friday night in an exhibition contest at Rupp Arena.
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The Wildcats, who led 43-35 at the half, exploded for a 26-13 run to start the second half.
“They are a tremendous athletic deep team,” Tigers head coach Charlie Schaef said. “Our kids played with a lot of heart. Our defense was very physical and aggressive. We just gave them too much in transition.”
Ouachita was 23-of-70 for 32.9 percent from the field, while Kentucky was 30-of-56 for 54.6 percent.
The Wildcats started the game with seven straight points, but Rowan Ledbetter, who was 5-of-5 from the field in the first half and finished with 16 points, drained a 3-pointer to cut the Wildcats lead to 7-3. Kentucky led 14-6 at the first media timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Antonio Benjamin sank a 3-pointer with 15:11 left in the half, forcing Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie to call a 30-second timeout.
The Wildcats led 18-9 before Ledbetter stole a pass and in transition nailed a 3-pointer to cut the Kentucky lead to 18-12. The Wildcats had a 20-12 advantage at the second media timeout.
After a Tiger miss, again it was Ledbetter who sank his third 3-pointer of the first half to trim the Wildcat lead to 20-15 with 11 minutes remaining in the first half.
A 3-pointer by Landon Sloan with 9:51 left increased the Kentucky margin to 24-15. But Ouachita continued to battle and the Tigers trimmed the deficit to 24-21 with 7:35 remaining in the first half after Ledbetter sank another 3-pointer in transition.
On the next offensive possession, Ledbetter hit a short jumper and was fouled on the play. He sank the free throw to tie the contest at 24 with 7:02 left. Kentucky grabbed a 27-24 lead after Mark Krebs drained a 3-pointer.
Kentucky used a 10-0 run as Jodie Meeks hit a mid-range jumper to give the Wildcats a 37-27 advantage with 3:14 left in the half. Ouachita ended the run with 2:25 left as Ed Keyes scored on a reverse layup, cutting the deficit to 37-29.
The Wildcats led 43-35 at the break as Ouachita shot 10-of-36 from the field for 27.8 percent in the opening half. Kentucky was 13-of-22 for 59.1 percent.
Patrick Patterson, the All-SEC Freshman of the Year who was plagued by foul trouble most of the second half, scored on a putback with 17:25 remaining to give Kentucky a 47-35 advantage. A 3-pointer by Daniel Maddox trimmed the margin to 47-39 with 16:04 left, but a Perry Stevenson dunk gave the Wildcats a 49-39 lead with 15:47 remaining.
A Michael Porter layup extended the margin to 53-41, but Jaranimo Marks sank a jumper to cut the deficit to 53-43. But Ed Keyes was called for a technical foul and Meeks connected on both free throws to give the Wildcats a 55-43 lead.
The Tigers, in foul trouble most of the night, couldn’t stop Kentucky at the line as Porter drained a pair of free throws to take a 57-43 lead. Marks hit a jumper at the other end, but again the Wildcats went to the line as A.J. Stewart hit one-of-two from the charity stripe to give Kentucky a 58-45 advantage with 12:38 remaining.
A fastbreak basket by Meeks gave Kentucky its largest lead at that point 62-46 with 10:13 left. A 3-pointer by Krebs with 8:41 remaining put the game as the Wildcats grabbed a 67-48 lead.
Marks led Ouachita with 20 points, including draining five 3-pointers. Maddox and Keyes recorded eight points each.
Meeks led all scorers with 23 points, while Stevenson had 16 points and a game-high 19 rebounds. Patterson finished with 12 points and Porter chipped in with 10.
“I didn’t think he is playing well right now,” Gillispe said on Stevenson. “I thought it was one of the worst performances. This game was good for our team. They were very physical.”
Ouachita continues exhibition play 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 9 in Lake Charles, La., against NCAA Division I McNeese State. The Tigers will open the regular season Nov. 15-16 at the St. Edward’s Shootout Classic against Texas A&M-International and host St. Edward’s in Austin, Texas.
