James Young – photo by Bo Morris | Kentucky Sports Review
With standout Julius Randle sidelined with injury in the second half after a 17-point first-half outing, No. 18 Kentucky used stellar performances from freshmen Andrew Harrison and James Young to post a 73-66 win over No. 6 Louisville, in front of a season-high 24,396 on Saturday evening at Rupp Arena.
After a strong performance from the Wildcats in the first half, including a 17-point performance from Randle on 7-of-8 shooting, Kentucky took a 41-36 lead into halftime. With the game noted at 43-43 with 17:55 left in the game, Randle subbed out due to injury. The Wildcats mounted a spirited rally to finish the game on a 30-23 run, with Randle seeing a few minutes on the floor before subbing out for good without accumulating any statistics in the second frame.
Kentucky (10-3) was led by its freshmen trio of Andrew Harrison, Randle and Young. Young, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound native of Rochester Hills, Mich., contributed his first double-double of the year with a career-high 10 rebounds and 18 points. Andrew Harrison totaled 18 points, with Willie Cauley-Stein added 10 boards and Andrew Harrison contributing 10 points.
The Wildcats will return to action on Jan. 8 with its Southeastern Conference opener vs. Mississippi State at 8 p.m. ET at Rupp Arena.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.
