Tyler Ulis shook off a bloody cut by his right eye to score 12 key second-half points and lead top-ranked Kentucky to a hard-fought 58-50 victory over No. 4 Louisville on Saturday.
An inadvertent elbow by Louisville’s Chris Jones in the first half left Ulis with two thin bandages. He hit two big 3-pointers to give the Wildcats (13-0) a cushion in this showdown between unbeaten Bluegrass State rivals.
Fellow freshmen Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker and Trey Lyles joined in to help stake Kentucky to a 50-38 lead with 4:43 left.
Towns had 10 points and nine rebounds, while Booker added nine points for Kentucky, which held Louisville (11-1) to 26 percent shooting in a game defined by defense until the Wildcats’ freshmen started making their shots.
