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Kentucky beats Missouri Western State in Exhibition

The Kentucky Wildcats were able to fend off Missouri Western State winning by a final score of 56-38 Sunday night

The Wildcats were able to fend off (Divison II), coached by former men's basketball manager Will Martin, in the first of two exhibition games on the schedule. Kentucky ran away with the victory in the second half, winning by a final score of 56-38.

UK trailed at the first TV timeout, scored only 26 points before halftime, looked sloppy out of the break and ultimately finished out a 56-38 victory over Missouri Western State, a Division II team coming off a 14-17 season. Kentucky shot 40.4 percent from the floor, struggled from three-point range and was outrebounded 36-35 by the Griffons.

On Tuesday at the annual Kentucky basketball media day, UK head coach John Calipari said that he liked how his team performed offensively in the Blue-White Game last Saturday. But, being a coach, Calipari also found flaws with his team's effort in the intrasquad scrimmage.

“We stink defensively,” Calipari said. “And I told 'em, and I told some individuals, ‘Look, if you want to play, if you think you're going to play, you're not playing. You won't play.'”

The Cats must have gotten the message during practice this week. While the offense struggled at times during UK's 56-38 win over Missouri Western State on Sunday night at Rupp Arena, the team's defensive effort was solid all the way around.

Kentucky held MWSU to just 16 of 52 (30.8 percent) shooting from the floor, including two of 15 (13.3 percent) from behind the arc.

On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 27, 1951, UK wins its third NCAA title, defeating Kansas State, 68-58, in the finals in Minneapolis.

 

On March 27, 1978, Jack “Goose” Givens scores 41 points as UK wins its fifth NCAA Championship, 94-88, over Duke in St. Louis.  Givens scored the last 16 points of the first half for Kentucky, bringing his first-half total up to 23 points. Givens poured in another 18 points in the second half.  Givens' helped lead the Wildcats to their first title in over 20 years.  More than 10,000 fans greet the team at Blue Grass Airport and 15,000 more celebrate at Memorial Coliseum

 

On March 27, 1993, Kentucky beat Florida State to advance to the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans. The victory completed a string of four games in which the Wildcats blitzed their Southeast Region opponents by an average of 31.0 points - the largest margin of victory by a team through four games en route to the Final Four.

 

On March 27, 2009, Billy Gillispie is fired as the Kentucky head basketball coach.

 

On March 27, 2011, freshman Brandon Knight scored 22 points and fourth-seeded Kentucky advanced to the Final Four for the first time since the 1998 title with a 76-69 win over second-seeded North Carolina in the East Regional final of the NCAA Tournament.  The last minute of the game became the DeAndre Liggins show, as he blocked a shot on defense, hit a game-winning three-pointer on offense, then blocked another shot on defense to seal the victory. He finished with 12 points..

 

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