Kentucky jumped out to a huge lead, then fell behind early in the second half, only to rally late and beat Colgate 78-67 on Wednesday night at Rupp Arena.
All five UK starters scored in double figures in the contest, led by Koby Brea, who had 17. Otega Oweh and Amari Williams each had 15, and Williams added 10 rebounds. Andrew Carr and Jaxson Robinson finished with 11 points apiece.
“Our guys rang the bell the way that they do,” said UK head coach Mark Pope. “We got contributions from a bunch of guys, we protected the ball, which was a point of emphasis for us. We got some guys some minutes in different situations they haven’t had. It was a good night.”
Kentucky jumped out to a big lead early, scoring the game’s first 17 points. Williams had the first two baskets for the Cats, followed by a free throw from Oweh, two free throws from Carr, a three from Brea, a Carr dunk, a Carr old fashioned three-point play, and a Brandon Garrison hook shot.
Colgate would answer by scoring the next 11 points, as the Cats went cold, missing 11 consecutive shots from the field. That streak was snapped when Williams made a free throw, making it 18-11. After a Colgate basket, Brea hit a three, making it 21-13. The Raiders made another three before Oweh drove to the hoop for a bucket, giving UK a 23-16 advantage.
A Jaxson Robinson basket and free throw extended the UK lead to 26-16 and an Oweh jumper gave the Cats a 28-16 lead. However, Colgate responded with a 13-2 run to get within two, 31-29.
An Ansley Almonor basket made it 33-29 before Colgate scored to again cut the lead to two, 33-31. A Brea three gave UK a 36-31 advantage. The Cats would lead 38-36 at the half. Brea led all scorers with 12 points in the first 20 minutes.
Kentucky scored the first basket of the second half when Williams hit a jumper in the lane. However, Colgate would score five in a row, taking their first lead of the game, 41-40. After a Williams layup gave UK a 42-41 advantage, the Raiders scored four straight to lead 45-42.
A Williams dunk and a Carr basket gave UK a 46-45 lead, but that lasted just 17 seconds, as Colgate scored to make it 47-46.
That’s when the Cats made their move. Kentucky would make four three-pointers, two by Robinson, one by Trent Noah and one by Oweh, to take a 58-47 lead with 12:58 to play. Colgate would get a basket but Brea knocked down his fifth triple of the night to make it 61-49. A Brea dunk and a Carr bucket made it 65-49.
From there, Kentucky was able to maintain a double-digit lead for the duration of the game.
Kentucky returns to action on Saturday, hosting Louisville inside Rupp Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:15 and the game can be seen on ESPN.
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.
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