Lexington, Ky. –
The Kentucky Wildcats never trailed in a 70-62 win vs. Troy on Monday night but they allowed a 21-point lead to be trimmed to single digits late in the game.
The Wildcats were led by freshman Kevin Knox, who finished with a game-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. The 6-8 forward played a team-high 35 minutes and chipped in five rebounds. Over the last three games, Knox has played 37, 34, and 35 minutes. He is the only UK player to play 30 minutes in that stretch besides Hamidou Diallo (30 vs. Kansas).
Troy helped the Wildcats by shooting 15% from three-point range. The Trojans attempted 27 long-range shots, connecting on just four of them. Overall, they shot 36% from the floor on 23-of-64 shots.
Freshman point guard Quade Green had another nice game, following up on his 21-point performance vs. ETSU. The 6-0 guard added 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting to go along with three rebounds and three assists.
Additionally, Wenyen Gabriel had his best performance of the season, adding a season-high 12 points to go along with 6 rebounds. The sophomore forward also cashed in at the free throw line, converting on 5-of-6 attempts.
The Wildcats started fast out of the gates with a lot of energy, racing out to an early 14-8 lead at the first media timeout. Nick Richards scored the first basket of the game but found the bench quickly after picking up two early fouls. The freshman big man put together a solid stretch in the second half, muscling up an offensive rebound for two and followed that with a jump hook. Overall, Richards scored 8 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.
Kentucky built a 41-25 halftime advantage and pushed the lead to 21 early in the second half, the largest margin of the game. From that point on, Kentucky attempted to coast to a victory, ultimately allowing Troy to make it a game late.
The concerning thing is that if Troy had shot the ball better from three-point range, Kentucky could have been on the wrong end of this one. The attempts were good looks but the Trojans couldn’t consistently string runs together.
Freshman guard Hamidou Diallo didn’t have his best shooting performance, finishing with 8 points on 3-of-12 shooting but he pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. Meanwhile, freshman forward PJ Washington had a quiet 4-point, 8 rebound, and 4-assist performance. Washington attempted only four shots, the least amount among the starters. Kentucky needs Washington to be aggressive offensively and get to double figures.
The win improves Kentucky to 4-1 on the season and they will have a quick turnaround for Wednesday’s game vs. Fort Wayne. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.
