LEXINGTON, Kentucky (AP) – No. 10 Kentucky wasn’t at its best on Friday night but did the little things to wear down North Florida to an 86-52 win – their fifth straight win.
What you need to know
- The Kentucky men’s basketball clinched its fifth straight win over northern Florida on Friday
- TyTy Washington was one of five Wildcats to finish in double digits
- The Wildcats only made six shots from deep below
- Kentucky will host Central Michigan next on Monday evening
Kentucky took just six shots from away and scored the most of their goals in transition with 28 points. The Wildcats forced 21 turnovers and scored 20 points from those failures.
That’s the kind of performance Kentucky coach John Calipari wanted from his squad, which has been struggling with injuries and illnesses since the start of the season.
“We’re still in the works, but I liked that, we fought and defended,” said Calipari. “We did that. We crawled, we played, we made up balls and flew. “
Five Wildcats finished in double digits, led by TyTy Washington with 14 points. Oscar Tshiebwe had 12 points and 16 rebounds for Kentucky (5-1) while Damion Collins made his first career start scoring 12 points and Sahvir Wheeler had 12 points and 14 assists. Dontaie Allen added 14 points from the bench, all but two coming in the second half.
Jayden Parker led North Florida (1-6) with 10 points.
Kentucky struggled early, trailing by five at the start of the first half but scoring 23 of the last 30 points of the first half and leading 37:23 at break.
The Wildcats were without veterans Davion Mintz and Keion Brooks who exposed with unknown diseases. Mintz has missed the last two games while Brooks, the team’s second-best scorer (14.5 points per game), has hit double digits in the last four games.
Jacob Toppin (shoulder), who had missed the last four games, returned to the line-up, finishing with three points. Missing the previous three games, Lance Ware (Knuckles) returned as well, taking four points.
Calipari liked the way his team responded to the need to change the cast of characters on the pitch.
“One’s misery is another’s opportunity,” said Calipari.
RETURN
Former Lexington Christian Academy standout and Mount Sterling native Carter Hendricksen finished the race with eight points for the Ospreys. He came into Friday’s game averaging 13.8 points per game and needed just 38 points to join the school’s 1,000-point club.
“It was definitely a dream come true,” he said. “It’s a really cool place and the fans here are great and there are no better fans in the country than Big Blue Nation … Standing in front of the Rupp Arena for the first time was really cool.”
BIG PICTURE
North Florida: The Ospreys have played their first five games – all defeats – on the road and will eventually play nine of their first eleven games on the road. Three games are against the Southeastern Conference teams: Texas A&M (64-46 loss on November 10th), Kentucky and Florida on December 8th. North Florida has also lost to UCLA No. 2, Texas Tech and Arizona State.
Kentucky: The Wildcats could move up in the top 25 poll on Monday after No. 4 Kansas lost 74-73 to unrated Dayton on Friday. … Kentucky improved to 11-0 on Friday against Atlantic Sun Conference teams.
NEXT
Kentucky: Hosts Central Michigan, coached by ex-Wildcats assistant coach Tony Barbee, Monday night before taking an eight-day break.
