Nov. 23, 2011
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LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) – Terrence Jones scored 17 points and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist added 15 points and nine rebounds to help No. 2 Kentucky beat Radford 88-40 on Wednesday night in the Wildcats’ first home game in nearly two weeks.
Kentucky (5-0) improved to 35-0 at Rupp Arena since John Calipari took over as coach in 2009 and has a final tuneup game against Portland on Saturday before St. John’s comes on Dec. 1 and No. 1 North Carolina visits two days later.
Radford (3-4) struggled against Kentucky’s defensive pressure and athleticism. The Highlanders missed their first 12 shots and committed eight turnovers before finally scoring nearly 10 minutes into the game. They finished 2 of 25 from 3-point range.
Kentucky returned home for the first time since its season opener against Marist after a successful three-game road trip that featured a win over then-No. 13 Kansas in New York City and two more in Uncasville, Conn. over Penn State and Old Dominion to capture the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament.
No one has come within double digits of the Wildcats so far this year, and Radford already trailed 14-0 before Blake Smith’s jumper with 10:27 left in the first half as the Highlanders missed their first 20 3-point attempts.
Kentucky took a 22-2 lead on Anthony Davis’ putback before Radford scored back-to-back baskets.
Radford wasn’t expected to provide much competition to Kentucky after losses to the Nittany Lions and Marist earlier this season. Kentucky beat those teams by 38 and 50 points, respectively, but came out with five early turnovers than had Calipari going to his bench in the opening minutes.
Things got better in a hurry.
Kentucky pulled away quickly. Marquis Teague found Kidd-Gilchrist for a dunk that made it 29-6. Doron Lamb hit Kentucky’s first 3-pointer after the Wildcats missed their first six attempts to put Kentucky ahead 38-12.
Jones followed with a 3 and an alley-oop slam over Javonte Green off another pass from Teague as the Wildcats rolled to a 45-14 halftime lead.
Teague finished with 13 points, Davis 12 and Lamb 10 for the Wildcats. Johnathan Edwards had 10 points and eight rebounds for Radford.
When the Highlanders tried to run even a little, the Wildcats turned up the pressure.
After Radford scored consecutive baskets that made it 49-18, Kidd-Gilchrist hit a 3, Lamb fed Teague down court for an easy slam in transition and Lamb threw an alley-oop to Jones to make it 56-18 with 16:44 left.
The last time Radford faced the No. 2 team in the country it lost 101-58 to North Carolina in the NCAA tournament two years ago.
The Highlanders trailed by 43 in this one with more than 13 minutes to play and needed a basket by Jareal Smith in the final minute to avoid a school record for fewest points in a game in team history.
