LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) – Tubby Smith won his 200th game as Kentucky’s basketball coach and the eighth-ranked Wildcats routed Campbell 82-50 on Wednesday night.
Freshman center Randolph Morris led Kentucky with a career-high 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting and Kelenna Azubuike added 14 points as the Wildcats (9-1) won their fifth straight game.
Kentucky will begin Southeastern Conference play next Wednesday against South Carolina and has one nonconference game remaining, at home against No. 2 Kansas on Jan. 9.
The lopsided loss was Campbell’s third of the season to a major conference opponent. The Fighting Camels (2-7) also lost by 55 points to No. 17 North Carolina State and by 41 points to Tennessee.
Campbell – arguably Kentucky’s most lightly regarded opponent during the last 10 seasons – has lost 39 of its last 40 road games.
Smith is 200-53 in eight seasons at Kentucky and 324-115 in 14 seasons overall with the Wildcats, Georgia and Tulsa. He is the fourth coach to win at least 200 games at Kentucky, joining Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall and Rick Pitino.
Kentucky made 10 of its first 11 shots and never trailed. The Wildcats led 24-4 9 minutes into the game, as Morris went 5-of-5 from the field during that stretch.
Campbell made only two of its first 21 shots and shot 16.7 percent from the field in the half. The Camels didn’t reach double digits on the scoreboard until 1:05 before halftime.
Kentucky led 45-11 at the half. Campbell’s point total was the lowest by a Kentucky opponent in a first half since Dec. 20, 1983 – before the shot clock era began – when the Wildcats led Cincinnati 11-7.
Campbell used a 20-3 run – highlighted by a four-point play by Anthony Atkinson – to pull within 51-33 with 10:36 left, but came no closer after Kentucky’s starters re-entered the game.
Atkinson led Campbell with 14 points, going 5-of-10 from the field, and Comerlee Poole had nine points and nine rebounds. The Camels shot 28.6 percent from the field.
Patrick Sparks had eight points and seven assists for Kentucky, while Chuck Hayes added nine points and 10 rebounds.
The Camels, who play in the Atlantic Sun Conference, are 1-26 all-time against current SEC teams.
